Forever Eva [Sequel to When Kat's Away] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (10 page)

Zach felt his cock harden when her tongue slid between her lips to lick away the crumbs at the corner of her mouth. He glanced at Tony and caught him staring at her, his mouth open, his tongue practically hanging out. Grinning, he dug into his dinner and began to make plans for them to get to know each other better. He knew Eva wanted the three of them together, and he intended to do all he could to make her dream come true.

Tony cleared his throat. “So, Eva, tell us about yourself.”

She took a quick drink of her tea. “What do you wanna know?”

He shrugged. “Anything you want to tell us.”

She pursed her lips and looked thoughtful for a moment. “Well, I’m twenty-three years old and I was born in Hamilton.”

“When’s your birthday?” asked Zach.

“The twentieth day of September.”

Tony leaned over his plate, peering at her closely. “What year were you born?”

“1876.”

Tony ran a french fry through the lake of ketchup on his plate. “Didn’t think they had hospitals around here back then.”

Eva frowned. “Mama told us a hospital was a place for sick people to go and get treated by learned doctors.”

Zach nodded. “Women go to hospitals to have their babies, too.”

Her eyebrows went up, and she snorted. “Why on earth would they do that? Mama had me and David at home, like all the other women in Hamilton. We didn’t have a local doctor. If somebody was really sick, the doc up in Treasure City would make the trip down, or they’d haul the sick person to him.”

“What did you do back in your time? I mean, did you work?” Zach asked.

“I helped out at the Silver Rush.”

Tony stiffened in his seat. “You worked in a saloon?”

“It’s not just a saloon. We ran a boarding house. I cleaned the rooms and cooked for the tenants. It kept me pretty busy, what with the miners and the occasional traveling cowboy.”

Zach shook his head. “What did you do for fun?”

She took another bite of chicken and chewed thoughtfully. “I had a couple of friends my age, and sometimes we went on picnics down by the stream. We even tried our hand at fishing a time or two. We all had vegetable gardens to tend, and of course there was our weekly sewing meeting. We were making ragdolls and clothes for the miner’s children for Christmas when I left.”

Tony grunted. “That’s what you did for
fun?
”

Eva looked around like she was expecting someone to be listening, and then leaned forward and lowered her voice. “When I could sneak out, I’d saddle Papa Zeke’s gelding and go riding.” A wistful look crossed her face. “Sometimes I’d ride for miles and miles along the stream, letting Twilight find his own path.” She beamed at Tony. “Twilight was the gentlest of creatures. Do you have any horses?”

Tony shook his head. “No, my family never owned any livestock.”

Eva turned to study Zach. “What about you?”

“Nope. I grew up in Minneapolis.”

“That’s a big city up north, right?”

Tony nodded. “Yeah, it’s a city in Minnesota. As a rule, you don’t usually find horses in the cities.”

“That’s too bad. You guys don’t know what you’re missing.”

Zach grinned. “Your eyes really light up when you talk about horses. It makes you even more beautiful.”

A dull, red flush crept up her neck into her face. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“He’s right.” Tony stared intently at Eva’s face. “You’re a very beautiful woman.” His brows furrowed as he looked down at his plate. It gave the impression he was sorry for saying anything.

Zach shook his head.
I’ve got my work cut out for me if I’m gonna get the three of us together.

* * * *

Laura stared through the dingy window of the Tasty Treats diner and watched Tony and his friends eating their dinner. She’d followed them to Richmonds and stayed out of sight while the woman had tried on clothes. At first, she’d thought the woman and Zach were a couple, but now she wasn’t so sure. It had looked like Tony was just as involved in picking out her clothes as Zach had been.

There’s no way I’m losing Tony now. Especially to some frumpy outsider.
It had taken months to get him in a situation where she could take him home, and it angered her that he’d been right. He’d been too drunk to perform.
But, damn, I was sure when he sobered up he’d come back for more. I made sure he woke up to a naked woman.
But it hadn’t worked. He’d come out of that bed like it was on fire, and he hadn’t even waited to get fully dressed before he’d made his escape. He’d run down her sidewalk with his shirt and shoes clutched in one hand, while the other clutched his cell phone calling a cab.

She watched Eva and frowned. Everything the woman did seemed like it was her very first time.
If I’m gonna fight for my man, I need to know more about my competition.
She gave them one final glance and then hurried over to her car.
Maybe it’s time to fight dirty
.

* * * *

Zach watched Tony gulp down his coffee and winced. It had to have burned his tongue since he’d just poured it from the fresh pot.

“Is your lady up yet?” Tony asked.

Zach sighed and poured some milk into his cup. They’d been staying at Tony’s house for a week, and he still refused to entertain the idea that Eva was important to him. “She’s not just my lady, you know. And no, she’s not up yet. At least I haven’t heard any noise coming from her room.” He watched Tony strap on his service revolver. “I thought you were supposed to be off today.”

“Yeah, that was the plan, but Davis called in and said he had the flu. The sergeant called me late last night and asked if I’d work a double today.” He opened the fridge and took out the bread, quickly popping two pieces in the toaster. “What are your plans for today? Have you heard anything from your friend at the courthouse?”

“No, but it’s only been a week. She said it might take months.”

“I guess we’re lucky she claims to have been born locally. You didn’t have to go far to do any research.” They’d spent the better part of the last two days learning all about Eva’s life before she came to them. It should have brought them closer together, but in Tony’s case, it looked like it drove him even further away. He just didn’t seem to be able to grasp the idea of anything supernatural. “Well, what are your plans for today? You aren’t working, are you? I don’t want little
Miss Time Traveler
left here alone.”

Zach slammed his coffee cup down on the counter hard enough for it to slosh over the side. “For heaven’s sake. Is your first or middle name asshole? Just once, open your mind to the possibility that there might be some things that exist that you can’t explain with logic.” He handed Tony a small plate when his toast popped up. “As for today, I’m taking Eva to the fair.”

Tony stopped buttering his toast and frowned at Zach. “Where the hell did you find a fair?”

“The Ely high school has a carnival set up on their ball field to raise money. They’ve got all kinds of rides and carnival games. I figure she’s never seen anything like that, so it should be quite the experience for her.”

Tony snorted. “I remember the chief mentioning it last week. He’s asked a couple of off-duty men to hang around and watch out for trouble. Just keep your eye on her today.”

Zach leaned back, blowing on his hot coffee. “So, what has your investigation shown you?” Tony’s gaze darted quickly to Zach, his eyes narrowing. Zach chuckled. “Pleassse, give me a break. I would have been shocked if you hadn’t been throwing out all the stops to try and prove she’s lying.” He sipped the warm brew and studied Tony thoughtfully. “Don’t think I haven’t seen the way you look at her when you know she’s not watching.”

Tony barked out a harsh laugh. “And just how do I look at her?”

“Like she’s every Christmas present you ever wanted and never got.”

Tony shook his head and placed his empty cup in the sink. “Doesn’t matter. There’s no way I’d get caught up in a relationship with her.”

“Why the hell not?”

Tony sighed. “Because she’s clearly a nutcase that needs some serious psychological help.”

Zach raised a brow and glared at him.

Tony groaned. “Okay, let’s assume for just one moment that she’s telling the truth. What happens when she can’t fit in? When we can’t get identification papers for her? What happens if this time portal is real and it takes her away?”

Zach cocked his head to the side and studied Tony for a moment. “I think I’d find a way to go with her.”

“You’re saying she means that much to you. You’re in love with her already, after just a week.”

“I know it sounds crazy, but from the moment she came up those steps at the old saloon, I’ve felt some kind of weird pull to her. There’s no way I’ll risk losing her now.”

Tony shook his head and turned toward the door. “I hope you know what you’re doing, my friend. But I’ve got to know more before I could commit to anything.”

Zach watched him leave and thought about the woman sleeping upstairs.
There’s got to be a way to make him believe she came through time. We’re all meant to be together. I just feel it!

* * * *

Zach leaned back and fidgeted in the seat with the cracked, padded cushions, his hands tight around the metal bars across his lap. He’d never been fond of heights, but he hadn’t been able to say no to Eva. At the top of the Ferris wheel, the musical roar of the carnival dimmed, letting in the sound of Eva’s excited giggles and the crinkle of paper from the rolled-up bag of popcorn she held in one small fist. Zach grinned as she kicked her feet out in the open air.

“This is so grand. We’ve nothing like this back in my time.”

“What does your family do for fun together?”

Eva gazed out over the crowd and sighed. “Sometimes we go for long rides and have picnics. When I can talk Papa Zeke into it, we go swimming in the stream out by the cabin.”

“Why does he have to be talked into it?”

She grinned. “He can’t swim, so he’s not inspired to spend much time in the water.”

“This carnival is sponsored by the high school. Do your schools do things like this to raise money?”

“Schools? We only have one, and Kat runs it.”

Zach leaned back and thought for a moment. “That’s right. Katarina Evans was a schoolteacher.”

“Not was, she is a schoolteacher. She’s Hamilton’s only teacher.”

“What grade does she teach?”

“All of them.”

He frowned. “I don’t understand. How can she teach them all?”

“We all share the same classroom. She has different books and lessons for different ages. We each progress at our own pace and graduate when we complete the eighth grade.”

“Eighth grade? The children here attend school through the twelfth grade and then sometimes go on to four years or more of college.”

“Yeah, Mama told us all about her college days. You know she’s a nurse, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I remember reading that in the case files.”

“Anyway, Kat sometimes has what she calls
Olympic Days
. She gets everybody in town involved, and the children compete in different kinds of races.” Eva laughed. “The townsfolk thought she was crazy when she started, but they soon got into the spirit of things, especially when she offered cash prizes to the winners.”

“What kind of races did she have?”

“Oh, sometimes horse racing, sometimes running and jumping. She tried to have swimming contests, but even the ones that couldn’t swim tried to win that dollar prize, and a couple had to be pulled from the water. She went back to land contests then.” She laughed, her hand flying to cover her mouth. “She even held a pie-eating contest. Poor old Wilbur Mason was sick for three days after winning his dollar.”

The wheel shuddered to life, pulling forward and then down. As they sank toward the ground, Zach watched the childlike joy on her face and pulled in a deep, clean breath. For just a moment, everything seemed so clear, so full of potential. This was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Even though he’d only known her a few days, he couldn’t imagine ever being with anyone else. And for some strange reason, he knew that Tony was meant to be with them.

As the seat glided to a stop, a rough-looking, tattooed man reached for the handle with chipped paint and released the safety bar. “Okay, folks. Be careful getting down.”

Zach took Eva’s hand, and together they walked away so the next couple could get into the seat.

“Wanna go again?” Eva asked, bouncing on her toes.

Zach forced a smile, but as the Ferris wheel clattered above their heads, his stomach shuddered. “Maybe we should look around first and see what else they have.”

She looked around and pointed. “Okay, let’s go that way.” Hawkers were calling out for people to come and try their games.

Zach smiled and put his arm around her shoulder. “Sure thing. Maybe I can win you a stuffed bear.”

“What do you have to do to win one?”