Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
A va woke with the sun. Her mother hadn’t gotten up yet, so Ava spent some time setting up her new phone.
Then, she slipped on a sweater, made a cup of coffee, and took it outside to sit by the lake.
She gripped her mug with both hands and stepped up to the edge of the deck, where the wood met the water.
Later today, she’d be able to sit on the threshold and dip her feet in, but the morning was chilly, so she sat cross-legged instead.
In the early-morning light, it was almost as if the lake itself were breathing, ebbing and flowing in unison with the rise and fall of her chest. The trees rustled in the breeze; the string lights swayed above her.
She picked up a thin twig nearby that had blown onto the deck and tossed it into the water, making a small splash.
The coffee steamed in her hands. She took a long drink; the creamy caramel tasted decadent compared to her usual morning power smoothies back home.
Out there, it was as if time stood still. Anyone sitting on this deck wouldn’t give a moment’s thought to Coleman Media, Scott Strobel, or her partnership that hung in the balance.
“Morning,” Martha said, coming out and sitting down with her. “Thanks for making a pot of coffee.” She held up her mug.
Ava smiled and breathed in the fresh air. “Dad would’ve loved it here.”
“That’s why I bought the cabin.”
“You never told me that. I thought you just couldn’t face our old house because it reminded you of him.”
“That’s true. But I also wanted to be somewhere he loved. It made me feel close to him without dragging me through all the memories.”
“Remember how I used to fish with him every Saturday? I regret not going as often during my teen years. But I had no idea my time with him would be so short.”
Martha put her arm around her and Ava laid her head on her mom’s shoulder.
“I called out for him so many nights,” Martha said, “and he didn’t come. So I know how you feel having not seen him.”
Ava peered out at the water that her father had loved so much. If she closed her eyes, she could still hear his rugged voice as he said, “Hey, squirt! You up for a bait and float?” Bait and float was his term of endearment for fishing. It felt like centuries since she’d heard it.
“Do you still have his fishing rods, by chance?” Ava asked.
“They’re packed up in the shed.”
“I think I want to fish when we get home from my therapy appointment. It would make me feel closer to him.”
“If anything will bring him closer, it’s fishing.” Her mother winked and then took a drink from her mug.
Lucas was already sitting at the table when the nurse dropped off Ava at the therapy room.
“How are you feeling today?” he asked.
“The last couple days I’ve felt more like myself.”
“That’s good.” The corners of his eyes creased with his tender smile.
“Should we get started?” He gestured for her to take a seat and cleared his throat.
“We’ll begin with a global cognitive functioning test. The goal of this test is to assess your memory, attention span, executive function, and visuospatial skills. ”
“Well, my memory has been great. In fact, do you know what hit me the other day?”
He met her gaze. “What?”
“Remember that time we decided to take your dad’s fishing boat out on the pond, and you were making me double over laughing, imitating your brother and pretending the rod was a light saber, and you dropped it in the water? We fell overboard trying to reach it, and we laughed so hard we cried.”
The formality in his demeanor fell away, and there it was—the innocent, adoring look she’d gotten so many times as a girl. It almost took her breath away.
“Do you remember that?” she asked.
Lucas licked his lips and then took in a breath of air, his chest rising. “That was a long time ago.”
“Yes, it was. But it’s a fond memory.”
“Well, we’ll test your memory a little more today,” he said, seemingly forcing himself back into doctor mode. “I’m going to call out a list of words, and I’d like you to repeat them to me. Then we’ll wait two minutes and see how many you still remember.”
He was right: It had been over half their life ago, but she felt as if she still knew him. Perhaps she didn’t.
“Ready?” He began. “Apple. Car. Blue. Ring. Fan.”
“Apple. Car. Blue. Ring. Fan,” she repeated .
“Good.” He set a timer for two minutes on his tablet.
“My mom still has my dad’s fishing rods,” she said as the timer counted down. “I think I’m going fishing today after this.”
“Try not to talk while we wait. I don’t want to distract you from the task.”
“It’s fine. Look. Apple. Car. Blue. Ring. Fan. Do you still fish?”
“I haven’t in quite a while.”
Her talking seemed to bother him. She was only catching up like she would with any old friend. And these tests were ridiculous anyway. She was so obviously fine.
The timer went off.
“Apple. Car. Blue. Ring. Fan.”
He marked her score and turned the page in his manual. “Okay, try this one. Seven. Five. Three. Two. Eight.”
Ava laughed. “Now you, of all people, should know that numbers are my strong suit. If I can get random objects, numbers will be a piece of cake. Seven. Five. Three. Two. Eight.”
Lucas didn’t react. He set the timer.
This time, she stared at him silently for two minutes. He avoided her scrutiny, reading the test booklet and marking things down. When the timer went off, she repeated the numbers to him.
Maybe her being friendly came across flirtatious, given how many years had passed? To drive home that she was only being friendly, Ava suggested, “You should take your fiancée fishing. It’s so relaxing.”
A flicker of something crossed his face.
“I don’t have a fiancée,” he said under his breath.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Dr. Watkins said you took a new job with your fiancée. ”
“Dr. Watkins doesn’t know me or my situation,” he said, his shoulders tightening.
“I’m sure it was just an honest mistake.”
He was tense all of a sudden. Something had happened with his fiancée.
Or was he stressed out about work? This didn’t seem to be a terribly taxing position from her point of view, and the younger him was never anxious about anything, so it could’ve been that he’d had a bad breakup.
Had the move back to Tennessee been to flee from someone?
She leaned over the table to grab his attention.
“Want to come over to the lake house and go fishing with me? It might be fun to get out the old canoe.”
Fear swelled in his eyes. He pushed back from the table and stood up. “Sorry, I … I’ll be back.” He left the room.
She sat there, dumbfounded. What had just happened? Had she said something wrong? Certainly not. But she could’ve cut the tension with a knife.
When the door opened again, a nurse came in. “Hi there. Ms. St. John?”
“Yes.”
“Dr. Phillips has asked if I’d finish out the testing for him. He’s not feeling well.”
“He was feeling fine two seconds ago. He said he’d be back. Where is he?”
“He’s gone home.”
Ava rushed to the window that overlooked the parking lot. Lucas was on the sidewalk, stripping off his white coat and walking at a clip.
She couldn’t let things end like this. She wanted to see him again, keep in touch with him, and maybe even find out what was bothering him so badly.
Ava didn’t even know what she’d said to upset him.
And if he left now and didn’t come back, she might not see him again before she had to go home to New York. She had to stop him .
She also still wasn’t sure what, exactly, she needed to do other than find him. Had she done enough to save her life?
“I’ll have to reschedule.”
Ava tightened her core in an attempt to protect her sore ribs and ran out of the room.
She pivoted in the hallway, locating the exit to the stairway, and then began her descent.
With every bounce, her neck and torso ached, but she pressed on, rounding the end of each floor and jogging down the next set of stairs.
Then, she threw open the door leading outside.
“Lucas!” she called, pushing herself to a near sprint through the parking lot to catch up to him. “Lucas!”
Her sides ripped with pain, and her head throbbed, but some unknown force propelled her forward. As she ran after him, it was as if she’d been given a second chance to do what she’d wanted to do at fifteen when that moving truck pulled out of his driveway.
“Lucas!”
She couldn’t go any further. Exhausted, she leaned on her knees and gasped for breath, the pain too much to bear. When her agony had subsided enough to look up, he was pacing toward her in measured steps.
“You should not be running. Jeez.”
“Well, you shouldn’t have dipped out of my therapy session without telling me what the hell is going on!”
“I didn’t feel well.”
She knew right away by the twitch in his lips that he was lying. She locked eyes with him. “I don’t believe you.”
His jaw clenched, and he looked away.
“Ava, is everything okay?” her mother said, striding across the parking lot. “The nurse told me you left. Where are you going?”
Still catching her breath, Ava said, “I was just inviting Lucas over to the cabin to go fishing.”
Her mother’s face lightened. “Oh, that’s nice.” She faced Lucas. “Hello, Lucas. It’s so good to see you.”
He visibly gathered himself. “Nice to see you, Mrs. Barnes.”
“Well, come on over. I’ll make us some iced tea, and we can catch up,” Martha said.
Lucas waved his hands. “Actually, I …”
“Don’t try to be polite,” Martha said. “It’s not an imposition at all. I can make us some lunch while you two fish.”
Ava gave him a conspiratorial smile. “We won’t take no for an answer.”