43. Will
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Will
The lady at the grocery store checkout gave me a funny look when she saw I was buying four bouquets of flowers. She said I must have messed up badly if I needed four bouquets to make up for it.
I just laughed and said they were for the only four women I’ve ever loved. She didn’t need to know the specifics of who those women are.
I bring fresh flowers to Liv’s grave every few weeks. It might be small and rather silly, but it’s important to me. I want her to know that I’m still thinking about her. That I miss her.
I pull into the cemetery parking lot so I can deliver my first bunch of flowers. My foot stutters on the brake, seeing Avery standing at the entrance. She starts to walk away, but she quickly turns back around and passes through the arch.
I inch the truck the rest of the way into the parking spot before hastily grabbing the flowers and follow Avery. I find her sitting on the grass by Liv’s headstone.
I’m about to close the distance between us when her words stop me in my tracks.
“Lyles—that’s what I call her most of the time—she makes me smile more than I thought was possible. She’s so smart it makes me worried for when she’s older.”
You and I both…
“Hopefully she’ll use those skills for good and not evil.”
I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing when I hear Avery start to giggle. I don’t want to interrupt her.
“She is sassy as hell. Your brothers say she got that from you. I believe them, but I think some of that might have come from Miles, too.” She shakes her head. “He won’t admit it, but he’s a little sassy, too.”
I bring my hand to cover my mouth because she is so right. Miles isn’t anywhere near as sassy as Liv was, but he has his moments where it shines bright and clear. I love that she sees that part of him.
Her tone turns more serious. “I know what it’s like growing up without a mom. I’m never going to try to replace you in her life. I just want to be there for her in any way I can. She makes my days better when I’m around her, and I want to do the same for her for as long as she’ll have me.”
Her words tug at every single one of my heart strings. It’s easy to forget everything this woman has gone through. She’s strong and fierce, but she had to go through a lot to get to that point.
I want to hug the woman standing a few yards away, but I also want to hug the little girl who lost her mom when she was just a kid just like Lyla did.
Maybe that’s why the two of them get along so well. They understand each other on a level most wouldn’t.
She tilts her head, resting her cheek against her bent knee. “I get why you wanted all three of your brothers to raise her. They’re kind of the perfect team in their own way. It just works. Being their own family helped them all heal after you were gone. I know you did that on purpose.”
Liv never outright said it, but I know that was part of her intention behind her final wishes for us to raise Lyla together. She knew it was best for all of us, not just her little girl.
“I love them… all three of them,” Avery says.
“I know that’s probably weird to hear about your brothers, that I love all three of them in that way, but I think if I had siblings, I would want them to be happy and loved.
” She pauses for a second. “I am so in love with all of them. It’s hard to remember what it felt like before they all consumed my heart. ”
The love I have for this woman explodes in my chest.
Her voice breaks. “I promise to take care of them, too.”
I can’t take it anymore. My feet start moving toward her before I even know what I’m doing. I crouch behind her.
Gently, I touch her shoulder, not wanting to scare her. “Baby,” I say quietly.
She takes in a sharp breath, eyes wide when she glances over her shoulder. Her whole body relaxes when she sees it’s me.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” I say, running my hand over her arm.
“What are you doing here?” she asks.
I hold up the flowers in my other hand. I press a kiss to the side of Avery’s head, then move to the side.
“Hey, sis,” I say, pulling the flowers from the plastic wrapping and arranging them in the metal vase Miles welded for Liv. “I hope Avery isn’t giving you too much trouble.”
A hand smacks against my shoulder as I slide the last of the flowers into place. I turn to smile at Avery over my shoulder.
“I am not trouble,” she says, tossing her hands out on either side of her.
I quirk a brow. “Are you sure about that, rebel?”
She rolls her eyes. That’s okay. I’ll take her annoyance over sadness any day.
I move over until I’m sitting at her side. Grabbing her hips, I swing her around so she’s straddling me.
“Will,” she yelps, gripping onto my shoulders to steady herself.
“Yes, love.”
She sighs, sliding her hands around my neck. Her delicate fingers toy with the short hair on the back of my neck. “Did you hear everything I said?”
I shrug, feeling a little guilty. “Most of it, yeah. Sorry.”
She glares at me for a few seconds before her eyes soften. “You already knew everything I said.”
True.
I trace my thumbs in circles on her back. I’ve been wanting to talk to her about something for a few weeks now, but I’ve never found the right time.
Our life is beautiful, but it’s also kind of crazy. Coordinating five peoples’ schedules should be a full-time job.
I guess now is the perfect time, even if we are in the middle of the cemetery.
“Avery.”
Her eyes dart up to look at me. “Yeah.”
“Do you want to stay here after the election is done?” I ask. My muscles draw taut as I hold her against me, waiting anxiously for her response.
I’m pretty sure I know what her answer is going to be, but I don’t know for sure. I need to hear the words come from her mouth.
Aspen Springs is a small town. There aren’t a lot of job opportunities here in the field of political science.
I want her to stay and continue to build a life with us more than I want to have a steaming cup of black coffee every morning for the rest of my life, but I don’t want to hold her back from having a career she loves.
“There isn’t anywhere else I want to be,” she says. There isn’t an ounce of hesitation or regret in her tone. She takes a deep breath. “I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do, but I know I would rather be here figuring that out than anywhere else with the perfect job laid out in front of me.”
I let out a heavy exhale, relief flooding through me. “I wish we could all follow you wherever your dreams take you.”
She starts shaking her head. “I don’t. This town is a part of my dream. I not only fell in love with all of you this summer. I fell in love with this town.” She moves her hand around her. “This is where I want to be.” She cringes. “Well, maybe not at the cemetery specifically, but…”
“I know what you mean,” I say. It warms my heart knowing she loves this town I’ve lived in my whole life, and this is where she wants to build her life.
“If I could live anywhere in the world, I would still choose here,” she says. “The only place my dreams are going to lead me is right back here.”
“You sure?”
“One thousand percent,” she says, then leans in and kisses me.
We kiss softly for a minute before I pull back. “We will all help you figure out the job stuff. There might be something here in town, or you could drive to one of the towns close by.” I furrow my brows, trying to think of more options. “Or… you could do something online.”
“I love you,” she says, dragging me from the problem-solving bubble I’ve fallen into.
“What?”
Her smile is soft and filled with so much adoration. “I love you,” she repeats.
“I love you, too,” I say, tightening my hold on her back until her chest is pressed against mine. “We will figure it out together.”
“Together,” she echoes.
“Speaking of together,” I say, between a few barely there kisses against her soft lips, “when are you going to move into the house with us?”
All of us were completely on board with Avery moving into the main house with us, but she has insisted on staying in the guesthouse.
She’s there with us all the time, but she’s kept her own space. I don’t want to rush her, but I want her to be fully immersed in our lives.
This includes having her move into the vacant main bedroom that seems to have been waiting just for her. She was the reason none of us wanted to claim it when we moved it, even if we didn’t know it at the time.
It was always waiting for her to complete our family.
“This all moved so fast. Do you think that’s a good idea?” she asks.
“Has it been too fast for you?”
She shakes her head. “Not at all.”
“Then nothing else matters. We want you to live under the same roof with us because you’re a part of our family. Things will be complete with you there all the time.”
“You really can be a smooth talker when you want to be, Will Kingston.”
“Does that mean you’re going to say yes?” I ask.
She starts laughing. “Yes.” A pretty pink blush spreads over her cheeks.
“Really?” I ask, not quite believing she gave in that easily. Usually she puts up a lot more fight when I’m trying to convince her to do things.
Unless it’s in the bedroom, and then she’s kind of sweet and fucking adorable.
“Yup. I’m ready,” she says.
“You know what this means. Right?”
She wiggles her ass against me, making me groan. She gives me a little smirk, knowing exactly what she’s doing. “What’s that?”
“Once you move in with us, that’s forever,” I say.
Her smile widens. “Forever sounds pretty good to me.”
Fuck yeah it does.
She scoots down a little so she can rest her head against my shoulder. We sit in silence with our arms wrapped around each other.
We don’t have everything figured out, but we will navigate it together.
“I have another stop before I head home. Do you want to come with me?” I ask, running my hand through her silky black ponytail.
“Sure.”
I tell Liv bye, kissing my fingertips and pressing them to the top of the headstone like I always do. I grab the trash from the flowers and shove it in my pocket.