5. Irreconcilable Differences
Asliver of morning light snuck past Avi’s curtains and rested like the faintest feather across her eyelids, pleading with her to wake up. She rolled over and tried to read the clock through the fragments of sleep in her eyes. It was a quarter past five, but with the excitement of it being the first full day of planned regency activities, she knew falling back asleep was out of the question. However, the threeish hours between then and breakfast provided the perfect opportunity to get in some light reading in the library. Avi rushed through a shower and threw on the first day dress she found hanging in her master closet. From there, she made the long trek to the front of the house where the rest of the guests were located, climbed the stairs, and began scanning the library shelves for anything she hadn’t already read…or at least hadn’t read in a while.
Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca caught Avi’s attention. She pulled it down from the shelf by its crimson fabric spine and began exploring its pages as she walked. Guided only by her peripherals, she made her way over to the couch closest to the fireplace, and as she sat, a startled burst of snore came from the couch across from her. Avi jumped up. The shirtless man draped in a thin white sheet, tossed and turned with his back towards her, trying to find a more comfortable sleeping position. She hurried over to Irene Iddesleigh, opened then stepped through the hidden door, and closed it shut behind her just as Dane MacKinnon rolled over.
She couldn’t see much in her frantic haze of motion, but she recognized his eyes were closed. He hadn’t seen her secret passageway.
What was that barbarian doing; sleeping shirtless on a public couch like that…treating Hawthorne Hall like it was his own personal domicile? Where was his nightshirt? Where was his decency? Not that she didn’t enjoy the toned and slender curvature of his bare back or the small amount of faint umber chest hair …but still…him sleeping like that was presumptuous and rude.
“He must have passed out on the couch in a drunken stupor,” she thought to herself. “After all, he is Scottish… that wasn’t racist, was it? Can one even be racist towards Scottish people? Is Scottish even a race?
She was getting off track. The point was, because of his ridiculous lack of etiquette and propriety, she was stuck in a hidden room; at least until everyone went downstairs for breakfast. So, Avi did the only thing she could think to do: she sat at the desk overlooking the grounds below and read the first two hundred pages of Rebecca while trying not to think about the handsome Neanderthal sleeping in her library.
Her flip phone lacked most of the modern features the average person couldn’t live without, but it did tell time. When it read 8:00 a.m., Avi cracked the secret door wide enough to check if the coast was clear. When she was certain the room was empty and no half-naked men passed out on her sofa, she burst through the hidden door, pushed it shut behind her, and was instantly met with the pleasant aroma of hickory smoked bacon and maple breakfast sausage.
She followed her nose downstairs and into the dining room where she was surprised to find only the male guests eating their breakfast. Well…all the male guests except Dane MacKinnon. Then Avi heard light whimpering coming from the drawing room. Surrounding her puzzle table were all the other women. May, Gracie, Kate, Jada, Clara, Jennifer, Min, Ethel, Kelly, Mrs. Kensington, Helena, and even some of the female staffers Avi hadn’t yet met were all focused on one person. Gracie had a consoling arm around Bonnie who, with puffy eyes, was trying to catch her breath between sobs.
“A”m juist sae embarrassed,”
“For what?” asked Gracie with a fiery sense of righteous indignation.
“You have absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about, dear girl.” said Ethel as the rest of the women nodded in agreement.
May got up and left for the kitchen. She returned a few moments later with a box of tissues and set them down in front of Bonnie before squeezing her arm in gentle, sympathetic support.
“Thank ye,” said Bonnie as she reached for a tissue and blew her nose. “A’m sae sorry…ruining yer holidays…taking ye oot o” th” Regency experience like this…A’m juist sae sorry.”
“Nonsense,” said Kate. “I can’t think of anything more Regency than a group of strong women circling the wagons and helping one of their own in matters of love.”
Kate could have probably thought of a plethora of things more characteristic of the Regency Era, but Avi could sense Bonnie’s gratitude for Kate’s kind comments. And it wasn’t just her; the rest of the combined empathy filling the room and emanating from the women filled Avi with a sense of pride for her new business.
“Ye all ur sae sweet…unlike that lavvy heided bawbag! Ah mean Dane’s always bin a bit o” an eejit, but tae break up with me now…he could ‘ave done it a week ago or a week from now ‘n’ let me enjoy th’ holiday, bit nope…” said Bonnie before blowing her nose, “he waits ”til ah spend all this money, take off work, come all th” way down ”ere, ‘n’ then he breaks mah heart th’ very first night.”
“Wow,” said Jenny. “I mean, who does that?”
“Dane,” replied Bonnie through a sniffle.
“Men,” said Gracie as a handful of the women shot an angry glance into the dining room where four innocent male diners were suffering a vicarious punishment for the simple sin of being born with a Y chromosome.
As Avi looked into the dining room, she couldn’t help but feel sympathy for them. They sat like scolded, droopy-eared puppies with their tails between their legs unable to enjoy breakfast through the bitter taste of anger hovering in the air. She felt hurt for Gracie, whose own traumatic experience with marital heartache must have been retriggered by Bonnie’s. She felt irritated on behalf of herself, her business, and the rest of the guests. This was supposed to be a fun experience, not a contentiously dramatic or divisive one. She felt sorry for Bonnie and the overwhelming embarrassment, pain, and anger she was trying to juggle while still loving the man who did this to her. But above all the sympathy…above all the hurt, irritation, and sorrow, Avi felt a burning and unquenchable disdain for the villain in all this.
“Did he give any reason or explanation?” asked Clara.
“Aye. He blathered on with some improvised nonsense fur aboot an hour…how he could nae laugh with me… but all th’ dobber ever does is laugh at me.”
“I got that feeling, yesterday,” added Gracie.
“Ah dinnae mean tae be jealous, bit ah think he juist saw a houseful o” bonny women ”n” his eyes started wandering.”
“That’s ridiculous, Bonnie. You’re like the most “bonny” woman in this house!” exclaimed Jada as the women all nodded in concurrence.
Then, to everyone”s surprise, Ethel - brimming with irony - said, “Speak for yourselves,” as the rest of the room burst into a chorus of laughter.
Even Bonnie chuckled as she wiped away a tear from her cheek.
Just then, Mick - in slightly more than a whisper - asked Thomas, “Would you mind passing the orange juice?”
“Excuse me!” exclaimed Min. “Would you mind keeping it down in there?”
“Apologies!” He blurted back with a slight tremble in his voice.
With a smile that shined without any semblance of shame, Bonnie said, “Ye girls ur th’ best,” before looking up and seeing Avi standing between the drawing room and dining room. “Oh,” said Bonnie, “Ah dinnae believe we’ve met.”
Avi stepped forward to introduce herself before Gracie responded on Avi’s behalf, “This is Avi, my big sister.”
“Tis sae nice tae meet ye,” she said before looking at Avi with a puzzled expression. “Ye look familiar…oh, ah know! Ye”re th” ghost in th” window!”
Avi opened her mouth to respond, but yet again, Gracie began and finished her thought, “Yes, and she’s also the owner of Hawthorne Hall.”
The whole room gasped
“Oh my gosh, Avi…your home is incredible,” Jada said.
“Enchanting,” Kate added.
Avi thanked them both before turning her attention back to Bonnie.
“I’m just so sorry for what that man is putting you through. Is there anything I can do to help make the rest of your stay more enjoyable?”
“Oh, na. Ye lassies have helped enough…well…there is one thing ye kin dae fur me: Dae ye have anither room open Dane kin have? Ah”d hate tae have tae spend th” next eight days sharing one with him efter whit he’s done tae me.”
“I do, but here at Hawthorne Hall we prefer the dogs sleep outside…” Avi said to thunderous approval and laughter, “But if you insist…”
“Outside wull work,” came a familiar and detestable voice from the dining room.
The whole house fell silent. Dane MacKinnon sat at the table devouring his eggs as if all were well. Avi, half embarrassed and half too angry to turn around, was somewhat glad he’d heard her say it. He needed to hear it from someone, but based on his facetious grin, her words had failed to strike a chord. He just sat there like nothing had happened, enjoying his breakfast while the other men stared at him like the infection he was; not to be approached or condoned.
Bonnie was the first to rise. She held her head high and glided out of his presence with an apparent determination to not let him get the best of her. The rest of the women followed suit…all except Ethel Lancaster.
Mrs. Kensington gestured for Mr. Kensington to follow her as he left his napkin on his plate and stood up from the table.
As the dignified rebellion staged its unplanned walkout, Gracie made a departing announcement, “Don’t forget, lunch will be at noon, and afterward, you’re all invited to meet at the stables where the ladies will be practicing riding sidesaddle, and the gentlemen will be working up to racing. Until then, feel free to explore the estate and enjoy yourselves.”
“I better be off, as well,” said Mick. “I uh… I asked Clara to go over some of my notes with me before lunch, so…”
Ethel sat down in Mick’s place as Thomas and Jack seemed to begin their search for an inconspicuous exit.
Once the drawing room was empty, Avi began working on her puzzle. The brute would get no satisfaction from driving her away. As she picked up a piece, she did so without looking at it and instead, stared with barbaric ferocity into the dining room at the Scotsman who had already struck a sabotaging blow to her business. Not knowing where the sudden onslaught of courage was coming from, she shot him an array of daggers, bullets, and bombs.
Perhaps it was the anger-induced adrenaline or the confidence that came from the warm welcome her Regency sisters had given her only moments earlier. Either way, eye contact had never come easier for Avi Hawthorne. Yet the pig stared back as he gluttonized his slop, unfazed by her condemning glares. With a chunk of ketchupy egg still dangling from his awful mouth, Dane forced out a belch so noisy, it seemed to rattle the very foundation of the estate.
“Oh look,” she thought to herself, “he has a talent! How wonderful.”
Thoroughly impressed, Thomas said, “Whoa! Good one, mate.”
“Thank ye, thank ye. Better out than nae, ah always say.”
Jack nodded in agreement and asked,“So, Dane…are you planning on riding after lunch?”
“Eh…na. Ah dinnae want tae ruin it fur th” rest o” them.”
“Good,” thought Avi. “It’s the first selfless decision he’s made since he arrived.”
“Well, that’s too bad, mate. If you change your mind, I’ve got ten pounds that says Thomas’ horse beats yours by a full length.”
Dane laughed as Jack and Thomas stood up from the table. “Aye, mibbie efter a bit.”
His Scottish smile did little to hide the sting of being so socially shunned. Ethel - too kind and experienced to hold a grudge against a young man for acting on youthful impulse - placed a comforting hand against his arm and said, “It’s alright. It will all work out.”
Avi wished Ethel hadn’t but for some reason was glad she did. His pain was obvious and provided her the first sign of his humanity, but he still deserved to feel it.
Upon Ethel’s exit, Mr. MacKinnon was left a lone man in the dining room with only a mute puzzler scowling at him. He ate everything on his plate, and placed his silverware and his napkin atop his dish before standing to leave. But as he left, he mirrored Avi’s glare right back at her; though his was far more playful than hers.
While the occasional gust of wind made the day cooler than its predecessor, it couldn”t have been any more lovely. The breeze teased Avi’s black hair loose, as she swung from the tree swing by the banks of the brook. Over grass, then over stream, then over grass again, Avi swung back and forth as she had so often done in her worry-free youth.
While part of her wished she was down at the stable riding Gluestick with the rest of her guests and family, Avi could not be more proud of her progress. It had not even been twenty-four hours and she had already displayed enough courage and wit to make a room full of women laugh before holding indignant eye contact with the likes of a contemptible Scottish canker. Those two victories alone made Avi feel like she’d earned some quiet time in seclusion to recharge and relax. After all, it wasn’t like she was hiding in the library’s hidden room or even behind her puzzle pieces. She was only a hundred yards from the stables where she could see and hear all that was happening.
She heard the twins scream every time Josh tried to have them pet a mare. She laughed as Mick and Thomas attempted to race one another without any form or grace. She saw Kelly juggle riding sidesaddle while live streaming to her many followers and subscribers, and she watched as the Jane Gang distributed helpful advice to any new rider who would take it. Avi closed her eyes and tried to take it all in as she swung until a beguilingly deep voice interrupted her meditation.
“Aviva Hawthorne…”
Avi turned to see Shane Alcott…the real estate agent she’d met earlier in the week.
“Mr. Alcott! How are you?”
“I’m doing wonderful, but please, call me Shane,” he said as Avi nodded. “I hope I didn’t startle you. Your butler told me where I could find you. I hope that was alright.”
“Yes…of course. Um…did I forget a signature or something?”
“What? Oh…no, I uh…I apologize. I should have said why I was here, but if you can’t tell, I’m a little distracted by that lovely dress you’re wearing. Is that a Regency dress?”
Avi looked down and nodded.
“May I ask…why are you wearing it?”
“Well, it’s kind of a long story.”
“May I sit, then?” he asked as he gestured to a patch of grass next to her swing.
His excess of manners was not excessive at all. Their equal was unfound anywhere beyond the western stretches of the Atlantic.
“Of course,” she said as he sat with a large, treat-filled basket by his side.
“Please, continue…”
“Well, now I’m distracted. Is that…” Avi said as she slowed her swing to a stop.
“A welcome basket? Yes. I wanted to give it to you myself and see how the move-in has gone,” he said as he handed her the basket and looked over the estate. “I don’t know if you could have picked a more picturesque estate. It’s well beyond lovely. I’m sorry…you were saying…about a long story…”
“Right, well…first, I came into some money…then I bought this place…and now I’m using it as a Regency-themed retreat; hence the Regency dress,” she said as she searched her brain for more.
He waited, but she seemed to be finished. “Well,” he said, trying to inhibit a laugh, “that wasn’t much of a long story after all.”
Avi laughed, “No…I guess it wasn’t.”
“Though I am glad I sat for it,” he said as he stood up and brushed the loose grass from his pants. “And are these your customers?” He asked, gesturing towards the stables.
“Yes, and my sister, who you’ve already met, as well as my brother and his wife, and their kids…”
“Who I’ve also already met. I remember. And what about him?”
Avi followed Shane’s line of sight to a tall birch tree that stood twenty yards outside the stable. At its base, sat Dane MacKinnon resting his back against its thin white bark. She wondered if he’d been there the entire time. In one hand, he held a notebook of some kind, and with the other hand, he was writing at a frantic pace; no doubt in some rare and unreadable Celtic dialect.
“That’s no one…at least…no one worth wasting words over.”
“I see…trouble in paradise, already?”
“More like a trouble that will be gone in a little over a week.”
“I”m sorry to hear. But other than that, are you enjoying your home? No buyer’s remorse or anything like that?”
“Oh no! Other than…that…everything is perfect; even better than the pictures.”
“Well, I appreciate the feedback…I shall fire my photographer.”
Avi smiled and shook her head as she said, “You know what I mean.”
“That I do, Ms. Hawthorne.”
For the second time in a day, Avi was holding eye contact with an unbearably handsome man. Only Mr. Alcott’s decency and decorum made him infinitely more bearable to behold than Mr. MacKinnon.“Please, call me Avi.”
“Alright…Avi. I’d better be going, but congratulations again. Your estate is lovely, your Regency dress is lovely, and you are lovely,” he said as he leaned down, rested his cheek against hers, and kissed. Within an instant, he pulled back and embarrassment washed over his cheeks.
“I’m…I’m so sorry, I…my father’s side, you see, is Italian, and…”
“It’s quite alright, Shane,” she said with a smirk as she sat the basket on the grass next to her and recommenced swinging.
“Yes, well…good day, Ma’am.”
Every so often on his trek back to his car, he turned and nervously waved to her. As he disappeared over the hills of her expansive estate, Avi, at once, remembered to breathe.
That evening thirteen of the fourteen guests gathered around the dining table, the atmosphere felt even more warm and inviting than the night before. Between rallying around Bonnie and spending the afternoon at the stables, the women were becoming close. And while the men were somewhat slower at acclimating to the group, the racing competitions and friendly wagers seemed to catalyze the process.
Rather than a handful of quiet individual conversations, the guests were all engaged in one unified, energetic, and fun dinner discussion. Everyone took turns laughing, bantering, and sharing; creating the exact environment Avi had envisioned when she first agreed to buy Hawthorne Hall. When she added her run-in with Shane to the equation and multiplied it by the fact that Mr. MacKinnon was nowhere to be found, Avi could think of very few yesterdays equal to today.
“Avi!” said Bonnie from the dining room, “come jyne us!”
The invitation caught Avi off guard. Bonnie gestured to the open chair at the end of the table; Dane’s chair. Avi and Bonnie weren’t the only two women in the house who were holding out hope that Dane had grown tired of the social exclusion and just decided to give up and go home early. However, judging by the fact that Bonnie had traded seats with Jack, Avi could tell that Bonnie’s hope was just as thin as her own. If Mr. MacKinnon did make a late entrance, the last thing she wanted was to interact with him, feel his finger tapping on her shoulder, or relinquish his chair.
“Maybe tomorrow!” yelled Avi, over the hectic joviality.
Bonnie nodded, and Avi returned to working on the last hundred pieces of her eighteen-thousand-piece puzzle.
“Ms. Hawthorne!”
Avi looked up again, only to discover that Thomas was calling for Gracie.
“Yes, Your Grace,” said Gracie, getting more and more into the spirit of the experience.
“Would you please give my compliments to the chef on such excellent boiled potatoes?”
The Jane Gang hissed and booed.
“What?... Wha’d I say?”
Clara answered, “That line’s not even in the book, you know?”
“What book?” asked Thomas with genuine sincerity.
“Right…” she responded sarcastically.
“I assure you, ladies,” Jack interrupted, “he has no idea what you’re talking about. He doesn’t read.”
“I can read!”
“But you don’t.”
“Either way,” said Kate, “the point is you’re quoting the film adaptation rather than the genuine artifact.”
“What film? What book? Ladies, what on earth are we talking about?”
“You mean to tell us, you spent thousands of dollars on a nine-day Regency-themed experience, and you’ve neither seen nor read Pride and Prejudice?” Jada asked in disbelief.
“No?”
The thrill of introducing Thomas to Jane Austen clearly overshadowed her offense to his cultural depravity.
“Ms. Hawthorne, what is on the itinerary for tomorrow?” she asked.
Gracie lit up and said, “Excellent question, Miss. Tomorrow may prove to be everyone’s favorite day at Hawthorne Hall. Though it will also be one of the busiest. We’ll have meals at their usual times, but right after breakfast we’ll be having an etiquette class in preparation for the after-dinner party.”
“A rout?!” asked a rather enraptured Min.
Though Avi did not believe Gracie had any clue what a rout was, Gracie nodded and continued, “And between lunch and dinner, we’ll be playing lawn games.”
Jada paused for a moment then said, “Hmm…that is a rather busy day. What about the following day?”
“I’d have to look at the itinerary, but I believe the only activity we have scheduled is an art class in the morning.”
“Perfect! So, Thomas…Jack, you too…after Thursday morning’s art class, you are both going to begin your life-long love affairs with one of the greatest novels ever written…unless of course you lack the mental fortitude and capacities to appreciate the complexities of archaic modern English…”
Thomas and Jack looked at each other expressing mutual confusion, before Jack turned to Jada and said with the unwarranted confidence that generally accompanies stupidity, “Me and my best pal here…we don’t understand all those fancy words, but we can tell from your tone and facial expressions that a challenge has been extended. Well, sister…you’re on!”
“Excellent,” she said.
“And then, will I understand why you were all booing me about the potatoes?” asked Thomas.
“No, because again, it’s not in the book.”
“Oh…” he said, more confused than ever.
Without warning, Mick slammed his fist down on the table, and as the wood boomed and the dishes clinked, he screamed with savage ferocity, “Someone better pass me those blasted potatoes!”
The room succumbed to startled silence. They all looked down to the other end of the table at the untouched yet exemplary vegetable on Dane MacKinnon’s plate that Mick was referring to. The movie star’s hair was messy and his cravat was unfolding due to his sudden and uncharacteristic outburst. With his breathing still at the heightened pace of reddest anger, he surveyed the faces of his horrified companions and appeared thrilled by the response to his fit of rage. His breathing and hue returned to normalcy as he calmly and proudly said with a nod, “Method acting.”
Everyone looked around the table at each other in stunned confusion.
“I hope I didn’t startle you too much.” He explained. “But one of the first scenes I’ll be filming in my upcoming film is one in which William destroys his room with indignation over the…”
“Ye mean…we all juist got a sneak peek?” Bonnie asked.
“Well…I improvised the whole potato part, but the fury…yes, you will see it again in theatres. Method Acting!”
This time, his audience erupted with impressed applause as Mr. Kensington passed Mick Dane’s plate of potatoes and Kelly filmed a reel of the occasion for her Instagram.
A few moments later Mr. MacKinnon burst into the dining room, sat in the one empty seat, and said, “Sorry ah”m late. Whit ah miss?”
The group’s camaraderie dissipated into the oblivion of awkward silence. Bonnie kept her eyes fixed on her plate as the rest of the women fixed their eyes on Bonnie. Avi wondered if she could just send him home. It wasn’t as if he were a paying customer. He was just a contest winner. But she soon recognized the potential for a lawsuit in her deepest of desires.
Ethel Lancaster - taking the first sledge hammer to the thick wall of uncomfortable silence - said, “How are you, Dane?”
“Ah’m fine, Ethel. Thank ye fur asking.”
“Where’d you go today, mate?” asked Jack.
“Och, ye know...just wandering th” outdoors.”
“Beautiful day to do it,” added Thomas.
Mr. MacKinnon nodded in agreement. However, as he scanned the faces surrounding the dining table, his expression became heavier; as if the tension began to pull at him. He thought for a moment. Avi wondered what was brewing in that facetious mind of his. But when he stood and addressed the room, what emerged from his mouth caught her off guard.
“Real quick…ah uh…ah juist wantae apologize…foremost tae ye, Bonnie. Ah didnae mean tae hurt ye…’n’ ah…ah did…whither ah meant tae or nae…sae ah”m sorry. ”N” tae th” rest o” ye…Ah didnae mean tae ruin all this fur ye. Ah’m sorry fur putting a damper on things ‘n’ ruining yer fun. Ah hope there’s still time tae remedy that.”
The sincerity of his apology seemed to resonate. Even the relaxed shape of Bonnie’s eyes indicated an dulling of her rage, but Avi refused to be receptive to his possible deception.
After a few moments, he looked her direction, then said to the rest of the group, “Sae please...uh...don”t let me get in th” way o” anythin”. Juist have fun, ”n” ah’ll take mah meal in there fur tonight.”
Avi was mortified! While she was grateful that the other guests could now enjoy themselves without his impedance, she wondered if the cost of their return to revelry was more burdensome than she could bear. She didn’t want to be in the same house or room, let alone at the same table with him. To make matters worse, he just had to sit in the chair beside her. Sure, there were a half dozen seats scattered around the table with ample distance between them, but Dane MacKinnon wouldn’t be Dane MacKinnon without making an already awkward situation even more intolerable. But at least the other guests in the adjacent room sounded like they were getting back to pre-Dane frivolities.
“Ah dinnae think we”ve met. Mah name”s Dane, ‘n’ ye”r th” ghost in th” window ah saw yesterday.”
Avi didn’t even look up to see if he was offering his hand, nor did she feel he deserved the courtesy of a response. Still, he persisted.
“Ye git a name?”
Nothing.
“Tis a”right, ah git it. Mibbie ah will juist call ye... Bogle…”
Avi’s nose crinkled in disgust.
“Na? It means ghost…how aboot Green Lady? Na?…Wraithy?”
“It’s Miss Hawthorne, Mr. MacKinnon.” She said in the frigidest of ways, refusing to look up from her puzzle.
“Well, Miss Hawthorne, this puzzle is quite a feat. Well dain!”
It wasn’t “dain.” She still had about fifty pieces to go. Besides, the last person she wanted to share her 18,000-piece triumph with was some overconfident, selfish, zit. The other guests began to stand from the dining table. Dinner was finished, but the discussions continued. As Mick walked past the threshold of the drawing room, and no doubt seeing the nearly completed puzzle, exclaimed, “Wow! What wonderful work!”
Within seconds, everyone except Bonnie - who Avi envied for getting to enjoy a very Dane-less room - flooded around the puzzle table. They all cozied up and began working towards its completion. Arms and hands were reaching and flying everywhere as Avi got lost in the chaos and conversation. She thought she was sandwiched between Kelly and Mrs. Kensington, but she couldn’t be certain amongst the commotion to claim pieces. The thronging practically pushed Mr. MacKinnon out of his seat as he stood up and walked towards the dining room, and if only he weren’t Mr. MacKinnon, Avi would have followed him out.
All at once, the mayhem desisted. Avi noticed the guests looking under and around the table for something she assumed one of them had lost. Rather than make his exit, Mr. MacKinnon appeared to join the search. Seeing the small, empty space surrounded by seventeen-thousand, nine-hundred, and ninety-nine puzzle pieces, Avi realized what lost prize had captured everyone”s attention: the eighteen-thousandth piece. She too began to look though she did so with little hope of being the first to find it. She scoured the hardwood floors beneath the table but was too compressed by her guests to look beneath her chair. With every second, Mr. MacKinnon grew closer as the hunt had brought him almost full circle to her side of the table.
”Is that it?” Kelly asked as she knelt.
Suddenly, Avi felt the offensive sensation of Mr. MacKinnon resting his hand against hers. Her jaw dropped in disbelief and disgust at his unwanted and uninvited advance. With instinctive repulsion, she pulled herself free from his grip, but as she did, she felt the weight of something faint resting in her flexing hand.
He refused to look at her. Without even leaving her with one of his signature flippant grins, Mr. MacKinnon disappeared into the oblivion of the hallway. Avi opened her fist. She peered down. Her gaping mouth widened as it exchanged its initial repugnance for an expression of sheer shock.
There, lying against the love line of her palm was the final puzzle piece - the one she deserved - as she felt her ever-guarded heart fall helplessly to the floor.