"Yes." She heard the trepidation in her voice. It was a lesson she'd tried to impart after learning it herself and divorcing David. Now, she wondered if she was going to regret playing that particular parental card. "So?"
"It's just that she got tired of holding back."
Cold slithered up her spine. "What are you talking about? Elena? She's in Austin checking out the city and the University of Texas campus."
Elena had just graduated from UC San Diego, and she was taking a gap year while she decided where she wanted to apply to grad school. Her interest was in city planning, and the program in Austin appealed to her, so she'd decided to move there for the summer to see how she liked the town.
She saw the way Marianne looked at her, almost with pity. As if Eva was a foolish, foolish mother. "Hell. What aren't you telling me?"
"I'm sure she's all over the college thing. She raved about Austin and UT before she headed out."
"Uh-huh. And?"
"Yeah, um, about that and. I can't really tell you."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm your best friend."
Eva gaped, replayed the words in her mind, and decided they still made no sense. "We really need to get you that caffeine. You're babbling."
Marianne sighed. "Do you remember when she was eight? Right after you divorced David? And you told me that she needed a confidante? An adult in her life who wasn't a parent. A woman she could ask questions to about boys or whatever?"
"I remember..."
"Well, I can't break the bond of confidence that you created."
"I was very specific. That bond doesn't apply if she's going to get hurt."
"Why would she?"
Eva glowered. "How would I know, since I don't even know what she's up to?"
Marianne only shrugged.
Determined, Eva reached into her purse and pulled out her phone.
"You're calling her?"
"No," Eva said. She'd realized that she'd never even tried to track Tyree down by normal means. She'd told herself she would ask the military because that gave her an out. A source for his location. No need for her to look on her own, right? She'd just contact the Marines after she got past the spate of weddings--today was the last on her books for three weeks--and returned from a much needed two-week vacation in Vancouver, where she was headed on Sunday.
So there'd been no need to pull up Google and search for Tyree Johnson--like she was doing right at that moment.
The results came up fast enough, and she gaped at the tiny screen on her phone.
"Austin. I knew it." She skimmed the text. "He owns a bar. Apparently they're doing some contest for a calendar because some local articles about it are the top three hits."
She looked up, realizing she was smiling. "One of the articles says that the bar--The Fix on Sixth--is known for its excellent food and cocktail menu, most of which are Tyree's invention." She remembered that he loved to cook, and had dreamed of opening a restaurant. Looked like he'd managed to make the life he wanted.
And he'd made it without her--that was something she needed to keep in mind. The fact that he had a life. Probably a wife and kids, too. A full, happy life.
A life that she and Elena were about to mess up.
And if Elena really was there to see him, then Eva needed to hightail it out to Austin. Because the one thing Eva absolutely didn't want was for the first--no, the only--man she'd ever loved to think she was a horrific bitch who purposefully kept the existence of his daughter hidden.
She exhaled a noisy breath. "Has she told him yet?"
Marianne's expression turned even more pitiful. "Come on, girlfriend. I told you. Confidential."