A Beautiful Fate (37 page)

But not only had I inherited some money, I also inherited my mother’s jewelry and the home that she and I had lived in back in Montréal. She left me a note and the keys and directed me to keep my owning the home private and not to share the information with Margaux. Not only did I not share the information, I nearly forgot about the home myself.

I rummaged around, found my safety deposit box keys and tossed them into my purse. My earliest instinct upon reaching Dana Point months ago had been to put fast cash, the house keys and the jewelry left to me by my mother in a place where Margaux could not touch them.

In my suitcase, I found the papers my mother had left for me. They had spent a very long time literally untouched in the bottom of my luggage bag. Now I shuffled through them until I found the sheet with the Montréal house information on it, typed up an email to the caretaker explaining that I would be staying for the summer, and asked that the home please be ready for my arrival. I got a very quick response from him saying that the home would be ready in a week and if I had any special request to please let him know. I sent him another email requesting a fully stocked kitchen for five and to have the piano tuned. Then I began to check possible flights.

Lauren crept in while I was checking out prices and snuggled up next to me on the chair.

“Hey, Ava, what are you doing?”

“I’m just checking out flight information,” I answered honestly, knowing that telling her our plans would be easier now than it would be later.

“Don’t leave again,” she sighed.

“I have to, Lauren; I’m really sorry. But it will be different this time. You’ll be able to call me whenever you want and I promise I will always answer.”

“Ok,” she said in a depressed little voice. I realized suddenly how little time I had spent hanging out with her since I had been back. Peeling myself away from Ari had just been so difficult.

“So what are you doing today?” I asked.

“Nothing,” she sighed again and ran her fingers through my hair.

“Good, so you won’t mind going with me? I have to go to town to pick something up. We can go shopping afterwards...”

Lauren let out a great big squeal and threw her arms around me.

She went to find her shoes while I tracked down Ari. He was still on the hammock, but he was awake at least, talking with August. I let him know I was taking Lauren shopping and he kissed me on the cheek. I invited them to join us, knowing that Lauren would not care, but they passed on that idea. Ari said that they had something going on and would meet us in town for dinner. I gave him a perplexed look. Just yesterday, he and August had seemed to hate each other and today they are making plans to hang out. I shrugged and turned to leave. I realized I had no clue where my car was, or my keys for that matter.

“Uhh, Ari, where are my keys?” I asked, turning back around.

He sat up straighter in the hammock and rubbed at the stubble on his face.

“Sorry, Baby, but umm, Margaux came here a few days ago pissed as all get out. She said you had set her London property on fire and she was pretty furious about it. She had one of her henchmen collect your Mercedes.”

I stared at him in disbelief and he laughed at me.

“I’m sure she’ll get over it. You can take my car – keys are in the little glass bowl on the counter.”

“K, thanks Ari.”

“Sure, Baby. I love you. Please be safe.”

I blushed and Lauren and August both groaned in annoyance.

Lauren and I went to the bank first and she came in with me. I dug the keys to the safety deposit box from the depths of my purse and, with Lauren in tow, followed the receptionist back into the vault. Lauren’s eyes got big when she saw the spare cash and the pile of jewelry. I grabbed the house keys and shoved them in my bag. She strummed her fingers through the shiny pieces that once belonged to my mom.

She picked up a bracelet that haunts my sleep at night. The bracelet my mom had worn on the day she died. I remembered hearing the wailing sirens of the ambulances, fire trucks and police cars, I ran out of my home and down to the street corner where I knew the accident had occurred. The paramedics allowed me to ride in the back with my mother, knowing that we would not have much more time left together.

A paramedic pronounced her death and I screamed at him, my eyes were blurry with unrelenting tears. I called him a liar. I screamed until my throat was raw. They had to pull me out of the ambulance once we arrived at the hospital. I was allowed to see my mother one last time before her funeral. I walked in to a quiet room by the morgue. She was still wearing a diamond-studded bracelet that she had bought for the evening of the fundraiser. I had gone with her the day before and helped her pick out jewelry myself. I took the bracelet from her wrist and held it in my palm for days after her death.

I wanted nothing to do with it.

“You take this, Lauren.”

“No way, Ava. I could never take that.”

“Of course you can. It’s mine and I want you to have it. I will never wear it, Lauren. You will get far more use out of it than I would.”

“Are you sure?” she asked hesitating.

“It’s either that, or I’ll just end up giving it to Julia.”

“I’ll take it!” Lauren said quickly, and I grabbed some of the money to take with us shopping.

While I was away in London, Margaux had gone to court on my behalf to lodge a suit in the matter of my mother’s death. She had sued both the City of Chicago and Dr. Spruce’s insurance company. Had I been home, I would have protested. I didn’t need any more reminders of that horrible day.

Successful in the suit, Margaux had opened another trust in my name and put the money in there. She said it was an undisclosed settlement but that I would be set for life. She sounded proud of herself, but in my heart, I knew I would give every dime of that money away for one more day, one more hour or even one more minute with my mom.

Lauren and I spent most of the afternoon in the dressing rooms. I bought her three swimsuits and enough flip-flops to choke a horse. I got myself a few bikinis, too, even though I wasn’t planning on getting in the water. They came in handy for lying out in the sun when the guys were surfing or playing around in the pool.

After we went to all of our favorite stores, we decided to get pedicures, and then, properly primped and dressed, we met Ari and August at The Yacht Club for dinner. Ari pulled up in his mom’s white Audi convertible and had August, with his green-streaked hank of hair, sitting shotgun next to him. They made a very odd-looking pair and watching them as we all walked in together made me laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Ari asked with a puzzled looked on his face as he kissed me on the cheek.

“Was I laughing? I guess I’m just happy to see you....did you have a fun day with August?”

“Yeah, sure,” he shrugged and we found our table.

We all sat down to dinner together at a quiet table in the back.

“So, what did you two do today?” Ari asked Lauren.

She shrugged her shoulders, “Nothing, we just went shopping.” Lauren reached her hand across the table for her water glass and Ari grabbed onto her wrist.

“Tell me you did not let Ava buy that, Lauren.”

“Ouch, Ari, stop! She didn’t buy it for me exactly.”

Ari turned his glare towards me waiting for a better explanation.

“It was mine; I gave it to her earlier today.”

“You don’t just give fifteen-year-old girls diamond bracelets, Ava.”

“Sure you do, Ari. And I don’t want it.”

“Give it back to her, Lauren,” he said in a fatherly tone.

Lauren put on a pout face and started to unclasp the bracelet.

“Ari, stop,” I said, “don’t make her do that. I want her to have it. I honestly don’t want it anymore.”

“Fine. But Lauren, Aggie is going to kill you for accepting a gift like that.”

“At least I’ll die in style,” she said, laughing. Ari shook his head at me and let the conversation drop.

We ate a meal, I think – but truly, I don’t remember a bit of it. I was exhausted; I had worn myself to near extinction in London and after sleeping on a hammock the night before and shopping all day, I felt as though I might fall asleep at the table. After we finished, August and Lauren announced that they wanted to stay at the harbor for a summer festival. Ari could tell I didn’t have the energy to go and he offered to stay with them, leaving me free to go home.

I happily drove Aggie’s car back fast. I stopped to talk to Aggie and Andy for a bit, then excused myself and crawled into Ari’s bed.

Oh, sheets and blankets and pillows, how I’ve missed you.

I turned on Ari’s TV and found the Cubs game, but didn’t even last through the first inning.

I woke up when Ari walked into the room. The game was in the bottom of the ninth, Cubs down by seven. I groaned and turned the TV off and, in a moment of crabbiness, tossed the remote across the room.

“What was that for?” Ari said while he peeled his shirt off and dodged the remote simultaneously.

“Stupid Cubs game,” I grumbled as I made room for him to join me on my pillow.

He curled his body around mine and petted my hair while I fell back asleep.

****

When I woke up the next day, it was nearly noon. I rubbed my eyes as they adjusted to the bright California sun coming in through Ari’s window. It was a beautiful day. Ari was nowhere in sight but I couldn’t blame him for getting on with his day without me. I climbed out of bed and stumbled my way into the kitchen. August and the family, Ari included, were all in there, but no one noticed me come in. They were all caught up in a conversation about something and I was too sleepy for any of their words to be coherent. I yanked a spoon out of the drawer and shoved it into some creamy peanut butter. I flipped the spoon into my mouth and turned around. They had stopped talking and everyone was staring at me.

“What?” I mumbled, taking the spoon out of my mouth. “I’m hungry; haven’t you guys ever seen anyone eat peanut butter before?”

“How long have you been up, Ava?” Aggie asked me, tilting her head to the side. Her tone was one that someone might use when speaking with a toddler.

“I dunno...thirty seconds maybe. Why? What’s going on?”

“Oh, nothing...we just didn’t see you come in, that’s all.” Her patient tone remained.

I finished my peanut butter and put the spoon in the dishwasher.

“Ok, well here I am. I’m going to sit at the piano now and then I am going to take a shower, just so you know.” I said, mocking Aggie’s tone but adding my own attitude. I walked past them towards the living room.

“You sure about this, Ari?” August said in a whisper and everyone burst into laughter.

Even though I had slept half the day away, I was still worn out. Once my attitude ebbed, I found everyone had relocated to the pool so I took up residence on a deck chair and worked on my tan for the rest of the afternoon.

Ari had
The Beastie Boys
playing through the speakers, and after winning a round of pool volleyball, he dried off and stretched out in the chair next to me.

“So have you decided where we’re headed yet?”

“Yeah, I think I have,” I answered, nodding my head.

“Are you comfortable with August, Rory and Julia coming along?”

“Sure, I don’t think I have a choice; they decided everything without me yesterday.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.” I said with a smile. “Well, I still have my home in Montréal. I sent an email to the caretaker yesterday and he is going to have it ready by Monday.”

“Canada?”

“Mmm hmm. It’ll be nice, and quiet. It has three bedrooms and it’s really close to downtown. You’ll love it, I promise.”

Ari took my hand, “I’d love anywhere as long as you were there with me, but Rory is going to be so disappointed. I think he has his heart set on someplace warm and sunny.”

“Ha!” I laughed looking around. “Tell him to stay home then.”

“Yeah, no joke,” Ari said with a smile. “So when do we leave?”

“Well, I guess we can fly out on Sunday. I’ll book the flight tonight.”

“Ok,” he agreed. “When were you going to tell me you owned a three-bedroom home in Montréal?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Actually, I had kind of forgotten I had it. Margaux doesn’t even know about it, so don’t tell her where we are going. My mother had left some documents to be disclosed to me when she passed away. In her notes, she told me not to mention the house, so I never did. I am going to sell it this fall when we leave. I don’t have any use for it anymore, I guess.”

“Am I going to have to learn French?”

“You should learn French! But no, you’ll be ok as long as you take me or August everywhere you go.”

“August, yeah,” Ari said sarcastically and I laughed.

“What’s wrong with August?”

“Nothing, I’m joking. August is a pretty nice guy really.”

“Yeah, he is. Look Ari, I know you are unhappy with the fact that we lived in the same flat together and I totally get that. I would probably go ape shit if I heard you were living with some girl. I should have told you about the arrangement, but August saved my sanity along with my life. He’s a good guy and he’s a terrific friend. I can’t just walk away from that now.”