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He scratches his chin. “Understood. She’s special, isn’t she?”
“Yes,” I answer without hesitation. “Ava is very special. She’s in the kitchen waiting for us.”
“Let’s go make sure Ava is all right.” He moves to skirt around me.
I stop him by grabbing hold of his shoulder. “She doesn’t know, Ben. She has no idea about me.”
He glances to his left until our eyes lock. “I won’t say a word, Harrison. I can’t say a word, but for what it’s worth, even if she is skipping town soon, if there’s a will, there is always a way for a future with someone you love.”
I don’t argue his point even though there is not always a way. I may be feeling more for Ava than like and lust, but there is no future for us. There will never be.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Ava
“I won’t say I told you so, but I told you so,” I whisper, feeling buoyed by the fact that Dr. Foster told me I was fine.
Harry laughs. “You just said you won’t say it, London, and then you said it.”
My gaze drops to the bracelet on my wrist. “I won’t say it again then.”
“You can remind me over and over that I was wrong,” Harry says as he clears my plate. “I don’t care about that. I care about you, and I’m grateful that your head checked out.”
I lift a hand to glide it over the sizable lump on my head. “Your bedside table is hard as a rock.”
He places both of our plates in the sink. “Yet, you still won in the battle against it. That only proves how strong you are.”
I feel anything but at the moment.
I’m embarrassed and mortified that I accused Harry of something he would never do.
Logically, I know that, but at that moment, in my sleepy state, I jumped to the wrong conclusion and accused this wonderful man of something horrific.
“Dinner was delicious. What type of fish was that again?”
He spins to face me. “Maybe I should get Ben back here. Short-term memory loss isn’t a good sign, Ava.”
I smile. “Salmon. You told me that. Twice.”
“Yes.” He scratches his eyebrow. “If you’d rather we don’t talk, we can watch a movie or play a game of cards. Strip poker works for me.”
I point at the robe I’m still wearing. “I only have three pieces of clothing on.”
He jerks a thumb toward his T-shirt. “As do I, so it would be a fair fight. Should I get the cards?”
It would be a fun escape from the heaviness sitting in the air between us since I toppled off his bed. It’s not fair to him, though. I noticed the concern in his expression when I fell. I saw the horror in his eyes when I accused him of something unthinkable.
“Can we talk?” I push against the edge of the kitchen island to slide to my feet from the stool I’ve been sitting on. “Is there a place where we can sit and talk?”
He smiles. “It’s a big house. There are a lot of places, but there’s one special spot I’d like to take you to.”
I run a fingertip along the dark wood, marveling at the craftsmanship. “Harry, this is beautiful.”
“It is,” he says in a low tone. “The piano is all right, but you, Ava, are breathtaking.”
“I saw what I look like in your bathroom mirror after I got dressed. Clearly, you need to put your glasses on.”
A deep-seated laugh falls from his lips. “I can see just fine from this distance.”
He’s standing a few feet away from me in the middle of a room that is tucked away in a corner of the main floor of his home. When he opened the door and flicked on the light switch, I knew immediately what was sitting beneath a large white drop cloth.
“Where did you get this?” I touch my hand on the ripped leather of the bench.
“It was here when I bought the house,” he explains. “The previous owner was my uncle. He said it was here when he bought it too. It hasn’t been touched in at least a decade, likely more.”
“It’s a treasure,” I whisper. “This is the dream for someone like me.”
“A gifted pianist.”
I nod. “You’re so lucky.”
“I’m the luckiest man alive at this moment.” His voice is controlled, but there’s an edge lacing it. It’s something dark and tempting. “I’m fortunate to be here with you, Ava, and I’m so grateful that you’re all right.”
“I am all right,” I say to reassure him. “I know it seemed as though I wasn’t, but I am.”
He steps closer to where I’m standing. “I believe you.”
My gaze trails over the interior of the room. It’s obvious it was a study or a library at one time, but whoever brought this piano in here crowded out every other purpose.
The space is too small for an instrument this grand.
