Chapter 8
Cole felt like he had awoken from the dead. The day before had been rough. He hardly remembered getting out of bed at all, but knew Ava had coaxed him out to eat some soup. It all came up shortly after, so he had retreated to his room and slept until the morning.
It was close to ten in the morning when he emerged from his room.
He went straight to the shower and felt much better once he stepped out in a billow of steam.
He tossed on sweatpants and a T-shirt before going to the kitchen to grab something to eat.
His body felt weak from the lack of food the day before.
Ava sat on the couch looking at some paperwork when he walked by. She was so engrossed, she didn’t hear him when he walked into the kitchen. He popped a frozen breakfast sandwich into the microwave and then walked into the living room.
“Hey.”
She jumped and turned to look at him. “Hey. How are you feeling?”
“Okay. Tired.”
“The good news is you’ll feel better tomorrow if you’re on the same track I was with that sickness.”
He tilted his head. “What are you reading?”
Ava set the papers on the coffee table and sighed. “Guardianship paperwork. I’m going to try to get custody of Ruby.”
“Whoa,” Cole said. He walked around the couch and sat down beside Ava. “That’s huge. I’m proud of you.”
Ava put her thumbnail in her mouth and chewed it. “Am I crazy?”
“Absolutely not. Ruby would be better off in your care. You and everyone else in this town knows it.”
“I feel like…” She sighed and drifted off.
“You feel like what?”
“Like I’m going to cause my mom pain.”
Cole reached out and took her hand. He expected her to pull away, but she didn’t.
He rubbed his fingers over the back of her hand.
“Ava, I’m not trying to sound harsh, but fuck your mom.
Fuck your stepdad. Fuck them as parents.
They’ve had their chance, and they hurt you, and now they’re hurting Ruby.
And the worst part is, they don’t seem to care.
They can’t recognize the pain they caused you or the pain they’re currently causing Ruby.
She wants to be with you. She knows she can rely on you. ”
“What if I’m worse?”
His heart broke at the pain on her face.
“I need you to listen to me. You will never be worse. Even on your worst day, you would still be better than them on their best day. And that’s a fact.”
She leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder, and his heart picked up speed. “Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
He kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her. “And you’ll never have to know.”
She tipped her head up and looked at him, her eyes bouncing between his. “Promise?”
His eyes dropped to her lips. “I promise.”
A moment of silence passed between them before the microwave beeped. Ava immediately pulled away and scooted across the couch. Disappointment flooded through Cole. They had finally made a tiny bit of progress over the last few days, and the microwave interrupted it.
He stood and went to the kitchen to grab his food. It was for the best anyway. The last thing he needed to do was kiss her when they had finally had a breakthrough. He didn’t know what would happen, but he guessed it would send them back to square one. They needed to go forward, not backward.
And kissing her definitely couldn’t happen until he explained everything and made sure she understood why that night never happened. He cared about her too much to let anything come between them.
He sat at the table and ate his sandwich, his stomach finally settling down. Ava came to the table and sat across from him.
“Can we maybe watch a movie together?” she asked.
“I’d love that. Go pick something. I’ll join you in just a minute.”
The smile on her face was exactly what he needed to see. He finished his food and put the plate in the dishwasher before joining Ava on the couch. She clicked through the movies until she found a romantic comedy.
“This okay?” she asked.
“Perfect.”
And if things couldn’t be any more perfect, she scooted closer to him on the couch.