“Tell me more,” Jill demands, catching on to my tone. “Is there a hot lumberjack nearby? Now that would add to your book.” She laughs at her joke.
“Well…” I bite my bottom lip. “Not a lumberjack.”
“But there’s someone?”
“Yes?” I’m not sure why it comes out like a question.
“Who?”
“My ex-husband.”
Jill is silent. I don’t know if this is good or bad. I get the feeling if a person shocks Jill into silence, it might not be a good thing.
“Jill, listen, I need to tell you about?—”
She holds up a hand. “Is your book based on real life?”
No sense in beating around the bush. “Gabriel—my ex—gave me permission to write our story.”
Jill exhales loudly. “So the DUI? And the alcoholism?”
I nod once to confirm what she’s asking.
She grimaces. “The divorce?”
“True.”
“Avery.” Compassion softens her voice. “You poor thing.”
I push down my immediate distaste at the words.Poor little thing. It’s all I heard after my mom died. All I heard after people started seeing how much I was taking care of Camryn. After people learned about Gabriel.Poor thing. How sad.
“It’s over now.” My voice betrays a confidence I don’t feel.
“Are you sure about that?”
“We’re divorced,” I say, as if that’s an explanation.
“And?”
“That’s usually a pretty solid ending.”
A smile curves Jill’s mouth upward. “Avery, I’ve read your book. If what you wrote is even half as much of what you two felt for each other, it is most definitely not over. Where’s the closure?”
“I don’t think everybody gets closure. Sometimes things end, and that’s all there is to it.”
She crosses her arms and leans back in her chair. “You talk a brave game, Avery Burke, but you’re lying through your teeth.”
I blink at her blunt words. “He’s given me a million reasons not to trust him with my heart. Maybe my character can take him back. But I’m afraid fact and fiction will have to diverge in this case.”
Never mind that the moment I saw him again, my heart felt like it could fly. Or that when he chased that dog in here, every cell in my body stood at attention.
She nods solemnly. “My father was a raging alcoholic. I grew up watching my mom manage his alcoholism. Lying to people to cover up for him. Lying to herself, too. I guess what I’m saying is that I understand.”
“And yet you think he’s worthy of a second chance?” I’m surprised. Jill is no nonsense. I can’t imagine her giving a man a second chance, if she were in my position.
“Is your book reflective of the real Gabriel?”
My heart skips a beat. “Yes.”
