Chapter Thirty-Three
Ben
I hadn’t heard from Ava since this morning, when she’d told me she was about to talk with Jules. My phone dinged, and I checked it for the hundredth time in the last hour, but it was only Charlie telling me she’d be here in a few.
Taking another walk around the downstairs of the newly-listed property, I went back through my mental checklist of problem areas to mention to Charlie. This time, I’d made sure to give her enough warning so that she could do a walkthrough with me and schedule her team to come before I started showing it. The pasta dinner had helped with the haphazard cleaning of my grandma’s place, but I knew she’d only let me get away with that so many times.
Plus, I liked to be prepared. I didn’t like throwing together a showing like that. If my proximity to Ava hadn’t made me temporarily insane, it probably wouldn’t have happened at all.
That thought brought me full circle back to worrying over Ava. I honestly had no idea how Jules would react, and I knew how much her friendship meant to Ava.
A booming knock on the door had me opening it and greeting Charlie. She didn’t smile much, and she didn’t have what I would call ‘warmth,’ but she was one of the best people I knew. Dressed in washed out jeans and her company t-shirt, she strode in and took a look around.
“What happened here?” she asked, her nose scrunching.
I sighed. “Cats. A lot of cats.”
She shot me a withering look. “I can clean it, but you’re gonna need to prepare yourself to have to replace some shit. That smell does not come out of carpet easily.”
“I thought you were the best,” I prodded with a toothy grin.
“I am, but I already told you I’m not magic. Sometimes it comes out fine, but,” she took a long, disgusted look at the grungy, stained carpet, then turned back to me, “this isn’t looking like one of those times.”
“Let’s hope you’re wrong, then.” I handed her the list of my biggest concerns. “How long till it’s ready to show?”
“I need to take a look around,” she muttered, glancing at the paper before tucking it into her pocket. “Based on what I see already and the bookings I’ve already got, I’d say you could open it maybe in a week, but—”
“You need to look around first,” I finished for her with a smile.
She tipped her pointer finger at me in agreement before taking off down the hall to start her assessment.
I knew this was going to be a massive cleaning project. Some houses were so tidy I could just start showing them. Most needed a little TLC, but nothing this intense, and typically the homeowners would do it themselves. But the lady who owned this house had passed recently, and her out-of-town family opted to sell. They weren’t able to come to town anytime soon, so I told them I’d handle it to move things along. They’d warned me about the state of the house, but it honestly hadn’t prepared me for the eye-watering odors that assaulted me upon entry. How someone had actually lived here was beyond me.
It wasn’t standard practice for selling agents to clean their clients’ homes, but in cases where the owner had passed away and relatives lived out of town, I did it as part of the package. Plus, it ensured that everything measured up to my standards of sale.
My phone dinged again.
Ava: Can I stop by?
A chill ran up my spine, but I shook it away. That was a completely neutral message. She could want to break up, or to tell me the good news in person that Jules took it incredibly well. The message told me nothing, and it was clear she’d rather discuss it face to face.
Honestly, I was hella busy with several new listings that had come up this week and another closing going through, but this couldn’t wait. And neither could I.
I replied with the address of the house. Fifteen minutes later she walked in the door, only to step back, her face contorted and her hand flying to cover her nose.
“Oh my God, what is that?”
I gestured for her to move onto the porch to talk away from the smell, closing the door behind us.
“The reason I’m never getting a cat,” I answered.
“I’ve been to houses with cats. They don’t smell like that. It smells like she didn’t have litter boxes.”
I nodded. “Not sure, but it does seem that way. She also had a lot of cats. Not the usual one or two.”
Ava’s eyes went wide. “How many?”
“You’re not going to believe me,” I laughed. “Eighteen.”
Her mouth fell open, drawing my full attention and reminding me why she’d come by in the first place.
“Hey, so how’d it go with Jules?”
A pained look overtook her beautiful face. “She left.”
Damn. That was even worse than I’d expected. “I’m so sorry, Ava,” I whispered, opening my arms to offer a hug.
She flew into them, squeezing me tight.
“Who left?” Charlie asked from behind us. “Wasn’t trying to eavesdrop. Just looking for Ben.”
I pivoted, keeping my arms around Ava but giving her space to face Charlie. “Ava’s roommate,” I answered, not wanting to make her say it again.
“It’s my fault,” Ava told her softly.
“It is not your fault,” I corrected. “You did everything right, and it’s totally normal for her to be upset. She’ll come around.” I didn’t know if I believed that, but it was worth hoping.
Charlie looked from me to Ava and back, then crossed her tattooed arms and leaned against the doorframe. “Is this one of those things where you want advice but you don’t want to ask for it? Because I’m nosy as shit and happy to oblige.”
“I’d love advice, but I think the damage has been done,” Ava replied.
Charlie’s discerning eyes narrowed at me, so I gave her a quick rundown of the situation. She nodded, asked a few clarifying questions, and thought for a moment when I’d finished.
“Let me ask you this,” she said to Ava. “If it were you in her place, if she asked to date your ex, same situation, what would you tell her?”
Ava bit her lower lip, her brow furrowing. “Honestly, I really think I would tell her it was fine. I just want my friends to be happy.”
“I can vouch for that answer,” I added. Ava would absolutely give the go-ahead, even if it was secretly breaking her heart.
“And she’s your best friend?”
Ava nodded. “One of them, yeah.”
Charlie threw her hands up, pushing off the doorframe. “Then you’re fine.”
“Fine?” Ava repeated in disbelief. “How am I fine? She clearly didn’t take it well.”
“Friends want each other to be happy, like you said. Yeah, she’s upset now. Probably in a bit of shock over it. But give her some time, give her some space, and I’d be willing to bet she’ll come to the same realization that you did: that you don’t lose good friendships over one disagreement.”
I stared at Charlie in shock. “Do you also have a secret degree in sociology?”
Charlie snorted. “Yeah, it’s called life. But I won’t charge you this time. Oh,” she gave me her full attention, “we should have this place ready in a week.”
“Thanks, Charlie,” I called as she headed down the porch steps to her car.
Ava took a deep, heaving breath, turning to face me. “Do you think she’s right?”
“It makes sense,” I thought aloud, “but you know Jules better than either of us. Do you think she’s right?”
“I hope so. Jules did say we could date, but I’m not sure I’m buying it, considering she left.”
“Makes sense,” I agreed. “Listen, I’ve got a ton of work to get through today, but how about tonight I stop by and we can do some painting? I’ll bring dinner so you don’t have to be subjected to my cooking.”
I got a little laugh out of her at that, but she shook her head, blonde waves falling across her shoulders. “I think I just want to chill with you. I’m not feeling terribly enterprising at the moment.”
“You got it.” I pulled her in for a sugar-sweet kiss, walking her to her car and opening the door for her.
As I watched her pull away, I got an idea. We could definitely chill tonight, but the more I considered it, the more I decided I was still going to surprise her.
The idea struck me ages ago, way back when we first started meeting up and actually talking to each other. And this presented the perfect opportunity to enact it.