The Magnolia Sisters

by Michelle Major

  “You can’t be serious,” Avery answered.

  But Carrie nodded. “I know we haven’t been a family for very long, but you’re more important to me than any building. Whether you stay and help us turn the town around or leave for greener pastures, we’ll still be sisters.”

  “What she said,” Meredith added.

  Avery sucked in a breath. She’d never expected to find this kind of connection but was smart enough to realize the precious gift her sisters were offering her. She’d made some stupid mistakes but couldn’t continue to punish herself for them.

  “Magnolia is just green enough for me,” she told them. “I’m not going to sell, but I do want to stay.” She swallowed, then continued, “I need to face what happened in California. Even if Gray chooses to believe the worst about me, I can’t keep doing that to myself.”

  “What do you need?” Carrie asked without hesitation.

  “I want to try to talk to Tony’s wife,” she said, heart pounding at the thought of it. “To apologize once and for all for the part I played in her being hurt. Maybe it won’t make a difference to her, but it will give me some closure.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Carrie said, then threw a pointed look at Meredith.

  “I hate planes,” she said, then rolled her eyes when Carrie continued to stare. “Okay, fine. We’re going to San Francisco. Can we at least tour Alcatraz while we’re there?”

  “You’d come with me?” Avery was stunned.

  “Yes,” both women answered.

  Meredith winked. “We can use the ungodly long flight to plan how you’re going to fix things with Gray when we get back.”

  “I don’t know if that’s possible.” Avery shook her head. She was done taking life’s punches without fighting back. This was Avery 2.0 and she planned to make the most of her new start. “You’re right. I’m going to try. I love him and I know he’s worth the risk.”

  “So are you,” Carrie told her and those three little words were like a balm to Avery’s soul. Hope blossomed in her chest, soothing the dull ache that had taken residence there. Maybe Niall Reed had been a world-class jerk while he was alive, but in the end he’d given her the gift of her sisters. For that she’d always be grateful.

  * * *

  “HOW’S IT HANGING, GRAYSON?”

  Gray turned at the sound of Malcolm’s deep voice. “Did you really just ask me how it’s hanging?”

  Mal grinned as he approached the park bench where Gray sat. “The young folks don’t use that expression any longer?”

  “Not at all,” Gray said, then inclined his head toward the crowded playground. “Especially not in front of a bunch of kids.”

  “Good point.” Mal rubbed a hand across his jaw. “Mind if I join you?”

  “Sure.” Gray patted the bench. “No one else seems to want to talk to me today.”

  “You look like someone peed in your Wheaties,” Malcolm explained as he took a seat.

  “No one says that anymore, either.” Gray crossed his arms over his chest. “Besides, I look the same as always.”

  “Except mad as hell,” Malcolm told him, none too helpfully as far as Gray was concerned.

  The mayor waved at Violet when she turned her attention toward them. The little girl waved back, then glanced at Gray before returning to the sandcastle she was building with a towheaded boy.

  Mal chuckled. “Your daughter looks just as grumpy.”

  “She is,” Gray confirmed. “She’s mad at me.”

  “Any particular reason?”

  “Avery moved out of the carriage house, and I suck at braiding.”

  “You should watch YouTube videos.”

  “Really?” Gray sat up straight, then turned to face Malcolm. “I tell you Avery left and you focus on braids?”

  “I raised boys,” Malcolm answered with a shrug. “From what I understand, hair is important to little girls.”

  “It’s not about the braids.” Gray gritted his teeth and tried not to yell. “She misses Avery.”

  “Look at all the moms pretending not to watch us talking,” Malcolm said, propping an ankle on the opposite knee and leaning back against the bench. “Do you always get this much attention?”

  “You aren’t going to address Avery moving out?”

  “It’s none of my business,” the mayor answered with a sniff.

  “Uh-huh.” Gray had already heard from most of his buddies at the fire station that he’d been an idiot to believe his ex-wife’s version of Avery’s breakup story. Lucas’s wife, Jennie, had made a special trip to the station to lay into him. He’d discovered pregnant women could be extremely intimidating when they wanted to. “Why do I feel like there’s a big fat but coming my way?”

  “You were always a good kid,” Malcolm said. “I remember when your mama moved back here with you and your brother.”

  “I was a handful,” Gray admitted.

  “True,” Mal agreed. “Most boys are.” He stifled a laugh as they watched Violet stomp away from the sandpit after the boy building with her tossed aside the dandelion she’d placed on top of their castle. “Some girls, too.”

  “I love that girl.”

  “I know,” the older man agreed quietly. “She’s lucky to have you.”

  “Did you talk to Avery?” Gray couldn’t help but ask. “Do you know what happened?”

  Malcolm’s lips thinned. “Yeah. She stopped by to see me right before she left for California.”

  The breath rushed out of Gray’s lungs like he’d just taken a gut punch. “She’s gone?”

  The mayor didn’t answer, but one thick brow lifted. Gray felt all sorts of unspoken judgment in that small movement.

  “I’m a single dad,” Gray said. “Violet has to be my top priority.”

  “Do you think Avery would have it any other way?”

  Gray sighed. “Stacy will use Avery’s past against me in court.”

  “What do you know about her past besides the garbage your ex-wife fed you?”

  “Avery didn’t deny any of it.”

  “She shouldn’t have to,” Mal countered.

  “Damn.” Gray ran a hand through his hair. The older man was right, of course. He’d had a knee-jerk reaction to Stacy’s bombshell and had gone in guns blazing when he confronted Avery. He understood there were two sides to every story. Why hadn’t he forced himself to calm down and find out Avery’s?

  She’d gone out of her way to connect with his daughter. There had never been one moment he’d doubted her affection for Violet, even when she would have denied it. Had he taken the easy way out? Instead of facing something difficult, he’d assumed the worst so he wouldn’t actually have to put in the work to get through that kind of challenge. “Are you going to tell me what actually happened?”

  “Not my story to share,” Malcolm answered as he stood up. “Just know that woman loves you and she loves your daughter. She’d never do anything to purposely hurt either of you.”

  Regret churned in Gray’s stomach as he watched Malcolm walk away. He couldn’t believe Avery was gone. As angry as he’d been during their last conversation, the past few days had been horrible without her. It was like a dark cloud hovered over him, blotting out the brightness she’d brought to his world. He put on a good face for Violet, but inside he felt like he’d never recover.

  Stacy had claimed he was too black-and-white in life—there was no room for any mistakes in light of his high expectations. She’d accused him of holding the people who loved him to unreachable standards. At the time, he’d paid no attention to her words, too righteous in his own heartbreak and betrayal.

  Now he wondered if she’d actually been on-target with her charges. Becoming a father hadn’t been part of his plan at the time, but he’d embraced the role with the whole of his being. He’d wanted to create the perfect life for Viole
t any way he could. But what if his daughter grew up feeling like she had to be perfect to earn his love?

  Of course she had his heart unconditionally.

  Too late, he understood Avery did, as well.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  AVERY GAZED OUT the window of the rental car, toward the well-appointed brick house in a posh neighborhood outside San Francisco.

  “I can do this,” she whispered.

  “Absolutely,” Carrie agreed and reached over to squeeze her hand.

  “Are you sure we shouldn’t have stopped for a drink on the way?” Meredith asked from the back seat.

  Avery shook her head. “I can’t talk to Tony’s wife when I’ve been drinking.”

  “I meant for me,” her youngest sister clarified. “I’m a nervous wreck right now.”

  Avery felt the corner of her mouth twitch into a smile. “How do you do that?” She glanced back at Meredith. “You manage to make me feel better with your asinine comments.”

  “It’s a gift,” Meredith answered with a wink.

  Carrie rolled her eyes, but even she smiled. “Are you sure you don’t want us to go up to the house with you?”

  “I need to talk to her on my own.” Avery drew in a deep breath, then handed Carrie the keys. “But if you hear plates crashing against a wall or—”

  “A gunshot?” Meredith suggested.

  Carrie wagged her fingers toward the back seat. “Enough from you,” she said, then gave Avery an encouraging smile. “You’ll be fine. She invited you here.”

  “Right.” Nerves zipped through Avery until it felt like her skin was electric. But this was what she needed to do for closure. She’d called Sofia Monteroy from the kitchen table at Niall’s house two nights ago with her sisters flanking her. Their presence gave her the strength she needed to punch in the number. Sofia had answered on the second ring, sounding strangely unsurprised to hear from Avery. They’d spoken for less than a minute when Sofia had asked Avery to come by her house.

  Without explaining that the meeting would require a cross-country flight, Avery had accepted. She wanted to apologize in person. Thanks to the support of Carrie and Meredith, she was about to get that chance.

  She walked up the cobblestone path that led to the house, her stomach pitching when the door opened as she got to the porch.

  “Please come in,” her ex-boyfriend’s wife told her, stepping back into the house. Sofia looked different than she had that day in the office. Her light brown hair was cut in a stylish bob and she wore a silk shirt and fitted jeans. A diamond solitaire on a gold chain hung around her neck and her makeup was both subtle and elegant. Worry lines bracketed her mouth. Avery couldn’t help but wonder if they’d been there before she discovered her husband’s adultery and the accident that occurred in its aftermath.

  “Thank you,” Avery murmured. It was surreal to enter Tony’s home, or the house where he’d once lived. On the phone, Sofia had immediately offered that they were indeed divorcing. The only question Avery had cared about asking was whether their son had recovered and relief had pounded through her when Sofia confirmed that he was doing well.

  “My boys are at a friend’s house,” Sofia now explained as she closed the door and then led Avery into a formal living room. The interior of the house was modern, with cream-colored furniture and very few personal photos or knickknacks as decoration. “It seemed more appropriate that they not be here.”

  “I’m glad to know that Mark’s doing better,” Avery said as she lowered herself onto the edge of one of the leather chairs that flanked the sofa. “Once again, I’m so sorry. I never meant—”

  “You paid his hospital bill,” Sofia interrupted, taking a seat on the couch.

  “As much as I could afford,” Avery confirmed. “If you need anything else—”

  “You weren’t the only one. I discovered soon after confronting you that Tony was a serial cheater.”

  Avery bit down on the inside of her cheek. Her heart had healed from the betrayal, but somehow it still hurt to learn that a man she’d thought she loved had been even more duplicitous than she could have imagined.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “You keep apologizing.” Sofia inclined her head. “What for?”

  “For the pain I caused you,” Avery answered without hesitation.

  Sofia laughed. “You or my husband?”

  “For my part in it. I appreciate your willingness to meet with me. I understand this is awkward.” Avery offered a shaky smile. “It means a lot to me to apologize in person.”

  “Tony and I met at Stanford,” Sofia told her, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “It was love at first sight on my part, although it took a little longer for him. We dated over a year, and then on the eve of graduation, I found out he’d slept with one of my sorority sisters.”

  “Why didn’t you break up with him?”

  The other woman shook her head. “I believed him when he told me it was a drunken mistake and she’d come on to him. He said he barely remembered the next morning, and nothing like that would ever happen again. Until I found out about you, I thought he’d been faithful to me. To our marriage. You can understand my devastation.”

  “Of course.” Avery swallowed against the sick feeling that rose in her throat, hating her part in causing that kind of pain.

  “Now I understand he’s a master manipulator. Not just of me. All the women in his life. And you aren’t the only one with regrets.”

  Avery nodded, afraid she’d be unable to speak without bursting into tears. She couldn’t help but compare what her ex had done to her father’s actions. Of course, she had no reason to believe that Tony had fathered children with any of his mistresses, but the selfishness and disregard for everyone else felt eerily similar. She felt a pang of sympathy for her mother, whose protests that Niall didn’t matter to her rang so hollow.

  “You’re not to blame,” Sofia said quietly, “Even though I wanted you to be.”

  Tears stung the backs of Avery’s eyes and she didn’t bother to blink them away.

  “I tried to take him back,” Sofia admitted, swiping at her own cheeks. “I want a happy home more than anything, but I deserve better than a liar and a cheat. My sons deserve more. How can I raise good men if the example they have of marriage is so dysfunctional?”

  “I think you’re doing the right thing,” Avery offered. “Not that my opinion matters.”

  “You matter.” Sofia flashed the barest hint of a smile. “It’s why I asked you to come here. You wanted to apologize, and I needed to tell you I don’t blame you anymore. For any of it.”

  “Thank you,” Avery whispered.

  “It isn’t fair you lost your job,” Sofia continued. “Tony’s given me all kinds of excuses for his behavior but taken little personal responsibility and been forced to face no consequences in his professional life. From what I understand, your career at Pierce and Chambers was ruined. I’d be willing to help you fight to get your job back or if you decide to file a wrongful terminati—”

  “I’m not going back.” Avery drew in a breath. “I’ve actually moved to North Carolina. I have family there.” The words felt right as she spoke them and the bands that seemed to constrict her heart loosened.

  Sofia’s delicate brow arched. “You flew all the way from the East Coast to meet with me?”

  “My sisters came with me,” Avery answered with a nod. “They’re in the car waiting.” She glanced toward the front window of the house. “I should go.”

  “I have an older sister,” Sofia shared as they both stood. “She’s been my rock through all this. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

  “I know just what you mean.”

  She said goodbye to the woman and walked out of the house. The weather was cool today, with gray skies that spoke of impending rain. Although she’d only
been in Magnolia a short time, she missed the sunshine and the smell of honeysuckle on the morning air.

  Carrie and Meredith both climbed out of the rental car as she approached.

  “Well?” Meredith demanded. “It doesn’t look like she punched you in the face.”

  “She was lovely,” Avery answered. “Sad but lovely.”

  Carrie reached out for a quick hug. “And how are you?”

  Avery let out a soft sigh. “I’m ready to go home.”

  * * *

  GRAY SAT ON the front porch step outside Stacy’s condo the following evening as the moon rose in the midnight sky. He’d been there for almost an hour when his ex-wife’s sleek Mercedes pulled into the driveway.

  Stacy got out and approached him with a warrior glare, heels clicking on the stamped concrete walk. She wore a navy wrap dress that hugged her slim figure with her hair down in loose curls.

  “You’re going to scare the neighbors,” she told him, tucking her phone into the sparkly clutch she carried. “You seem like a stalker.”

  “Where were you tonight?” Gray asked as he straightened.

  “Why is that your business?” She elbowed her way past him toward the front door.

  “Violet was waiting, Stace. She had her little overnight bag packed and was so excited because you promised to take her for frozen yogurt after dinner.”

  Stacy shoved her key in the lock, then turned toward him. “The Froyo place isn’t going anywhere. We’ll go the next time I have her.”

  “That’s not the point.” He massaged a hand against the back of his neck. “This was your night. If you want the custody agreement to stay the way it is, you have to honor it.”

  “Something came up with work,” she told him with a sniff.

  “That’s bullshit and we both know it.”

  “Don’t swear at me,” she snapped. “You have no idea what goes on in my life.”

  “And I don’t care,” he countered. “But you’re hurting our daughter and I’m not going to let it continue. I want to work together, but if you won’t then I’ll fight you, Stacy.”