Page 152 of Where Roads Lead

But I saw she’d made up her mind to leave, and I wasn’t going to be able to stop her. The only thing I could do was tell her the truth later and hope that it gave her some understanding.

“Okay.” I sighed in defeat. “I’ll call you when I’m closing up, okay?”

“Yeah,” she said. “That sounds good.”

I watched as she said goodbye to everyone in the café before promising she’d be in tomorrow to see them all.

She was part of the town, whether or not she knew it. They’d accepted her as one of our own, and there was no getting away from it now.

I watched Ava watching with thin-lipped aversion, and I couldn’t stop myself from going over to her.

She’d always been like this. The need for control. The obsession with being a part of everything up close and personal. It was almost as if she felt threatened when someone else tried to take the reins. Hell, if someone else even tried to look at the saddle in the first place.

And for Ava, who had been running the café as my only full-time partner since Matthew died, the sight of another woman behind the counter seemed to make her feel like she was under attack.

I didn’t even really think it was Elsie she disliked so much as the idea of anyone coming in to take her place.

But promise or no promise, to start off on a new foot with Ava, I wasn’t going to let her run Elsie off because she hadn’t dealt with her own shit yet.

“What’s the deal?” I followed Ava to the back of the shop so our conversation wouldn’t be broadcast to the majority of the town.

“I’m doing inventory.”

“You know what I’m talking about.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I thought we’d fixed things between us. I thought after the other night, it meant you were going to stop being a dick to Elsie.”

“I didn’t know that fixing things between us directly correlated to me being best friends with her,” she muttered sarcastically, too focused on her task to even look at me.

“I don’t need you to be friends with her. I just need you to stop making her feel like you can’t stand to breathe the same air as her.”

Ava snorted. “That’s dramatic.”

“You’re dramatic, Ava. Always have been.”

She chewed her lip.

“I’ve been abrasive,” she admitted. “I don’t hate her, Will. I don’t. It’s just that she seems to be everywhere all the time lately. I’m trying to get used to it.”

“It’s Colbridge. Everyone is everywhere all the time. Usually, you don’t mind socializing.”

“I guess it’s just a little off-putting how obsessed with her everyone is. It’s like we’re all in high school and no one can help fawning over the new girl.”

“You know, just because they like her doesn’t mean they like you any less.”

She exhaled deeply and then looked at me with apologetic eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she said, pulling her hands from the dishwater to rub her face. “I’m acting like an idiot.”

“A little bit.” I stared at her cautiously.

“It’s just been a change. Having her here. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s been hard. Things changing. You changing.”

I remembered the night of the Fall Fest, and how even I had been acting like an asshole because of emotions I had no control over. It wasn’t an excuse, but at least now I had a bit more understanding of what it meant to have your feelings get the better of you.

“I guess I understand that.” I sighed, trying to be more tolerant than I felt. “But Ava? I need you to try harder.”

“I know.”

“I mean it.”