Chapter 6
The Art of Staying
We turn a corner to catch up to the family to tell them we’re heading home early and… “SURPRISE!”
Assembled in front of an outdoor movie screen are all of Patricia and Liam’s closest friends and family. Gorgeous floral pom-poms hang from the trees. Twinkling lights are draped everywhere, casting everything in that forgiving golden glow that makes people look softer than they are. There’s a dessert bar filled with lush pastries, all of Patricia’s favorites from her many travels, and one gigantic cotton candy machine for Liam.
I dab under my eyes with a wet napkin, hoping the damage is minimal—just a little smudged mascara and puffiness I can blame on allergies. Nothing that suggests I most likely lost my boyfriend and my best friend in the span of ten minutes.
After everyone greets each other, Gavin passes his parents two glasses of champagne, and the crowd hushes as Liam lifts his glass.
“To Patricia. My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song; before her, I thought love could not last forever. Now I know I was wrong.” A murmur ripples through the crowd. Patricia presses her fingers to her mouth, already crying, the way she does when she’s happy. Liam reaches for her free hand, and she squeezes back, hard, like she’s afraid he might disappear if she lets go.
Jared steps next to me. His shoulder brushes mine, light but steady, like he’s anchoring himself—or maybe me.
We clink our glasses together.
The delicate chime rings out, sharp and bright in the warm night air.
Our last toast.
“Did you help plan the surprise?” I ask him, keeping my voice light, like my chest isn’t caving in.
“Actually, it was all Gavin. I’m as surprised as they are.”
Gavin—the family android—planned this?
I glance over at him. And—shockingly—he’s smiling, his eyes on his parents as the movie screen flickers to life.
Vintage 8mm film begins to play, the projector whirring softly behind us. First: Patricia and Liam in the early days—grinning like kids in Liam’s old VW Beetle, Patricia’s hair whipping across her face as Liam tries to steer with one hand and hold the camera with the other.
Then come the photos: sunburned beach days, blurry late-night dinners, Patricia laughing so hard her head tips back out of frame.
Their wedding.
Then the kids—babies held up like trophies, sticky-faced birthdays, Cari, Jared, and Gavin climbing on Liam in the backyard like he’s a jungle gym while Patricia films and laughs behind the camera.
Cari puts her arms around both our shoulders.
“One day we’ll be doing this for you two,” she chirps.
My stomach drops. Sweet, sweet Cari. I’ll miss her so much.
A loose tear escapes me, rolling down my cheek before I realize I should wipe it away.
She notices.
“Ah, Ava’s a happy crier, just like Mom.”
If only she knew.
I laugh softly and excuse myself before the next tear can betray me.
I made it through the rest of the celebration without ruining anything for Patricia or Liam. Which felt like its own Olympic sport: smiling at the right moments, laughing half a second after everyone else, blinking back tears every time Jared’s arm brushed mine.
The last thing I wanted to do was share a ride home with Jared and spend the whole time wondering if he was thinking about John.
I step toward the curb to hail a cab—
A black town car pulls up before I can lift my hand.
I turn.
Gavin stands a few feet away, watching me.
“Need a ride?” he asks.
I hesitate, then nod. Anything that gets me home faster—somewhere I can unravel in peace—sounds perfect.
Gavin steps forward and opens the back door, as if this is the most ordinary thing in the world.
As I lean down to get in, the driver glances back through the window between our seats. A familiar face. His thick gray eyebrows lift in recognition.
“Miss Ava?”
“Ray? You remember me.”
“Of course I do,” he says. “Hard to forget the only person who ever smuggled me cupcakes from that bakery on Ninth.”
“How are your grandkids?” I ask. “Last I heard, one of them was determined to become a dinosaur.”
Ray chuckles. “Still is. The other one decided she’s going to be an astronaut.”
Gavin glances between us.
“You bribed him with cupcakes?”
“It wasn’t a bribe,” I say. “I didn’t think Ray should have to sit outside smelling pastries all night while we were stuck inside that three-hour charity gala.”
Gavin studies me for a moment, like he’s recalculating something. His expression settles into the faintly disapproving look he seems to reserve just for me.
He closes the door with a solid click, sealing me inside the car’s quiet bubble that smells faintly of leather.
A moment later, the other door opens, and he slides in beside me.
As Ray pulls out into traffic, I try not to notice how close Gavin and I are sitting to each other.
“Where’s Olivia?” I ask, mostly to distract myself.
“She had to take a flight back to L.A. Just came in for the night.”
“That was nice of her.”
“It was.”
Silence stretches between us as we both stare out opposite windows, the city slipping past.
Then—
“How are you?” he asks.
The question lands harder than it should, but in a bizarre twist of fate, Gavin is the only person I don’t have to hide my feelings from tonight.
“Jared kissed a man.”
Gavin’s brow creases, and for a moment, it feels as if he’s going to say something, but he doesn’t.
He’s difficult to read. Always has been.
I remember the first time I was introduced to him. He looked at me like I’d walked into the wrong room. As if he was shocked his charming, good-looking brother would bring someone like me home when he could have a smarter, prettier, more fashionable girl. Someone like Olivia.
Gavin was single for the first few years we dated, and at family functions, he avoided me like the plague. Once, at Thanksgiving dinner, he even moved a name card so he wouldn’t have to sit next to me. I assumed he thought I couldn’t hold an intelligent conversation, as if I might bore him so badly that he’d end up asleep in a plate full of stuffing.
When he and Olivia finally got engaged, the worst snub was not being invited to their posh engagement party.
Jared said Gavin and Olivia wanted a family-only event.
But when Jared arrived without me, he saw Olivia had all kinds of friends attending, and Cari had brought a date.
All night, people asked where I was.
Jared wasn’t going to tell me. But when he got home, he was so upset, I knew something was wrong.
When I forced him to explain, he admitted that everyone had dates—except him.
When he confronted Gavin, he mumbled something about a miscommunication before disappearing for the rest of the night.
I tried not to make a big deal of it. I didn’t want to come between two brothers. But I felt singled out. Like I wasn’t good enough for Gavin and Olivia.
I glance over now and find him watching me.
I give him a weak smile.
“Thank you,” he says.
“For what?”
“For coming tonight.”
He pauses slightly, like the words might cost him something.
“It meant a lot… to my parents.”
It might be the most thoughtful sentence he’s ever spoken to me.