First and Forever (Heartache Duet #2) - Jay McLean Page 0,107
She’s started taking some classes; painting and gardening, and she’s even considering learning a second language.
“There’s so much to do here,” she tells me, looking through a pamphlet while we sit at the in-house hair salon. “Oh, Ava!” she laughs out. “Guess what I did yesterday afternoon?”
“I don’t know, Mama,” I say through a smile. “What did you do?”
“Pottery.”
I glance at her. “You did?”
“I had the room in a fit of giggles when I used my stub to make the opening of a vase,” she laughs, unable to control herself. “It reminded me of that night we went to the court with Connor. You remember that?”
My chest tightens. “Yeah, I remember.”
Her smile only widens. “Remember when we tried to spin the ball on each other’s fingers, and it went flying?” Another laugh, this one louder.
I try to keep my expression passive, but it’s hard. “Uh huh.”
She sighs, wiping at the tears of joy from the corner of her eye. “God, I miss that boy.”
Me too, I don’t say aloud.
“What happened to him?” she asks, her eyes serious when they meet mine. “What happened to you two? You were so—”
I cut in, my voice cracking when I say, “I don’t really want to talk about it.”
She offers another smile, but it’s sad. “Okay, baby. I just… he’s such a good boy, you know? I wish it had worked out for—”
“I know.”
Nodding slowly, she looks back at herself in the mirror. “This place is good for me, sweetheart.” She focuses back on me, a hand to her heart. “I can feel it in here.”
“Feel what?”
“The Happiness.”
Tears well in my eyes, and I reach over, grasp her hand in mine. “I’m glad.”
“You’ve spent too much of your best years taking care of me, Ava. And you know how much I appreciate you, but now… maybe it’s time for you to start taking care of yourself.”
I inhale a huge breath. Hold it.
“When are you going to be happy, Ava?”
I shrug, look down at my hands. “I am happy.”
“You’re also a liar.”
“Mama,” I whine.
“He’s at Duke, right?”
“Who?”
She rolls her eyes. “You know who. Connor.”
I shrug. “I think so,” I lie. I know so.
“You know I can see Cameron Stadium from my window.”
My eyes widen. “You can?”
“Uh huh,” she sings. “Wouldn’t it have been great if you had gotten into Duke…”
I stare at her, right into her eyes, and she stares back, waiting. She knows… she knows everything. “How did you…” I whisper.
“I heard everything you had to say to each other the night we left. Damn near broke my heart, Ava. But what could I do? You’d made a choice, and you were doing it for me, and I love you for that, but now… now I’m here, and I’m happy, but I’m not as happy as I could be…”
My heart settles into my stomach, tied there by the weight of what I know is coming next. “You want me to go to Duke, don’t you?”
She smiles like mothers are supposed to smile at their children. “I need you to go to Duke, Ava. I need you to start living your life.” She reaches up, cups my face in her hand. “And I need you to start believing in magic again.”
Chapter 47
Connor
“Sorry I’m late,” I rush out, eyeing Austin sitting behind the desk at his family’s junkyard. “My training session ran late.”
Austin rolls his eyes. “As if I care.”
I grab my employee card from the shelf and clock in, then highlight the time I got in and make a note that I was late. I don’t want them paying me for the time I wasn’t here. “What are my jobs today?”
“Your job is to look pretty,” he mumbles, tapping on the keyboard. He pauses, looks up at me. “Oh, wait. You do that anyway.”
I chuckle. “These insults are getting old, Austin.”
“I’ll stop when my bitterness does,” he retorts, his shoulders lifting with his shrug. “And it’s quiet today, so there’s not a lot to do.”
I heave out a breath, calm my racing heart. I hate being late, especially for his parents. They’ve been so generous with giving me a job and letting me stay at their house for the summer, and the last thing I want is to disappoint them. I lean against his desk, arms crossed, and ask, “Hey, you think I can take you and your parents out for dinner sometime this week? I just want to say thank you for letting me crash with you.”