Twisted Up (Taking Chances #1) - Erin Nicholas Page 0,47
left Avery with her mother to raise. Heidi had stepped in to help with Avery fairly early on. Jake didn’t remember a time when Avery wasn’t a part of their household. He and Avery had never been close. They’d barely even been friends. But Jake had been thankful for Avery.
She’d made his mom happy and, frankly, had distracted Heidi from Jake and his shenanigans. He’d had the freedom to ride horses, swim in ponds, dig in the dirt, and go on adventures with Max and Dillon. He loved Heidi dearly, but he had no desire to spend time baking or gardening or talking about books or watching old movies. Avery, on the other hand, had eaten it all up. She’d been Heidi’s little shadow, and his mother couldn’t have been more thrilled.
Jake knew he’d been a miracle baby. His parents had had a difficult time conceiving and had almost given up when his mother’s morning sickness had started. He’d been cherished and spoiled since day one. But they’d always wanted more children, and Heidi had made no secret of the fact that she would have loved to have a daughter, too.
Avery had been that daughter.
“She’s doing a good job as chief?” Jake asked his dad.
“Absolutely.”
Jake looked at his father. There was something in Wes’s expression that looked almost like pride.
“Do you ever tell her that? I bet she’d appreciate it.” If Avery had questionable motherly influences growing up, she’d had no father figure other than Wes. She’d spent most of her time with Heidi, but Wes had been around, too, giving Avery the unconditional support he was known for.
Wes shifted, his arm dropping from Jake’s shoulder. “I congratulated her after she was elected chief. Your mom and I showed up at the reception. Avery didn’t have time to talk.”
Jake frowned. That sounded absurd. “She didn’t have time to talk? What do you mean?”
“I mean, she said thank you after I said congratulations and then told us she didn’t have time to talk and walked away.”
Jake looked at Avery, then back at his father. “Did something happen between you and Avery?”
Wes sighed. “Things are different than they used to be,” he admitted.
“Different how?”
“She and I work together, of course, but she’s always very professional, always focused on the job. She and your mother will have small talk if they run into each other. But it’s clear Avery doesn’t want the relationship we used to have.”
“What happened?” Jake insisted.
“Everything changed when she left Chance.”
“When she left Chance?” Jake repeated. “That was ten years ago.”
Wes nodded, watching Avery instead of his son. “She chose firefighting. Went to fire school and started working in Omaha. She didn’t come back to Chance until she found out your grandfather was retiring.”
“But she’s been back for two years, Dad. Every time I’ve asked you about her, you and Mom have given me vague answers, but you always made things sound okay. When I pushed once to know more, you said that there was nothing to worry about.”
Wes didn’t say anything to that.
“Do you know what I thought that meant?” Jake asked. “I believed that everything was good. That she was good. That you saw her . . . that you were looking out for her.”
Wes swallowed hard. “I know. And I promise you, I was looking out for her.”
“But you didn’t see her. She didn’t come to dinner. She and Mom didn’t shop or bake. Or talk.”
There was a long pause before Wes said, “No, she and your mom don’t do any of those things.”
“Why?”
Wes shook his head. “It’s been Avery’s choice.”
“But Mom—”
“Jake.” Wes cut him off. “Avery should be the one who tells you. If she wants you to know.”
Jake looked at the gorgeous redhead across the room.
He’d been so focused on making sure she couldn’t ignore him when he was around that he hadn’t paid much real attention to her.
And he’d made a lot of assumptions. Because those assumptions made him feel better.
Jake had imagined Avery at his mother’s dinner table on a weekly basis. He figured they had lunch and shopped together occasionally. He’d pictured her in meetings with his father, making joint decisions about Chance. He’d also imagined his father putting his arm around her and telling her she was doing a great job, and her flushing with pleasure at having made Wes proud.
Basically, he’d pictured her having the ongoing, loving, supportive relationship with his parents that she’d always wanted. That she’d hoped to get by dating him even back in high school.