Chapter 6
AVA
Ava drummed her fingers against the controller as she waited for another round of the game to begin. She’d wiped the floor with both men in the last match, and she planned to do it again.
The tension of the secret meeting at the amusement park seemed to dissolve as they shared laughter with her and Alex playfully jabbing at each other with their elbows, each trying to throw off the other’s game.
But some of her anxiety still remained, particularly over the incident at the end. Something she had kept from Alex.
She hated to do it, but with precious little information available, she didn’t want to frighten him. They had enough on their plates, he didn’t need to worry about something that was likely nothing.
As the timer counted down and their race began, she used her controller to guide her car along the track, quickly pulling out in front.
Even as she hugged the curves tightly with the bright pink sports car, her mind regressed back to those frightening moments inside the carousel’s tent.
“Yeah, I’m good. I just…there’s something I need Doc to see,” she recalled choking out before she’d slumped against the carousel horse, her vision blurring.
Still, she’d had the presence of mind to strip off her camera and earpiece so Alex would be none the wiser to whatever was happening to her.
Chris had been the first one to enter, his brows furrowed.
She pressed a finger to her lips and mimed for him to remove his earpiece. Once it was off, he spoke. “Ava? What’s going on?”
She breathed through the buzzing panic that threatened to make her pass out.
“Ava?” Chris hurried over, concern on his face as Kyle joined them. She motioned for them to remove their earpieces, clinging to the carousel horse as she tried to steady herself.
Chris motioned to his earpiece, and Kyle removed it. Ava clung to the horse’s saddle, squeezing her eyes closed.
“Ava? What’s up?” Kyle asked.
“I don’t know,” she answered, her voice shaky. “Something’s wrong.”
The sensation began to fade, and she sucked in deep breaths as she finally opened her eyes again.
“What? What’s happening? Describe your symptoms.”
She bit her lower lip, shaking her head. “Uh, sudden burst of heat, weird feeling all over, blackness at the edges of my vision.”
Kyle pressed a hand to her forehead. “You’re clammy.”
“Uh-oh,” Chris said with a chuckle.
“Uh-oh, what?” Kyle asked as he checked her pulse. “Heart rate is too high.”
Chris scoffed. “Come on, Doc, you don’t know what this is? I know what this is?”
“If you make a bad joke about how I’m lovesick over you, I’m going to pummel you,” Ava said as she straightened, testing her weak legs.
“I’m not. Oh my goodness, how am I the only person who knows what’s happening? I mean, I know you didn’t get along with your mom, but geez, Ava…you seem savvier than this.”
Kyle set his hands on his hips. “He has a point. Could you be pregnant?”
“No, yes, I don’t…why is that always the question?” Ava asked.
“Because that’s always a possibility with a woman of your age, and it can cause similar symptoms,” Kyle answered.
Chris raised his eyebrows. “Wait, that wasn’t what I was thinking.”
“What were you thinking?” Ava asked.
“Hot all over, cranky, woman of her age…menopause, right? She’s having a hot flash.” Chris shrugged his shoulders as he set the matter to rest in his mind.
Ava clicked her tongue. “I’m not that old.”
“Close enough,” Chris answered. “Plus, all the stress going on may have speeded it up.”
Ava raised her eyes to the tent’s ceiling, her fingers curling into fists.
“You could be showing early signs but without some blood work, we don’t know. I’d start with that and a pregnancy test as much as you don’t want to hear that,” Kyle said. “We may need to go further if those show nothing. How many times has this happened?”
Ava’s nostrils flared as she worked to lower her racing heart. “This is the second time. Oh, umm, not a word of this to Alex, okay? He has enough on his plate, and this is probably nothing.”
“Ava…” Kyle said, his features pinching.
“Please,” she said, her eyes turning pleading as she stared up at him.
“Fine. I won’t say anything, but if this turns out to be something–”
“I will tell him. But if it’s nothing, why get him all upset over it? It’s probably like a vitamin deficiency or something stupid.” Ava shifted her gaze to Chris. “Can I trust you?”
Chris held his hands up. “I’m not going to say anything. But I can’t believe you’re asking me for this. Your precious Alex.”
“Stop it,” she said with a wag of her finger, her features taut. “I don’t want him upset over nothing.”
Kyle slipped his arm around her shoulders. “We’re all on the same page here. It’s fine. We’ll get going on the next steps whenever we discreetly can move forward.”
Ava bobbed her head. “We’d better get out there before Alex panics.”
The memory faded from her mind as she crossed the finish line first, and shot the other two men a grin. “Two back-to-back wins!”
“We bow down before your supreme racing skills, Sparky,” Alex said as he lowered his head.
“My supreme racing skills are in need of a bathroom break.” She tossed the controller down as she rose. “Play a round without me.”
“We’ll wait,” Alex said, lifting the bottle of orange soda to his lips.
“No, go ahead. You can get a round in the time it takes me to get upstairs.”
Alex reached for her hand as she passed, and she leaned over to give him a quick peck. “I’ll be right back.”
She hurried from the room and took the stairs two by two to the upstairs hall, heading in the opposite direction of their bedroom. She snaked around the corner to another hallway, tiptoeing down to the door at the end.
With a soft knock, she shifted her weight from foot to foot as she waited for someone to open it. A few seconds later, Julia pulled the door open, peering into the hallway.
“Ava, hey. Everything okay?”
“Yeah, umm, can I talk to you for a second…privately?”
Julia pulled the door open and motioned for her to entire the bedroom suite. “Grant’s out on the balcony on the phone. What’s up? Do you need me to do some more driving around, pretending to be you?”
Ava shook her head. “No, but I do need a favor from you. And I need you to keep it between us.”
“Sure, what is it?”
Ava heaved a sigh, flicked her gaze from her feet to Julia. “I need a pregnancy test.”
Julia’s eyes lit up, the corners of her lips tugging into a smile. “Ava!”
“No, it’s not. I don’t think I am. I just need to rule it out.”
“Something going on?” Julia asked. “Why do you need to keep this a secret?”
“I had a few incidents where I’ve had some weird symptoms. Hot all over, blackening vision, that sort of thing. I’ve already told Doc, and he wanted to rule out pregnancy. And don’t say menopause, because I’ve already heard that, too.”
“You’re a little young for that,” Julia answered. “But…again, why is this a secret?”
“Because I don’t want to worry Alex. He has enough on his plate right now. And I don’t want to get his hopes up with a pregnancy test that I think will be negative.”
“What if it isn’t?” Julia asked.
Ava pressed her lips together. “Then I’ll tell Alex, and the problem is solved. But…I don’t think that’s the case. I just want to rule it out so Doc can figure this out.”
“Well, I’m happy to help.” Julia glanced at Grant who paced the balcony outside their room, his finger poking angrily at the ground as he spoke. “Do you want me to go now?”
“No, you don’t have to race right out—but if you can, I’d appreciate it. I really need to know what’s going on.”
“Well, of course you want to know. And I’m not exactly busy at the moment. Grant will be on there for hours.” Julia chuckled and waved a hand in the air as she reached for her purse.
“Oh, uh…I can give you my card–”
“Don’t worry about it. I can afford it,” Julia said with a smile. “When I get back, I’ll hang on to it until I can get it to you discreetly.”
“Maybe give it to Doc,” Ava answered. “I don’t want this to cause any…weird things between you and Grant.”
Julia chuckled but nodded. “Right. I’ll give it to Kyle. Kyle can give it to you.”
Ava bobbed her head before she pulled Julia into a hug. “Thanks, Julia. This helps.”
“You’re welcome. And for what it’s worth, I hope it’s something super simple like a pregnancy. I don’t mean to sound presumptuous, but…you and Alex would be great parents.”
“Yeah, I don’t know about all of that but…”
“Come on,” Julia said with a grin, “you’re both smart and successful. You love each other so much. You’d be great at it. But anyway…we’ll see.”
Ava thanked her again before she slipped from her room, hurrying downstairs before Julia did.
“Anybody need a refill while I’m up?” she asked as she headed back in the room.
“I was just about to grab some snacks,” Alex said as he rose. “I killed Doc in that round, and I’m celebrating.”
“Ah, perfect. You want me to grab them.”
“No, I’ve got it,” he said as he guided her back to the couch and eased her onto it.
“Don’t forget the candy!” she called, her voice cheery before she lowered it and twisted to face Kyle. “Your stepmother is getting me a pregnancy test. She’s going to give it to you, and you can keep it until I can discreetly take it.”
“Okay,” Kyle said with a nod. “I can do that.”
“You haven’t told him anything, right?”
“Nope,” Kyle answered.
“Because he’s asking. He’s suspicious. When we got home, that’s why he wanted to change his hoodie. He wanted to ask me what really happened. I feel like he’s going to ask you that, too.”
“Not so far. And I’m all good with the story I came up with anyway. You think it was a bug.”
As she settled into the cushions, a wave of unease washed over her. The thought of something being truly wrong gnawed at her, but she pushed it aside, forcing herself to stay focused on the immediate task.
Ava bobbed her head, her heart in her throat. She hated lying to Alex, but she didn’t want him worrying over nothing.
Still, the situation with keeping it a secret until she had more information was already wearing on her more than the two odd experiences she’d had.
They already had enough problems with The Board and the endless intrigue surrounding it. Her health didn’t need to be another concern.
But for her, it was. Until she uncovered the cause of these strange episodes, she’d continue to worry.