Chapter 4 The Lake
The Lake
Sleep eluded Ava. Fidgeting in bed, she replayed her conversation with Owen, wishing she hadn’t shown how affected she was by seeing him again.
It was embarrassing.
She yanked the pillow from under her head and shoved it into her face, wanting to hide from the day.
But that would mean nothing got done at the cabin.
The longer it took, the longer she’d be stuck in Cedar Falls with her ex and his perfect family.
That gave her enough motivation to toss the pillow aside and sit up.
Her phone pinged with a series of notifications. She reached for it on the nightstand and disconnected the charging cable, groaning at the name that greeted her on the screen.
Speaking of exes.
Alec: Good morning, Ava.
Alec: Still thinking of you. I’ll be waiting when you’re ready to talk.
Alec: I miss you, baby.
Ava rolled her eyes at the picture of his sheet tented around his groin. She clicked out of the message thread and deleted it altogether. Part of her wanted to block his number, but that seemed harsh. It’s not like he’d done anything wrong.
Sure, he could be overbearing with his affections and cared more about appearances than she did.
Aside from that, he was attractive in that classically handsome way, with his dark hair and piercing blue eyes.
Tall and well-built from his hours spent in the gym with trainers.
He was charming and social. He could shmooze with the best of them.
On paper, he was everything she could ask for in a partner.
Then, the itch came over her. It crept through her mind and held her heart in a vise, not letting him get any closer.
Not wanting him to get too familiar. Until eventually, his presence grated on her.
It inevitably happened with every man she tried to date.
The only difference was Alec had lasted longer than usual, almost a full year, before the feeling overtook her.
She powered through, hoping to shake off her growing detachment.
When her dad died, it gave her the out she needed. Like a coward, she used his death as an excuse to break up. Unfortunately, Alec believed that left the door open for them to get back together, and they’d rekindle their romance.
She needed to address his misguided expectations about their relationship status. Just not today. Not when she felt this raw and exposed, running on no sleep.
Coffee. I just need some coffee, and then I can deal with another day.
Ava left her bedroom and trudged to the stairs. She eyed the mess in the living room on her way down. After her ride with Owen, she’d tackled a new project to keep her thoughts at bay. She’d pulled everything out of the living room closet, thinking it would be an easy win.
The scattered piles of old games, puzzles, and loon figurines showed otherwise. The closet had been an accumulation of decades of garage sale finds and knickknacks shoved aside to be dealt with another time. Except that time was now, and it was a nightmare to sort through.
Distracted by the clutter, Ava’s heart dropped as she stumbled. A loud crack split the air, then she fell forward. Ava grabbed the banister to steady herself. Once her heart rate settled to a steady gallop, the sting registered on her left foot.
Her foot had sunk into the stair.
She knew the house needed work before it could sell, but she’d figured she would clear out her father’s belongings and slap some fresh paint on the walls. Not fix broken stairs.
What else is wrong with the house?
She sat down on the step above and tried to pry her leg out of the wood. Aside from the shock of her almost fall, she wasn’t hurt. It was like the wood gave up and sank beneath her as she stepped on it. She pulled away the bits of wood and eased her foot out to inspect the damage.
Her ankle was pink from the friction, but otherwise unscathed. The stairs weren’t so lucky. An obvious foot-sized hole was in the second-to-bottom stair. She could see straight down to the flooring underneath, along with disintegrated bits of wood that had given way.
She unlocked her phone to search ‘what do you do when you break a stair’ but an incoming call from Summer popped up midway through her search.
“Hello?”
“Hey girl, I’m heading your way. What do you want to work on today?”
Ava blamed her nonexistent sleep and stair mishap for her confusion. “What do you mean?”
“What do you mean, what do I mean? I said I’d help with the cabin, so I’m coming over.”
Oh. Right.
“Sorry, I didn’t sleep well last night. Please tell me you’re bringing coffee?”
“Of course I brought coffee. I’m pulling up now.”
Summer disconnected the call before Ava could say goodbye.
Sure enough, gravel crunched outside as Summer’s car rolled down the steep driveway.
Ava spared a last look of annoyance at the ruined stair, then eased around it to the solid floor of the living room.
She couldn’t think about repairs right now.
Maybe she would try her hand at DIY and watch some YouTube videos.
Ava tested her stability while walking to the front door. No pain or weirdness. That was good.
The loon yodeled above the doorframe as she welcomed Summer inside. To her great relief, she held two large coffees from The Early Bird Café.
Finally, something was going right with her morning.
She reached out to grab the coffee, but Summer pulled her arm out of Ava’s grasp. “Is that any way to greet your best friend? Not even a thank you before you grab the goods?”
“It’s the only greeting you’ll get this morning.”
Summer looked her over with a more critical eye. “You look like crap. And I say that in the most loving way possible.”
“I feel like crap. Couldn’t sleep last night. Alec won’t leave me alone, and my foot went through the stairs.”
“Sorry—what? What do you mean, your foot went through the stairs?”
“Come see for yourself.”
Ava took advantage of Summer’s shift in focus and snagged the cold brew coffee cup she knew was hers. She took a deep gulp and let out a happy sigh. God, I missed the coffee from The Early Bird Café.
She led Summer into the house and to the stairs in question. Summer leaned down to get a closer look, noting the hole’s distinctive outline.
“You weren’t kidding. How’s the foot?” Summer looked down at Ava’s bare feet for evidence of injury.
Ava wiggled her toes. “It’s fine. Shocked me more than anything. The stairs always creaked, but I thought it was part of the cabin’s charm. Not an actual problem.”
She sighed as she considered the mess that was her life. Stuck in her dad’s cabin in a town where she felt like a stranger. One ex wouldn’t leave her alone and the other she wished she could stop thinking about. Her mood soured even more.
Summer picked up on her spiraling emotions. “Everything is fixable, Birdie.”
Ava gave her a disbelieving look.
“Fine. Everything in this cabin is fixable. How about that? We’ll figure it out,” Summer assured her. She stared at Ava while taking a sip of her remaining coffee. After a moment, she decided. With a nod toward the stairs, she continued, “But we’re not fixing it today. You need to have some fun.”
“Summer, I don’t think I’m in the mood for—”
“Look, I know I fucked up yesterday and made everything worse. Let me make it up to you. Besides, you’re already in a crappy mood, and hanging around here won’t help.” Summer raised her eyebrows with a pointed look until Ava gave in.
“You’re probably right,” Ava agreed.
“Glad you see it my way. Now go shave your legs and put on your swimsuit. We’re going to the lake.”
After an argument where Summer insisted Ava leave her phone behind so she couldn’t check in with work, and a brief snack run, the two of them arrived at Cedar Lake in the heart of town.
They took advantage of the empty floating dock, usually occupied with sunbathing teenagers, and swam the 15-yard length with a waterproof cooler to claim the floating wooden platform for themselves.
Ava took a sip of her watermelon seltzer and tipped her head back to feel the warm rays on her face. Summer picked around a bag of trail mix to pull out the chocolate bits.
The lapping water and gentle rocking of the dock lulled Ava into a short-lived state of relaxation.
A moment in time where she forgot about the reason she was in Cedar Falls or the messages from her persistent ex.
Her anticipatory anxiety about her potential promotion and her dread at running into Owen again. For a bit, she could ignore it all.
Then her head became too quiet, and the thoughts flooded her mind all at once. Her chest tightened, and she blinked against the brightness of the sun. The warm contentedness vanished, replaced by a sinking feeling she’d avoided by staying busy.
“Whoa, your aura is all off.” Summer’s voice interrupted her spiral.
Ava turned to give her friend a skeptical look. “You still think you can read auras?”
“No, I’m messing with you. But your face pinched like you have to use the bathroom or something,” Summer teased.
Ava shocked herself with a laugh, and Summer winked in response.
“You should move here, you know. Then we can do this all the time. In the summer, at least.”
Ava leveled a look of exasperation at Summer. “Only took you twenty-four hours to make your first suggestion I move. I’m impressed you held back so long.”
Summer opened her mouth to sass her back, but her attention turned to something behind Ava.
The gently lapping water became more frenzied with the approach of someone swimming up to the platform, then the floating dock rocked as the newcomer climbed the ladder to join them.
They both yelped when droplets of water hit their sun-warmed legs as the visitor shook the excess water from his hair.
“Hey, squirt. Fancy seeing you here,” Summer greeted her nephew.
He plopped down cross-legged, facing them. “Got any snacks?” Avery asked with an expectant look.