Chapter Thirty-Five
Lexi
When I wake up on Saturday morning, I notice I have a text from Ava.
Ava: I didn’t want to wake you on a Saturday. Call me as soon as you can.
After I get dressed, I start a video call with my sister-in-law.
“Hey, you!” she greets with her bright smile as her face appears on my phone screen. “How are you doing?”
“I’m good.”
I managed to sleep most of the night, which is pretty surprising. I thought I would be up for hours. My chat with Mom definitely helped calm my nerves.
“So I had a talk with your mom this morning,” Ava continues. “Now, she didn’t give me any details because it’s none of my business, but she did tell me that you’re having a hard time and can use a break from life. So how would you like to spend the weekend with me and Aidan? You haven’t hung out here in forever.”
She’s right about that. When Aidan and Ava first got married, I spent almost every weekend there. Like, hello, they have a huge mansion with an indoor pool, a game room that has arcade machines and every single gaming console and high-performance PCs, plus their own movie theater, and so much more! And just exploring the mansion is fun, too. But I guess I’ve been a little too preoccupied with Brock…
“Are you sure?” I ask. “I always felt guilty when I hung out on the weekends because I thought you and Aidan would want the mansion to yourselves.”
Ava waves her hand. “We spend like twenty-four hours together. Don’t you think I’m sick of the guy?” she jokes. “No, seriously, I miss having you around. You’re like a ball of sunshine.”
“Thanks. I think hanging out with you guys would do me good. I do need a break from life.”
“Yay! Just let me know when you’re ready and my driver will pick you up.”
I shove some things that I’ll need into my backpack, swing it over my shoulders, then make my way downstairs, where Mom is reading up on some nursing-related stuff.
“Good morning, Lexi. Did you speak to Ava?” She notices my backpack and smiles. “I see you did. She called me this morning and asked if you could hang out over the weekend. I thought it was perfect timing because you could use the break.”
“Thanks.” I close my arms around her and kiss her cheek. “I think a weekend away will do me good.”
It doesn’t take long before the doorbell rings.
“That should be Peter,” I say, once again putting my arms around Mom. “You sure you’ll be okay here by yourself?”
“Of course, honey. Don’t worry about me. You just enjoy yourself.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I wave and make my way to the door.
Peter, Ava’s driver, tips his hat and wishes me a good morning. He’s been working for her family for years and was her personal driver when she was my age. He would drive Skylar and me to school every day after Aidan got together with Ava. So he knows me pretty well.
“It’s so good to see you, Peter,” I say with a smile and give him a quick hug.
After we get in the car and he drives me toward the mansion, we catch up on each other’s lives. Peter is on the older side, so it’s interesting to hear his perspective on a lot of things. Plus, he lived through a lot of major events, so it’s nice to hear firsthand what it was like. I’m almost sad when he slows down before the mansion.
“Thanks so much for the talk,” I tell him after he opens the door for me and helps me out of the car. “It’s so fascinating to hear your stories.”
“I’m thankful there are still young people like yourself who are eager to hear from old folks like us,” he says with a chuckle.
“Of course! You’re like a well of knowledge.”
After thanking him for the lift and wishing him a good day, I run up the stairs and ring the bell. The exterior of the mansion is so freakin’ beautiful. I think Ava’s paternal grandparents used to live here. But they gave the mansion to Aidan and Ava as a wedding gift.
One of the staff members, Barbara, greets me and welcomes me in. The interior of the house is even more stunning. It feels like I’m in a palace. I used to be a little worried about getting the shiny marble floor dirty, but Ava has assured me a million times that it’s okay. After all, they hope to have kids one day and they would want them to run around and have fun and not worry about making a mess.
Barbara leads me to where Ava sits on a lavish white sofa. She has a smile on her face as she taps through something on her laptop.
“Miss West is here, Ava,” Barbara tells her.
Ava’s eyes lift from her laptop. With a squeal, she puts it aside and jumps to her feet, rushing toward me and flinging her arms around me. “I missed you so much, Lexi!” She lets go and steps back. “Let’s see the future Clara.” She tucks a finger under her chin. “My, my. How beautiful is this kid? And so grown up. I remember when you were eight and came to your first dance practice. You were so excited. I didn’t think the light would ever leave your eyes. And I was right! It’s still there.”
I laugh. “Thanks for inviting me. I miss hanging out with you and Aidan.” I glance around the room. “Where is my brother?”
“My dad called for an emergency meeting right before you arrived. Aidan was so sweet to offer to go in my place so I could be here to welcome you. Your brother is so considerate. I can’t believe I married such an amazing man.”
I beam. “Kind to everyone around him, especially those he loves. Just like my dad.”
“What?” Ava asks.
“My mom and I were talking about my dad last night. She says she sees him in all three of us.”
“I wish I could have known him. He sounds like he was an unbelievable person.”
“He was.”
“Speaking of which.” She puts her arm around me and leads me to the sofa, placing the laptop on her knees. “I was just looking through old family photos your mom sent me. Your dad is in a lot of them.” She faces the laptop toward me and starts tapping through them.
Oh, wow. I haven’t seen these photos in years. I giggle as I point. “Oh my gosh. That’s Aidan.”
“I know, right? Such a cutie pie. Look at the serious look on his face.” She points to another photo. “He’s telling everyone not to mess with him. I know that look far too well.” She chuckles. “He gave me that look the day we met.”
I burst into laughter. “Where he basically called you a rich spoiled snob and accused you of thinking the world worships you.”
“But I told him off, didn’t I?” She chuckles again as she bumps her shoulder into mine. “I think the dude needed a slice of humble pie. I thought he and I would be enemies forever.”
“And yet, you married him.”
“And yet, I married him,” she agrees.
That makes us both laugh.
“Oh wow, look at this one.” Ava points to a photo where Dad is holding little old me at the hospital. “Look at that huge smile on his face. Your dad looked so unbelievably happy.”
“Because I was awesome the second I was born,” I joke.
“No seriously, you were,” she tells me. “I bet the whole room was full of sunshine the day you were born.”
I gently touch my dad’s face on the screen. “My dad has been mentioned a lot these past two days. I wonder if he’s trying to send me a message.”
“Hmm?” Ava asks.
I blink and shake my head. “My mom and I talked about my dad last night, and now you’re looking at photos of him, too. I guess it’s a little…I don’t know.”
“You must miss him so much,” Ava says softly as she rubs my shoulder.
“Yeah. And I miss him even more when I’m sad or confused about stuff.”
“Do you remember him well? You were seven when he passed away, right?”
I nod. “Sometimes I worry I’ll forget him, but then something happens in my life that triggers a memory, or a smell reminds me of him. Then I’m assured that I won’t ever forget him. And we have lots of videos of him, too. I’m glad Mom was into capturing memories.”
“Me, too. I haven’t looked through all the videos yet, but I’m excited to do so. Oh my gosh, look at this.” She points out a photo where the five of us are at an aquarium. I must have been like three or four. “Check out this humongous smile.” Ava taps my face on the screen. “You look like you’re in heaven.”
I grin as I study myself. “You think this was it? Did this spark my love for ocean life? Ooh, what am I holding there? Oh my gosh, that’s my first whale plushie.”
“Your mom has told me stories about that orca. You took it with you wherever you went. You almost lost it, too. That would have been a nightmare for your parents.”
“Hehe, yeah. I would have cried until I lost my voice. My dad was ready to rush to the aquarium to buy me another one, but my mom found it in time.” My eyes tear up. “He was such a good dad.”
“He was,” Ava agrees. She wraps her arm around me again. “I’m so glad my dad was able to get him the justice he deserves. I hope the guy who caused his death rots in prison.”
My dad died due to an accident at the factory where he worked. The owner was aware that the machinery wasn’t safe, but he didn’t give a darn. Ava’s dad vowed to hire private investigators and lawyers to compensate my family for the loss. Thankfully, we won the case, and Mom set aside the money for our futures.
“You and your family were so kind for helping us out,” I tell Ava. “I knew from the start that you were good people, even though Aidan made you sound like the devil.”
She chuckles. “That darn boy.”
“But you married him.”
“I married him.”
After spending some more time looking through the photos and some videos, Ava leads me to the kitchen, where their pastry chef, Chef Silas, has baked yummy goodies for all of us. Since my favorite pastries are cupcakes, he baked these delicious-looking velvet cupcakes that have my mouth watering. He prepared macarons for Ava and brownies for Aidan.
“Oh my gosh, thanks so much, Chef Silas,” I say as I dig in. “These are so freakin’ good.”
“And thanks for the macarons,” Ava tells him.
He inclines his head. “It’s my pleasure.”
“So tell me about your life, Lexi,” Ava says. “What are the kids into these days?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. Lots of stuff.”
“My mom tells me you kids are killing it at rehearsals. She swears the ballet will be a major hit. She can’t stop raving about you, Lexi. I can’t wait to see you guys perform.”
“Thanks. I’ve been staying after practice to work on my weak areas. I think I’m improving.”
“That’s great! But you’ll be amazing no matter what. Try not to put so much pressure on yourself. You should enjoy every second of it and have fun. Because when you get to my age?” She points at herself. “You unfortunately won’t have a lot of time for hobbies.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever stop dancing. I’ll be dancing on the boat as we sail to the whales,” I find myself saying.
Brock said that to me. At the thought of him, every single cell in my body fills with warmth, and a feeling of calmness and protection I only feel when I’m around him engulfs me. Even though I’m supposed to be focusing on myself, I can’t forget how much positivity and support he brought into my life.
“I bet you’ll even dance in the ocean with the whales and all other sea life,” Ava says with a smile. “You’ll bring sunshine to all the creatures, just like you do to humans.”
“You think way too highly of me, Ava,” I tell her as I take another bite of my cupcake.
“That’s because you’re so awesome. And you’re my little sister now. Of course you’ll always be awesome in my book.”
“Thanks. You’ll always be awesome in my book, too. You’ll always be my favorite sister-in-law.”
“Thanks, kiddo.”
After we’re done with our treats, we head to the game room for some arcade games. Ava has been playing these kinds of games all her life, but she knows how much I love a good challenge. So we spend the next few hours trying to beat each other, as well as playing some co-op games, too. When we’re neck in neck in a racing game, Ava suddenly releases a surprised squeak, which causes her car to veer off the track and crash, just inches away from the finish line. My blue car finishes in first place.
“Woohoo!” When I glance at Ava to see what distracted her, I notice that she is in Aidan’s arms and they are currently making out like they haven’t seen each other in months.
I smile as I watch them. I was a huge fan of Ava the moment I met her, but she and Aidan were mortal enemies. It’s so weird how much they’ve gone through to get to where they are right now. How did they fall in love? They freakin’ hated each other’s guts. Now, even a tornado wouldn’t be able to pull them apart.
When they finally release each other, Aidan hurries over to me and throws me into his arms. “Lexi! There’s my baby sister.”
“There’s my big brother.”
We catch up and then Aidan plays with us. The two of them even team up in a 1vs2 battle, and guess who wins? Yes, I am the queen of arcade games.
Then we eat a delicious meal prepared by their gourmet chef, and then settle down in the entertainment room for a good romance movie. Ava and I are in tears by the end of it because it’s such a sweet and heartfelt movie. I swear I see tears in Aidan’s eyes, too.
We stay up way too late talking about everything. I’m glad my brother and Ava don’t pry too much into my life, at least not about my love life. The truth is, I have been thinking about Brock here and there, but I’m enjoying myself so much that it’s easy to push him away and focus on having a good time.
Once I get comfy in my queen-sized bed, thoughts of Brock consume me. Seeing Aidan and Ava and how much love they have for each other inspires me to want to do the same for another person. I want to spend my life making someone happy, as well as allowing him to make me happy, too. Because a relationship is all about giving and receiving. My heart tries to convince me that the person I want to do that for is Brock, but I have to really think things through and determine if I can do that for him without jeopardizing my own happiness. I know I still have enough time to figure it out. Like my mom said, there’s no rush. If Brock and I are meant to be, then we will find a way to make it work. For now, I’m just happy to spend time with my amazing brother and his awesome wife.
***
Ava shoos Aidan away on Sunday afternoon because she wants to have “girl time” at the pool. He’s more than happy to let us share our special time together and decides to hang out with his best buddy, Tye.
After Ava and I change into our swimsuits, we spend a few hours in the pool. Her staff makes sure to keep the water at a perfect temperature. It feels so good to let loose and just swim. Whenever I’m in the water, especially at the deep end of a pool, I always imagine what it will be like when I’m swimming with marine mammals and fish. As a kid, I used to pretend that I was actually swimming with them. I would have full conversations with them in my mind and learn all about their amazing lives and very existence.
When Ava and I grow exhausted, we wrap towels around ourselves and sit on the edge of the pool, our toes touching the surface of the water. I lean my head on her shoulder. “Thanks so much for spending the weekend with me. I really needed this break.”
“Of course.” She lowers her head on mine. “I just hope you feel better about whatever you were worried about.”
“A little,” I admit. “Though he’s still constantly on my mind.”
“He? Ooh, I suspected this was about a guy. No surprise, huh? Boys. I swear they were created to drive us insane.”
That makes me laugh. I know she’s bursting to ask for details, but she’s so cool for not doing so. But I do feel comfortable opening up to her. “It’s Brock,” I admit.
“Ah. Can’t say I’m surprised. My friends and I suspected you guys would, er, get involved romantically…sorry, I don’t want to invade your privacy.”
“It’s okay. I think the whole town suspected it. But I guess everything changed after Andy’s death.” I lift my head and look at her. “How did you and Aidan fall in love? I mean, you guys hated each other’s guts. How the heck did you change so much?”
Ava’s quiet as she contemplates my question, her toes dipping into the water. “We didn’t know anything about each other at first. We judged each other based on…well, nothing, really. Aidan thought I was a spoiled rich girl who was out to get him because your dad was mistreated by a rich person. It wasn’t fair for him to assume my family was just as bad. And I guess I thought the worst in him after our altercation. I only saw him as a bad guy because he said pretty awful things to me. He might have been right that I was spoiled,” she says with a laugh. “But I was always trying to help the people around me.”
“Like my family,” I say with a smile. “You got Skylar to dance and to smile. You made her so much happier. And me, too. Dance changed my life.”
“I’m so glad for that. It was my mom’s dream to offer free dance classes to every kid in Edenbury because she wanted everyone to reach the stars. I think once Aidan and I were forced to spend time together, we started to actually see each other. See each other’s hearts. I realized he was such a good brother, a good son, and a good person. And I guess he thought I was pretty decent, too.”
“Just pretty decent?” I tease.
“But what changed everything for me? When he saved me from a potentially dangerous situation. He had a bad feeling about the jerk and listened to his instincts. He saved me, and I will always be grateful for that. Ever since that moment, I felt so protected by him. And I still do to this very day. I know he’ll never let anything happen to me.”
I feel the same way about Brock.
“And you did the same for Aidan,” I tell Ava. “When I ran off to the science museum and freaked him out.”
“Oh my gosh, I don’t think I ever saw him that scared before. I knew I had to do whatever I could to help him find you.”
“And you did. You were the one who figured out where I was.” I duck my head. “Sorry about that, by the way. But in my defense, Aidan promised he would take me to see the blue whale model. He broke his promise, and you know you’re not supposed to break your promise to a kid.”
Ava leans forward to kiss the top of my head. “At least it all worked out in the end and everyone was safe.” She moves back and plays with my curls. “Do you want to talk about Brock? It’s okay if you don’t. You just tell me what you want.”
I puff out my cheeks. “I don’t know. I had a long talk with my mom last night and I’ve been trying to make sense of my feelings…I just wonder how you know when someone is the right one for you. Like, I feel in my heart that he’s my soulmate, but he’s been through so much. We both have been through a lot. What if it’s not healthy for us to be together? I’m so confused.”
“Oh, kiddo. This is a hard one.”
I laugh lightly. “Seems like my whole life is a hard one.”
She puts her arm around me and pulls me close. “I can’t believe you’re old enough to deal with these kinds of issues. Yikes, the time flew by way too fast.” Her chest expands and contrasts with a deep sigh. “I think this is something you’ll need to figure out on your own. Of course I’ll be here for advice, and your mom, too, but I don’t think any of us have the right answer for you. The best you can do is pay close attention to how you feel. Think long and hard if this is something you want. I know what an amazing person Brock is. And yes, he’s been through a lot and has made some mistakes, but the kid has a heart of gold. I know he wants to be a good person and will try his best to make his girlfriend happy. Things aren’t always bunnies and rainbows. Relationships take a lot of work. But it’s worth it if you’re with the right person.”
“The only question I have to ask myself is if Brock is the right person. My mom said that if we’re meant to be together, we’ll figure out a way.”
“Exactly! That’s what I believe, too. It may take some time, but things will work out in the end. Trust me.”
“Okay.” I give her a brave smile.
She hugs me. “Want to order Chinese? We could buy from that expensive restaurant you love so much.”
“Yes, please!”