“What did Nicole do to piss you off?”
“Try running around town with Patrick O’Connell’s son right after the election.”
“To be fair, she was running around with him before you lost the election.” They rounded the corner and came face to face with Avery’s dad.
“Ladies, do you know what I’m thankful for today?” John was all smiles, and Avery couldn’t help but smile back at him.
“What?” Sandra snapped, throwing an ugly look at her youngest daughter.
“I’m thankful for the extended golfing season that allowed me to afford these.” He reached into the inside pocket of his coat jacket, producing an envelope. He held it out to Sandra. On instinct, Avery took the trays from her mother so she could open the envelope.
She looked on as her mother’s face contorted in surprise and disbelief.
“John?”
“Well come on, Mom. What’s inside?”
“First class tickets to Paris.” Her mother’s stunned response came out in a whisper.
“I know you’ve always wanted to see the Lofa.” He beamed, his pride blatant.
“It’s the Louvre, Dad.” Avery offered.
“I don’t know what to say…” Sandra groped at speech. John took her into his arms and Avery made herself scarce. Since Ryan’s death, her mother’s behavior had struck her as even more erratic and unpredictable. She thought some time away would suit her parents well.
The noise level in the great room was at an all-time high. Everyone had assembled, including the children, who nearly jumped Avery for the food when she entered the room.
“Whoa, whoa. What is this, shark week? Don’t your parents feed you?”
After surrendering the trays to the teenagers, she broke away from the kids and fled to the safety of Shilah.
“Did you lose any fingers?” Shilah raised her hand to his lips and kissed it. John and Sandra entered the room and the kids greeted them in unison, causing the noise level to be ear splitting.
“Momma. Want food!” Ike shouted at Nicole and everyone laughed.
“Me too, Ike,” Avery’s dad chimed in as he patted him on the head and crossed to Shilah, Sandra on his arm. Avery studied her parents’ expressions, eager to gauge their reactions to her date.
“Shilah, it’s good to see you again. How are things at Gates Corp?” John asked as he and Shilah shook hands.
“We’re whipping the place into shape. And you?” Shilah responded, and as he let go of John’s hand he took her mother’s.
“Great. Taking the wife to France.” John responded and Shilah graced Sandra with a slightly devilish look as he kissed her hand.
“Ooh la la,” Shilah murmured. Avery gaped at the exchange, feeling foolish and betrayed. Nicole handed her a glass of wine with a sympathetic look and Avery downed it.
As the Harpers sat down to the dinner table, Avery fumed. She’d nearly had a nervous breakdown worrying about introducing her parents to Shilah; then she found out that they’d all met on more than one occasion. Shilah’s amusement was obvious, which only irritated her further. The kids had all announced what they were thankful for, and Anna had made a huge production about how grateful she was to the Indians for teaching the white man how to survive in the New World. Shilah could barely contain his laughter as Jo and Mitch both exchanged troubled looks. Mitch practically yanked Anna back into her chair. Avery took another long drink from her wine glass.
The adults took their turns, including a schmoozey speech from Shilah about being thankful for all the friendly people he’d been honored to meet in Jefferson Point. He winked at Avery as he took his seat and she had the urge to punch him in his perfect face.
John stood, his expression grim.
“I’m thankful for everyone here today. My spectacular family. I know Ryan’s here with us. You know he’d never miss a meal.” Several of the adults chuckled, including John, who wiped a single tear away. “I’m thankful for Ike. He’s a gift. Ryan’s legacy.”
“Hear, hear,” Jolene murmured quietly as she and the other adults held up a glass, except for Nicole and Avery. Nicole scrambled for her glass and Avery swooped hers up as an afterthought. She tried to imagine what it was like for Nicole to sit through all these moments, Ryan thrown in her face. Nicole shifted her gaze in Avery’s direction; she seemed to beg her to keep silent with only her eyes.
Sandra let out a loud sob. Avery, her tone dripping with sarcasm, announced, “And I’m thankful for precious moments like these.”
All eyes were on her. Shilah sucked in an audible breath. Avery picked up her glass and the bottle of wine and with a curt “excuse me” left the room and made her way out the back door. A moment later the door opened and Shilah spun her around, forcing her to face him.
“Did you bring me here to watch you self-destruct?”
“This is a day in the life with the Harpers, Shilah.”
He looked furious.
“It seems like everyone else is having a pretty good time.”
“Well, things aren’t always as they seem.”
“I’ll say.” His barb came out of nowhere and she reeled from the sting of it. Stunned speechless, she stood vulnerable, as if waiting for the killing blow. He seemed to take in her reaction with little emotion and paused.
The back door cracked open and Mitch stuck his head out.
“Aves. Dad is waiting on you to carve the turkey.”
After Avery allowed Shilah to lead her back to the table, everyone ate their dinner in near silence. After excusing herself, Avery headed straight for the bar. She saw Shilah conversing quietly with Nicole, who looked Avery’s way. Concern was written all over her face. Shilah had Avery’s coat and purse under his arm.
As she was about to pour herself another drink, Shilah was at her side.
“We’re going.” His tone was non-negotiable.
As they pulled onto the highway, Avery finally spoke.
“Hey, thanks for the heads up about knowing my parents. Looks like I worried myself sick for no reason.”
“Why were you so worried? Are you ashamed of me?” His casual smile that usually pulled her out of a funk made her blood boil.
“I’m not even going to dignify that with a response.”
“Your family’s great, Avery.”
“If you say so.”
“Let’s go meet mine. You can see for yourself.”
“Yeah, let’s get right on that.”
Shilah pulled into his hotel parking lot and ran inside. His know-it-all attitude was starting to get old.
He returned, placing a bag into the trunk. Avery raised her eyebrows as he climbed in the driver’s seat.
“You can’t seriously expect me to just hop on a plane with you.”
“It’s the holidays. Is there any better time?”
Avery remained in denial all the way to her house.
“Do you realize I have a big function this weekend?” she snapped.
“No offense, princess, but I think they can do it without you.”
They fought for another twenty minutes while Avery threw random clothes into a suitcase. Looking for an excuse not to go, Avery called her dad about the event-filled weekend at the country club. To her dismay, he insisted she go.
“Maybe some time away will be good for you.”
Sunlight disturbed Nicole’s slumber and she rolled over with a tired groan.
“Morning, sunshine.” Ryan’s playful tone pulled her from groggy to awake and alert in an instant. He lay on his side of the bed, propped up on one shoulder, chomping his gum in his typical obnoxious fashion.
I’m dreaming.
She could feel his warmth as he reached out and stroked her hair. He shot her a toothy smile.
“Hey babe.”
“Ryan?” She reached out for him and touched his morning whiskers. He felt so real. She could even smell the grape Big League Chew he’d insisted on keeping in the bedside table drawer.
“Where’s Ike?”
Casual curiosity brimmed in his baby blue eyes.
“Still asleep. Why are you here?” She sat up in the bed and marveled at him in the morning sun. He appeared just like he had the last morning she’d seen him: disheveled hair, wearing that stupid Hawkeye t-shirt that was faded and raggedy. She’d told him it made him look homeless. He’d always worn it on weekends and had refused to throw it out. She still had the shirt in a plastic bag in her bottom drawer, and it somehow still held his scent.
“He’s all wrong for you, Nicole. You know that, right?” His expressive eyes seemed to look off thoughtfully, over her shoulder. He shook his head, frowning … disappointed.
“Who?” She reached out for him again, feeling tightness in her chest and narrowing in her throat. She couldn’t feel him anymore, though her hands were on his face. She felt love radiating from him, but she just couldn’t reach him.
Nicole woke herself from the dream as she’d done from so many other dreams before. Her shrink called it lucid dreaming, being able to exert control of her dreams. This dream had been so dramatically different from the others. Her room was pitch black, and she was alone with the sound of the ticking wall clock. She crept to Ike’s door and covered him with the blanket he’d kicked off. She descended the stairs and folded the clothes in the dryer. She checked her phone to see if Avery had replied to her texts. Nothing.
The mood of the holiday hadn’t improved with Shilah and Avery’s exit, so Nic had begged off early. Her concern for Avery’s emotional state made it impossible for her to eat a thing at the holiday table and now her stomach growled. She crept downstairs to the kitchen and poured herself a small glass of milk, wondering if she was getting an ulcer. Shilah had said he was taking Avery to see some “real family dysfunction.” His plans for Avery would take them out of pocket for a few days, but Jo and Mitch had stepped in and volunteered to come pick Ike up and keep him overnight.
Tonight. Friday night.
Colin.
Shit.
She glanced at the clock and saw it was 2:00 A.M. Shuffling back upstairs, she paused in her bedroom door. Unable to fight the urge she’d had since waking, she crossed to the dresser and pulled out Ryan’s Iowa shirt. The gray material had holes the size of silver dollars, and she pulled the shirt to her face and breathed in the faint remnants of his smell. Pain rocked her as the scent of his soap and musky flesh filled her nostrils. She buried her face in it and sobbed.
Hours later, she woke up on the floor with the morning sun shining in her eyes. Ike stood over her. He sucked his thumb, his chubby face confused. His expression, so like Ryan’s, broke her heart and brought fresh tears to her eyes.
“Momma fall down?”
“I’m okay, Ike.”
He pointed at the decal on the shirt she still clutched to her chest.
“Yellow?” The word was barely intelligible from around his thumb.
“That’s right, baby.”
Two hours later at Onyx, she paced and fiddled with her ponytail. Sipping her second large coffee, she peered out of the giant windows that revealed a spectacular view of the lonely golf course. Late November, temperatures and the lack of sunshine had the grass looking pretty shabby, and the gray clouds battled with the sun for dominance. Nicole scanned the panoramic view and bolstered herself for the night ahead.
The argument with Colin the day before had her feeling sheepish. When he’d scoffed at her reaction, he’d had every right to be pissed. She’d yo-yoed since the night they’d met, and she needed to break the ice.
She’d told him that they would spend the night together and that her lack of exuberance was just nerves. His tension seemed to melt at her explanation. He insisted that he didn’t want to twist her arm and that she still made him feel insecure. They’d kissed and made up, when he got a call from his brother about some problem at the bar. Whatever was going on, Colin had seemed frustrated and left in a hurry.
Then Aaron had walked in like a hot Santa with her Christmas trees. Life was never simple.
She was glad he’d be there to help and her pleasure at his olive branch made it seem like her life in Jefferson Point could fall into place: Colin in her bed and Aaron as her friend. Destiny. She resolved to be at peace with her situation.
She heard the door open at the far end of the restaurant and watched Aaron saunter in, carrying a twelve-pack and a toolbox.
“I brought the beer.” His mischievous eyes twinkled as he sat his toolbox down.
“It’s ten in the morning, lush.” Her hand was on her hip and head tilted to one side.
“But we have to drive home sometime. I say start now and sober up.” He opened a beer and handed it to her. She took it and put it to her lips.
“Now I know how you survive living here. This town must have a really active chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous.”
“Listen here, sweet cheeks. The good people of Jefferson Point are not a bunch of quitters.” She snort-laughed and beer came out of her nose. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to her as if he’d anticipated this.
“You carry a handkerchief. Got a pocket watch in there too, Mr. Darcy?” Her remarks came out nasal and muffled from behind the handkerchief.
“You ungrateful little pain in the ass. Next time, I’ll leave you hanging.” He mocked disdain as he popped opened his own beer and chugged a third of it.
“Slow down there, stud. I need you functional.”
They argued for another ten minutes about what radio station to listen to. Nicole plugged in her iPod, selecting her most Aaron-unfriendly playlist. As The Violent Femmes blared from the speakers, he rolled his eyes with a longsuffering sigh and went to find the ladder. For the first hour and a half, they did nothing but hang greenery and drink beer. Aaron filled Nicole in on who was doing what, a Jefferson Point version of “Where Are They Now.” Nicole noticed the lack of food catching up to her and paused to call for pizza.
They sat at the bar with a pizza box between them, and Aaron asked how Ike was doing. Nicole cast her memory back to her stellar Ike wakeup call that morning and frowned.
“Better than I deserve. He’s an amazing kid.”
“Why don’t you try to cut yourself a little slack, Nic?” Aaron scoffed. She brushed off the question as rhetorical.
“He’s got Ryan’s brains. He’s a total sponge.” She proceeded to tell him how Ike already recognized all of his letters, numbers, and shapes.
“For some reason he just doesn’t get colors, though. Only yellow. Maybe he’s colorblind.”
“Or maybe his mom’s an Interior Designer. I don’t know the difference between Aubergine and Chartreuse either.” Aaron slaughtered the pronunciation of Aubergine, and she smiled. Aaron frowned and looked away, taking another drink. Nicole stopped laughing.
“I’m boring the hell out of you, aren’t I?” She rested her elbow on the bar. Hanging out with him felt almost like old times.
“No. I was just thinking I wish I’d been around when he was a baby.” Neither of them spoke. The air around them seemed heavy; Nicole jumped up.
“I have pictures.” She headed to the coatroom for her purse. Her phone in hand, she pulled up an album of Ike favorites, and presented it to him. He flipped through the pictures, adlibbing his interpretation of what Ike’s inner monologue might have been. His color commentary on each picture had them both laughing in no time. His expression sobered. She leaned next to him so she could see which one he was looking at. It was a picture of Ryan holding Ike as a newborn, grinning from ear to ear. He was wearing that God forsaken, moth eaten Hawkeye shirt. Nicole grinned in spite of herself and shifted her eyes to Aaron, realizing she was still shoulder-to-shoulder with him. He was no longer looking at her phone, but scanning her face. Hyperaware of his physical nearness, she claimed her phone and stuck it in her back pocket. He said nothing, but his eyes held hers. Nicole tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
“I need another beer,” she muttered, and moved away to get one.
&
nbsp; They had all the greenery in place an hour and another beer later. One extra strand of greenery remained and as they swept up needles and returned the furniture to its previous position, Nicole kept staring at the large wooden chandelier over the dining area. It hung suspended from the vaulted ceiling two and a half stories above the restaurant floor.
“Hey. I have an idea.” She retrieved the ladder and placed it so she could access the chandelier.
“Have you lost your damn mind? Are you going to stand on top of the thing? No way.” His head tilted just slightly to the side, Nicole knew he would need to be persuaded.
“Come on. It’ll complete the look.”
“I don’t give a damn. It’s not safe.” He crossed his arms.
“You’re right. What if I go to the upper banquet room and string it over the balcony?”
“With or without a net? Are those seriously the two choices you’re giving me?”
“Aaron, they have to change the light bulbs somehow.”
“True. Most likely from the upper level. And they’re probably sober at the time.”
“Let’s go up and take a look.”
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
They left the dining room floor and ascended the stairs. Nicole gripped the railing, realizing she felt the alcohol a tad more than she was letting on. She forced herself onward; the chandelier needed her touch or the restaurant would look like a perfectly wrapped present without a bow.
They crossed the long banquet room and came to the railing that overlooked the dining room floor of Onyx. The ceiling sprawled far above their heads, tapering to a point. The entire A-frame held sixteen windows, six of which were now at their eye level. Nicole observed that the sky had darkened to a charcoal color, and the clouds, no longer able to bear the heavy weight of the droplets, released a torrential rain. Five feet out from the railing, the behemoth chandelier waited, tempting her. Scanning the room, she saw no lamp changers.
“Nothing here,” Aaron confirmed. Nicole was mystified, and leaned out over the rail for a better look at the base of the chandelier for a hoist or lift system. She was so distracted, craning her neck to get a better look in the dim room that she leaned out too far and nearly toppled over the side. Fear gripped her as she struggled to regain her footing. She let out a screech and felt an arm around her waist and a hand pull her back by the shirt. Aaron’s arms encased her, and she clung to him, fighting to steady her breath.
The Perpetual Quest for the Perfect Life Page 18
