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“I fell in love,” I whisper. “With the most amazing man I’ve ever met, and now it’s over.”
Sean leans back in his chair while Declan shoves a hand through his hair.
“A guy from school,” Sean assumes. “He broke it off while you were here, didn’t he?”
Declan tries to silence our brother with a look and a wave of his finger in the air. “Did you meet him here, Ava? In New York?”
I nod. “Yes.”
“And it ended recently?” he asks. “He ended it?”
“He did. He broke up with me two weeks ago.” I hold back another sob. “He was looking for something casual and fun while I’m here, but…”
“But you fell head over heels for this guy,” Sean finishes my thought.
I exhale audibly. “I knew going in that was all he was looking for, so I should have known that his feelings wouldn’t change like mine did.”
Declan reaches for my hand to cup it in his. “That’s rough, Ava. That’s damn hard to deal with.”
“He’s a fucking idiot.” Sean tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. “You’re an incredible woman. He has no idea what he’s missing out on.”
I manage a smile.
“Look, Ava.” Declan kisses my wrist the way he did when I was a kid looking for courage or reassurance. “I get that you want to head back to London to escape what you’re feeling, and if you need to do that, we’ll understand. I want to go with you, though. You can show me your flat and the sights. I’ll crash with you for a few days as long as you make a good cup of coffee.”
I laugh. “You’d do that for me?”
“I’d do it too,” Sean pipes up. “But I have to hold down the fort while Decky is away. Calliope and I will come for the holidays. We wouldn’t miss it, Ava.”
I reach for his hand and hold it too. “I have the best brothers in the world.”
“If you give me the guy’s name, I’ll have a word and two fists with him.” Sean raises his free hand in the air in a fist.
I shake my head. “I’ll be okay. First loves are supposed to hurt like this, right?”
Declan shrugs. “So they say.”
Sean squeezes my hand. “If it didn’t hurt, it wasn’t worth it, right? Don’t rush through your feelings, Ava. Move forward when you’re ready. Until then you’ve got Calliope and us. We’re all here for you.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
Harrison
I slam my phone on my desk, rage coursing through me. It’s been one issue after another with one of our suppliers this month.
“Someone is angry.” A soft voice comes at me at the worst possible time.
I never want Roxy to see me like this. In her eyes, I’m the stoic older brother who is always in control, but for the past two weeks, I feel as though that’s all gone to hell.
“Roxy,” I say her name in an even tone. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have school?”
Her hand dips into one of the pockets of her overalls. She tugs out a pocket watch that once belonged to her late father. “Check the day and time, Harrison. It’s four o’clock, and it’s Sunday.”
“Oh,” I respond because I’ve lost track of what day of the week it is.
I’ve lost track of most things since I walked out of Ava’s apartment a little over two weeks ago.
I’ve had to fight tooth and nail with myself not to run back there and beg for her forgiveness, but that would be a selfish act on my part.
I did what I had to, and even though it’s killing me to know that I hurt her, there wasn’t another option.
“Mom wants to know if we’re all having dinner together tonight.” She glances over her shoulder. “She’s kissing Donald in the elevator. That’s what is taking them so long. “
For the first time in days, I crack a smile. “Really?”
Her hands clasp together in front of her. “They are in love. It’s L.O.V.E.”
If that’s true, I’m happy for both of them.
Roxy steps into my office. I’m not the only person here today, but for the most part, the offices of Food Harmony are working on a scaled back staff. When we started this venture, it was important to Jos that we try and stick to a Monday to Friday, nine a.m. to six p.m. schedule. She wanted our employees to have a healthy work and life balance.
It’s been years since I’ve known what that feels like.
“Can I ask you something, Harrison?”
I gaze up at Roxy’s face as she approaches my desk. “Sure.”
She kicks her foot forward. “Why are you sad?”
I shouldn’t be surprised that she picked up on that. I’ve been hell to deal with lately. I haven’t done well with masking my feelings. I’ve turned Roxy down a few times when she’s asked me to make her a pizza and when she invited me to take her to the movies last Saturday, I passed because the film she wanted to see was only playing in the same theater as the film that featured Ava’s composition.
