Waves

Part 9

Joe ran around the room, peering at the large floral arrangements being placed on the long rustic table and stopped one of the workers. "I'm sorry, but these need to have peonies in them. They're her favorite." Tonight was Eve's birthday and unbeknownst to her, Joe had planned a surprise dinner party. It was difficult enough to get her to agree to take two hours away from trial prep to go out, so he had to operate covertly to coordinate with her friends and family.

It meant that he was forced to have an awkward conversation with Eve's mother Andrea, who was still apprehensive at the budding reconciliation between her daughter and Joe. Though Andrea had always viewed Joe as a son, she couldn't shake the memories of those first post-break up months from her mind. Still, she graciously accepted Joe's invitation and helped him organize the guest list.

Looking over the placards one more time, Joe spotted Christine walking in and flagged her down. "Okay, I just spoke to her and she definitely has no idea what's going on; she was finishing her makeup so I think you should head back to her place," Christine shifted a stray dessert fork as she looked around the room. Joe had outdone himself creating a lush wooded wonderland in the private dining room of a local restaurant; flowers adorned every flat surface and a local florist had created multiple starry trees that flanked the corners of the room.

"Joe...it looks incredible in here. She's gonna plotz," Christine patted Joe's shoulder as she took in his furrowed brow. "I just want everything to be perfect," Joe fretted and Christine shook her head. "She's going to love it. Don't worry-but you need to go get her. I'll make sure everyone's seated and will text you when it's safe to come in." Joe hugged Christine in gratitude as he sprinted out of the restaurant to pick up Eve.

She was watching grainy security camera footage when Joe knocked on her door. "Happy Birthday beautiful," Joe smiled, handing Eve a stunning bouquet. "Thank you Joe. These are gorgeous and way too much." Eve kissed Joe in appreciation as she walked into the kitchen to put them in water.

"Is this some new Netflix show?' Joe joked, pointing to the choppy video on her TV. "It's footage from the night of the night of the Rooks murder. I just caught that there's a 10 minute gap in the time stamp. Plenty of time for someone else to run in and run out."

"Wait, seriously? How was that missed before?" Joe was incredulous at most of the details in Taylor Rooks' case; the miscarriage of justice obvious to all who had followed the emerging evidence. "I think it was intentionally missed. I've just got to prove it." Eve grabbed her purse as Joe led them out of her apartment, his anxiety high at what Eve's reaction to her surprise was going to be.

Joe had set everything up with the hostess ahead of time who knew to pretend that she had no tables in the main dining room. Walking them down the darkened corridor, she stepped to the side as Joe opened the door to the private room and ushered Eve in.

"Surprise!" Eve's face was a mix of shock and slight embarrassment as she took in the sight of all of her nearest and dearest gathered in one place. "What on earth?! Who planned this?" Eve was emotional at the stunning decor that had obviously been brought in just for her. "It was all Joe," Andrea called out from the corner and Eve's eyes went wide.

"You did all of this?" Eve whispered. "Well, I mean I hired the florist and worked with them but your mom and Christine helped with the guest list and menu." Joe looked sheepish as Eve threw her arms around his neck, touched at the over-the-top gesture.

Sitting down at the long table, Eve was blown away by each course of her birthday dinner. The room rang out with laughter for the next few hours, and it wasn't lost on anyone how lovingly Joe and Eve looked at each other. "Seems like things are heading in the right direction for those two," Andrea mused to Christine.