Chapter 15
ALEX
Alex drummed his fingers against the white tablecloth, taking another sip of his wine as his eyes rested on the empty chair across from him.
Ava had jetted away from the table moments ago, the look on her delicate features masking hidden pain.
He wanted to go after her, but he’d seen her push through the ladies’ room door. He would have burst in there, but he didn’t want to make a scene, and he was unsure of himself with her now.
In the past, he wouldn’t have hesitated like this, but now…now, everything seemed like an orchestrated dance. And he had to carefully watch his foot placement to make certain he didn’t step on anyone’s toes and end the number too early.
The waitress fluttered over to ask about dessert.
“Ah, actually,” he said, “my wife is…not feeling well. Could you check on her? She’s in the ladies’ room.”
“Of course, Mr. Stone.”
She crossed to the ladies’ room door and pushed inside. His leg bobbed as he waited for some sign of her.
The waitress emerged a moment later, scurrying back to the table. “Mr. Stone, Mrs. Stone said she is fine and will be back in a moment.”
“Thank you,” he answered before his gaze centered on the door again, waiting to see Ava appear.
He’d learned a little more about her relationship with Constructor Chris. Nowhere near enough to start picking it apart, but it did seem that there may be some cracks.
Why did it seem like she was hiding a part of herself away from her new fiancé?
He didn’t have long to ponder the question as Ava emerged from the ladies’ room and crossed to the table, plopping into the chair.
“Sorry,” she said with a slight smile, “too much wine.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. She hadn’t had that much to drink. Something upset her. Was it his questions or something deeper? She’d run out right after saying she loved her fiancé.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes,” she answered setting her fork and knife on her plate before she shoved it sideways. “I’m fine. Should we grab the check?”
“No dessert?” he asked. When she was upset, chocolate and sugar usually did the trick.
“Uhh,” she murmured, still seeming a little unsure of herself.
“Can I interest you in dessert?” the waitress asked as if on cue.
Alex kept his eyes trained on his wife. “What do you have with chocolate?”
“I’ve got just the thing,” the waitress answered before she disappeared.
Ava’s smile finally seemed more genuine. “Chocolate?”
“You love chocolate.”
“I do,” she answered before her voice turned wistful. “I do.”
The arrival of the six-layer chocolate cake brought a smile to her face as she lifted a fork to dig in. “You’re sharing this with me, right?”
“Unless you want that entire giant piece of cake,” he answered. “Which is fine. If you need that much chocolate to cheer you up.”
“I’m not upset,” she claimed, her eyes fixed on the cake. “And I don’t need this much chocolate unless you want to hold my hair back later while I’m sick.”
“You sure?” He poked at the cake with the tines of his fork, sliding it through some of the melted ice cream on the plate.
“I’m really positive I’d rather not throw up later, yes.” She offered him a coy smile.
He chuckled at the silly joke, though he wasn’t going to let her slide that easily by ignoring his question. “That’s funny, Avs. I meant are you sure you’re not upset.”
“No, I’m not. Why would I be upset?”
“You seemed upset when you practically tripped yourself fleeing from the table.”
“I didn’t,” she claimed. “I’m getting too old for heels this high.”
“Mmm, not buying it,” he answered. “But if you’re sure you’re fine…”
“I’m fine, Ace. I’m actually better than fine.” Her voice matched her words this time, and so did the smile she flashed him. “I’ve got chocolate, and I’m looking forward to gaming tonight.”
“How about a walk on the beach before that?”
“Yes,” she said, her tension seeming to dissipate. Funny, how when they talked about Chris, she seemed so tense, but the moment they left his name out of it, her mood changed. “Let’s do that.”
He wanted to test his theory by bringing up her fiancé again, but he didn’t want to upset her any further. The smile he loved so much had returned, and he intended to keep it there.
He wouldn’t mar their alone time together. A walk on the beach followed by a night of gaming could cement in her mind how great their relationship could be.
How it compared to her relationship with Chris was still a mystery, but he was working to make certain it wasn’t. Little by little, he’d learn what he needed to know.
They polished off the cake, and he paid the bill before they left the restaurant behind and returned to the house, choosing the private strip of beach steps from his door for their walk.
“Leave the shoes,” Alex said as he pulled the sliding door open to the pool area.
“Are you finally ready to admit I’m too old for these heels?”
“No, I’m ready to admit you’ll have to carry them unless you want to ditch them on the dunes and get them all sandy.”
Ava frowned down at the killer kicks. “I’ll carry them. I don’t want to walk all the way down there barefoot…I guess I can run up and grab–”
Her words stopped when he scooped her up into his arms. “There, now you don’t have to.”
“Alex!” she protested, her arms around his neck. “Put me down. I’ll just grab a pair of sandals.”
“And miss your favorite moments right around dusk. Kick off the shoes.”
“Just put me–”
“Kick off the shoes,” he said, his tone firm, “you’re wasting time.”
“You’re wasting time,” she claimed.
“We can stand here all night.”
“You think you’re funny, do you?” she asked as she kicked the shoes from her feet.
They clattered to the floor below, and he stepped through the door into the evening air.
“This is ridiculous, Ace. I could have gotten my sandals.”
“And you could just let me carry you. I’ve done it before. Remember the time you weren’t feeling well at the amusement park?”
“Ugh,” she groaned as he descended the wooden stairs to the walkway leading over the dunes. “Don’t remind me. That was the worst. But you took very good care of me.”
He grinned at her, pleased that she remembered. “I tried.”
He placed her on the sand, her arms still lingering around his neck as she got her footing.
“You did a good job,” she said. “You carried me to the car, and you rubbed my back until I fell asleep after you held my hair when I threw up seven times. And you kept putting those cool cloths on me until my fever broke.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets to stop himself from grabbing her hand. “Wow, I can’t believe you remember all that. I thought you were pretty out of it.”
“I was a little sick, but I wasn’t that out of it. I’m sure there were plenty of other things you could have done that night.”
“But nothing I’d rather have done,” he admitted. He remembered that night vividly, too. And while he’d been heartsick over how ill she’d been, he wouldn’t have traded her falling asleep in his arms for anything.
“Yeah right,” she teased. “I’m sure. Holding my hair while I clung to the toilet was the highlight of your night. Or maybe a feverish me falling asleep on you was because I’ll bet my hot skin pressed all over you was a real treat.”
He couldn’t take any more. His hand instinctively left his pocket and wrapped around her shoulder, pulling her closer. “It didn’t matter to me. I just wanted you to feel better.”
The warmth of her hand around his waist bolstered him. The sensation faded quickly as his mind conjured the image of Chris tending to her while she was sick. It made him as heartsick as the thought of her ill had that night.
He glanced down at her to find her smiling up at him. “You always took care of me no matter how much of a mess I was.”
“Ava Collins was never a mess,” he answered with a squeeze of her shoulder.
She giggled at his words. “Yes, I was. The night I broke up with Kevin. The night I was sick. The night I had that fight with Kim. Should I keep naming times?”
“You weren’t a mess, Avs. You were you. Upset, angry, sick, whatever, that’s all part of being Ava Collins.”
She let her head rest on his shoulder as they continued their stroll down the sand.
“I’m sure Chris has told you that,” he ventured, hoping it didn’t ruin the moment between them.
The hesitation before she spoke told him almost as much as the answer. “Uhh, Chris isn’t so good with sickness or messy situations.”
His brow furrowed but before he could speak again, she continued, her voice rushed, almost apologetic. “It’s not that he doesn’t care. He does. He calls and checks in but…he just…doesn’t want to get too close. Like he doesn’t want to catch anything.”
“But what about taking care of you? Doesn’t he want to make sure you’re okay?”
“Well, he does,” she said with a shrug. “He just…does it through text instead of in person.”
Alex let out a laugh, some of it born of annoyance with the man. “What’s he going to do once you’re married?”
“Sleep in another room? Get a hotel room? Hard to say with Chris. He has some strange ideas sometimes.”
“What’s that mean?” Alex asked.
She snapped her gaze to him, sliding a lock of hair behind her cheek. “Nothing. He’s just…Chris likes things a certain way. And he doesn’t like to deviate from that. He likes things just so.”
“People get sick. People have bad days. It doesn’t sound like he understands that.”
“He does. He just…I’m making it sound worse than it is.”
“It sounds like unless you’re perfect, Chris can’t handle it. That’s no way to live.”
“No,” she argued. “Not really. He just…he’s a little…”
His mind filled in the words he’d use. More concerned with appearances. Hands-off when things get real. Detached when it comes to things that aren’t perfect. Loved the idea of Ava, but not her reality. He stopped any of those thoughts from spilling out of his mouth. “A little what?”
“Squeamish when it comes to life’s messiness.”
“Well, life has a lot of that, so he probably should get over himself.”
“Thankfully, ours doesn’t have too much.”