by Amity Hope
They rode in silence for a while. She had questions for Gabe that she wanted answered but after his comment about privacy she knew it would be best to wait a bit. When she realized they were heading out of town, toward Granville, she asked where they were going.
“Florentine’s,” he answered. When Ava didn’t respond he cast a glance her way to find her staring at him in astonishment. “What?” he asked. “You don’t like Florentine’s? Or you don’t like Italian?”
“I love Italian but that place has outrageous prices,” Ava admonished.
“Have you been there?” Gabe asked.
“Uh, no. It’s not the kind of restaurant my family could afford,” she unabashedly admitted. “Also, I’m not exactly dressed for it. Not to mention, really, you don’t need to be spending so much money on me! I’d be happy with a cheeseburger or even another fantastic picnic. Honest.”
“First, you look amazing, as always. Second, you’re going to give me some kind of complex. You didn’t want the necklace, the flowers and now you don’t like where I’ve picked to eat? You’re kind of hurting my feelings,” Gabe said as he gave her a look full of mock sadness.
She giggled at the look on his face. “Fine. You win. I would love to see the inside of Florentine’s. I’ve heard the food is unbelievable. But after this, you don’t need to do anything special. Okay?”
Gabe frowned, looking truly troubled. “I guess. If that’s what you want.”
“It is,” she told him, her voice firm but gentle. “Please don’t think it’s that I don’t appreciate it because I do. It’s all very sweet. I just don’t need it.”
Ava was quiet for a while, trying to decide the best way to ease into the conversation she wanted to have. Finally she said, “I’m so excited for graduation. It’s so hard to concentrate on school this time of year. Are you still spending most of your days at the radio station?”
Gabe said that he was. When Ava asked about Rafe, Gabe told her that they didn’t run into each other much. Rafe was only at the station long enough to tell people what to do and then he was out of there. Gabe admitted he liked hanging around because it gave him something to do away from the house while he waited for Ava to get out of school.
“Your dad isn’t back yet?” Ava wondered.
“No,” Gabe said with an edge to his voice.
Ava ignored it. “You really don’t get along with your family at all, do you?”
He shook his head. She noticed his grip tighten on the steering wheel.
“What about your mom?” Ava asked. “You haven’t mentioned her at all.”
He was quiet so long Ava was almost convinced he wasn’t going to answer. She didn’t want to push it or upset him. Yet she was so close to her family that the fact he didn’t like to even talk about his really troubled her.
“She’s gone. She died...in a freak accident when I was a kid. I don’t care to talk about her.”
“That’s terrible,” Ava softly replied. “I’m really, really sorry. What happened?”
A look of anger flashed across his face and then his features softened again. Yet his voice was frigid when he spoke. “When I say I don’t care to talk about her, what I mean is that I won’t talk about her. Look,” he said when he saw the hurt look on Ava’s face, “I don’t mean to be an ass. I just…” he ran a hand through his hair as he took a deep breath.
“Okay. I don’t expect you to understand this because I get that your family means everything to you. But not everyone has the background you have. She was a horrible person and I don’t miss her.” He clenched his jaw and his face paled at his confession. He dared an anxious look at Ava. “I shouldn’t have said that. I sound like a monster.”
“No, you don’t,” Ava said as she gave his knee a comforting squeeze. “You don’t sound like a monster. The whole thing just sounds really heartbreaking. And maybe I don’t understand. But that’s because I can’t even imagine being in that kind of situation, where things are so horrible I would feel that way.”
Ava tried for a reassuring smile when he looked at her again. “It’s not like I’m going to judge you for it. I have no idea what you’ve been through so that would hardly be fair of me.”
“Well, thanks for that,” Gabe said, his voice still fraught with tension.
Ava bit her lip. This conversation was not going at all as she had imagined it. Instead of answering questions, it was creating more. She wanted to press Gabe about his mother, not out of curiosity but out of a desire to understand him. Yet she felt at this point, to do so would only cause him to pull away. Frankly, she was surprised that he’d admitted as much as he had. She wasn’t sure he had meant to say so much. It seemed to her the information had slipped out and that he desperately wanted to take it back.
Of course she wondered what his mother had done. It had to be something so horrible he didn’t appear to be sorry that she was dead. That could be a defense mechanism but Ava didn’t think so. The look on his face seemed to say he truly was not sorry she was gone. Ava desperately wanted to know what his mother had done to make him feel that way. No doubt that whatever it was, it had to be awful.
He was equally as elusive when it came to his brother, other than admitting they didn’t get along. At all. His family had never celebrated a holiday which Ava found to be equally as heartbreaking in its own way.
“I really messed up, didn’t I?” Gabe asked, finally breaking the silence that had enveloped them. “I didn’t mean it the way it sounded,” he said, trying to backpedal.
“You didn’t mess up. I think you did mean it the way it sounded. I think it’s pretty obvious that I like you. That means I want to know about you and your life and your family and if it’s not all neat and tidy, I want to know that too,” Ava explained.
Gabe studied her for a second, his eyes darting to Ava, the K tospan>
road and back again. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Yes. It just makes me realize how lucky I am that I have the family that I have. I feel lucky that I was given to the St. Clairs. I mean, if my birth mom didn’t want me but had kept me, things could be a lot different than they are now. I just wish everyone had a family as loving as mine. But they don’t. That just makes me appreciate mine even more.” Ava paused, debating, but decided that as long as they’d come this far, she may as well continue. “And your dad?”
Gabe let out an exasperated sigh. “What about him?”
“I know you said you work for him but do you get along?” she wondered.
“The honest truth and you won’t judge?” Gabe asked.
“I won’t judge. I promise.”
Gabe’s answer was simple and concise. “I hate him.” When Ava said nothing he turned to look at her again. “Are you sure you’re not judging?”
“I’m sure. I’m just assimilating, I guess.” She paused and she could see Gabe tense as he braced for her next question. “What I don’t understand is why you stick around? I mean, if you truly don’t get along with your family and you hate your dad, why not just get away from them?”
He surprised her by laughing. The sound of it, so different from his usual good-natured laugh, made Ava break out in goose bumps.
“If it were that easy, I would be gone,” he assured her.
“What’s the problem?” she wanted to know. “I get that your family has money. Do you have a trust fund that you’d be cut off from? Because if that’s it, money isn’t everything. I mean, you work for your dad and you live in a house that he owns. Why not just go out on your own? Unless you don’t want to be without the fancy house and the job?”
Gabe shook his head. “It’s not about the house or the job or even the money. It’s complicated. It’s about family loyalty and things that are completely out of my control.”
“Maybe it’s time you took control then,” Ava hesitantly suggested. “You’re your own person, capable of making your decisions and living your own life.”
The look on Gabe’s face said that he di
sagreed but he remained silent.
“You know what? I’m sorry,” she told him. “Here you are bringing me flowers and taking me to the nicest restaurant around, really making this date fantastic. And here I am making things all awkward. I just want to get to know you better. That’s all. I’m sorry for all of the pushy questions.”
“It’s okay. No one has ever really asked about my family before. I guess I’m not very good at coming up with good answers,” Gabe admitted.
“I don’t need good answers. Just honest ones,” Ava told him. “To make it fair is there anything you want to know about me?”
For the first time since the conversation began, a smile tugged at the corner of Gabe’s lips. “How about…” Gabe faded off, as if wondering what, exactly, to ask, “your first kiss?”
Ava groaned. “You can ask me anything and you choose to ask about that?”
“Well, we both know your family is perfect so I don’t need to ask about them. It was the first thing that popped into my head.”
“Just so we’re clear, we’re not perfect. Far from it,” Ava said. “No one is perfect.”
“Well, you seem pretty damn close to perfect to me,” Gabe admitted. “Now stop evading the question. Was it that bad?”
“Not bad, just not the memory I would’ve wanted. It was at the county fair. It was loud and dusty. The air smelled like a mixture of fumes from the rides and the smelly old animal barns. Plus he’d just eaten a corndog.”
“Not exactly romantic,” he pointed out.
“Not exactly,” she agreed. “I guess it was kind of disappointing. It’s not like you get a do-over for something like that.”
“A do-over?”
“You know,” Ava said with her usual smile, “there are just some things in life you only get one chance at. So you kind of need to make them count.”
***
“Your knowledge of dating sucks,” Gabe told Rafe as he stormed into the kitchen of the main house. “Ava does not like me to buy her things. She also does not like fancy restaurants.” That wasn’t the entire truth. Once they got over the initial argument of whether or not they should go, Ava had been delighted with the place. Especially the Tiramisù, which he had ordered for himself. Somehow he had let Ava eat almost all of. He’d never let a girl touch his food before.
Ever.
But then he’d never met anyone like Ava before.
Ever.
When she said that she wasn’t judging him, she meant it. She really did want to know about him, where he came from, what made him, him. She didn’t feel pity for him either, which would have been just Kavent> as bad, possibly worse as far as he was concerned.
He knew this with more clarity than her words alone could convey. The ability to heal quickly wasn’t the only ability they’d inherited from their father’s blood. While the talents that Rafe had received from their father’s blood may be stronger, Gabe wasn’t entirely without talents of his own. Though he wasn’t capable of seeing into someone’s mind completely, he could easily feel what they felt, helping him to twist a situation to his advantage by playing into the emotions of the other person. He had done this with Ava at first, used this sixth sense to tell her what she needed to hear.
But now he found himself using it for a different reason. He was curious about her. He was constantly being surprised by her. Like tonight, he hadn’t meant to reveal anything about his family but the open concern and, as Ava admitted, actual caring caused him to open up in a way that he’d never felt compelled to before. With each admission that tumbled from his mouth he expected her emotions to slam him with contempt or condescension but all he felt was an intense desire to understand.
He had never, in his life, felt what it was like to have someone care for him before, let alone known what it was like to have someone desire to understand him.
Of course he hadn’t gone so far as to tell her the truth. He hadn’t lied, for once, but Ava would not have been able to handle the entire truth. If she knew what his father was, what he was, he was sure that he’d feel more than contempt. He would fully expect her to loath and fear him.
“Did you finally make a mess of things then?” Rafe asked. He was cutting through a hunk of ham, slicing off a piece for a sandwich.
“What does Father want with Ava?” Gabe demanded.
Rafe looked up at Gabe with carefully blank eyes.
“You do know,” Gabe realized. He had doubted Rafe knew much more than he did. Their father was secretive beyond measure. His gut twisted with the knowledge that Rafe had been enlightened when he hadn’t. “What is it?”
“I’ve got no idea,” his brother casually replied as he began to slice off a piece of tomato.
“You’re lying.”
“If you need to know, ask Father.”
“Father isn’t here. I’m asking you. Ava’s only seventeen. She’s not even out of high school yet. What could she possibly have that he would be interested in? She has no company, no money, no...Is it Daniel St. Clair? Is Father using Ava to get close to him? Is he planning on infiltrating the church?” Gabe stepped closer to Rafe. Anyone else would’ve been intimidated. Rafe stood his ground, his eyes burning with as mu Kng iltrch hatred as Gabe’s.
“I said…ask Father. I will not break his trust by telling you what you do not need to know. Obviously, he only trusted one of us with this information. It wasn’t you.”
Gabe lunged across the counter, grabbing Rafe’s wrist and twisting it until it cracked like a snapping tree branch. “Tell me what he’s going to do with her!”
Rafe’s body heaved as he turned on Gabe, slamming him onto the cold kitchen tile. “Don’t you ever forget which one of us is stronger, little brother. When I give you an answer, you listen.” He ground his knee into the base of Gabe’s spine as he plunged the knife he’d been wielding into his back
Chapter 11
“Dinner was excellent, Ava, thank you,” her mom said with a smile. “I had no idea I would get out of work so late. I appreciate you throwing it together on such short notice.”
“N Nng ilimeo problem,” Ava told her. “I was already done walking Hercules so I didn’t have anything else to do.” She enjoyed cooking. If she had to choose a household chore to take over, making dinner would always be her preference.
“It was very good,” her dad agreed as he rose from the table, taking his plate to the sink to rinse it. “I hate to run off but I promised Charles Henderson I’d stop in after dinner. Marianne isn’t doing well.”
The Hendersons were longtime parishioners. First belonging to Ava’s grandfather’s parish and then moving to her father’s when the antiquated church closed its doors. Marianne had been battling pancreatic cancer for a while now. Charles and her grandfather had been friends and she had fond memories of them together. She adored Marianne and often stopped by to visit with the couple after school.
“Wait a sec,” Ava requested as she leapt up from her place at the table. “I made them a pineapple upside down cake since I was in here making dinner anyway. Charles bought both of the ones I made at the last church fundraiser. He told me they were almost as good as Marianne’s,” Ava said with a playful smirk. She took a covered platter from the counter and handed it to her dad. “I was going to bring it over to them tomorrow but since you’re visiting tonight, tell them I’ll stop in one afternoon next week.”
“Thanks, sweetheart, I’m sure they’ll appreciate it,” Daniel said as he leaned over and kissed Ava on the forehead. “I shouldn’t be gone too long,” he told his wife as he departed from the kitchen.
“So how did the cat turn out?” Ava asked her mom.
Leah worked as a veterinary technician for the animal clinic in town. She had called Ava to let her know she was running late because someone’s cat had jumped off their second story deck, breaking its leg. The owner had called, frantic, just as they were closing. Of course, these types of emergencies were never planned but could always be expected. They waited for her to arrive s
o they could fix the little guy up.
“It was a pretty nasty break,” she said with a grimace. “A compound fracture of both the ulna and radius. The cat took it pretty well but I thought his owner was going to pass out in the lobby. It was pretty touch and go for a minute. I had to have her sit with her head between her knees. Then when she saw the bill, I thought she was going to have to sit with her head between her knees again.”
“I suppose I shouldn’t laugh at that?” Ava asked as her lips twitched anyway. She started rinsing off the dinner dishes.
“No, you shouldn’t,” Leah agreed with a slight smile of her own. “So what are you girls doing tonight?” she asked Grier who was loading the dishwasher.
Grier turned to Ava.
“A movie for sure,” Ava told her mother.
They were going on their group, well, not date exactly. Their group outing. Ava had suggested to Molly that they all go see a movie. She thought per Se tgoihaps the less social interaction the evening involved, the better. At least the first time Gabe met Grier. Ava hoped they would get along fine but with Grier, she was never sure.
“Gabe’s picking us up and we’re meeting Julia, Molly and Oliver at the theater. I’m not sure if we’ll do anything after that or not.”
“That sounds like fun. I hope you have a good time,” Leah told them with sincerity. She smiled encouragingly at Grier who only nodded.
“What are you going to do?” Ava asked her mom. “You’ll have the house to yourself for a while.”
“Oh, the usual I suppose. A few loads of laundry since it doesn’t wash itself.” Her mother sighed with mock annoyance.
“I did the laundry,” Grier told her. “You should read a book.”
“Thank you, Grier,” Leah said as she gave her a sideways hug that she did not return. “That was really sweet of you. I’ve had one sitting on my dresser that I just haven’t been able to get around to opening.”
“I know,” Grier told her. “It’s why I did the laundry.”
“Oh,” Leah said as she glanced out the window. “I believe the silver car that just pulled up belongs to Gabe. You can leave the rest of the dishes.”
