On Dry Land (Swimming Upstream #3) (3 page)

Chapter 4

Ava

Ava’s fingers ached. They’d ballooned to twice their normal size. She’d been typing feverishly since she’d woken up on Saturday morning. After a restless night, Ava had woken up inspired. She didn’t know if it was the panic attack, the argument or non-argument with Tyler, or the fact that she’d tossed and turned all night, but for some reason the creative juices were flowing. Not just trickling, either. It was a Niagara Falls sized waterfall.

Pushing back from her desk, Ava stretched her arms high above her head and groaned loudly. Brushing the crumbs from her stained sweat pants, Ava shuffled into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. Her vision was blurry and her whole body ached from sitting in the same position for way too many hours. When she looked in the mirror she barely recognized the person staring back at her. Her hair, even though tied back in a ponytail, was nothing more than an oily mess, while her face was red and blotchy.

“I need a shower,” Ava declared as she peeled off her clothes, realizing she’d spent the entire weekend walking around with mismatched socks. Thankfully she was alone in her apartment with no one there to judge her.

Under the scalding water, Ava tried to wash it all away. She scrubbed the grease and the grime from her body and watched as it circled the drain before disappearing. As she lathered up her hair, Ava let her thoughts scatter. For three days she’d been immersed in a world of make believe. Instead of spending her weekend in the real world, Ava had holed up in her shoebox apartment and spent the weekend talking to her fictional friends. The most frustrating part though was her fictional characters, James and Anna, weren’t co-operating. She’d written draft after draft before deleting it all. After three days of nonstop typing, missed meals, and showers, all that had survived was three measly paragraphs.

It wasn’t just James and Anna who weren’t talking to her. She could also put Tyler in that bucket. She hadn’t heard from him since Friday morning. It was now Monday night. She’d had three days off work and not a peep. Maybe this time she’d pushed him away for good. Ava knew it was all her fault. She’d let her insecurities and fears control her. She hadn’t let him in and now she was paying the price. Ava knew she could have called but for some reason she found herself holding back.

She climbed into bed, sinking back against the pile of pillows. Ava was obsessed with pillows. Or maybe it was she needed them to fill the empty spaces beside her. Grabbing her phone, Ava logged into Facebook and caught up on the world. More pregnancy announcements, family photos of trips to the beach, more than a dozen shots of people’s meals from across the weekend, but then there was one that caught her attention. One she couldn’t ignore, no matter what the niggling in her stomach tried to tell her.

‘
Spotted–Tyler Andrews dining with an anonymous blonde.’

One line.

One simple headline.

One suggestive picture of Tyler and the back of a head.

A blonde head.

Trying not to let her emotions run away with her, Ava logged out and switched off the lights. She had to get up in the morning, make herself look presentable and face the world. Face people. Not a pleasant thought at all. Right now she needed to forget about everything and sleep through the night. The whole night. Tomorrow was a new day and she’d face that when she had to.

“Morning,” Amanda cooed as Ava stumbled into the office her eyes barely slits.

“Mmm.”

“Coffee’s already on your desk and you have back to back meetings all morning.” Amanda twirled an errant curl around her finger as she nibbled on the corner of her toast.

“Thanks.”

Dragging her feet, Ava slumped into her office and waited while her computer struggled to life, a bit like she did this morning. Some days everything just seemed like a struggle and today was no different.

Three hours later Ava stumbled out of her meeting bleary eyed and brain dead. Meetings seemed pointless most of the time. All they ever achieved was to sap her energy and fill her inbox. For every minute she spent stuck in a yet another never ending meeting, Ava would have sworn two emails popped into her account.

As she started punching out furious replies and deleting nonsense that someone else should deal with, Ava let her mind wander. It wasn’t so much as she let it wander; more like it took off on a stroll on its own. She couldn’t focus. The characters from her latest book, James and Anna, the same two characters who spent the whole weekend ignoring her were now screaming at her. Very loudly. She couldn’t silence them. They just wouldn’t shut the fuck up.

“Not now!” she growled under her breath as she tried to scribble down the thoughts that were coming faster than she could write while still answering phone calls.

Fighting through the never ending stream of bullshit, Ava stumbled across Amanda’s email.

Amanda: You okay? Who’s the blonde?

Ava knew what she was referring to but didn’t want to acknowledge it. If she didn’t, then it wouldn’t be real. It wouldn’t be an issue.

Ava: :( No idea…I’m fine.

Ava lied through her teeth. Or through her email.

It wasn’t the first time today Ava wondered who she was or why she was with Tyler, but she was too stubborn to ask. Or maybe she was too scared. Even though a part of her wanted to know, the bigger part, the more dominant part didn’t dare to know. She was too afraid the answer would shatter her already fragile heart.

For Ava, the day passed quickly and for that she was extremely thankful. As she made her way down to the car park for the first time she noticed it was pouring rain. Fat, heavy drops pelted the pavement and from the puddle gathering on the uneven concrete it looked like it had been raining for some time. Ava’s stomach turned. She hated driving in the wet. It made her nervous.

Digging through her bag, Ava found her keys and ran for her car. She slipped behind the wheel and started the engine. When it wheezed to life, she turned on the lights, buckled her seatbelt, and eased off the park brake. With her heart beating out of control and her breathing shallow and rapid, Ava edged out of the car park.

As soon as she did she regretted it. It seemed like every idiot was out and about tonight. Traffic crawled. Ava’s windscreen wipers were going so fast and making so much noise that she wouldn’t have been surprised if they’d flown off. The sky was black with menacing thunder clouds rolling about. When the lightning made its appearance, the whole sky lit up like the Fourth of July.

“Fuck me!” Ava swore as she turned up the stereo, desperate to drown out the sounds of the storm raging outside.

It took twenty minutes to creep five kilometres but at least she’d pushed past the city limits and was now cruising along the main thoroughfare across town. Exhaling deeply, Ava wiggled her fingers, trying to release some of the built-up tension. Her shoulders and neck ached from holding herself so rigid. Rolling her neck side to side, Ava accelerated, and just as she began to relax, she was jolted.

“Shit!”

But the jolt didn’t stop. Ava attempted to pump the brake to stop herself but she was nothing more than a hapless passenger. Stealing a glance in the rear view mirror, all she could see was a huge, chrome bumper pushing her towards the ditch on the side of the road. Unable to stop herself, Ava let out a blood curdling scream but no one would have heard it over the crunching of metal.

Chapter 5

Tyler

Ava: Hi

The text broke Tyler’s concentration but he couldn’t be pissed. Not when he saw Ava’s name pop up on the screen. Immediately he replied.

Tyler: Hi yourself.

As soon as he hit send he grimaced. Trying to sound casual and nonchalant didn’t work for him. He’d replied too quickly. Sounded too fake. And it had only been two words. Two inconsequential, meaningless words. Shaking his head, Tyler pushed back from his desk and focused on his phone. Willing it to beep again.

Ava: You busy?

It didn’t sound like Ava but Tyler didn’t care. After the silence that had stretched the weekend he wasn’t bothered about appearing too keen.

Tyler: Nup. What’s up?

Before he had a chance to think the phone in his hand lit up and began vibrating madly.

“Hi.”

“H-h-hi,” as Ava’s voice shook, every hair on Tyler’s body stood on end.

“Ava? What’s going on?”

“I-I-I had an accident.”

“Are you okay?” Tyler prayed as he slipped on his shoes and ran his hand through his hair. Every thought, every scheduled event, everything was just gone. Nothing else mattered in that moment more than getting to Ava and seeing for himself that she was okay. No amount of reassurance from her or anybody else was going to cut it. Unless he saw her, held her, smelt her, he wouldn’t believe it.

“Yeah. I’m okay.”

“Where are you?”

Tyler stepped into the kitchen and reached for his keys. It wasn’t until his hand was extended out in front of him that he saw the noticeable tremor in his fingertips. He was scared.

“Short Stack? I need you to tell me where you are.”

Ava whimpered out brief directions before a deep masculine voice came on the line. “Mr. Andrews?”

“Yes,” Tyler answered stiffly. He had absolutely no desire to speak to anyone other than Ava, let alone some guy who was with her, when every fiber of Tyler’s being was telling him it should be him. He should be there with her. She should be wrapped in his arms, where it was safe.

“Ava’s okay. She’s shaken and in shock and she will more than likely have quite a bruise tomorrow, but other than that she’s going to be fine.”

“Who are you?”

“Sorry. I’m Matt. I’m the paramedic on the scene.”

“Paramedic?” The word alone sent Tyler’s blood pressure plummeting.

“It’s just a precaution, I assure you. Ava’s young and strong. She’ll be okay. She probably just needs some sleep. Once the adrenaline wears off she’ll crash pretty fast.”

Slamming the door behind him, Tyler ran down the hallway as Matt continued to babble. Tyler didn’t hear a word. He was on a mission. Taking the stairs three at a time, Tyler almost missed a step more than once but he didn’t slow. “Where exactly are you?”

“We’re just past the main exit on the parkway. There’s really no need for you to come…”

“I’m on my way.”

Sliding behind the wheel, Tyler forced himself to take a deep breath before he fired up the ignition. The last thing Ava needed right now was him freaked out or worse. She needed him in one piece and if that’s what she needed, then that was exactly what she’d get.

It took him twenty minutes to reach her. Traffic crawled and the closer he got the more agitated he became as the rubber necking slowed his progress. The moment he rounded the corner enough to see what had caused the drama, his heart sank. Ava’s Mazda was nothing more than a smudge on the bumper, crushed between the chrome and the concrete wall. The rain hadn’t eased. If anything it had gotten heavier as he edged closer. Tyler barely noticed. He barely noticed anything, except the flashing lights of the ambulance with its doors thrown open and a frightened, shaken woman sitting inside.

Flicking on his indicator, Tyler pulled in behind the police car and in one smooth motion, leapt from the car and started jogging towards the ambulance.

“Sir?” a pudgy officer in an ugly fluorescent yellow raincoat called out.

“Yeah?”

“Can I help you?”

“No. I need…I need…” Tyler’s eyes flickered to Ava, who hadn’t seen him yet. As Tyler’s frantic gaze shifted between Ava and the policeman, he found himself clenching his fists tightly. He could deal with anything. Later. Right now he just needed to know she was okay.

When the officer nodded, Tyler took off. The closer he got, the clearer the image. Ava was fine. He could see that. She wasn’t broken. She wasn’t bleeding. She wasn’t even crying. Her hair was plastered to her face, her makeup was smudged, and she was wrapped in a grey cotton blanket, but Tyler had never seen anything more beautiful.

“Are you sure you’re okay to get home, Ava? I can…”

Tyler didn’t let the guy finish. Call it jealousy; call it possessive, he didn’t care. The only person leaving there with Ava would be him. “She’s fine. I’ve got her.”

As he spoke, he watched Ava’s eyes widen, almost unnaturally so before they filled with tears and toppled over her eyes lashes.

“Ty-ler,” Ava hiccupped as the sobbing started. She grabbed at her chest as Tyler stepped into the open doors, dominating the space.

“Mr. Andrews,” the blond, blue-eyed paramedic acknowledged as he stepped up and moved away from Ava, almost intimidated.

“Matt?” Tyler’s voice was calm but strong. Inside however, Tyler was anything but. The desire to shove Matt out of the way and drag Ava into his arms was almost suffocating him. In his arms she’d be safe. She’d be okay. She’d be right where she belonged.

“Thanks for coming. You right to get her home?”

“Absolutely.”

“Okay then. Ava, you’ll be okay. Just take some aspirin for the pain if you need it and get some sleep. You’ll be bruised for a couple of days, probably a bit stiff and sore, but if it gets worse or anything else happens, you need to go straight to your GP.”

“Thanks, Matt.” Ava smiled. Barely.

Tyler watched as she unwrapped her shoulders from the blanket and shivered in the cool air. Without a word, Tyler shrugged off his jacket and as soon as Ava was within reach, he draped it over her shoulders before tucking her against him.

“Mmm,” she murmured against his chest as she snuggled as close as she could.

“Take care of yourself, Ava. And Tyler, you might want to get out of here before anyone recognizes you.”

“Thanks, Matt. You ready, Short Stack?”

At the mention of her nickname, Ava smiled—the first genuine smile Tyler had seen in days. Maybe there was still hope. Maybe they could get past his stupidity and selfishness, because as Tyler led Ava back to his car, he realized it didn’t matter. Nothing did. Nothing except being together. He’d take every moment he could get. And in those moments when they weren’t together, he’d wish they were. But he wouldn’t push her for something she couldn’t give. None of that mattered anyway. Now he just had to make Ava believe it. Perhaps a task that was easier said than done, but damn it, he’d die trying.

Tyler was desperate to ask what happened, but every time he glanced across into Ava’s ashen face, the words caught in his throat. Instead, Tyler stuck to safe topics. “Did you want to come back to my place?”

Ava’s head snapped up so quickly Tyler heard the protest in her neck. Turning at the sound, he was surprised her eyes had widened even further if possible and they looked panicked. Sucking in a deep breath, Ava stared straight out the window, “Would you mind if we went to my place instead? I…I don’t have any spare clothes with me and what I really want more than anything is a hot shower and to get out of these wet clothes.”

He couldn’t mask his surprise. In eight months together Tyler had never been to Ava’s apartment. He’d never been inside and he’d never once picked her up from out the front. Every time they’d arranged a date, Ava had cleverly found a way to get him to pick her up from work or meet him there.

“You sure?” Tyler tried to remain calm, cool, and collected, but the trembling in his voice gave away the truth.

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

They drove in silence for a while, the rain pounding on the windscreen and the light fading fast. Even though they were barely crawling along in the traffic, Tyler’s heart was racing. He knew the next words would hurt, but he didn’t have a choice. After the day Ava had endured, the best thing he could do for her was suck it up and be the bigger person. Now wasn’t the time to make her feel bad. Just one look at her reminded him that she was feeling miserable enough.

“Ah, Ava?”

“Yeah?”

“Where exactly am I going?”

Ava giggled. It lit up Tyler’s whole world. As the sound crackled through the car, it brought a smile to Tyler’s face he couldn’t hide.