Page 55 of Where Roads Lead

Will

Seeing as I’d never been the type of guy interested in the bizarre notion of one-night stands, I wasn’t familiar with that infamous walk of shame.

But after abandoning Ava to run the café all day on her own, I had to admit I felt more than a little guilty when I finally made it back to the café at the end of the day.

The bells above the door jingled as I opened it, a painful contrast to the sight of Ava sweeping alone in the darkness.

“We’re closed,” she said tightly, back turned to the door.

“I can see that,” I said, looking at all the chairs stacked atop the tables.

She turned, frowning at the sight of me.

“And where have you been all day?” she asked, leaning the broom against the wall so she could come face to face with me.

I shifted on my feet, uncomfortable at the way her small face tightened in anger. Strands of blonde hair fell free from her clip, and her makeup had smudged, as if she’d run a hand against it to wipe the sweat away.

Guilt churned in my stomach.

Ava and I hadn’t been on the best of terms the last few years, which meant we’d gotten into more than a few petty arguments lately.

Usually, they were stupid—to me, at least. She just wanted more from me than I had it in me to give.

It wasn’t usual for me to be so completely in the wrong, but there was no getting around it this time.

I’d put her in a shitty position without even so much as a phone call to let her know I wouldn’t be coming in, and honestly, I didn’t blame her for being pissed beyond all hell about it.

“I had to take care of something,” I said, not wanting to give her any more ammunition to work with than was necessary.

“No, Will.” She shook her head resolutely. “You had something to take care of here. With me.”

“I know, Ava,” I told her. “I’m sorry. I lost track of time and—”

“Do you have any idea how busy we got today? I know you don’t care about me, but I thought you at least cared about your family’s business,” she spat out.

I could take it. Sometimes she just needed to blow off some steam. It wasn’t like I didn’t deserve it.

“I do care—”

“Besides that, do you know many people showed up today looking for you? Apparently, you promised a dozen different people help with one thing or another and never showed up to do it.”

Shit. She was right. I ran a hand over my face.

“I’ll call everyone. Reschedule the things I had to do for tomorrow—”

“No!” Her voice nearly cracked. “You don’t get it. Why are you always worried about letting other people down, but never care about letting me down? I was the one who needed you today.”

I stared at her, into the brown eyes I’d been familiar with since I was a child.

“You make all these promises to everyone, all the time, but you never seem to care that while you’re running around saving everyone, you’re leaving me out to dry.”

“You’ve always been able to handle yourself, Ave,” I said stupidly.

Her shoulders tensed, and a look of hurt flashed across her face. I knew better than anyone that just because you could handle something on your own, doesn’t mean you shoulder have to.

I opened my mouth, trying to figure out the right words for an apology when she asked the question.

“Were you with her?”