The summer wedding hoax, p.13
The Summer Wedding Hoax, page 13
And yet … there it is, staring back at me with the word Apply, ready for me to click on it and follow the steps to submit my name.
I refresh the browser.
Nope. Not an error. It’s right there clear as day.
I have to apply, right? I mean, why else would the universe work like this?
Maybe if I keep repeating it, I’ll actually believe that I am this lucky.
I swipe my fingers across the mousepad, clicking and typing with fury.
If I actually get this job … wow. Sometimes they say that when you feel like you can’t get any lower in life, that’s when things will finally start to look up.
The door to the bookstore dings with a new customer, but I don’t look up. Instead, I keep my head down to finish this application package before the girls start their meeting for the latest book. We had to read only one book, but obviously I fell in love and read the entire series. Maybe I’m not the only one.
I attach the right files and fill in the blanks and click Submit.
Back when I started applying for jobs and I started to see a trend on questions, I saved my responses in a word doc. It’s been a lifesaver.
“Ava, right?” a soft voice says. I look up to find the owner of the Wind Valley bookstore standing in front of me. Her arms are crossed in front of her body, clutching the romance group’s current read to her chest.
“Skylar Warren?”
“Yes. I didn’t realize you were part of this group,” she says, taking a seat next to me and pointing to my laptop. “Oh, gosh, I’m sorry, did I interrupt?”
“No. I was actually just finishing up. I like to come here to get things done. It’s a lot easier than being at my apartment alone.”
“When Will’s working?”
Oh, right. She, too, thinks Will and I are an item.
“Right. Yes. When Will is at work.”
“You and Will moved in together?” Lucy gushes, clearing catching the end of the conversation.
“What?” Sandy asks.
When did all these ladies get here? I keep a smile plastered on my face. “Oh, yes, we have for a while now.”
Just keep on digging, Ava, keep on digging.
“So you’re moving to Wind Valley with him? I mean, I assumed as much, but this is just wonderful. We should definitely get together or carpool down here for the group,” Skylar suggests.
“Yes. That sounds great. Or, of course, when your bookstore and the coffee shop start business together, maybe we can have the group in Wind Valley a time or two.”
Skylar’s smile twitches, but it doesn’t fall completely. “That’s an idea.”
She looks away quickly, and immediately I want to ask her why she responded that way. Why did she look away? Why she’s already changed the subject and started talking with the other ladies?
Does her husband not plan to go into business with Will?
It’s his dream. That would crush him. The last time they spoke, everything seemed like it was just a matter of fine-tuning the details, and everyone would be happy to work together. What changed?
I’m not even listening to the women talk about the book now. I really wanted to discuss it, too, but now all I can focus on is how Will’s plan might not be going as well as he thought and what, or how, I should tell him.
But what if I’m reading her wrong? I barely know her, so maybe that’s just how she is. Maybe she just doesn’t like to talk business while she’s at the book club. Maybe she doesn’t like to talk about business without her husband. Maybe …
“Ava?”
“Yeah?” I snap to attention at Lucy’s voice. “What did you think of the book? How did you like the writing?”
“The hero … writing?”
Everyone nods, staring at me as if they are all on the edge of their seats for what I have to say.
“Well, I … I think the hero tried really hard to make everything work and when it didn’t, my heart hurt for him.” My gaze flickers to Skylar and then down to my computer. “Had the heroine told him right away how she felt, he could have had time to replan and make it work, but then we wouldn’t have had a book. So I guess, although I wish he’d have had an easier journey, I really enjoyed how things ended up for him.”
Now I know this book has nothing to do with my life or with Will’s, but as I share my thoughts with the group, I can’t help but think that perhaps I enjoyed this book so much because in a subliminal way, it spoke to my life. Yes, I moved back with a goal of planting my roots in Melody, but keeping my options open should be part of my journey. Maybe there is more Will should look at, too. I’m just not sure what.
One thing is for sure: Will doesn’t need the added stress, and until I figure it out for him or can help him, I don’t think I should say anything about Skylar’s reaction.
In fact, I’m not going to tell him I saw her at all. The less he knows till I have something to contribute, the better.
*
Will
I honestly thought that after I told the story of how we first met, Ava might pick up on something. Anything, really, to hint that I have feelings for her and that they aren’t exactly new. But it seems I need to think of a way to be clearer. A way for her to put the pieces together. If she did, even if she doesn’t feel the same way, why wouldn’t she say anything?
“Do we need to reschedule the meeting?”
I blink and rejoin the present. You know, where I’m in a meeting and not paying attention.
“No, no, we do not.”
“Alright, then do you have an answer for us?”
“An answer?”
“Yeah,” Mr. Hammond says slowly. “About what you will offer us if we sign the papers to work together and things don’t work out as planned.”
“We understand any new business move can offer up risks,” Mrs. Quinn adds. “But a little reassurance isn’t out of the question.” She taps her pen against the table, and I have a flashback of Ava doing the same thing a few days ago before she then moved the pen to her mouth and bi—
“We really can reschedule, Will. We know how things get this time of the year. I’ll be honest, I need to review some of the paperwork you’ve sent us, but I’ve been so carried away with the annual Fourth of July show that I haven’t made time.”
I pinch the spot between my eyes and nod.
“Sure. If everyone wants to reschedule, we can, but with the summer calendar, perhaps we should just move it to the hour before our next meeting. All your questions will be answered and then you can choose to sign or not sign. In the meantime, if anyone wants to email me your concerns, please do so.”
Well, at least I was able to salvage something up at the end of the so-called meeting.
I receive nods rather than actual words at my suggestion.
I stand and gather my belongings just as everyone else does the same. It’s a quiet walk to the front door, but they all say goodbye as if I didn’t just send them on their way after another unaccomplished meeting.
Why can’t I focus? Why can’t I lead a meeting? I practice and practice, but once I’m here, my focus vanishes and everything I planned to say just … disappears from my memory. How can I be that afraid of the attention being on me?
“Is everything okay, dear?” Trudy asks when I step back into the building.
I shake my head.
“I could run out and get us some lunch,” she says to put my attention elsewhere. She’s clearly aware that these meetings aren’t going as I hoped they would.
“Oh, you don’t need to get me anything to eat,” I tell her, pausing in front of her desk. I’m not sure why. I should go back to my office and type up everything I wanted to say today in an email so that everyone who’s been in a meeting with me can see that I still excel somewhere in my career.
“Oh, but I think I do. At this rate, you won’t be going home for a week. I better feed you.” Trudy stands from her desk, patting my shoulder as she does so. Her knees pop and I cringe. “These old bones are sturdier than they let on, just as you are smarter than you think, Will. You’ll get the hang of all this in no time. And, of course, I’ll be just a phone call away when you need help.”
“I’m not sure about that.”
“Well, maybe you should tell me what’s on your mind. Something is going through that head of yours and it’s keeping you from focusing.”
I rub a hand over my face.
“Tell me what’s going on.” She finds a chair in the lobby and leans back, so I do the same, getting comfortable. Trudy has known me my whole life, so she’ll probably have advice, but how do I explain it without giving too much away?
“Have you ever wanted something so badly that once you had the opportunity to have it, you … might have missed it?”
She nods slowly. “I’ve worked the same job for the last thirty years, Will, so I’m not sure I have much to relate to, but I’ve watched your father and all three of you boys grow into good men. I watched your father make good choices and I watched him make bad ones that he learned from. You are just like him.”
“Are you saying I’m making a bad choice?” I shake my head at the thought. I’m not. What she just said doesn’t make any sense. She doesn’t even know what I’m talking about.
Oh, I bet she thinks I’m talking about the move to Wind Valley.
“No, I’m not. What I’m saying is, you won’t be certain of the outcome for every choice you make until you make it. Your father took chances, and a lot of them resulted in bad judgment that he learned from. Others were perfect from the start. So, don’t look at it as not taking an opportunity given to you—take it as a learning experience and ask yourself, ‘If I choose this path, how will it make me better? How will this be better for everyone involved? What do I need to do to ensure it doesn’t fail? And if I don’t do this, what changes and how do I ensure that I keep the momentum going?’”
I learned two things just now: first, don’t ask Trudy for relationship advice if you can’t tell her all the details, because what did she just say? Second, I’ve spent so much time thinking of how to get the girl, I never considered what I would need to do to keep her. What if we date and it doesn’t work? What if we have a horrible breakup and we never speak again? What if I’m not what she expected in a boyfriend and our relationship does, in fact, fail?
I rub my neck and look out the main doors. “Thanks, Trudy. Maybe I will go get lunch. What would you like me to bring back?”
“Oh, don’t worry about me. Take your time.”
“I—”
“I’m fine, Will. I promise. Take a little time for yourself.”
I nod. “Okay.”
“And don’t forget to pick up the new contracts for next week’s meeting. For legal reasons, they won’t release them to anyone but you or Carter. You’ll want them if you want everyone to sign before the first of the month; otherwise, we have to wait another thirty days to get signatures, which puts everything in motion well after you’ll be moved. So, yes, don’t forget.”
“Yeah, yeah, got it,” I say and I head out the door. Work, a good distraction. Files. Files. Files. Everyone will sign them next week, I hope, and then everything here in Melody will be on track before I leave. No one has officially said they aren’t taking the partner deal, so things are still going as planned and things with Ava, well, I guess they are, too?
They are.
Wow. I can’t even think straight right now.
My phone buzzes with a text. It’s from Ava. “Do you still want me to come tomorrow?”
*
Mom and Dad’s fortieth. I almost forgot.
“Of course. I’ll meet you there,” I thumb back.
“Sounds good.”
I should say more. Anything, really, but now I’m all freaked out. What if we do this and it doesn’t work out? Until I know what I want to say, I can’t see her. What will I say? Hey, I want you, but now I’m more terrified I might lose you than if you didn’t want me back. Does that even make sense?
I pause on the corner to take a break and text Trudy that I’m taking the afternoon off.
Then I head home to grab Dax. I need to go for a run and clear my mind before tomorrow.
Before I have time to get into my own head and end up ruining the only chance I have with Ava.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Will
My mother is clearly more excited to see Ava than me, and by the way Ava is hugging her back and laughing loudly at my mother’s joke, I’d say the feeling goes both ways.
“Okay, okay.” I tap my mother’s back. “Do I get a turn?”
Mom clucks her tongue but lets go of Ava.
“Jealous?” Mom teases.
More than you know.
“Very.” I wrap my arms around the woman who raised me and hold her tight. “Happy anniversary.”
She kisses my cheek as she pulls back. “Thank you, dear.”
Her eyes gloss over as she looks at Carter and Lucy in the living room and then back to me and Ava. She takes a deep breath. “How about you ladies help me in the kitchen? I’m just finishing some more lemon bars for you all to take home.”
“Of course,” Ava says, following behind her.
“When are you going to share the real recipe with me?” Lucy passes by me. “After an actual wedding or does just a ring count?”
Mom’s laughter warms my heart. I haven’t heard her laugh like that in years. Not since Dad.
Carter clears his throat, so I head for the living room. He probably wants to talk about Ava and me. Again.
As much as I enjoy talking about Ava, and as much as I can sense that he’s about to give me a hard time over how happy Mom looked just now seeing her boys settling down, I don’t really feel like being reminded that my relationship isn’t real. Yet.
“Catching a cold?” I ask after he clears his throat again. Although this time he glances to the couch when he does it, clearly telling me to sit.
“We need to talk,” he whispers.
My gaze flashes to the kitchen.
“Do we really need to whisper?”
He nods, leaning forward, hands on his knees.
Okay, I should just cut him off now before he can really bring out the dramatics.
“Look, I know—”
“Mom’s got a new boyfriend.”
“What!”
His hands fly into the air, and he shakes his head. “Shh, shh. She doesn’t know that I know.”
This time, I mimic his position, leaning in close and glancing over his shoulder before I whisper, “And how do you know?”
His brows rise, wrinkling his forehead. “I saw them.”
“Gross.”
“No. Not like that. I saw them kiss.”
“No!”
We both duck down as if someone is about to catch us. A brief pause and sound of the women chatting in the kitchen is a good sign they didn’t hear me.
“So it’s serious?”
Carter nods. “I think so. She hasn’t dated anyone since Dad.”
“Not that we know of. How did you even find out?”
He sighs and leans back on the loveseat. He must be really worked up about this, because this is the most dramatic he’s ever been with me, and that includes the time he realized he messed up with Lucy. “They were walking through downtown holding hands.”
“Holding hands?” Carter nods. “In public?” He nods again. “Our mom?”
“Yes, and my brain did the same thing. I had to circle the block and drive by again to be sure.”
“Two drive-bys and she didn’t spot you?”
“Nope.”
Just then, Mom’s laughter practically echoes through the house. Carter and I lock eyes.
“Mom’s happy,” I say. A choked feeling hits my chest, but instead of tearing up, I smile.
“I know.” Carter’s face mirrors my emotions. “It’s about time.”
Knock, knock.
“Tuck?”
Carter and I shove off each other as we race for the door, but Mom beats us to it and is squealing with delight when we reach her.
“Ahhh, all three of my boys are here!” She jumps and Tuck smiles, hugging her back. “Hey, Mom. You look stunning.”
“Oh, come on. You’ve been here for two minutes.” I cross my arms and glare at him. “Don’t make us look bad.”
“Yeah. Whenever you show up, our compliments and gentleman-like qualities mean nothing.”
Lucy laughs at her fiancé’s comment. Ava steps up next to me, looping her arm through mine. Mom, well, I’m pretty sure she’s ignoring our remarks.
“Maybe the two of you need to step up your game and Mom wouldn’t be so excited to see me.”
This time Mom laughs. “I don’t even care that you’re bickering. I’m so happy that all my boys are here. Oh, my girls, too. If only there were one more.” She coyly looks back at Tuck. His smile drops while Carter and I crack up.
“I have to cook dinner.” She moves for the kitchen.
“We actually have dinner plans already, Mom.”
She spins to face Carter. “We do?”
“Yep. At Bella’s.”
Her hands cover her heart and this time, she cries. “I don’t know how I got so lucky with you boys.”
“They sure are some great ones. I think it’s because they have an amazing mother,” Lucy chimes in.
“Okay, no more compliments. If I’m going out to eat, I don’t want to ruin my makeup.”
“You look beautiful, Mrs. Evergreen.”
The look Mom gives Ava makes us all erupt with laughter.
“Oh yeah, you’re officially part of the family now.” Tuck pulls Ava in for a hug, but she still holds my hand as they embrace.
Officially part of the family.
One day she will be.
*
Ava
I’ve almost cried probably no less than ten times tonight.
Right now, being number eleven.
“Now remember, the boys don’t know that I know they know about my new beau, okay?”
