27. AVA
AVA
My fingers flow seamlessly over the last chords of a song I’ve poured my heart and soul into writing. I play the final chord with flawless ease and look up to find my audience of one in tears.
“El, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” I ask, reaching for the box of tissues and handing it to her.
She snatches it away from me with a glare. “What do you think? That was beautiful.”
I chuckle as I reach out to swipe away her tears with my thumb. “Thank you. You could have just said that—no need to be so dramatic.”
She slaps my hand away. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
“You’re the one who asked to listen to one of my new songs,” I retort.
“Yes, but why pick that specific song?” she scolds.
“I’m sorry. Nobody had heard it yet, and I wanted honest feedback.”
“Happy now,” she grumbles before blowing her nose.
“Very,” I giggle. “I hope Zane loves it as well.”
“You wrote it for him?”
“Kind of. I saw how much Lilly’s death affected him, so I wanted to do something to honor her so he can always remember her,” I explain.
It’s also my gift to him for his success at the recent Pbr competition.
He didn’t win first place, but he qualified for the next round, and I’m really proud of him.
Watching him in the arena, on that bull, is one of the scariest things I’ve ever had to encounter.
I’d seen him ride a bull before, lots of times, but this is the first time after his accident, and knowing the extent of his injuries, there was much more at stake.
But he did everyone proud, and we’re all going to celebrate as a family tomorrow, but this is my personal gift to him.
“He is going to love it—it’s a beautiful song,” Ella insists.
“Thank you. I’m glad you approve.”
I set my guitar down—the very one Zane gifted me for my birthday—and pick up a glass of water.
Ella and I have been hanging out all morning. She surprised me with breakfast in bed since I spent the night in my room instead of Zane’s cabin. A horse was foaling last night, so he was occupied, and I didn’t want to spend the night alone in his bed.
It’s also refreshing spending time with Ella—she is and always will be my person. We fall into a comfortable silence for a few minutes before she breaks it with a very unexpected question.
“Do you remember the first time I called you after the accident?”
I nod, wondering where she’s going with this. “Yeah, it was six months after. I never asked how you got my new number, by the way—I’d changed it by then.”
“Lou gave it to me. I think she saw how much you were suffering and needed someone to talk to.”
That woman—she never said anything, but I’m so glad she went behind my back and contacted Ella. God knows I was drowning then, and my best friend reaching out was my saving grace.
“When she did, I held onto it for a week, wondering if I should call when you were the one who cut me off. Then one morning, I woke up and I heard your song on the radio, the one you wrote for me, r—“
“Royal?”
“Yes,” she beams, recalling the song I wrote for her sweet sixteen. It was meant for just her, but I’d ended up getting it produced later, and it became an anthem for close friends.
“I saw it as the sign I needed to call you. I was so scared you were going to hang up on me,” she admits with a sad laugh.
“Instead, I broke down crying,” I chuckle, recalling the vivid memory.
“And I cried with you. I think we cried for half an hour before either of us could make out a word.”
“I’d missed you,” I confess, taking her hand in mine.
She smiles and intertwines our fingers. “And I missed you too, so much. It hurt to hear you sound so broken, and I knew why—you carried the same guilt I did. So I made a decision not to bring up the accident unless you did.”
“I was never going to, for fear of what you’d say. I thought you would blame me too, and that would have broken me more than I already was.”
She shakes her head, gently squeezing my hand. “Never. I felt guilty enough already. And so began our unspoken rule—the accident was a forbidden topic between us.”
I bow my head in shame. “I wish we had talked about it. It would have saved everyone so much hurt, especially Zane and me.”
“How could you think that we’d sue you?!” Ella scolds.
I look up to find her glaring at me. “How could I not? I wanted to sue me, plus, have you met my mother? She can be very manipulative.”
Ella scowls as if she has tasted something bad. “That devil! I’m so glad you were able to get away from her.”
“Me too, but the effect her words and treatment had on me still lingers.”
“I know. I’m so sorry, but you can’t tell me that you are the same person you were when you arrived. Would I be right to say that our family has had a positive effect on you?” she prods.
“Yes, absolutely. You guys have healed parts of me that you never broke. I will be eternally grateful, especially to you for never giving up on me and pushing me to come here,” I answer with a smile.
“We all needed this, but especially you and Zane, so you are welcome,” she teases, and we burst out laughing.
When we calm down, she turns to me with a serious look. “Let’s promise one thing?”
“What?”
“To never ever keep any more secrets from each other. Look at how much time we lost not talking about something that could have been solved five years ago,” she suggests.
I don’t even have to think about it. “You’re right. I promise—no more secrets. We talk about everything.”
She leans in for a hug that lasts a while. If only I had opened up to Ella back then about what my mother had told me, it would have saved everyone a lot of pain and wasted time. But there’s no use crying over spilled milk. I’m just glad that everything has been fixed now.
When we pull apart, Ella requests to listen to more songs, and I’m happy to oblige. She ends up dozing off after a couple of songs, so I cover her up and leave her in the bedroom while I shift to the balcony.
I’m deep into a song when my phone buzzes with a message. I check it to find Lou has sent me a video. I open it and I nearly drop my phone when I realize what I’m watching. She should have sent this with a warning!
The video is only a minute long, but I feel like it runs forever. When it’s over, my hands are shaking and there are tears rolling down my cheeks. Lou calls me, and I’m all thumbs as I try to pick up.
“Estevan?!” I choke out, his name tasting like acid on my lips.
“Yes,” she confirms.
“But why? Why would he do this to me? I was nothing but kind to him!”
“I’m so sorry, darling. I couldn’t guess it either, but now looking at it, it does make sense.”
“How did you get the video?” I ask, angrily swiping away my tears.
I hear Lou pause, which lets me know it’s not good. “Don’t be mad.”
“Tell me,” I insist.
She sighs before explaining herself. “I know you asked me for a house with no cameras, but I had one installed in the living room, just one. I had a feeling your family wouldn’t take well to you cutting them off and would try something.
But it was peaceful for so long that I forgot about it.
I only recalled last week when I went there to check on all the repairs after the police cleared it from being a crime scene.
I handed it over to the police, and they recovered the footage and sent it to me. ”
The reason I’d asked for a house with no cameras is because the mansion I lived in with them was full of them, and I always felt like I was being watched.
“I’m not mad, Lou. You did it to protect me. And I’m glad you did—now we have evidence against him,” I assure her. “Is my mother involved?”
“We’re not sure yet, but it’s likely. At the moment, there’s a warrant out for your brother’s arrest.”
“Stepbrother—and even that’s being kind. I don’t want to be related to that monster,” I cry, trying to erase the image of Estevan trashing my penthouse from my mind.
It doesn’t work, and even worse, I start feeling like throwing up. “I’ve got to go, Lou. I’ll call you later,” I rush out as I get up and run across my room to the bathroom.
“Okay, dear. Be strong—I’ll check in with you l—“
I don’t let her finish as I hang up, just in time to throw up in the toilet bowl. It goes on for a while, until all the beautiful breakfast Ella had prepared for me is gone.
The door bursts open just as I’m flushing the toilet and getting up to wash my face.
“Ava, I heard you throwing up in here. What’s wrong?” Ella demands, looking at me worriedly.
Instead of replying with words, I hand her my phone and proceed to wash my face and brush my teeth.
She’s livid by the time she’s done watching the video. “That bastard! I’m going to kill him with my bare hands—that’s if Zane doesn’t get to him first. Of course it had to be him,” she growls.
I turn to her, at a loss for words. I’m feeling defeated now that I know my stalker was Estevan all along. When I left LA for Texas, I thought I was running away from my problems, but it turns out I was walking right into the lion’s den.
Ella pulls me in for a hug. “I’m so sorry, love. I kinda thought you were hiding a pregnancy from me when I heard you throwing up here. I never thought it’d be this!”
I chuckle and lean into her embrace. Me, pregnant? Never!
Or... wait. Come to think of it, I haven’t gotten my period since I arrived in Wrangler Creek. Zane and I had sex my first week here, and as far as I can remember, we didn’t use protection—we never have. Oh God! I can’t be!
“What? Are you feeling like throwing up again?” Ella asks when she sees me get paler.
I shake my head, but there is a possibility. I hold off telling her about my suspicion of being pregnant until I have confirmed it.