Tiana laughed.
“Sorry, I guess I have the tendency to speak without filtering first.”
“You think?” Ava smiled. She wasn’t the confrontational type, so she was more than happy to put the anger behind her.
“I hope you get what I’m saying, though.”
Ava nodded, unable to speak past the choking sensation in her throat. Her eyes stung, her heart fluttered like a wild bird trying to escape a cage, and her knees threatened to give out on her.
He hadn’t rejected her. He hadn’t known how she felt. Naturally he’d think she was crazy for wanting to transfer in her senior year for what was supposed to amount to a summer fling.
He hadn’t been nearly as insensitive as she had thought.
She couldn’t think about what she needed to do. She had to just do it.
Cole was not Kevin. He didn’t use her and abandon her, nor would he treat her like there was something wrong with her when he tired of her. He wouldn’t blame her for his own stuff.
Ava loved Cole. She had wasted enough precious time trying to convince herself that she could live without him. Trying to move on was pointless when her soul was an ocean away.
“I love him.”
Karly applauded and Tiana beamed.
“I love him. I freaking love him.”
Sending the pent up words into the universe freed her. She could fly at that moment, yet she needed to stay grounded long enough to fix her life.
If being with him meant giving up the life she had built for herself, so be it. She was young. She’d build her career wherever he was. Good teachers were in need in every part of the world. She could work in an American school overseas. Or something. She’d figure it out. She’d follow him.
Ava loved her independence, but unless she could share all the joys and sorrows with the man she loved, her life would be empty and meaningless. She’d never settle for a guy again—she didn’t need one—but she wanted Cole. She wanted to cook with him. She wanted to take turns doing the laundry. She wanted to have cleaning parties with him. She wanted to drool over him while he mowed the lawn. She wanted to go on long car rides with him and Bear. She wanted to dance in the kitchen with him. To surprise him at the door at the end of the day. To explore his body every second she could.
She had to allow herself to trust Cole. To know that he wouldn’t control her. He wouldn’t hurt her.
She had to trust herself to make the right decision.
“Celebration time!”
Karly danced around the room to a tune only she could hear.
“I’ll grab the champagne!” Tiana offered.
“Wait, before the celebration begins, I have a letter of resignation to write.”
“Are you sure?”
Ava wasn’t sure if it was Tiana or Karly who posed the question. She knew she was in shock at her sudden change of attitude. She also knew she had to do this before she put too much thought into it. She didn’t want to change her mind.
So she nodded. And bit her lip.
Tiana rushed forward and pulled Ava into a sisterly hug.
Karly wrapped herself around Ava’s back. A group hug. Exactly what they all needed.
“Does this mean we need to start shopping for bridesmaid’s gowns?”
Ava chuckled, but secretly loved the idea.
“Let’s not rush things. Poor Cole doesn’t even know any of this yet.” Her cheeks began to cramp with the wide grin she couldn’t get rid of.
Ava disentangled herself and skipped to her desk to compose the email to her boss. Ava tried to ignore the woohoos and the introductions and the I knew they were in loves as she focused on how to turn away the thing she loved most in the world in favor of the man she loved even more.
Chapter Thirteen
Cole paced in his office, shoving one hand through his hair while the other hand played with the change in his pocket. He hated feeling like he had forgotten something.
“Dang it, Stanton. Would ya stop pacin’ around like someone forgot to let ya out of your cage? You’re making me go cross-eyed.”
Cole stopped moving as Luke’s words penetrated his thoughts. He realized he’d been questioning the poor bastard for hours, quizzing him on his knowledge, his background, his future plans. All things Cole had known—both intellectually and in his gut—for years.
“Ya flew me out here on the red-eye to take your place. I’ll do you proud. You have my word.”
“I know, Luke.”
Luke put his hand on Cole’s shoulder.
“Look, Stanton. I’ve been workin’ with ya since you were practically in diapers. You can trust me with this project. With any project.”
“I have no doubt.”
“I know ya hate letting go of the reins, but a business ain’t gonna love ya back. Go to your woman.” Luke smiled, and Cole felt as if he had been punched in the gut. “Hurry before she figures out she’s too good for your sorry ass.”
“You’re right. And thank you.”
A business ain’t gonna love ya back.
The man was truly brilliant.
Cole knew he had made the right choice bringing Luke and his wife over here. They were excited for the change, for the challenge, and Cole’s clients had eventually relented when he assured them that Cole himself would be available via video conferencing for all consulting, while Luke would handle the hands-on part of the business.
He had nearly convinced himself that he didn’t need Ava. But when she sent him that one simple text—a picture text of her holding Hope while Hope held out a daisy toward the camera—he knew he had to have her.
She didn’t say anything. He didn’t either.
He wanted to surprise her.
“I’ll keep ya up-to-date on every tiny detail. With all the technology these days, ya won’t even feel out of touch. You’ve got my word, Stanton.”
Cole felt the weight of the company leaving his shoulders as he emphatically shook hands with his trusted employee.
All the wasted time he could have been spent loving Ava, building a world with her.
He couldn’t live in the past. He couldn’t hold on to regret. All he could do was apply the same passion he had used as a foundation for his company to building the best life possible with Ava.
He didn’t allow himself to think that she could reject him.
He had a few more meetings to suffer through, and then he’d be on his way.
He was a man of action, not one who waited around for his luck to turn or to win a jackpot.
He had to take a chance on Ava.
***
“Mrs. Armstrong, I understand how you must be feeling. I know you counted on Nolan remaining with me as he repeats kindergarten next year, and my resignation came very suddenly.” Ava wiped away the tear that blazed a trail down her cheek, grateful beyond words that this conference was taking place over the phone and not in person.
She’d miss everything about this job. The parents. The staff. The classroom. The curriculum. The kids. Oh, god, how she’d miss the kids.
But she missed Cole more.
And he was irreplaceable.
She cleared her throat and shifted her brain back to teacher-mode.
“Let me tell you, though, that Nolan is a strong child, and children are incredibly resilient. I can speak to you over the summer about some ways to ease his transition. And I know exactly who I’ll recommend for his placement.”
Ava took a calming breath as she wrapped up the tearful conversation. She knew she had been valued, but she couldn’t believe the uproar her resignation had caused.
She rubbed her sore ear, sure it would rot off after spending the entire week returning calls to parents of her current students, reassuring them that she’d be finishing off the school year. Prospective parents who really, really, really wanted her as their child’s kindergarten teacher next year flooded her inbox and haunted her dreams. Members of the school board had to hear every detail of why she’d be leaving, and what could they do to mak
e her stay? One member even followed her into the teacher’s bathroom earlier that day—and it was a one-person bathroom!
Ava never imagined she’d be so popular.
She smiled as she reflected on the past school year. Her fingers caressed the class picture that was framed and displayed proudly on her end table. She’d never forget every sweet, innocent face.
The principal, Mrs. Guyotte, assured Ava there’d always be a place at the school for her to return to should she decide to come back. Immediately upon issuing the offer, however, Mrs. Guyotte said she only had to look into Ava’s eyes to know Ava made the right decision.
Ava’s heart warmed as she remembered the tight, maternal hug Mrs. Guyotte had given her earlier that morning. She had been disappointed since Ava had been chosen to be curriculum lead, but she seemed to understand.
Ava rubbed her temples. Her head pounded with the stress of last minute decisions. Grateful for the small bit of money she had saved since beginning to work full-time, she hoped it would be enough to get her to Cole and to support herself until she could find another job.
Yes, she was giving up a ton. But all she had to do was think of Cole and his dimples and the way he made her feel, and she jumped back on track.
She looked forward to making new memories with Cole. She’d rope him in and never let him go.
She rested her head on the arm of her couch and wondered whether his bed in Japan had bed posts.
***
“Cole, you have to fly in ASAP. Her last day of school is this week and you have to catch her before she leaves town.”
Cole held the phone away from his ear so Tiana’s shrieking wouldn’t completely damage his ear drum. He’d been hearing all week about all the time she’d been spending with Ava—shopping, dining, conversing about the future. He couldn’t contain the resentment that Tiana was the one spending all the time with his treasure.
“If you don’t get back here before her last day, she’ll be on a plane to Japan while you’re on your way here. The flight is like fourteen hours. Plus other travel time. Are you even listening?”
“I think everyone along the east coast can hear you, Ti.”
“I don’t know why she’s even bothering to try to work things out with you. I should tell her to forget about you.”
“Ti, I’m thankful for your concern, but why exactly are you so concerned? You were adamantly opposed to me ever contacting her after the summer thing.”
Silence on her part.
Relief on his.
“You need to understand that if you screw up this plan, she won’t have a doorstep for you to show up on because she’s giving up everything she has to be with you!”
“Calm down, Ti.” Air filled his lungs, insuring that his brain would be well-equipped to deal with his baby sister. Had he really ever thought she was adorable? “I have a few more loose ends to tie up here. Things keep popping up.”
“Didn’t you hire Luke to be you?”
“Yes.”
“You said he could handle the job, you gave him a big raise, now get home before you mess things up worse than I messed them up before.”
“What do you mean by that, Ti?”
Silence. Not so welcome this time.
“Ti?” He didn’t try to hold back the hostility in his tone. He didn’t like secrets.
“Please don’t hate me.”
He didn’t respond.
“Cole? You have to promise you won’t hate me. I was young and dumb.”
“You’ll always be young and dumb to me. And no, I’d never hate you.”
“Okay, so anyway. Do you remember the last weekend you and Ava spent together that summer?”
He’d never forget.
“I do.”
“Well, remember how she offered to transfer to a school near where you were setting up shop? And how she seemed weird to you when you told her not to?”
Ava had been out of sorts that weekend, and he couldn’t figure out why. She had asked him over and over again if he had read her letter, and he had. That was why he had picked her up that night—because she had left a note on his door telling him she was back from her week away and wanted to spend some special time with him.
But what did any of this have to do with Tiana?
He heard her sucking in a deep breath.
“She had written you a letter. A real letter, not the note on your door. I offered to leave it with you before she got back from her trip. I didn’t give it to you.”
“Why would she write me a letter? And why wouldn’t you give it to me? What am I not getting here?”
“The letter was her way of telling you she loved you. That she didn’t want to spend time away from you. That she’d do anything to make the relationship work, whether it be a long-distance thing or for her to transfer schools. When she was gone that week, she had filed paperwork to transfer.”
That weekend came rushing back to him as if he had lived it yesterday.
The hurt in her eyes. The way she had lit up when she first saw him, then ran off in tears. How she kept asking him about the letter. How she offered to transfer and he thought she was crazy—he’d never want her to change her plans for someone like him. Someone who didn’t deserve her. Someone who couldn’t guarantee he’d be there for her.
He hadn’t wanted her to uproot her life when he knew he didn’t deserve someone as pure and wonderful as her.
“All this time, she thought I read those words?”
Tiana sniffled over the phone line.
“Yes.”
“I have to go.”
“Cole—you promised you wouldn’t hate me.”
“I’ll call you later, Ti.”
He disconnected the call and ran out of the office as if a demon chased him.
Tiana’s interference mingled in his brain with his mother’s past words. Don’t think you have to control everything. You have to let others prove themselves sometimes, too.
And the hardest hit words, Don’t end up like your father.
His father. Alone and miserable, barking orders from his room at the rehab facility. Hooked up to machines and in and out of surgeries to repair his overworked heart.
Cole raced into his temporary apartment, tossing his clothes into a duffel bag, not even caring about the condition of his expensive suits.
He rehearsed the words he’d give to Ava.
After nearly a month of being away from her—a long, grueling, painful month—Cole knew he wouldn’t be above groveling.
His erection raged along with his mind.
Oh yeah. He’d grovel.
***
Ava silently thanked her college professor for the sage advice to wear sunglasses to the last day of school for the first few years.
The last day was always emotional, but this was worse. This was permanent.
Her body warred between anguish and excitement. Her eyes swelled with unshed tears, her throat tightened every time she allowed herself to think about what she was giving up. Yet, at the same time, her body burned with the need to be with Cole. Her toes curled in anticipation of showing up at his door.
She had never left the country—certainly not alone. But she was ready. (And thankful for the passport she had obtained when she had planned to travel to Europe for a honeymoon.)
A little hand pulled on her sleeve. Ava smiled into the shining eyes of one of her dearest students. Sadness lurked in the deep brown depths, and Ava’s need to comfort and protect was strong.
“Oh, Kaylee, honey. You’re going to do such a great job in first grade next year! I’m so proud of you.”
Kaylee had struggled for most of the year, and Ava knew instinctively that she’d continue to struggle throughout her school career. Ava had worked hard to give Kaylee a good foundation. Kaylee was one of those students who possessed such strong determination that she’d be successful no matter how hard she had to work. Ava would bet on it.
Hugging Kaylee, Ava felt fulfilled. Enriched.
<
br /> Ava was ready. Ready to give up her stable life and travel into a new, dangerous, potentially rocky road.
Even as fears threatened to bust in and occupy her thoughts, Ava had a hard time thinking of Cole’s arms as being dangerous.
She couldn’t wait to surprise him.
Ava zoned out as Kaylee reluctantly rejoined her peers. Her mind immediately went to her happy place—where Cole’s hard body contrasted with the softness of hers. That sweet spot on his chest, just below his shoulder, where her head fit perfectly—as if it had been carved for her. His unique smell. His sound. His love.
Little voices intruded her thoughts.
“Miss O’Connor! Why do we have to leave you?”
“I want you to be my teacher for always.” Little Alison stood in front of Ava—arms crossed, jaw set, hazel eyes brimming with tears that threatened to spill.
“Oh, sweetie. Come here.” Ava opened her arms to welcome Alison into her embrace. She hugged the girl for a moment, then removed her sunglasses and called the rest of her students to the Circle Time carpet area.
The children filed over dutifully, eyes full of wonder. Ava catalogued every look on every face so she’d always have them in her memory bank.
She straightened her back and placed her hands on her lap, preparing to deliver her final speech as their teacher.
“My friends, today is the very last day of school for you. You won’t come back until the leaves are starting to change color.”
The class dutifully and accurately answered her questions about the seasons.
“What kind of fun things will you do over the summer, when the weather is hot?”
Numerous replies were called out, and when Ava was ready to move along, she used her skills as an early childhood professional to redirect the children to her speech.
“Next year you’ll have new teachers—teachers who look forward to meeting you; teachers who will have lots of fun stuff planned. They’ll teach you exciting new things. They’ll adore every one of you, just as I have.”
“But why can’t you be our teacher?” Alison piped in again, snuggling into Ava’s side.
Stay (Healing Springs, Book 2) Page 14
