Pieces of You

by Kate Benson

  “Yes,” I giggle, my eyes falling on a pair of heels just beyond the rack Sam is annihilating.

  “I know that look. What’d you find?” she asks, following my gaze. “Anything good?”

  “Maybe,” I shrug, making my way toward the gold-toned stiletto’s that have temporarily taken over my world. I lift one carefully, enamored by its simple beauty as I trace the edge of it gently.

  “Those are fantastic!” she exclaims, her voice coming out almost reverently making me smirk. “Ava, you should get them.”

  “What?” I glance at her, already shaking my head. “No, I can’t buy these.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because!” I grin wide. “I mean, yes, they’re beautiful, but…” I start, aiming to put them back, despite the piece of my soul slowly dying at the thought of not loving them with all my heart.

  Maybe I like shopping more than I thought I did?

  “But?”

  “Where would I even wear them, Sam?”

  “Uh, how about everywhere?” she insists, this time my laugh coming out full-force. “Seriously, Ava, they were made for you! You put these with a green top and a pair of tight jeans?” she shakes her head. “Forget about it. You’ll have your very own little genie in a bottle, girl. Men will just fall at their knees trying to get at you.”

  “These are about four inches high, so I’ll probably be the one doing all the falling, Sam,” I snort. “Besides, I don’t think I need anyone trying to get at me.”

  “Well, just get them for yourself then,” she shrugs. I bite nervously on my lower lip, deep in thought for a long moment before she breaks my thoughts once more. “What’s the last thing you did that was just for you?”

  “I filed for a divorce,” I blurt, making her eyes grow wide for a split second before she laughs wildly, grabbing my arm.

  “Well, okay. These might not make you as happy as that, but…” she allows, making me chuckle once more. “I think it’s really important that you do nice things for yourself, so the discussion is over. You’re getting these shoes.”

  Before I can argue, she pulls them from my grip and sets them on the counter beside the three items she’s chosen for herself, her eyes wandering over my chest for a moment before she glances back up at me.

  “What size are you?”

  “Medium,” I answer, pulling a nod from her.

  “I’ve got a green top I never wear that would go great with these. It’s a small, but that’s a good thing for our purposes. It’ll really make your boobs pop,” she says in a matter of fact tone, tapping her card on the counter. “We’ll stop by my house on the way home and I’ll get it for you. It’ll look great with these.”

  “Okay,” I smirk. “Thanks.”

  “Sure thing, jellybean,” she winks, handing over her card as I reach into my bag for my wallet. “Put it back,” she says as she signs the slip, surprising me. “Call it my contribution to your happy divorce.”

  “You don’t have to…”

  “They’re forty percent off, I like you and I don’t entirely trust they won’t find their way back on that shelf when I’m not looking, which would be a real shame,” she waves me off. “Besides, I’m using Nick’s card. I’m already gonna have to do some pretty dirty shit to get out of the doghouse anyway. I may as well do a good deed.”

  I thank her again and blush slightly at the friendly gesture before helping grab her bags, about ten of them. We make our way out of the store, my stomach beginning to rumble in need of food.

  “At least let me cover lunch before we head back,” I offer.

  “Oh, honey, I’ve still got a good four hours left in me,” she smirks, fortunately not noticing the internal panic another four hours out of the safety of my house sends into my chest. “But lunch? That you may do,” she nods, pulling me back to the conversation and thanking me for holding the door as she steps out and we head back toward her car. “It looks like we aren’t going to get a good break in the rain for at least another hour or so. Do you want to go ahead and grab something now?”

  “Sure,” I nod, taking in the light sprinkle still falling over the sidewalk and the small puddles that are accumulating over the roads nearby.

  We’re making small talk once more when her phone begins to chime, and she curses low to herself, maneuvering her bags until she reaches the phone in her purse and smiles nervously.

  “Shit. It’s Nick. I bet he got a spending notice on his phone after we left that second store.” I’m thinking of the three bags she hauled out of the mentioned shop and can’t help but smile wider when she pulls the phone to her ear and her voice takes on an overly sweet tone. “Hi, honey. How’s my big gorgeous man?”

  Her eyes snap shut, and she stifles a guilty laugh as his voice echoes through the line, totals and figures familiar to us both as we recount what she’d just spent on retail therapy at his expense.

  “Well, baby, I’m sorry. I just wanted to make sure I looked nice for your parents,” she offers, balancing the phone on her shoulder as she begins walking toward the damp lot once more. “You know I’ll make it up to you when you get h-”

  It all happens so fast, I couldn’t have helped her even if I’d seen it coming.

  Her words are cut off by a loud shriek leaving her chest. Before I know it, the contents of at least three bags are laid out on the edge of the curb beside Sam, her hand flying immediately to her ankle despite the blood trickling from her bottom lip.

  “Sam?” Nick’s voice calls out over the line, the now cracked screen lighting up a few inches away from where she’s lying in pain. “Baby?”

  I set down the bags and move toward her ankle, reaching for the napkins I had shoved inside my purse this morning and hand them to her to place over her lip.

  “Don’t move,” I instruct calmly, pulling a frenzied nod from her head as I lift her foot into my lap, giving it a quick onceover.

  “It burns like hell,” she cringes, reaching for her phone. “Jesus, baby. Would you stop screaming? I just fell and twisted my ankle,” she promises Nick over the line. “Do you think it’s broken?” she asks me, making me shake my head.

  “No, it just looks like a bad sprain,” I promise, slowly rotating her ankle, my eyes growing soft with compassion as I watch her face contort in pain. “You hit the corner of that concrete pretty hard, so you might have some slight bruising on the bone. Otherwise, I think you’ll be okay. We just need to get it elevated and put some ice on it.”

  “Okay,” she sniffs, grunting in discomfort as I help her stand, leaning her against a parking meter for a second as I bend to gather her things. “Yeah, baby. I’m alright,” she promises Nick over the line. “I’m a little busted up, but Ava thinks it’s just a sprain.”

  “Come on,” I gesture for her to come closer. “Try and keep your weight off of it.”

  “Okay,” she nods. “Nick, Ava’s helping me to the car. I’ll call you back.”

  She hangs up and I help her secure her arm over my shoulder, so we can carefully make our way over to the car. It takes a few minutes and we’re awkward on our way, but eventually, we manage, and I drive us to a nearby café so she can sit down. We’ve just barely gotten her foot reclined onto the edge of the booth seat, a makeshift ice pack courtesy of our server, when Nick comes rushing in, surprising us both.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes,” she insists. “What are you doing here? I told you it was just a sprain.”

  “Yeah, well, the way you screamed, it sounded really bad, babe,” he argues, carefully lifting her ankle onto his lap to recline it further. “Besides, we got rained out and we were about to head back toward town anyway. I was planning on giving you hell over all that money you spent, but it looks like karma got ahold of you before I could.”

  “Ha ha, very funny,” she flips him off, rolling her eyes at his playful teasing. “Anyway, it hurts like hell, but it could have been worse. Thank God for Ava,” she smiles small toward me, ignoring my heating cheeks. “Se
riously,” she insists, glancing back at Nick. “There’s no way I could have gotten over here by myself. She really saved the day.”

  “Maybe we ought to get you a cape,” Nate’s voice interjects, pulling my eyes up to find his smiling back down at me. “Hi Ava,” he smirks, bringing a smile to my lips as he comes to a stop beside the booth, all thoughts of going home slipping out of my head for the first time all day. “Y’all got room for one more?”

  Chapter Twelve

  Nate

  “Of course, man,” Nick replies, Sam mumbling something similar around her straw as I glance down at Ava, taking in her smile before I lower myself into the seat beside her.

  “So, what happened to you? Did you finally meet your match?” I ask Sam in a teasing tone as I gesture toward Ava, unable to stifle the small quirk in my lips when she rolls her eyes dramatically. “You look like you got your ass kicked, kid.”

  “No, butt munch,” she narrows her eyes at me, making me chuckle as I lean back against the booth. “The lot was wet from all the rain and I tripped on the curb when I stepped off. I probably would have been okay, but I was balancing my phone talking to someone,” she glares playfully at Nick. “So, if you think about it, this is your fault, really.”

  “Or maybe it’s your fault for stealing my credit card and buying out half of Lumsford,” he counters, raising his brow. “Did you think of that?”

  “No, I did not,” she admits, making us laugh. “But either way, it wasn’t Ava’s doing. I’m pretty sure I’d be on my way to the emergency room if it weren’t for her, so thank you, Ava.”

  “Yes, thank you,” Nick chimes in once more.

  “You’re welcome,” she smiles. “I’m glad I could help. Besides, it’s nice to know those classes I took back in college are finally being put to good use.”

  “What did you go to school for?” I ask, pulling her eyes to mine.

  “Nursing,” she admits, surprising me. When she sees my eyebrows shoot up, impressed, she’s quick to wave me off. “I don’t have a degree or anything. I dropped out before I got that far, but I did manage to get some of the early classes done.”

  The waitress approaches and pulls our attention away from our easy conversation for a moment. We give her our order and when I look back over at Ava, she’s busying herself with lazily tracing the edge of the small windowsill we’re sitting beside. The rain water is slowly trickling down the glass creating a shadow over her fair features and as I watch it hover against her lips, I find myself irrationally jealous.

  “Why’d you drop out?” I ask, my voice low and as she turns to face me, I take in her eyes, noticing the gold specks for the first time. “Did you just decide it wasn’t for you?”

  “I didn’t decide that,” she says, clearing her throat after she realizes she’s slipped. “I’d love to go back and finish, I just haven’t yet.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know…” she trails off, shaking her head. “It just wasn’t possible for a long time.”

  Her eyebrows crinkle together, lost in a memory she probably never wanted to keep before she clears her throat and brushes the thought away.

  “Well, not that it’s any of my business, but it’s possible now, isn’t it?”

  “I don’t know. I guess so,” she shrugs. “I mean, I haven’t really looked into it…”

  “Then I think you should,” I encourage her, a small smile tugging at my lips as I watch her mouth quirk up, as well. “Especially if you enjoyed it. If that’s what’s gonna make you happy, I think you have to go for it, you know?”

  “Yeah,” she nods, her voice leaving her quietly as she considers my words. “I wish it was that easy.”

  “Why isn’t it?” I ask, giving the server a nod of appreciation when she hands me the sweet tea and tortilla chips I ordered. “I mean, I’m sure you can transfer everything,” I shrug, taking a chip for myself and scooting the basket in her direction. “There’s a school here in Lumsford. You’d only have to drive like twenty minutes a couple days a week,” I hold her eyes. “You should do it.” She bites down on her lower lip, deep in thought as she reaches for her water, taking a sip of her own. “Here,” I pull her from her wayward thoughts, her eyes coming back to mine, different this time as I nudge the basket toward her once more. “Eat some chips. Stop thinking on shit so hard and just do what makes you happy.”

  She reaches for a chip, her easy smile seeming a little more forced now than it had been a moment before. Her eyes reach mine once more and she sees the way my eyebrows are crinkled together in question. This time, it’s her turn to shrug.

  “It’s just…” she starts, glancing away for a second before her eyes hesitantly return to mine. “It’s a big adjustment. That’s all.”

  “What?”

  “Being happy,” she says quietly. “Even figuring out what that feels like.”

  Her words make my heart clench and as my eyes begin to soften with compassion for her shitty hand, I watch her swallow hard, seeming to realize for the first time that she’s letting me see beyond her surface.

  “Well, I’m no genius, sugar, but I do know that life doesn’t tend to wait around for you to figure that kind of shit out,” I sigh, taking another bite and leaning back in the seat beside her. “But you deserve to be just as happy as anyone else. Maybe more,” I reason with a small smile. “You want my advice? Stop waiting for permission. Figure out what you want and then do it.”

  Ava

  When his green eyes softened in pity, there was something inside me that made me cringe, if only to myself. However, just like with everything else, Nate had a way of pulling me back in the best way. His sweet words of encouragement, despite the fact he barely knew I existed up until a few weeks ago, is not only heartwarming, it’s completely alien to someone like me.

  My father had always been supportive, but since he’s been gone, there’s been a hole in my chest, a waver to my thoughts that has kept me from feeling like anything was possible. Yet somehow, in the middle of a random diner in Lumsford over tortilla chips and salsa, Nate Foster finds a way to completely wipe all that second guessing and self-doubt away.

  “Ava?” Sam calls out, pulling my eyes away from its dreamlike stare out the windowsill beside me.

  When I turn to face her, I find three sets of eyes staring back at me intently, making it obvious I’ve been caught in my own little world for longer than I realized.

  “Yeah?” I blush, Nate’s low chuckle heating my cheeks further.

  “We were talking about going to shoot some darts,” Nick smirks. “It doesn’t look like the rain is letting up anytime soon. May as well enjoy the afternoon off.”

  “Oh, okay,” I shake my head clear, reaching for my purse to settle the bill. “Yeah, let me just…”

  “I already got it,” Nate waves me off, slipping out of the booth and holding my eyes as he stands and waits for me to join him.

  “Thank you,” I offer, glancing back down at my wallet once more before returning my eyes to his. “Do you want some money?”

  “No,” he chuckles, shaking his head. “No, I don’t want your money.”

  “Are you sure?” I ask, giving the table a onceover to make sure I have everything.

  “Ask me how my day was.”

  “Okay… how was work today, Nate?”

  “We got rained out,” he smirks before giving me a wink. “There. It’s a business lunch.” His words make me giggle and I slip to the edge of the booth and look up at him. “Now let’s go play some darts. You’re comin’, right?”

  I’ve been looking forward to getting back home since before I ever left the house this morning. Getting interested in another man is the last thing that’s been on my mind in longer than I can recall and in the last hour alone, I’ve come up with five new excuses to leave, two of them real. However, as I stand and glance up into his green eyes, taking in his gentle smile, I can’t seem to recall a single one.

  “Yeah,” I nod, my words leaving me
quietly. “Yeah, I’ve got some time.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Nate

  “Alright, last round. It’s all been leading up to this moment, Ava,” I say low, rubbing my palms dry on my jeans as I wink playfully at her. Although my words make her smirk, she’s quick to right her expression and salute me with a serious nod.

  “Ten four, team captain,” she replies, her tone just as low as mine. “What are we playing for again?”

  “Loser picks up the tab,” I remind her.

  “Right,” she nods once more. “Which I still think is bogus since I’m drinking free soda, but…”

  “Exactly,” I cut her off, raising my eyebrow. “We need to show these clowns who’s boss.”

  “Who you callin’ a clown, Foster?” Nick calls out in mock challenge.

  “I’m having a private conversation with my team, man!” I bark back, feigning offense, but laughing when he puts his hands up in surrender. “Yeah, fall the hell back, Murphy.” I glance over a moment later to find her grinning up at the way I’m shaking my head dramatically at him, pulling another wink from me. “Okay, we needed a combined score of sixty-three points this round to beat them and I just got forty-two. That means you need to get at least twenty-one points.”

  “That’s not so bad,” she shrugs.

  “Well, normally I’d agree with you, but you aren’t very good at darts.” Her face begins to contort in offense, pulling an innocent shrug from me. “You’re barely on the board, Ava.”

  “Well, what about you?” she counters. “We had it in the bag until you tripped up on that last round.”

  “Hey! I’m on my third beer which means I’m getting shittier,” I admit. “Why do you have to bring up the past?”

  “So, how is that my fault?” she starts, throwing her hands up dramatically, her eyes narrowing for a moment before she blows out a low breath and lowers her voice. “Wait…” she shakes her head, releasing a low sigh and facing me. “Let’s not turn on each other. That’s exactly what they want.”