Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
W ith her mother still not home from her grocery run, Ava opened her email to see if there were any new messages she needed to respond to.
There was one from Scott Strobel. He had a new “project” for her.
She opened the email and scanned the message, her eyes bulging with every word that came next.
He told her there was a reason he’d handled everything for her biggest clients.
He was whittling down her work because he had a new role in mind for her.
As partner, he wanted to split the existing staff into teams, and he was hoping that once she was back up and running, she could lead both teams as the new Chief Marketing Officer for McGregor Creative.
She’d been one of the managing directors, but now, everything would fall under her.
As Chief Marketing Officer, Ava would be in charge of strategy for the entire firm.
She would also manage overall brand development for their clients and strategic company growth, supervise the results of every client campaign, work with directors and partners, and maintain close relationships with the marketing analytics team .
Ava read over the last sentence of Scott’s email more than once. Could this be what she had yet to fulfill in her promise?
I want you to take your incredible fundamentals and structure the teams the way you think would be most optimal. I’m giving you full reign. I trust your creative insight and guidance.
Ava clapped a hand over her mouth. The answers would fall into her lap, indeed.
She hadn’t seen this coming.
Her moment of introspection on the lake had given way to this.
This , she was excited about. She’d have the opportunity to build and create—the elements that had drawn her to the partner position.
But in this particular role, she’d get to manage and work closely with people both on her teams and within the client list, as well as be of service to them.
Her fingers light with excitement, a newfound energy pulsing through her veins, Ava responded that she’d love nothing more than to take on the position. Then, she thanked Scott for the faith he’d put in her.
She sat back in the chair, satisfied. Even out on the lake earlier, Ava felt as if she had to orchestrate her life, but what she realized just now was that if she relaxed into her life, it would build itself around her . She only had to take each next step.
Just then, her phone rang. She peered down at the name. It was Lucas.
“Lucas called,” Ava said as she tossed another log on the fire after her mother had returned home with groceries. “He’s coming over when he’s done with work. He has something he wants to tell me.”
Her mom looked up from her quilting. “What do you think it is? ”
“I’m not sure.” Ava picked up her new sewing project, working the needle in and out of the fabric.
She didn’t dare voice that she’d been trying to come up with what he was going to tell her for hours.
If she did, she’d have to explain to her mother how none of the scenarios seemed to be good news to her.
His tone had been indecipherable, and he hadn’t lingered in conversation. He’d only asked if he could come over.
Perhaps he’d had a change of heart and wanted to move back to New York. But they had two very different lives there. Maybe Elise was moving here. If that were the case, Ava would have to support her best friend and put on a happy face.
When a knock sounded, Ava jumped up to get it.
She opened the door to find Lucas standing on the porch in a pair of jeans and a heather-gray sweater that hugged his biceps and brought out the silver flecks in his green eyes.
That cloud that had been hovering over him had gone, and his expression was lighter, almost happy.
“Come in,” Ava said, opening the door wider so he could enter.
They walked into the living room together, and Martha stopped sewing.
“Hi, Lucas,” her mother said with a kind smile.
“Hello.”
“It’s warm enough to sit outside,” Ava said. “Want to come out with us, Mom?”
“Maybe in a bit. You two go on out.”
Ava led Lucas onto the deck.
“It was dewy this morning,” she said, getting the matches from the shelf-cubby nestled in the stone of the fire pit. “I’m not sure if the wood will light.” She removed the grate that sat on top.
“It was pretty warm today, so you might get lucky.” Lucas sat in one of the Adirondack chairs .
Ava struck the match and held it to one of the logs on top of the pile. The flame flickered and blew out, so she lit another and tried again. This time, it caught and began to spread over the log. She replaced the grate and sat next to him.
“It’s a pretty evening,” he said.
“Yeah, it is.” She wriggled into a comfortable position in her chair, hanging on the silence. “How was work?”
Lucas shrugged. “Decent. How was your day?”
“I got some news at my job.”
He perked up. “What was it?”
Ava told him about the new position of Chief Marketing Officer.
“That’s wonderful. Did you accept?”
“Of course. There I was, thinking I’d lost the position I felt had been tailored for me, and I ended up with a job that I think might be even more my speed. It’s amazing.”
“I’m happy for you.” His words were gentle and full of feeling.
“Thank you.” Her heart squeezed. “Did you say you have news too?”
“Yes.” His eyes widened. “I put an offer on the property I took you to.”
“Oh, wow.” Ava had known better than to believe he’d return to New York, but that knowledge didn’t lessen the disappointment that filled her. She was too afraid to ask if Elise would be joining him. Had he spoken to her yet? “You’re putting down roots. I love that.”
In a way, she’d put down roots too. She’d carved out a little spot just for her in New York. After her divorce, she’d renovated her 800-square-foot apartment in Chelsea. Ava did enjoy coming home to her own little slice of paradise in the city.
Apart from her, however, the place was empty. She hadn’t had an issue with being alone before, but after spending so much time with her mom and Lucas, would it feel overly quiet? Or would she relish the silence once she got going in her new position?
“Have you told Elise?” she asked, unable to manage her morbid curiosity.
“I left her a message. I haven’t had a chance to really talk to her the way I want to.”
Ava nodded and tried to hide her uneasiness. She had to get used to the fact that Lucas cared for someone other than her. While she wanted things to be different, she had to be the bigger person.
He turned away and looked out over the lake.
“I’d hoped the news was that you’d want to move back to New York,” she finally said. “It would be nice to have my best friend in town.”
“ I’d hoped you’d want to stay in Nashville.” Lucas offered a downhearted smile.
She leaned on the arm of her chair to be closer to him. “Why were you hoping I’d want to stay in Nashville?”
Their eyes met, unsaid words suspended between his lips. She held her breath, waiting for him to say something to make her stay. Instead, he stood, walked to the edge of the deck, and put his hands into his pockets.
Ava rose and stepped up beside him.
“I never had another best friend after you,” he said. “My only best friend walks into my world out of nowhere and breathes life into me after months of absolute agony, only to walk right back out. It doesn’t seem right.” He faced her. “So it all ends this weekend?”
She shook her head. “No. We can text or call every night if you want to. I’ve already promised myself I’ll do better this time. We’re older. We can handle the separation.”
She’d ruined one relationship with David, and while she was different now, she dared not move too quickly with this one.
She still needed to learn her place within it.
And there was too much at stake when it came to Lucas.
But all she wanted to do was bury herself in his arms. Would his more-experienced lips feel the same as that fifteen-year-old boy’s?
If there were an earthly version of the love she’d felt in the void, this would be it, and Ava struggled to verbalize a way out of it when everything in her body pushed her toward it.
The whole rest of the evening they were together, the feeling just kept getting stronger.
That night, after Lucas had gone home, as she lay in bed, Ava thanked God for the choice he’d given her, and she admitted her feelings for Lucas.
Her love for Lucas had always been there; it had just been dormant in her adult life.
What do I do with these feelings? You asked me to find Lucas, so—surely—you knew I’d fall for him. What am I supposed to do now?
Ava sharpened her hearing, turning inward in an attempt to hear a response, but she got nothing.
Without warning, an image of her dad floated into her memory. She’d forgotten all about that day. He had one arm around Ava’s shoulders and the other around Lucas’s.
“Two of my favorite people,” her dad had said.
Wrapped in the warmth of the memory, Ava drifted off into sleep.