Tabasco let out a dream whimper and snuggled closer. The only thing more perfect than this would be having Avery here. He’d found a goal to work toward. For now, the sleeping puppy would be cute on camera.
“You can call me Miles.” He smiled, hoping to make himself lessintimidating. He pulled out his phone. “Hey, can you do me a favor and take my picture?”
She snapped a few. He quickly sent one to Avery and stepped out into the sunlit plaza to a loud, collective “Aw,” which did not awaken Tabasco.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Avery
Tuesday, July 25 - Boothbay Harbor, Maine
“Look at this one.” Lily spun her laptop around and took a sip of her frosé. They’d discovered a slushie maker in the cottage, perfect for the bottle of rosé Avery had bought at the cute wine shop, next to the cozy bookshop and across the street from the quaint bakery. If social media influencers built a town, it would be Boothbay Harbor.
“Amazing,” Avery said for the millionth time, wondering how many puffin pictures Lily had taken on the cruise. Avery had ogled over at least five hundred already. Each photo refreshed Lily’s cruise euphoria. The adorable puffins flitted back and forth from the rock island to the sea. Some floated on the water, which made for the best views of their colorful beaks. Lily loved it so much, she’d immediately plopped down at the dining table next to the window with views of the busy harbor,downloaded her photos, and started editing them while Anna Catherine FaceTimed with Hayes and Lennox on the porch. The rest of the group smartly avoided rehashing the entire morning frame-by-frame and were resting upstairs.
Lily rotated the laptop, cropping and filtering, then scrolling to the next photo. Avery spun her straw in her frosé and took a long sip. Miles would’ve loved the puffin cruise. He and Nate loved any excuse to be on the water. Most guys, Trent included, flew to Vegas for a bachelor party. Nate chose three days on a river.
Avery dreaded going back to the lake and waiting for Miles’s return from the bachelor trip, four days from now. They’d texted and Miles sent her an adorable photo of himself with a sleeping puppy in his arms. She half-hoped he’d bring the puppy back with him. Avery let out a long exhale. A few days paled in comparison to ten years. And unlike that summer, this time she’d say what she needed to say, once she figured it out.
“You okay?” Lily arched an eyebrow.
“Great.” Avery took another sip of her frosé to hide her frustration.
Except Lily saw through everything, thanks to her teacher radar.
“Ayuh, there’s a lot of heavy sighing coming from you.” Lily let down the eyebrow and narrowed her eyes. “You don’t need to keep things in, just because this is my bachelorette. Spill the tea, Aves.”
“It’s Miles.”
“Of course it is. What did he do this time?” Lily returned to her photos, as if Miles causing discontent was a common occurrence requiring little brainpower.
“Well, I tried to break up with him, and—”
“Wait. What?” Lily raised a hand to her gaping mouth.
Avery puffed her cheeks and blew out a long breath. As much as she hated to bother Lily, she needed the comfort only a best friend could provide.
“Things went south at the gala. We got into a fight, and ugh, Lily, it wasn’t about the party. I told him I loved him while we were getting ready. And he didn’t say it back.”
Lily closed her computer. “He didn’t?”
“Not even close. He froze, like I’d delivered devastating news. To be fair, I should’ve picked a better time to say it. We were about to leave, and he was stressed about his speech.”
Avery traced the icy sweat forming on her glass. She’d wanted him to repeat it back, so she’d feel secure. Declaring your love should be about the person you’re saying it to. She’d denied Miles the chance to feel cared for, cherished, and understood by seeking her own validation and saying it on a frenzied night.
“The party was so crowded, we couldn’t find each other. I kept looking for him, but it didn’t seem like he was looking for me. I felt like everything Victoria said came true. Like he iced me out because I don’t fit in his life. And he”—Avery choked back tears—“I’m not sure he wants a long-term commitment. I mean, it’s not just that he can’t say he loves me. He was great at communicating when we first got back together, and I thought he had changed. But when it’s time for big feelings, he’s like a clam that won’t open. You pry and pry and eventually, you give up. Either that, or he runs. I tried to break up with him to save myself the heartbreak of hearing him say he doesn’t love me.”
“Hey.” Lily rested a reassuring hand on top of Avery’s. “We know love is complicated for Miles and he bottles up his feelings. But so many of his actions say he loves you. You know he outbid the Coopers to get the Red House? They wanted to expand Montressa. It blew up into a huge thing and one night, he and Nate went at it. When Nate asked him why he neededthathouse, Miles said, ‘because she loves that red A-frame. There’s no other house like it, and if she ever comes back here and paddles by, I want to be there. He didn’t need to say who ‘she’ was because Nate knew. Everyone knows.”
Avery twirled her glass. While buying the house she loved sounded romantic, it also put the burden on her. Miles relied on his actions to make up for what he couldn’t or wouldn’t say, but his inactions communicated things as well.
“That is the stupidest way to get someone back.” Avery threw her hands in the air. “This isn’tThe Notebook.Instead of waiting for me to show up, he could’ve called or come found me. Either way, we’d have to talk. To be fair, this summer he’s better about working through things. Except when talk turns to love, he runs.”
Avery picked up her glass and aggressively slurped the last drop of frosé at the bottom of her glass. Lily rubbed her hand down her face. A second later, the porch door swung open and Anna Catherine walked in.
“Did someone mentionThe Notebook? I love that movie. Their love story had so much chemistry even though Ryan and Rachel did not get along during filming and… Oh no.” Her enthusiasm disappeared. “What’d I miss?”
She plunked into the open chair across the table.
