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As if that thought had sent some sort of message out into the world, I heard a knock on the room door. Curious about who it could be, I got up and went over to look through the peephole. Ava stood in the middle of the hallway, waving.
I opened the door, and she grinned at me.
“You were looking through the peephole, weren’t you?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Good, I wouldn’t want to think I was just standing out here waving at nobody.”
I laughed.
Ava smiled a little wider. “Well, I just thought I would come by and see if you wanted to go downstairs to the bar with me and get a drink. All the boys are back at my house, and Robert is asleep, so I have some time to myself.”
“That sounds amazing,” I said. “I could definitely use a break. And a drink.”
Ava laughed and stepped back, gesturing to the hallway as if to invite me out with her. I stepped back into the room just long enough to put on my shoes and grab my purse. We went down to the bar and slid into one of the small tables set off to the side. She looked around.
“This is weird,” she said.
“How so?” I asked.
“I just kind of feel like I’m cheating on The Hollow.”
“I’m so sorry Ava. I know that you’ve been working there for the past year. You must be devastated.”
Ava nodded. “There were definitely a lot of memories in that place. It wasn’t around all that long, but it really got into our hearts. It’s devastating that it’s gone.”
“They’ll rebuild,” I said. “Tom is already talking about the plans for it. It might take a little while but try to think about all of the opportunities a fresh start could mean.”
Ava smiled across the table at me. “He tells you a lot, doesn’t he?”
I blushed. “We have a good rapport, yes.”
She laughed. “I can see that. I can also tell you one thing, you sure do make him smile. Not that I heard him say anything about it or anything, but I have a feeling you’re not just here because he wants to keep up with work.”
I didn’t know exactly what she meant by that, and I didn’t know if I wanted to delve any deeper into it. Instead, I detoured the conversation.
“Speaking of the bar,” I said. “You were telling me that you and Mason started dating when you were young teenagers.”
“That’s right,” she said, nodding. “We’ve known each other basically our whole lives. That’s kind of the way it is when you grow up in a place like Astoria. I think in a way I always knew he and I were going to be together. I don’t think it was love at first sight or anything. We were really young. But…”
“But what?” I asked.
She looked at me with a hesitant look on her face. “It’s going to sound ridiculous.”
“That’s okay,” I said. “Last night at dinner, I told Tom that coming here made me feel like a secret agent on a special assignment. You really can’t sound more ridiculous than that.”
A waiter came by and took our drink orders. When he walked away, she let out a sigh that made her shoulders drop and got a soft smile on her lips.
“It’s not like I always realized that I loved him. But I always knew he and I were supposed to be together. It was almost like we had been together always. Even before we knew each other, and we were just finding each other again. Like pieces of a puzzle being put back together.” She cringed a little and covered her face with her hands for a second. “I told you it was going to sound ridiculous.”
“It doesn’t sound ridiculous,” I said. “I’ve never experienced anything like that. It sounds pretty wonderful.”
“It is,” she said. “It was awful in those years that we weren’t together and I lived in Michigan. I had convinced myself the part of my life that included him was over, and I would never be happy again. I had to force myself to put him behind me and try to find something new.”
“How did the guys you dated in between feel about that?” I asked.
The waiter came by and set our drinks in front of us. Ava ordered a couple of appetizers, and I picked up my drink for a sip.
“Well,” she said, “there weren’t many guys I dated in between. I convinced myself I was just focusing on my career, and that I was perfectly happy. Now I realize it was just because I didn’t want to be with anybody but Mason.”
“That’s so sweet,” I said. “I love that the two of you were high school sweethearts and now you’re married with a child.”
For the rest of the evening, Ava and I drank, munched on the appetizers, and bonded. We got to know each other through stories and a lot of laughter. I had no idea how many hours or how many drinks later it was when I noticed Ava looking at the door to the bar. She leaned across toward me.
