Chapter Seven
The next morning, Terence resolved to see Avila again. He couldn’t stop thinking about her since their interactions yesterday.
That dance. The conversation. It was all real, but she left so quickly. Yeah, she had said that she needed to run errands.
However, Terence sensed that she felt the same way he did when they danced. If he was going to try to pursue those feelings,
however, he needed to get some things straight.
He headed to Avila’s house, and she was busy painting the shingles.
“Good morning,” Terence said.
“Morning.” Avila set the lid on the concrete and dipped her paintbrush into the can of fresh paint. Avila looked cute in her
black T-shirt and dark denim jeans. Too cute. “Need some help today?”
“If you’d like. I don’t mind.” She scanned the shingles. “I want to make sure these are evenly painted. I’ll need the extra
assistance.”
“That sounds good to hear,” he said.
When they were dancing for the brief moment yesterday, Terence realized how vulnerable she still was. After all this time, they had easily picked up right where they had left off. Their friendship was easy and nice, but theirs was no longer a simple friendship. The other feelings that she evoked in him made him vulnerable too.
When she reached for the brush, Terence picked up a cleaning rag and started to wipe down the Adirondack chairs. She dipped
her paintbrush in the can and splattered paint on the wood.
Moments later, Terence dropped the cleaning rag and picked up the extra paintbrush. He needed to ask her now. “Have you ever
considered keeping this house?”
“No.”
He swiped a shingle with paint. “Why not?”
Avila shrugged. “My life isn’t here anymore. My life is in New Jersey.”
“That’s a choice, but you can make another choice. You can find work here. You can transfer Ebony to a school here too. You
can choose Charleston.”
“My mother had told me that she was leaving everything to me, but I never considered keeping this place. You know of my other
plans. You encouraged my plans too.”
He did. Terence couldn’t deny that. “What happened with Broadway and all?”
She was quiet for a long time, and Terence soon regretted asking her that question. This was a sore subject for her. “Just
had to make some adult decisions. That’s all. Ebony. Motherhood. Things like that.”
“I know.” Making the decision to divorce was one of those hard decisions he had made. Terence never saw that one coming. A part of him wondered if he was meant to be single. Things never worked out with Avila after he had admitted his feelings for her. Things never worked out with his ex-wife years later. Maybe he was the problem. “Do you still want to pursue Broadway? Is that why you’re intending to return to Jersey?”
“What?” She chuckled. “Me? On Broadway? You’ve got to be kidding me. That is not on my radar. Not anymore.”
There was a sadness in her voice. If he could, he would give her a hug.
“Ebony might have a chance though. She loves to perform. I’m staying there for her.”
Disappointment sprung from within. There was no way he could convince Avila to stay in Charleston if Ebony was the reason
why she still lived up north.
“It’s best for me to sell this house,” she continued. “Once we get it all fixed up, we could get a good price on it. I would
need those proceeds. And if there’s anything else left over, I could save for Ebony’s college.”
Terence didn’t say anything else, and they continued to paint in silence. After finishing the shingles, they raked leaves.
When that was done Terence worked on the front porch railing while she resumed pulling weeds out of the flower beds.
Avila was still working when Terence heard a friendly voice call out. Samantha parked her car in the driveway. She stepped
out of the car, looking cheery in her sheath dress.
“This is coming together very nicely.” Samantha put her hands on her hips. “You’ve come a long way in a short time.”
“I haven’t touched the inside. It doesn’t need a lot of work, but you may notice something that I overlooked,” Avila said.
“I’ll check it out. I can get a home stager to spruce things up, if needed.” Samantha nodded at Terence. “Hey there.” She
smiled, too brightly.
“Hey there. How’s life going?”
“Just fine.”
Samantha turned to Avila. “I hadn’t mentioned it last time we met, but maybe Ebony wants to come over sometime and hang out
with my daughter, Heather. She loves having friends over, and maybe Ebony would like to meet new people.”
“She’d like that.”
“Wonderful.” Samantha took another look at the house. “I better get to the real estate office before they start looking for
me. See you soon.”
“Samantha seems motivated to sell your house.”
“She is. She’s been sending me a lot of emails about prepping the property for sale.” Avila took the edger and started manually
edging the lawn.
“Samantha will do great.” Terence started pulling weeds. They worked in silence for a while, and Terence couldn’t help but
think about that time when Samantha had asked him out on a date shortly after her divorce. He’d declined, knowing Samantha
needed time to process her divorce, just as he did.
They spent the afternoon putting another coat of paint on the house, and by the evening, Avila looked as if she was wiped
out. Terence invited her and Ebony over for dinner, but she turned him down, only to receive an upset look from Ebony. Perhaps
Avila was ensuring they didn’t get too close before she left. Maybe Terence needed to do the same.
Terence said his goodbyes and went about the rest of his evening, alone.
Avila couldn’t sleep that night. The sounds of the crickets outside filtered through the walls while she tried to fall asleep on the couch. In the next room Ebony snored softly, and Avila envied her peacefulness. Avila had spent many nights like this in this house, staring up at the ceiling and feeling alone and depressed. She remembered the first time she had felt that way.
It was the morning after her dad had left them. She had awakened and walked to the patio barefoot. A part of her expected
to see her dad sitting on the back porch as usual, sipping coffee and reading the paper. But he was nowhere to be found.
Avila thought about the sense of emptiness she experienced after hearing that he was gone for good. Did he not want to stay
in touch with her? Had she done something wrong? On that morning so many years ago, her mother had opened the patio door and
said, “If you’re looking for him out here, he’s not going to show up. He’s gone, baby. It’s just you and me now.”
Her words jabbed. “No,” she said softly.
Sadness came across her mother’s face. “I know, baby. We’ll get through this. I promise you that we will.”
A hard lump grew in Avila’s throat, but she pushed it down.
“We’ll manage,” her mother said. “I don’t have a choice. I’m going to the store to get some items for our fridge.” Coraline
left the patio and closed the door behind her.
Moments later, her mother’s car rumbled to life, and the sound faded down the street. After losing her father so abruptly,
Avila wondered if her mom would return or not. That feeling of uncertainty rooted deeper into her, and even today it hadn’t
gone away.
Her cell phone buzzed, pulling her out of that old memory. She glanced at the screen. It was Terence.
“Hello?” she said. “Something the matter?”
“No. Nothing. I was just... just thinking about you. Thought I’d call. That’s all.”
She smiled. Even when they were younger, he always would call her whenever she was feeling sad or lonely. It was like he could
sense that about her, and so he immediately reached out.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yes. I’m fine.”
She stared out into the dark room, her eyes not focusing on anything.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
“A lot of things. I haven’t gotten Ebony anything for Christmas, and it’s in three days. I am spending all of my funds on
these repairs. I feel awful about that.” She turned while lying on the couch and pulled the covers over her shoulders.
“Ah, I see. What does she like?”
“She likes a whole lot of things. She wants an Apple Watch, an iPad. She wants me to get her Robux and Starbucks gift cards.”
He laughed. “Seems like she has expensive taste.”
“She does. I’m not getting her any technology. No Apple Watches. No cell phones. No iPads. She’s too young for that.”
“I see. Well, I’m quite sure this Christmas will be just as memorable as any other.”
A brief silence. “Remember when my dad left me?” she asked out of the blue.
“I remember. Is that what you’re thinking about too?”
Avila nodded. “My mother was so nonchalant about his leaving that it was scary. Maybe she was trying to be strong for the
both of us.”
“I’m so sorry, Avila.”
She nodded. “Talk soon. Thanks for checking in on me.”
Avila hung up. Later on, she thought about everything that had happened with her parents. At that time, only three people
in this world had mattered to her: her parents and Terence. Her father had left. Her mother moved on with her life, or at
least she appeared to move on with her life. But Terence was someone she could always count on.
Fresh tears threatened to come, but Avila pushed them back. She reminded herself that all of that was in the past, and none
of that could hurt her anymore.
But there was still a voice inside of her that said that loving others leads to heartbreak. It was best for her to never love
anyone ever again.