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

Lacey leaned forward to shake Brian’s hand.  “Good to see you again,” she said, smiling.

“You too,” he responded and then nodded toward her belly.  “Congratulations.  When are you due?”

“Another five weeks and believe me, I cannot wait!”

“Honeymoon baby?” he asked and both Lacey and Ava’s eyebrows shot up.  Brian cleared his throat before speaking.  “Oh, um, Mason mentioned that you and Ava’s brother took their place back at Christmas.”

Ava was outraged that Brian would make such a crass remark but before she could say anything, Lacey was speaking.  “As a matter of fact, it was!  Ean and I couldn’t be happier.  After waiting so long to be together, it didn’t seem necessary to wait to have a baby.”

“Well pregnancy certainly agrees with you,” he said with a wide grin.  “You are positively glowing.”

Lacey blushed.  “Thank you, Brian.”  She was about to say more but noticed the scowl on Ava’s face and then quickly silenced herself. 

Brian continued to smile as he turned his attention to Ava.  “So, Ava, how’ve you been?”  He took a slow sip of his coffee as he took in the sight of her and had to stifle a sigh.  He’d waited; he’d kept his distance.  Now that Mason was engaged again and Ava was ready to graduate, Brian felt that the time was perfect to seek her out.

Refusing to meet his gaze, she softly responded, “Fine, thank you.”

A million questions were racing through Lacey’s head as she watched what could only be described as the most awkward encounter between two people ever.  A quick glance at her watch found her getting to her feet.  “Listen, Ava, I’ll call you later.  I’m supposed to meet Ean in a little while to do some final touches on the office remodel.”  She pushed her chair in and noticed the slight look of despair on her friend’s face.  “You’re more than welcome to come with me.  We’ll be grabbing dinner afterwards and you could join us.”  She threw out the lifeline but there was no guarantee it would be taken.

Ava considered Lacey’s words.  “No, um, thank you.  You go on and tell Ean I said hello.  I’ll see you this weekend.”

A smile beamed across Lacey’s face.  “You’ll be the one in the cap and gown, right?”

Ava couldn’t help but smile in return.  “And you’ll be the one with the bump.”  They both laughed and said their goodbyes.

Brian looked at them both curiously.  He waited until Lacey was out the door before returning his attention solely to Ava.  “The bump?”

“Sorry, private joke.”  The silence stretched on between them and Ava nearly jumped when Brian spoke again.

“So, did you hear about Mason?”

She nodded.  “I’m happy for him; I really am.  I want him to be happy and if this Melissa girl can do that, then I’m happy for them both.”

“That’s a lot of happy,” he said.

“Well, what would you have me say, Brian?  That I’m angry, sad, hurt?”

“Are you?”

“Am I what?”

“C’mon, Ava.  Are you angry, sad or hurt?”

She smiled sadly.  “No, I’m really not and that in itself makes me a little sad.”

“Mason wasn’t the right man for you, Ava.  You and I both know that.”  His voice was
fiercer than he intended and when her gaze snapped up to his he realized it. “Sorry, that was…”

“Completely arrogant of you?  That seems to be your M.O., Brian.”

Unable to disagree, Brian had no choice but to let that particular subject drop.  “So you’re graduating this weekend.  That was fast.”

A half-hearted laugh escaped her lips before she could stop it.  “Fast?  If anything I’m about five years behind.”

“Nonsense, you just took your time in choosing what you wanted.  I meant, compared to this time last year, I thought you had at least another semester left.”

“I doubled up after Christmas so that I could graduate sooner.”

“That had to be rough.”

She shrugged.  “I had a lot of free time on my hands and needed to keep busy.”  The admission was brutally honest and for the first time, Ava wasn’t so proud of the accomplishment.  “What I mean is…”

“It doesn’t matter, Ava.  You worked hard and you’re graduating.  Good for you.  So what comes next for Ava Callahan?  Your own business?  World domination?”

This time the laugh was genuine.  “World domination?  I don’t think I’m ready for that.  I thought I’d want to open my own little bookstore but I don’t think there’s a market for that sort of thing anymore.  With all of the big online retailers and the few mega bookstore
s, the days of the mom-and-pop shop are long gone.”

“So what will you do?  Your degree is in library sciences right?”

She nodded.  “It is and while I thought my choice limited me, it turns out that it’s opened a lot of other doors.”

Brian leaned forward, fully interested in what she was saying and was rewarded when she smiled at him as if realizing that he was sincerely listening.  “I can continue to work for the university
; not just in the bookstore.  I can put in to work in the library there which is a very traditional route to take.  However, if I wanted to challenge myself a little bit, think out of the box if you will, I can use my degree to become an archivist or seek out corporations that have a need for someone to organize or maintain a library for their organization.”

“I don’t follow,” he said, anxious to hear more about her field.

“Well, places like hospitals, med schools, law schools, publishing houses…any place that would require the need of building a library to assist in the growth of their company and it’s employees.”

“That sounds like a very challenging task,” he said, taking another sip of his coffee.

“I suppose it could be but I enjoy a good challenge and I love all kinds of books so researching and getting the opportunity to stock a library would be amazing!”

Her enthusiasm was contagious and in that instant Brian knew that Ava certainly could handle any task – even world domination!  “Have you started submitting resumes to anyplace in particular?”

Ava took a sip of her now long-cold latte and made a face.  Pushing the cup aside she looked back at Brian.  “I’ve sent out a few to some local companies and I’ve talked to human resources at the university, but I’m not sure that I want to stay in Raleigh.”

That bit of information stopped him cold.  “What?  Why? Where would you go?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted.  “I just think that I’m ready for a change; I’ve lived here my whole life and nothing’s really happening for me.”

“What do you want to happen?”

“I want to travel a little; I want to meet new people!” she said a little too heatedly.  “I’m tired of living in everyone else’s shadow and having people look at me with pity because…” she caught herself.  Unable to believe she had just said that out loud and especially to Brian.

“Because you and Mason called off your wedding?” he asked cautiously.

“Exactly.  It’s been eight months and people still look at me with that “
Oh, poor Ava”
look.  I’m tired of it.  I need to get away and prove that I’m more than someone who got left at the altar.”

“Well to be honest, Ava, you didn’t really get left at the altar,” he began.  “It was a mutual decision to not go through with the wedding.  Big difference.”

“Not to the people who were there,” she grumbled.  “It took months before people let me be around sharp objects; they were so afraid that I was going to hurt myself in my despair.”

“Were you?  In despair?”

“No,” she said sadly.  “I wasn’t.  But everyone just thought that I was putting on a brave face.  But it wasn’t brave, it was just my face,” she said, trying to lighten the mood.

Brian looked at the face that had haunted his dreams for more than a
year.  Her blonde hair was a little shorter than it was the last time he’d seen her but her sea blue eyes still twinkled and captivated him.  In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch the smooth skin of her cheeks, to kiss those glossy pink lips and know that he had the right to do so.  But he didn’t.

Not yet.

Silence returned and Ava glanced at her own watch and realized that it was getting late and she had the evening shift at the college bookstore.  “I’ve got to go,” she said and almost cringed at the regret she heard in her voice.

“Already?” he asked, not ready to let her go.

“I’ve got work in a little while and I have some things I have to do before I go in.”  She stood and grabbed her cup.  “It was good to see you, Brian.  Take care of yourself.”

Brian stood and reached for Ava’s arm before she turned away.  “I know that you’ve got graduation this weekend but I’d really like to see you again, Ava.  Can I take you to dinner next week?”

She hesitated for a few seconds before responding.  “I don’t think that would be a good idea, Brian.  It would be awkward.”

“Because of Mason?” he asked, angry that Mason would still be part of the equation.

Ava nodded.  “I just don’t think it would be appropriate.  Please understand.”

He didn’t want to understand.  He’d played by everyone else’s rules and he’d be damned if he didn’t at least try to get Ava to give him a chance.  “Mason’s getting married, Ava.  He’s moved on.  Isn’t it time for you to do the same?”

Regret immediately came when he saw the hurt on her face.  Brian had to give her credit, she quickly recovered before turning to him and saying, “You have no idea what I’ve been doing or what I’ve moved on to, Brian.  All things considered, I just don’t think that we should see each other again.”  She pulled free of his grasp and took a step back scanning his face before finally saying, “Have a good life, Brian.”

And then she was gone.

****

It took most of the ten minute drive from the Starbucks to the campus for Ava’s heart to stop thundering in her chest.  As she shut off the car, she banged her head on the steering wheel.  “Seriously?” she grumb
led to herself.  “I have run into Brian the day after hearing about Mason getting married?  What are the odds?”

Leaning back in the driver’s seat, Ava realized that she was twenty minutes early for work and had nothing to do.  She’d merely told Brian that she did because she needed to get away from him.  He evoked too many emotions in her; too many memories.  She’d relived that night in her mind countless times and yet seeing him today made it seem like it was only yesterday…

Closing the door to her hotel room, Ava sighed.  She’d had a wonderful day of pampering and shopping with Lacey and tomorrow was her wedding day.  She and Mason had overcome many obstacles but she felt certain that they were doing the right thing in getting married.  Any other issues they could work on after their honeymoon.  Neither of them was over-romanticizing their relationship but Ava had finally reached a point where she was okay with her future.

A knock on the door took her momentarily by surprise but she assumed it was Lacey wanting to hang out a little bit more; she had joked earlier about them having one last sleep over like they used to when they were kids.  While Ava really just wanted to be alone right now, if Lacey were waiting with her pillow and some chocolate chip ice cream, she’d be more than happy to have the company.

When she opened the door it wasn’t Lacey staring back at her, but Brian McCabe.  To say she was shocked was an understatement.  He and Mason hadn’t spoken in months and it was because of their disagreement that Ava’s brother was now standing in as best man at their wedding.  Her curiosity had gotten the better of her and she’d tried calling Brian when Mason wouldn’t share what their fight had been about but he’d never returned her calls.  Now here he was, standing larger than life in her doorway and looking at her like she was the enemy.

“Brian!  What are you doing here?” she’d asked.

“May I come in?”

Ava thought on that one for a second; she didn’t know Brian that well but he was a long-time friend of Mason’s and she really did want to know what had happened between them.  She stepped aside and motioned for him to come in.  “So, how are you?” she asked shyly.

Brian turned and looked at her as if she was speaking Greek.  “How am I?  My best friend won’t talk to me and it’s your fault.  How do you think I am?”

No words could have shocked her more.  “My fault?  How is this my fault?  What did I do?”

Taking a minute to collect his thought, Brian glanced around the room and went to sit in the lone chair in the corner.  Taking a deep breath, he stared at her.  “You’re making a mistake, Ava.”

She stood rooted to the spot some ten feet away from him.  “I don’t understand, Brian.  What is this all about?”

“Marrying Mason is a mistake.  You’re not right for him.”

Ava saw red.  How dare this man come here on the eve of her wedding and tell her such things and that’s exactly what she told him!  “What gives you the right to say that?” she demanded.

“I’ve known Mason for a long time; he’s like a brother to me and I’m telling you that this marriage is a mistake.  You won’t make him happy.”

She wanted to cry.  They had been under attack about their relationship for months but Brian’s words hurt the most.  “You don’t even know me!  That’s an unfair assumption to make!”