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“What if my father’s supposed to own everything?”
“So what if he is? You know your father. Would he really take away his siblings’ inheritance?”
I shake my head. “No, he wouldn’t do that.”
“So there you have it. Nothing is going to change, Ava.”
“Right. Nothing is going to change.”
The words leave my lips. I hear them. I even see them as if they’re typewritten in my head.
The only problem is?
I don’t believe them.
Not for a moment.
Chapter Twenty
Brendan
Something’s brewing. Something big, and part of me already knows what it is.
I take Ava’s hand and lead her out onto the back deck. It’s a brisk day, but the sun is shining, and it warms our faces. The dogs come up to us to get their requisite pets, and then they go back to their play.
I hold Ava’s hand in mine, rubbing it against the cool air. “Do you want me to make you a pot of tea or something?”
She shakes her head. “No.”
“Some spiced cider?”
“I don’t even know what my mom has in the kitchen. The housekeeper is off on Sundays, and I—” She buries her head in her hands, choking back a sob.
“Cry, baby.” I rub the back of her neck, massaging her.
“I’m not crying.”
And she’s not. She choked it back.
“Your mother and father love you.”
She raises her head. “I know that, Brendan. I’ve never questioned it. But I’m looking at the big picture now. Not just what’s going on with my own family, but what’s going on with the extended family as well. The things they’ve kept hidden from us all these years.”
“For your own protection. So you could have an idyllic childhood.”
“And we did. We all had amazing childhoods—even Dale and Donny, after the horror they had been through. But was everything built on a lie?”
“Of course it wasn’t.”
“I wish I could be as certain as you are,” she says.
“I can’t be certain that there haven’t been lies involved,” I tell her. “But what I am certain of is that your family loves you. They love Gina. They love all their nieces and nephews. Love is the most solid foundation there is, Ava. It’s hard as granite, and nothing can break it.”
She looks up at me then, her blue eyes glistening. “Truly, Brendan?”
I squeeze her hand, lean forward, and kiss her cold lips. “Truly.”
The French doors open then, and Ruby peeks out. “You two need to come inside. It’s getting too chilly out here.”
“We’re fine, Ruby,” I say.
“Please. Your father wants to talk to you.”
Ava jerks into a standing position so quickly that she almost knocks her Adirondack chair over. “Good. Come on, Brendan.”
“He wants to talk to you alone,” Ruby says.
“He had that chance. Brendan is here now, and I want him with me.”
“Ava…”
“Baby,” I say, following Ruby through the French doors and into the kitchen. “It’s not necessary. I can sit here with your mom.”
She shrugs. “Fine.” She walks inside, leaves Ruby and me in the kitchen, and disappears down the hallway.
“Come on, Brendan,” Ruby says. “I’ll make you a sandwich or something.”
“I’m fine. I had a sandwich at my place before I came over.”
“Who’s taking care of the bar?”
“Darby and Shaw can handle it. I need to be here for Ava.”
Ruby gives me a wistful smile. “You care very much for my daughter, don’t you?”
“To be frank? I’m in love with her, Ruby.”
Ruby clears her throat. “Does she feel the same way?”
“She says she does.”
“Ava’s very young.”
“She’s twenty-four. She’s old enough to know if she’s in love or not.”
“Yes. I believe she is. She’s an old soul, you know?”
“An old soul?”
“It’s something my mother used to talk about. She and I were so different. She said that she was an old soul but that I was brand-new.” Ruby shakes her head, chuckling. “I used to consider it an insult, but my mother wasn’t a mean person. She didn’t hurl around insults for no reason. So I grew to take it at face value. She believed in some things that I didn’t, but as soon as Ava was born, and after the first time my mother held her, she looked up at me and said, ‘Ruby, this one’s an old soul.’”
“I think I kind of get it.”
“Yeah, now that Ava’s grown up, I get it too. Her fascination with the tarot. Her amazing intuition. Her desire to leave the family fold and make it on her own. That kind of confidence can only come from an old soul.” She smiles. “If you believe in that kind of thing.”
“I can’t say I did before I met Ava, but I’m pretty sure I do now.”
“My mother didn’t have an easy life. She and I were separated when I was a teen.”
I lift my eyebrows.
“It’s a long story and not important right now. But if my mother were here, she would tell me to trust Ava. To trust my daughter. She can handle anything we throw at her.” Ruby shakes her head. “But I’m not certain of that, Brendan. If you love her, she’s going to need you. She’s going to need you more than ever after this talk with her father.”
