Twisted Up (Taking Chances #1) - Erin Nicholas Page 0,93
loved her. It had hurt, being nudged in the other direction, but she understood how Heidi felt. What was best for Jake was for him to be in Kansas City . . . and beyond.
As always, Heidi’s hug made it all feel better. It had been too long.
Jake had given this all back to her. If it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t be standing in the kitchen that felt more familiar and comforting than any other place in the world. If it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t have Heidi back.
“I made no-bake cookies.” Heidi stepped back and dashed the tears from her cheeks.
Avery wiped her cheeks, too. “I made no-bake cookies every other weekend the first year I was away from Chance.”
They’d always made no-bake cookies when one of them had a bad day. Heidi always said that when things were rough, there wasn’t any time to spare for baking.
“The boys should be back soon with the ice cream.”
Avery nodded. “I’m going to go freshen up. I’ll be back down in a minute.”
She climbed the staircase to the guest bathroom at the top of the steps, but the door four doors down on the left caught her eye. Jake’s old bedroom. The last time she’d been inside had been graduation night when she’d come up to change her clothes and Jake had walked in and ended up inviting her to the party at the river.
She couldn’t resist a chance to peek inside. And he had an attached bathroom she could use.
She was blotting the cool water from her face when the door swung open.
Jake stood in the doorway. “You made my mom cry?”
Avery stared at him in the mirror and sniffed. “Yes. But it was—”
“And you’re crying?” He stepped into the bathroom and pushed the door shut. “Dammit, what the hell happened?”
She shrugged. “We talked.”
“What about?”
“The morning after graduation. When she told me to leave.”
Jake’s jaw tightened and she could see he was angry. She turned to face him.
“I thought she was asking me to leave so I didn’t say anything else stupid,” Jake said. “I thought she was cutting off the conversation before it went any further. I didn’t know you were going to rehash all those painful times.”
“We needed to talk it out if we wanted to get past it.”
“I wasn’t aware you wanted to get past it.”
She frowned. “I don’t like the way things have been. It’s been cold and awkward and . . . hurts whenever I see her. Of course I wanted to get past that.”
“You wanted to talk about all of that stuff and dredge it all up again?”
“Yes. I guess so.”
“Then why the silent treatment over the past few years? Dad said they’ve tried to talk to you.”
“I guess I was punishing her. Or something.”
“And suddenly you didn’t want to punish her anymore?”
“I realized there was someone else getting hurt.”
“My dad?” Jake asked with a frown.
“You, Jake.”
They stood staring at each other. Avery felt her heart pounding. Oh, boy. That was close to an admission of how much he meant to her.
“You did it to make me happy?” he asked.
“I did it because . . .” She realized yes, that was definitely part of it. It mattered to Jake that she and his mom reconcile. She hadn’t come to dinner tonight because it would look good to the town. She hadn’t come for herself or for Heidi. She’d done it because Jake wanted it.
She cleared her throat. “It seemed important to you. I didn’t know it would turn into all of this, and if you’d asked me ahead of time if I wanted that, I would have said no. But I’m glad it happened. I don’t want to punish her, and I don’t want anyone to be hurt by this anymore. Thank you for insisting on tonight.”
“You’re happy?” he asked, stepping closer, his voice lower.
“I’m happy.”
“Because of something I did.”
She felt her smile curl up. “Because of something you did.”
“And you realize there are people who care about you? A lot.”
He moved closer again, and she had to tip her head back to look up at him. He lifted a hand and wiped at a wet spot on her cheek with the pad of his thumb.
“I do realize that.” She knew he was one of them. He cared about her. This had been important to him not just because of his mom, but because of Avery, too. That thought made her heart squeeze. She couldn’t get her hopes up here. Jake belonged in