Ever After (The Christmas Cottage - Book 2) (10 page)

“
My appointment isn’t until four in the afternoon but if we leave in the morning we can get up there and get settled in.  The property is beautiful; it’s particularly spectacular in the winter when it snows.  Lacey and Ean got snowed in up there last year and that’s how they ended up reconnecting with one another.  We got some beautiful pictures from their wedding…”

Brian could see that she was still talking but he stopped listening.  That elusive something that had been nagging at the back of his mind finally clicked in to place.  Her parent’s home.  The cottage.  Her wedding to Mason.

He was completely blindsided.  Why on earth would she want to take him to the place where she’d almost married his best friend?  What could she possibly gain from that?  What kind of game was she playing?  Looking over at her he couldn’t comprehend how it was that he could love Ava and completely not understand her. 

“So what do you think?” she asked anxiously, placing their dinner plates on the table. 

He stared at her as if she’d grown a second head and looked from her to the table and back again.  Shaking his head to clear it he asked, “I’m sorry, what do I think about what?”

She looked crushed.  “Haven’t you been listening?  I was telling you about how we can go hiking
and we can set up a fire outside by the fire pit that my grandfather built and go exploring the town or we can maybe just spend a cozy weekend in the cottage.”  Her voice trailed off a bit at the end of the statement and that was the final piece of the puzzle for Brian.

“I’m not spending the night in the cottage, Ava,” he said bluntly.

“What?  Why?  I don’t understand.”

“Really?” he asked, stalking toward her.  “You don’t understand why I wouldn’t want to spend the night in the place where you were going to honeymoon with Mason?  Don’t you think that’s a bit of an odd request to ask of me?”

She truly looked puzzled.  “I don’t see why?  It’s not like we actually
did
spend the night in the cottage.  For crying out loud, Brian, Mason never even saw the cottage let alone sleep there!  I just thought it would be a nice little getaway for us and a little less boring than spending the night in my parent’s house.” 

Now she sounded hurt and while Brian felt bad, he wasn’t convinced that he wasn’t being played somehow.  “Under any other circumstances, Ava, it would be; but to me, it feels a little weird.  I want us to make our own memories; not tack on to somebody else’s.”

“We’re not; honestly, we’re not.  I have no memories of the cottage, Brian.  All of the memories involve other people.  I just thought it might be nice, that’s all.  If it bothers you that much then just forget it.  No big deal.”

But Brian knew that it was a big deal.  If her tone didn’t convey it then the way that she sighed as she sat down and pushed her food around her plate certainly did. 
On one hand Brian wanted to feel bad and to cave in and give Ava what she wanted but he just couldn’t.  There was something not right with the whole situation. While he loved the idea of going away for the weekend with Ava, he wanted it to be someplace that she hadn’t been before and especially not the place where she almost married her ex-fiancé!

Reaching across the table he took one of her hands in his and waited until her big blue eyes met his.  “Look, I know it seems like I’m being ridiculous but I just want us to
make our own memories.  I don’t want to take you places that you’ve been before with other men; I especially don’t want to take you to the place where you almost got married!”

“But I love that place, Brian!” she interjected.  “If we continue with this relationship, eventually you are going to have to go to the house and to the cottage because my family does spend time there; we spend holidays there and there will eventually be a wedding there.”

Not ours
, he thought to himself sternly.  “I get that, Ava, I really do, but if we’re going to have a romantic getaway, then I want it to be someplace fresh, someplace new.  Especially when it’s our first time going away together.”  He stroked a thumb over her knuckles before gently squeezing her hand.  “I want to take you someplace that when you look back on it, you’ll remember it because of me, because of us and no one else.  Does that make sense?”

Damn the man for being so practical!  How was she supposed to get her night in the cottage if he refused to go?  All sorts of dramatic scenarios played through her mind:  running away and having him chase her there, having her car break down on the property so he’d have to come and get her, being kidnapped by big foot and left for dead at the cabin… She almost chuckled out loud at that last one but if she got desperate enough, she knew she could come up with some way to get him to that cottage.

She noticed that Brian was looking at her expectantly and realized that she never answered him.  “Of course it makes sense and I really do understand; I guess I just wanted to share something that is a big part of my life with you.  I know that the cottage isn’t any big deal but I always wanted to spend the night there and never had anyone to do that with.”

“What about Mason?”

“Oh,” she waved him off, pulling her hand from his.  “Mason hated the mountains and was merely tolerating having the wedding there because it was what I wanted.  He didn’t want to spend the night there at all.”  She smiled sadly at Brian.  “I guess I wanted to have my moment, my night, with you.”

Well hell, how was he supposed to say no to that?  Those big sweet eyes were like saucers looking at him and in that moment he knew he’d give her anything that she wanted.  Even if it meant spending the night in the one place he should be avoiding at all costs.

Later that night, Ava lay in the dark listening to Brian breathing and said a silent prayer of thanks that he didn’t
out and out refuse her request of going to the cottage.  In all of her planning she had never considered the possibility of Brian having an issue with going with her because of her history with Mason.  How were they going to overcome this?  She certainly didn’t want her previous relationship to become a hindrance with their moving forward.  There was no doubt in her mind that she was completely over Mason and he was over her.  The man was getting married; how much more over her could he be?

In a flash it hit her; they were going to have to look at the possibility of getting together with Mason and clearing the air and making sure that there were no hard feelings.  Ava cringed; this was certainly not in any of her plans. 
Sure she didn’t have any hard feelings toward the man but that didn’t mean that she wanted to hang out with him and be friends!  If she was okay with going back to the place where she almost got married, why wouldn’t Brian be?  She turned her head and studied his shadow in the dark and smiled.  He was going to have to get used to it if she had any hope of ever getting the wedding that she wanted and her happy ending.

****

Two days later found them sharing a dinner again.  Ava decided the best course of action was to just throw it all out there and hope for the best.  “We’re going for drinks with Mason tomorrow night.”

Brian almost choked on his food.  “What?”

“Well, it seems like you maybe have some issues and I thought it would be best if we all sat down together and talked about it; you know, cleared the air.  Mason thinks it’s a good idea.”

“Wait a minute,” he said, rising from his chair to pace the kitchen.  “You called Mason and told him that we’re dating?”  Ava nodded.  “Why?  Why would you do that?”

Ava rose from the table as well, her tone defensive.  “Was it supposed to be a secret?  Were you planning on hiding our relationship from your friends?”

“This isn’t about my friends, Ava, and you damn well know it!  This is about one friend in particular and I didn’t think it was necessary to inform him.”

“Ever or just for now?” she asked snidely.

Brian sighed with frustration.  “Look, I just don’t think it was your place to go about arranging this little get-together.
  I have no problem talking to Mason but it was my decision to make as to when I wanted to do it.”

“
You’re wrong because clearly you have some major hang-ups about my relationship with Mason and it’s becoming an issue with us!”

“
An issue
?  You asked me one time to go to one place and I mentioned that I wasn’t crazy about the idea and now all of a sudden we have issues because of it?  It seems to me that you are the one with the issue, Ava.  For whatever reason, you seem to be a little preoccupied on going to this cottage.”

“I’m not preoccupied, Brian,” she countered as a small amount of panic began to set in.
  “I merely enjoy going there and it’s been a while since I’d been there.  I thought it would be romantic but if it’s that big of an
issue
for you then just forget about it.  I’ll go to the damn interview by myself.  I wouldn’t want you to feel uncomfortable or anything.”  She was steaming mad and started clearing the dinner table even though they’d barely touched their food.  Brian stopped her before she dumped their dinner.

“Okay, okay,” he said calmly.  “Let’s take a step back here.”  He took a deep breath and looked Ava in the eye.  “I’ll admit that your announcement about meeting Mason took me by surprise.  I just wish you would’ve talked to me about it first, that’s all.”

Placing the dishes back on the table, she then turned to face him.  “I thought I was being helpful.  I thought that if I could show you that it doesn’t bother me to speak to Mason and that I’m okay with hanging out with him that you’d see that there is nothing for you to worry about.”

Brian placed his hands on her shoulders and pulled her a little bit closer.  “I was never worried about you and Mason, Ava.  I just don’t want to live in the shadow of that relationship.  I want us to have a fresh start; go to places that are purely ours and nobody else’s.  Does that make sense?”

Unfortunately, it did.  Trying to mask her disappointment, she nodded in agreement.  “I can’t help that I love that place, Brian.  It’s a part of my life, my family, my heritage.  I’m never going to
not
want to go there.  Can’t we just go this one time and start fresh on the next getaway?”

Again, Brian had a hard time denying her anything.  “I guess I never felt that kind of connection to a place so it’s hard for me to understand your feeling so strongly about a house.”

“I’m probably one of the few that feel this way but I want you to know that I feel the way I do because of good family memories; it has nothing to do with Mason.”  She snuggled in close to him and hugged him.  “So are we okay now?”

Kissing the top of her head he smiled.  “Yeah, we’re good.”  Then he pulled back and looked at her and his smile grew.  “Does this mean we can skip going for drinks tomorrow?”

Giggling, Ava playfully punched him in the arm as she pulled free of his embrace.  “Are you kidding me?  I wouldn’t miss this for the world!”

****

That next night, Ava was mentally kicking herself for not canceling when she had the chance.  They were seated in a too small booth in a local hotel bar.  It was the four of them – Ava, Brian, Mason and his new fiancé Melissa.  It took all of five minutes for everyone to catch up on their lives before silence fell among them.  Ava seriously considered ordering shots for them all just so they’d have something to do but then, luckily, Mason broke the silence.

“So, Ava tells me that the two of you have been dating for about two months now,” he said to Brian who simply nodded.

And they were back to silence again.

“Oh for crying out loud,” Ava mumbled under her breath.  “So, Melissa, tell me about the big wedding plans!”  Her voice was overly enthusiastic but she was hoping that no one else noticed it.  Soon she and the young paralegal were engrossed in their own conversation about dresses and caterers and the men were all but forgotten.

Brian finally looked at Mason.  “So, seriously,” he began, clearing his throat, “are you okay with this?  With me and Ava?”

Mason smiled.  “I knew probably before you did that you had feelings for her
; it just pissed me off that what you were telling me back then was going to mess up my plans.  As it turns out, you did me a huge favor.”  He paused and smiled across the table at Melissa who beamed a sappy smile right back at him.  “I can see now all that was missing from my relationship with Ava.  Melissa makes me happy; we both want the same things.  I’m sorry that it took me so long to realize that what you were saying to me was the truth.  Chalk it up to ego, pride and whatnot.”

“I’m glad for you, I really am,” Brian admitted, feeling relaxed for the first time that evening.  “And I have to admit, I’m happy for me, too.  She’s everything I ever wanted.”

“I know,” Mason said sincerely.  “I don’t want things to be awkward between us.  You’re one of my best friends and I don’t want to lose you, man.  Believe me, I thought that this would be weird; when Ava called me I was a little shocked, but I think that really, everything worked out for the best.”

“I have to agree,” Brian said and reached under the table for Ava’s hand and squeezed.  When she turned her head and smiled at him Brian felt as if someone had a fist around his heart.  She was so beautiful, so amazing and he didn’t think he’d ever get used to knowing that she was his.