Chapter Forty
Ben
I got Travis’s text as I was heading to have breakfast with Mom, and let out a heavy breath in relief.
Travis: She’s okay. Overslept. Just opened.
I’d asked him to check on her this morning since I knew she’d had such a shit day yesterday and he’d be right next door working on the bookshop. We both thought it would be a simple check-in. But when she didn’t show up and wasn’t answering her phone, I’d had my keys in hand to drive to her place.
Until Travis reminded me that we’d broken up specifically so she could show Jules she was staying away from me. Talk about a rough morning.
It wasn’t like Ava to oversleep. I couldn’t remember her being late to anything ever, even in high school.
Opening Mom’s creamy front door, I pushed Ava from my mind. This morning was about my mom. Ava’s advice about just asking her point-blank rolled around in my mind all day yesterday—at least before the heartbreaking conversations in the kitchen began. Maybe if I told Mom what I’d been thinking, she’d just tell me what was going on. I wasn’t good at having the hard conversations, but this seemed like one that needed having.
“Hey, there, sweetie,” Mom greeted me, setting plates of leftovers onto the kitchen table. “It was nice of you to stop by this morning.”
After a hug and a kiss on her cheek, I sat down in the same chair I’d used my entire life. “I always enjoy seeing you, Mom,” I told her. “But I do have an ulterior motive.”
Her face fell, her hands dropping to the side of her plate. “I am sorry about the sale price,” she said. “If there was any way I could lower it, you know I would.”
“I do,” I agreed. “And that’s why I’m here. Did you want to tell me what’s going on finally, or should I keep guessing?”
Mom’s blue eyes, the same shade as mine and Liam’s, went wide. “You’ve been guessing?”
“Yup.” I grabbed one of the leftover blueberry and lemon scones. “But Ava thought I should just ask you because the truth is probably nowhere near as dramatic.”
She settled back in her chair, leveling me a pensive look. “I’ll tell you what,” she began, “You tell me what’s going on with you and Ava—as I, too, have been guessing—and I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
“So we’ll just be honest?”
“I find that’s best, even though it isn’t always the best-received. Now,” she grabbed a scone for herself and a spoonful of mixed fruit, “you first.”
“It’s a long story,” I warned her, but she waved me on. “I broke up with Jules in high school because I realized that I liked Ava, and it wasn’t fair to Jules.”
Mom almost choked on her scone. “ That was not what I expected.” She pressed a napkin to her mouth. “At all. If you’ve liked her so long, why on earth didn’t you ask her out sooner?”
“She hated me for breaking Jules’s heart,” I explained. “She’s a loyal friend. And you know it’s bad form to date your best friend’s ex.”
“True, true,” Mom agreed. “But you’re dating now? That’s all in the past, right?”
“We went on a few dates, but when Ava told Jules she didn’t take it well,” I muttered. “Now, because of me, her friends are bailing on her left and right, so we broke up. I really had thought that if I just forgot all that embarrassment from so long ago, it would disappear, but here it is, still haunting me.”
“You mean the same way you forgot that Grandma died?”
I squinted at her. “That’s not the same at all.”
“Isn’t it? Every time something happens that you don’t like, you simply will it away. Most of the time it works, though I don’t condone ignoring those emotions the way you do. But every once in a while, things refuse to be put into that tidy little box you’ve set aside for them. You’ve done it since you were little,” she smiled. “Moms notice stuff like that, but we learn better than to say it.”
“Alright,” I sighed, refusing to think about how right she was and proving her theory correct in the process. “Then what do I do?”
“What do you want to do?”
Wasn’t that the million-dollar question? “For a long time I thought I wanted to leave,” I told her, sorting through my thoughts as I spoke. “I thought getting out of here would separate me from all the things I wanted to forget and make it easier to do just that.”
Mom smiled, sipping her coffee. “And now?”
“I just want to be with Ava,” I admitted. “I’ve always just wanted to be with Ava. But I have no idea how to make that happen.”
“Give it time,” she said gently. “These things have a way of working themselves out, especially if everyone involved wants it to be different.”
“Thanks.” I tried smiling, but I wasn’t sure I felt better. “But that’s enough of my sob story. Now it’s time for yours.”
“Ugh,” Mom groaned. “Alright, but you have to promise you won’t think less of your father. I’ve been trying to cover for him, but apparently you’re too clever.”
That she brought up Dad right away only made me more nervous. “Is everything okay with him?”
“Yes and no. He’s fine, not hurt or sick or anything. Happy as a clam at his dig. But it was brought to my attention earlier this year that he’s been too busy with his projects to remember to pay our bills.”
Now it was my turn to stare in shock. “What bills?”
“The mortgage. Property taxes. You know, the types of bills that allow you to keep your home. He failed to mention that he wasn’t going to keep doing that, and I haven’t ever done any of those things, so they were completely off my radar. If he’d told me, I would’ve been happy to help him get it done, but,” she pointed at me, “this is why you need good communication.”
“So you don’t lose your house?” I exclaimed. “Mom—” I started offering to help her, but she shushed me.
“Let me finish,” she ordered. “I got a notice that if we didn’t pay the back taxes and the remainder of the mortgage, the house would go into foreclosure. The sale of Grandma’s house would cover it, but only just.
“Now, before you start riding in on your white horse, I want you to know that the reason I didn’t tell you or your brother is because I know you would both rush in to help. But you boys worked hard to get where you are, and I won’t be taking any of that money from you. You’ll need it to start your own families and buy your own houses. The only help I need from you is selling that house.”
“That I can do,” I told her, hoping I hadn’t just over-promised. I could market the hell out of it, but at the end of the day, the sale needed to go through. And with the appraisal coming in below sale price, it would be hard to find a buyer willing to take a hit like that.
Conversation lightened after that, and though it didn’t fully ease the ache in my heart, it definitely brightened my day. With a full stomach and whole lot to think about, I headed back to my apartment. Ava and Travis might have had early mornings at their shops, I was taking a much-needed break before jumping into work and getting that house sold for Mom.
When I opened the door into the foyer of my apartment complex, I found Jules and Riley hauling boxes down the short hallway. Ava said they’d gotten an apartment together downtown, but it hadn’t occurred to me that it might be in my building. Although, in hindsight, there were only like four apartment buildings in the downtown area, so the odds were pretty high.
The moment I set eyes on Jules, anger bubbled up in my veins. I wasn’t a hothead. I didn’t get angry often, and I hadn’t expected it now. I tried pushing it down like I always did, but then Jules spotted me.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded, setting down the box she’d been holding and walking toward me. “Did Ava send you?”
That did it.
“No. Ava did not send me,” I shot back. “I live here. And I’m tired of this high school bullshit.”
“Excuse me?” Her mouth fell open, and I heard Riley scurrying to get over to us.
“You heard me,” I challenged. “We are grown-ass adults, so can we just act like it? I tried apologizing—”
She cut me off. “Too little, too late!” she shouted. “If you think we’re going to suddenly be friends after—”
“This isn’t about me! This is about Ava! It’s always been about Ava!”
Oh, shit. I hadn’t meant to say that.
Jules stepped back like I’d struck her. “What do you mean, it’s always been about Ava?”
Well, there was nothing for it now. “ That’s why I broke up with you. The more I hung out with your friends, the more I realized how much I liked her,” I explained, a lot quieter now. “You deserved a guy who couldn’t stop thinking about you. And I wasn’t that guy.”
Her face fell. “Were you guys dating then ?”
“Of course not,” I groaned. “Because Ava had no idea. She still doesn’t. And even if she had, even if I’d been that asshole that asked your friend out right after dumping you, she probably would’ve punched me in the face for it.”
Jules went completely silent, her bluster settling into crackling embers.
“Look,” I continued when it was clear she didn’t have anything to say yet, “if you want to be mad at me, fine. Be furious with me. Give me the cold shoulder every time you see me. But don’t you dare take this out on Ava.”
At some point in that exchange, Riley had appeared beside Jules. She put a hand on Jules’s shoulder, also silent. Since they were just handing me the floor, I continued because, apparently, I had a hell of a lot to say.
“One more thing,” I lowered my voice, slowing it down and making sure they both heard every word I was about to say. “Where were you guys when her parents died? What was so important that you couldn’t be bothered to come spend that summer with her? You know damn well that if it had been you in her place, she would’ve camped in your backyard if needs be just to make sure you had the support you needed.
“Has Ava ever not shown up for you? Has she ever told you that she spent that summer alone—no family, no friends—crying herself to sleep on repeat? I bet she hasn’t. Just like she didn’t want anyone to feel bad about missing the opening of the bakery. Or any of her last ten birthdays. Or any other event that real friends would’ve been there for. Because, in spite of going on a few dates with me, she’s a damn good friend. And you all know it.”
Without another word, I headed straight for my apartment and an ice cold beer.
Apparently, it was going to be one of those days.