Other Side of the Wall

by Jennifer Peel

  “I don’t see a lot of cooking going on in there,” my daddy yelled out.

  Scott backed away quickly, but still stood semi-close. I smiled over to him and winked. I smiled to myself, thinking about having a baby with Scott. I knew my momma would be ecstatic to have a grandbaby. That baby would want for nothing. It made me smile to know that Scott thought that’s where we would end up.

  My momma joined us in the kitchen, and she handed Scott his stocking. She must have made it last night. I swear I don’t know where she finds the energy or the time. Scott was so touched, he even hugged my momma. I think that surprised her. I know I was surprised. I don’t think Peter had ever made such a gesture.

  After he let go, she looked a little flustered. “Well, I’ll just take it and hang it on the mantle next to Ava Mae’s.”

  She walked into the sunken family room off of the eating area. Now there were five matching stockings made of burlap and lace hanging up this year. They matched the burlap and white tree in that room. Even the gifts were all wrapped to match in craft paper (well, all but the ones Scott brought) and different varieties of white ribbon. I swear my momma could be in Southern Living’s Christmas edition. She really was amazing. I’ve tried to emulate her, but have come nowhere near her level of fabulousness. I don’t even know if Martha Stewart could compete.

  Scott and I ate together while my parents watched on. They had already eaten, and apparently it was interesting to watch Scott and I eat and interact with each other. As soon as Scott was done, my daddy jumped up and said it was time to get to work. Thankfully, the rain had passed. My momma was visibly more relaxed as the sun began to peek out from behind the clouds. Scott jumped up too. I think my daddy enjoyed having a personal slave staying at our house. Scott bravely kissed me, once, gently on the lips. “See you later, beautiful.”

  I think I may have sighed, which garnered more attention from my parents. I just smiled at them. Scott took that as his cue to exit. He and my daddy were headed off to get extra tables and chairs for the party tomorrow night. My momma and I would be in the kitchen all day again. We wasted no time getting to work. On tap for today were sides that would be premade and then baked tomorrow along with several turkeys and hams. Tomorrow every oven, smoker and grill on the property would be in operation. My momma and I also would be setting up the food tables, decorating those, and staging the placement of trays and tiers.

  As we worked, my momma briefly came over and nudged me. “So..?”

  “So what?” I knew what she wanted, but she was going to have to work for it.

  “Ava Mae.”

  “Yes, Momma?” I started to laugh.

  She gave me her look before she went back to the stove.

  So I spilled my guts. “We’re taking things slow, but we’re together.”

  “Are you moving back to Chicago?” She sounded sad and worried.

  “We didn’t discuss it, but I don’t plan on going back anytime soon.”

  “So you would go back?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. I think so. I know he wants to eventually get married, and he loves his job there.”

  “Ava, do you really think it’s a good idea to move back up there for another man?”

  “Momma, he wouldn’t be just another man, he would be my husband and I thought I got the feeling you wanted us to get back together.”

  “Ava, I’m just worried. I don’t want to see you go through what you went through with Peter.”

  “Believe me, Momma, I don’t either. You were right; I should have lived more real life around Peter. With Scott it’s different. We’ve lived real life together and his family loves me and has been a great support to me. And Momma, I love him. I feel whole with him.”

  She joined me at the counter again and gave me her motherly look of love as she patted my cheek. “I can see you love him and that he loves you, but what about the other love in his life?”

  “He told me last night that his conflict didn’t come from him loving her more than me, it was the other way around and he felt guilty about that. His counselor has been helping him work through his feelings and has helped him see that perhaps he didn’t have the healthiest relationship with Jenna, and he’s coming to terms with it.”

  She still looked concerned.

  “Momma, I promise I’m not just jumping in with my eyes closed and hoping for the best. And I’m not going anywhere for a while. I still plan on selling my house. Please, Momma, I need your support.”

  She got teary eyed and hugged me tight. “Ava Mae, you always have my support. And for what it’s worth, your daddy and I really like Scott, but you’re our girl and we will always worry about you.”

  “I know, Momma, and I love you both.”

  The only break I took during the day was to talk to Myrna; to say she was ecstatic was the world’s biggest understatement, and I wasn’t only talking about the impending arrival in July. My momma got a kick out of listening to our conversation. She could hear Myrna loud and clear. I had a feeling that someday they would be good friends.

  The rest of the day was spent in hyper drive. I decided that I wouldn’t be carrying on this particular tradition. I wanted to have a more relaxed Christmas season. By the way Scott looked when he came in for the night, I thought he would agree. But as tired as the men were, they helped us in the kitchen until nine o’clock when my Daddy was at the end of his rope. “Enough,” he called out.

  We were all grateful, even my momma, who just needed someone to tell her to stop. We busted out the ice cream and sat at the table, each with a spoon in hand. We didn’t even bother dishing it out. It didn’t take the five of us long to demolish the half gallon of chocolate ice cream. The ice cream definitely hit the spot, but the atmosphere in which it was shared was simply divine. I loved watching my family and Scott be at ease with each other. Even Tucker was playing nice. Scott just naturally seemed to fit in. I knew he would, that’s why I had so wanted him to come home with me. And now here he was.

  We were all tired, but Scott said he was ready for that walk on the beach. His feet hadn’t hit the sand since his arrival. It almost seemed like a crime, so we quickly said our goodnights to my overly watchful and protective parents, and we ran to my place where I could grab a jacket and a couple of blankets.

  As soon as we hit the beach, Scott picked me up and kissed me without the worry of being seen by my parents. I couldn’t believe at our age we still had to worry about that sort of thing, but my parents were who they were. After several minutes of blissful, sigh-worthy kissing, he let me go. “I think we should spend more time on the beach.”

  “I agree.”

  He took my hand and we walked for several minutes, not saying a word. It was perfect. The sky was clear and the moon and stars seemed to be shining brightly just for us. We picked a spot a good distance from the water and set out a blanket and settled ourselves on the beach, wrapped up in the additional blanket. It was cold after all, but Scott had a way of keeping me toasty warm.

  After another long, slow kiss, I settled in front of Scott with my head against his chest as we watched the ocean waves marry with the shoreline. It was heavenly. And just when I thought it couldn’t get better…

  “I have an early Christmas gift for you,” Scott announced.

  I turned my head up toward him.

  “You do?”

  He kissed me quickly once on the lips. “I do.”

  He asked me to turn around, sit in front of him, face him, and close my eyes. I obeyed with a big smile on my face.

  As I sat patiently he gave more instructions. “Ok, before you open your eyes, I just want you to know this isn’t what you think it is. Not that I don’t want it to be someday, but just hear me out before you say anything, ok?”

  He definitely had my curiosity piqued, and to be honest, I was a little worried. “Ok,” I said cautiously.

  “Remember, don’t say anything until I explain. Ok. Open your eyes.”

  There in
front of me was a smiling, albeit nervous, Scott holding between his finger and his thumb a beautiful diamond solitaire ring. To say I was stunned was putting it mildly. I forgot I promised not say anything in my shock.

  “Scott…”

  He smiled bigger and shook his head no as a reminder. How he expected me not to say something under the circumstances, I couldn’t understand. I wasn’t ready for this. He said we would take it slow, but yet there he sat with what looked like a beautiful and expensive diamond engagement ring. And he looked so sincere and happy, it caused immediate conflicting emotions.

  “Ava, a month ago I crazily let you walk out of my life and I made you think that we never had a committed relationship. It was the biggest mistake of my life. I know I said we would take it slow, and we will, but I never want you to doubt how I feel about you. I want you to know that I’m committed to you and, when the time is right, I want to be committed to you forever. So this ring is, for lack of a better term, a promise ring, even though we may be too old for that sort of thing. But I promise I love you and I promise when the time is right I will ask you to be my wife, but for now, will you exclusively be mine?”

  The tears steadily ran down my cheeks during his little spiel, and it was a beautiful spiel all the way to the end. Even though it was cheesy, I loved it. “I love you and yes.” I responded without a moment’s hesitation.

  He breathed a sigh of relief like he thought I would say no. He smiled and then asked me for my hand. I didn’t know which hand to give him, but he just gently picked up my left hand and slid the ring carefully on my ring finger.

  I looked at him questioningly. “I thought this wasn’t an engagement ring?”

  He smiled, “It’s not, this is a she’s taken ring.”

  “So what do I tell people when they ask? Because believe me, they’re going to ask.”

  He leaned forward and kissed me and then looked lovingly in my eyes. “Tell them there’s a marine biologist in Chicago that’s deeply and madly in love with you, but he has a few issues he’s ironing out and when he knows he’s ready to be the husband you deserve, he will be coming back here for you.”

  His words increased the tear production. “Promise?”

  He took me in his arms and held me tight. “I promise, Ava.”

  As we talked into the night I told him he didn’t have to buy such an expensive ring, but he said he didn’t want me to ever doubt again how he felt about me. He told me he had talked to my dad and he was ok with the ring as long as he didn’t ask me to move to Chicago or marry him, yet. As much as we didn’t like it, we both agreed me staying here was for the best right now, and Scott even said if I wanted, he would move here when we eventually got married. I could tell that was a hard concession for him. I told him we would cross that bridge when we came to it, but I loved that he was willing to.

  As I admired my ring in the moonlight, I kept thinking, if this was the promise ring, what would the engagement ring look like? It was absolutely perfect. By far the best Christmas present I had ever received. Scott frequently held up my hand and kissed it. He seemed proud that I wore his ring. As we walked back, he held that hand as well. It was quite sweet.

  He kissed me goodnight before we walked through the gate. He was afraid of the watchful glances from the wardens. I admired his gift one more time and told him thank you and that I loved it and him more than words could express. He said that was the best gift he could ask for. I loved his sincerity.

  I went to bed that night not feeling tired at all, even though I had spent my day on my feet, working furiously. I don’t know how many times I looked at my ring. Then, like a girl, I kept saying things out loud like, “Ava Langston” or “Mrs. Scott Langston.” I knew it wasn’t an engagement ring, but he did promise we would get married, and I thought “Ava Langston” sounded fabulous.

  Chapter 18

  I got up Christmas Eve morning and hoped I could live off the adrenaline rush of the previous night, because I knew this was going to be a very long day. But on the upside, I had a beautiful diamond ring and the man that was attached to it, so even if I died of exhaustion, I’d die happy.

  I think I floated into the main house, and I must have had one of those looks on my face. You know those “I’m so in love and isn’t the world so perfect” looks. It was only my momma in the kitchen when I walked in, and she kind of just shook her head and smiled at me. She asked to see the ring. Apparently my daddy had told her. I immediately walked over with my hand out. We both agreed he had excellent taste.

  She hugged me tight. “I love you, Ava Mae, but seriously, honey, there is no time for love today.”

  I laughed. “Can I at least eat first?”

  “Your daddy and Scott left twenty minutes ago to get breakfast and some more flowers for the table arrangements, they should be back soon.”

  That bit of information surprised me. “Well they’re certainly getting chummy, or is daddy trying to hide the evidence.”

  My momma gave me her “we don’t have time for jokes today either” look. “Your daddy has been very impressed by Scott, he likes him and wants to spend as much time as he can getting to know him better. He feels he should have done that with Peter.”

  “That makes me happy.”

  My momma began to immediately ignore me as she poured over her list of things that needed to be accomplished. She had everything perfectly timed and planned. I was happy to help, but I couldn’t help but wish for tomorrow to be here so maybe we could all relax and just enjoy each other’s company. Sure, the party would be fun like it was every year, but I found I was in the mood for an intimate gathering of just family and future family.

  My daddy and Scott arrived bearing gifts of bagels, freshly squeezed orange juice, and a kiss for their respective partners.

  I looked over to my parents. “Momma says there’s no time for love today, Daddy.”

  He kissed my momma once more. “I beg to differ.” I think my momma may have blushed.

  “I’m going to go with your dad on this.” Scott whispered in my ear.

  I completely agreed with him.

  My daddy joined us at the table. “Speaking of love, let me see the ring.”

  I happily showed it off. My daddy knew a thing or two about diamonds. He had bought several throughout the years for my momma. My daddy was impressed as well. But my momma was not impressed with all our talking and, apparently, eating. We all finished eating quickly and got to work.

  The party began at six o’clock that evening, and by five, everything looked perfect; I was just ready for it to be over. My momma had sent us all to change into more appropriate attire to meet our guests that would be arriving soon. The thought of putting on heels was making my feet cry for mercy, but I kept telling myself it was just for a few hours. I quickly jumped in the shower, but I didn’t wash my hair. I slipped into my new black dress that hugged me quite nicely. I think my feet did cry when I put on my black stiletto heels, but this was my offering to the fashion gods. I fixed and added some volume to my hair and touched up my make-up.

  Scott sweetly came to get me at my door like this was a date. It was the first time I had gotten to really see him all day. As soon as I opened the door, I pulled him in and threw my arms around his neck and kissed him fervently. He was very happy with the reception and welcomed it whole heartedly.

  “Thank you for putting up with my family’s craziness.”

  He pulled me tighter. “Thank you for looking amazing.” Then he teased, or maybe not, “You’re wearing your ring, right?”

  I held it out for him. He kissed my hand and I smiled.

  I took a huge breath. “I guess we better go.”

  He kissed me once more. “If not, I have a feeling they’ll come looking for us.”

  He took my hand and we walked back up to the main house together, just in time for the first guests to arrive. I had stayed pretty low-key since my return, so everyone that came in seemed to come straight my direction, and of course, they
were all interested in the man that held my hand and my heart. The last time I had seen these people, I was Ava Russo and another man stood at my side. I thought I knew what love was then, but come to find out I had a lot to learn, and I think I still did. I was happy to be receiving that education with Scott this go around.

  I thought I might feel awkward since my marriage didn’t last long, and here I was with someone else, wearing his ring, but I didn’t at all. I’m sure some of our guests were probably judging me, but as odd as it may be, Peter was my gateway to Scott. It wasn’t my route of choice, to be sure, but it was the way it had to be. Scott was gracious and never left my side, even when my crazy cousins showed up and made some asinine remarks about me going through men. I always thought my cousin Marian was jealous of me for some reason, but her malice was unwarranted.

  Scott protectively wrapped his arm around me. “Well, I’m so glad she finally made it to me.”

  That quieted her and her sister Sadie up. After that, we decided to check to see if my momma needed anything. We refreshed the punch bowls for her and grabbed something to eat ourselves. Tucker joined us while we ate, and we all decided that we were never hosting parties like this during the holidays, or any other time of the year for that matter. Even though it only lasted for a few brief moments, I loved sitting there with my brother and Scott and laughing like old friends. That was my Christmas miracle.

  The party was going off without a hitch, just like my momma had planned. Toward the close of the evening my daddy always gave a Christmas toast as a thank you to all our friends and the community. It was also his opportunity to publicly announce how much he still loved my momma. I think she cried every year, and this year was no exception. I cried, too, as he made special mention of my return and the new addition to our family. And we all laughed when he called Tucker his sweet boy and Tucker shouted out, “Finally!”

  It was a wonderful evening, but when nine o’clock rolled around and most of our guests were just about gone, I kicked off my heels and took a deep sigh. Scott hugged me tightly and I instantly felt better as I sank into him, but I also felt like I didn’t want to move, which was not good as we had hours of clean up ahead of us. Thankfully, some of my parent’s friends took pity on us, and they stayed and helped us. In fact, so many stayed that it didn’t take as long as I imagined or dreaded.