Finding the Love Back (8 page)

She rubbed Dolce, who met her at the door. After making sure he had enough to eat, Ava flopped down on the couch and pulled out her cell. She realized for the first time that she hadn’t checked her email all day and that she hadn’t talked to anyone in relationship to her work. A bit of anxiety crept in, then she decided that it was good to take a break sometime.

Having faith in the fact that she had such great employees at Ava M. Consulting was a testament to the fact that she had chosen the right people to work side by side with her. She had complete trust in Lindsey and Lisa. As she flipped through her emails, she saw that Lindsey had wowed the client and that everything was under control.

She closed her eyes for a moment to take everything in. First she took the trip to her hometown after years of being away so that way she could see about her father, the man that she hadn’t really spoken to in over a decade. Once she came back to Conner, she encountered her childhood sweetheart, Christian Carter and that after spending a day together visiting their old stomping grounds, they had gone back to his house and made sweet, passionate love.

Ava wasn’t sure how to handle things. It seemed that once again her career was stable, but her personal life was rocky and confusing as always. She knew for sure that she didn’t have any romantic feelings for Bobby T and that the feelings that she didn’t have for Bobby T didn’t have anything to do with the way that she thought she was feeling about Christian.

She knew that she had something that she had to do. Picking up the phone, Ava dialed Bobby’s number. Part of her hoped that he wouldn’t pick up the phone, but she knew that she had to break things off with him.

“Hello, Ava. It’s so good to hear from you today. How is everything?” Bobby sounded like he was in a good mood as usual.

“Hey Bobby. Things are okay so far. My dad will be home tomorrow. I just have a lot to do to prep for him coming home.”

“If you need any help, I would love to come and do what I can,” Bobby offered.

“Thanks, Bobby. You are so sweet, but I’m doing fine. Look, I hoped you had a minute to talk.”

“Uh sure, what’s on your mind?”

Ava paused for a second and then realized that she shouldn’t hold out on the inevitable.

“Bobby, I think we’ve had a great time since we’ve been hanging out. I just don’t see our relationship going any further.” She blurted out the last few words.

“Oh wow. Well-,”

There was a brief silence between them.

“I hope I didn’t hurt you, Bobby. You’re a great guy. There’s just no passion between us.” Ava began to speak and the words flowed easier. “I just know what I want in a relationship and although you would be a wonderful guy for some lucky woman, it’s just not working for me.”

“Believe it or not, Ava, I understand. I appreciate you being so up front with me and being so honest. I would love for us to stay friends. After all, the social scene in Atlanta is very small. We’re bound to run into each other sooner or later. What do you say?”

Ava smiled. “I think that would be wonderful, Bobby.”

“Well, I guess you have a lot to do there, so I’ll see you around?”

“Sure thing, Bobby. I’ll talk to you later.”

They ended the phone call and Ava felt a load lifted from her shoulders. She checked her watch and knew that the home help staff should be arriving shortly to help her prep for her father’s homecoming.

They were scheduled to be there around eight o’clock that evening and they promised that it wouldn’t take longer than about an hour. She hoped that they would be on time and that they would be quick because she was tired and had a lot going on for the next day.

Ava didn’t know how things would go when her father came home. Reginald Collier was never an easy man to get along with and now they would be under the same room again after almost fifteen years. Part of Ava looked forward to having her father home and part of her was terrified about what would happen with them under the same roof.

She knew that she could handle whatever came her way where her father was concerned. It would be a challenge to rebuild their relationship, but after she had seen him at the hospital, she knew that they were at least on their way to making things better. After sitting there by his bedside and holding his hand as the tear rolled down his eye, she knew that things would be different between them. And she knew that their relationship would be better from now on.

Coming back to Conner hadn’t been as hard as she thought it would be. At first she thought it would be that no one in Conner would welcome her back, but Ava soon found that Conner was just as welcoming as she left it. It wasn’t that the town didn’t want her back. She had to admit to herself that she had abandoned her old life and that it was up to her to reintroduce herself. She realized that she didn’t really have to leave completely to have a life of her own. She could have visited more often. She couldn’t blame her father completely for the rift in their relationship. She hadn’t done anything to repair it on her end. Instead, Ava Marie from Conner, GA turned into Ava M that lived in Atlanta, GA where she worked hard and played harder.

Did she really have to sever all ties with the familiarity of her childhood in order to be an adult? For so long she thought that was the answer, but now she was starting to think that it was the wrong answer. It was obvious that running from her past didn’t mean that she would never see it again. Out of sight, out of mind was right, but what happened when things and people you thought were in your rearview were in plain sight again?

Ava turned on a movie and curled up on the couch with Dolce. A nap was in order before the evening came. She had at least three hours before the home help staff showed up. Before she knew it, it was seven thirty and she was waking up to Dolce standing in front of her wagging his tail and whining.

There was a knock at the door. “Great, they are early. Come on, Dolce. Let’s get the door.”

Dolce followed Ava to the door. There was another knock right before she flung the door open, ready to greet the home help staff.

“Oh!” Ava exclaimed. She was surprised to see who was standing in front of her.

“I told you I would be back to hang out with you this evening.”

Christian stood there in front of her with a bag of take out from  Mattie’s Diner and a beautiful smile on his face. He was gorgeous standing there with just a simple white tee shirt and a pair of distressed jeans and loafers.

Ava opened the door wider. “You sure did.” She was happy that Christian had kept his word. She could definitely use the company this evening.

After the staff left, she turned on the television and she sat down with Christian to eat and watch television. She had always enjoyed a meal from Mattie’s growing up. Christian had even brought her some of Mattie’s famous peach pie. It was a little slice of heaven.

“You want to do something with me?”

Christian couldn’t read the sly look on Ava’s face. “What do you have in mind?”

Ava hopped up off of the couch and beckoned for Christian to follow her. They were followed by Dolce through the sunroom and to the back screen door. It was dark already outside and they were enveloped by the quiet peace of country living.

“Remember we used to lay out here for hours as kids?” A smile spread over Ava’s face as she spoke, remembering the times she and Christian used to lie out in the grass staring up at the stars. They would stare off into the cosmos making plans for what life would be like when they grew up.

Ava found a spot to lie down and patted the grass next to her so Christian could take his spot. Dolce settled closely by both of them. A summer breeze floated across their skin.

“Wow, I haven’t done this in ages,” Christian said. As they lay back, they enjoyed the view of a clear night sky.

“Nice isn’t it?” Ava remarked. Christian nodded as he reclined with his hands folded behind his head.

“I mean, not just looking up into the stars like we used to, but the fact that after all of these years that we can still come together and be friends.”

Christian looked over at Ava after she spoke. “Ava Marie, we’ve been in each other’s lives since we were kids. I don’t think you really let a bond like that go totally.”

Ava loved the way that her name rolled off his tongue.

“And just to let you know, Ava Marie. We will always be more than friends.”

She closed her eyes. “I know that, Christian.” She couldn’t believe that she’d admitted her feelings to him aloud.

“So what are we going to do about that, Ava Marie?” Christian sat up on one elbow and looked over at Ava.

“I don’t know how we are going to do this. I just know that I want it to happen. I mean, this you and me thing. I know it has to happen.”

Christian had just heard words that were music to his ears. He had already decided that he wasn’t going to let Ava leave without her knowing how he still felt about her and if a relationship came of it, he would be even more happy. To hear her admit that she wanted him as much as he wanted her was all he wanted to hear.

Ava knew after losing her mother at such a young age and now with her father’s health issues that life was too short not to have what you want out of it. After making love to Christian, she knew that she would not be able to return to Atlanta and just pretend that nothing happened between them.

“I keep telling you, Ava Marie, love has a habit of showing up in unexpected places. You have to be ready for it when it shows up.”

Ava was ever so thankful for the home help staff being in place to help when her father came home. Reginald was happy to come home to his own house and sleep in his own bed. He was even happier that his daughter was home with him to assist him.

She fixed breakfast for the both of them and they sat at the table eating together. The stroke had damaged some of the nerves on the left side of his body so Reginald would be in a wheelchair until he could completely walk again and the home help staff would help with bathing and personal care needs to make sure he didn’t hurt himself falling and that he took his medications as prescribed.

Ava watched her father trying to feed himself. He was determined to do it on his own with no assistance and he was doing pretty well. The nurses at the hospital said that besides flirting with every female nurse, Reginald had worked hard on making sure he could handle doing at least one skill for himself when he went home. His speech was still a bit slurred as well, but he’d have some therapists coming in to help with his speech and with his motor skills.

“I’m happy to have you home, Princess,” Reginald said.

“I’m glad that I could be here, Daddy.” She paused for a moment before speaking. As if Reginald could sense what she was about to say, he cut her off.

“You don’t have to apologize, Ava Marie. We both play a part in how things happened. Water under the bridge.” It took him a moment to say what he had to say, but he managed to get the words out as best he could.

Ava got up from her seat and kissed her father on the cheek and gave him a hug. It was nice to know that they didn’t have to rehash any old feelings. If her father was willing to move past everything, then so was she.