“He shouldn’t be,” Zoe said. “Life changes all of us.”
“Yeah.” Landon gave a wan smile. “Exactly. Don’t give up on Gavin, Zoe. He’s gotten so much better. He’s good with you.”
“But you can’t stay with him out of fear he’ll get worse if you leave,” Ava said bluntly. “Gavin’s mind and moods are Gavin’s to deal with, not yours, Zoe.”
“I know that.”
“Good. Sorry. It’s my therapist coming out,” she admitted with a wry smile. “I see too many spouses or partners of military men and women who take on too much. And that hurts everyone.”
“Do you think I’m hurting him by being too emotional or something?” Had her loving him hurt him?
“No.Not at all. You’re the one constant in Gavin’s life that’s turned him from being uneven to stable.”
Landon nodded. “He might act like a goof, but he’s pure to the bone, deep down. He’d do anything for the people he cares about.”
She sniffed. “I know. That’s part of why I love him so much. I want to help, but I know he has to help himself. I just don’t want to be another responsibility. He should want to be with me.”
“He does.” Landon nodded and patted her shoulder. “Seriously. He’s so gone over you. He smiles all the time. Well, when he’s not being a moody bastard. Give him space, and he’ll be good to go in no time.”
“And if he isn’t,” Ava added, being the voice of reason, “it’s not because of anything you did, but because Gavin can’t be there in here.” Ava tapped her head. “Now how about we talk about something else, because I am not having Zoe cry on me twice within two weeks.”
“Huh?”
Zoe laughed and accepted the tissue Landon pulled from a nearby box for her. “How about we talk about a mutual hottie we both know and love?”
“Zoe, I don’t know if I’m comfortable with you calling me that in front of my intended,” Landon said.
“I meant Elliot Liberato. That hottie.”
Ava straightened, her smile bright. “Oh, you met Elliot?” The oven timer dinged. “Landon, get that. So how did you meet my cousin?”
Zoe told them about him messing with Mac, and they all had a laugh. A shared meal and stories about Ava’s funny cousins and Zoe’s funnier twin added an intimacy to the evening. One Zoe had been missing.
She only hoped she’d get to share more times like these with Gavin.
* * *
Gavin had sat through Lee’s therapy. He’d asked Lee a bazillion questions, speaking in terms of Zoe and Zoe’s loss as if it were his own. Though Lee hadn’t thought Gavin ready to face his friends’ loved ones, it had obviously helped that Gavin had talked about them with Zoe.
Except he hadn’t. And he also hadn’t been so chatty about his past. Unlike Zoe, Gavin had buried his feelings like a scared jackass.
But he couldn’t go to Zoe half a man. No longer could he ignore that broken part of himself. So he would confront his fears, as Zoe had. He’d arranged to meet the ladies on their turf.
Nicole had invited him to meet with her and Amanda, Luke’s sister. Nancy, John’s mother, hadn’t been able to come, too busy looking after Jane, her granddaughter and John’s daughter.
Gavin had dressed in jeans and a nice shirt, along with a sport coat. He wanted to look nice for his friends’ families. And he promised himself to be normal with them, to give them the closure they—and he—needed.
Nicole answered the door right away. She looked thinner and more tired than she used to. But joy glowed in her big, brown eyes when she saw him. “Gavin!” She hugged the breath out of him, and he thought today might not be so bad after all.
He followed her inside and saw Amanda, looking so damn pretty, so much older, and so like Luke.
He blinked, forced himself to man up, and said, “Well, well. Look who’s all grown up.”
“Dummy.” She wiped her eyes and blew her nose into the tissue she’d been holding. A big box of them sat on the coffee table. Good thinking. “I just saw you two years ago, and I was already this grown-up and gorgeous.”
“Obviously.” He smiled, loving her attitude. Still the same Amanda. “And what’s this? A ring?”
She smiled, showing off her engagement ring and bringing him up to date on her life. She worked as an executive at a finance place—Amanda had always been a brain—and had found the love of her life. He mentioned the gym, what he’d been up to, but he couldn’t bring himself to discuss Zoe. He needed to keep her separate, because he knew if he started talking about her, he’d fuck up everything he’d set out to accomplish today.
