“Good night, angel. You’re safe,” Ava whispered before kissing her and leaving the room with the door ajar.
Mom was at the piano bench, her fingers moving fluidly over the keys, warming up by playing scales. Ava sat next to her and took the octave above, seamlessly picking up where her mom was.
They did scales for a good five minutes, Ava making a few mistakes before the muscle memory kicked in. She found when she stopped thinking about playing, she was better. Letting her subconscious and her fingers do the heavy lifting.
“What shall we play? Classical or pop?”
Pachelbel was challenging and would draw her out of her head. But the song that was on replay in her mind was “A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton. Her mom had sent her that song when she’d dropped Ava off at college. “‘A Thousand Miles.’”
“Perfect. I was thinking that, too. Want to start?”
“Yes.”
They switched around on the bench. Taking a deep breath, closing her eyes, she heard the song in her head. The musical notes on the staff appeared in her mind, and her fingers started moving.
As she played, she was aware of Mom joining in, but her mind was floating free, thinking about the people who mattered to her. The ones she’d make a journey for no matter the distance or time it took.
Her family, of course, but then Chay’s face. Aponi’s face. Gracie’s. They were the new family she’d created with indelible threads whether she wanted to admit it or not. Whether Chay wanted to admit it or not. The connection was there.
She knew she was being a little bit selfish not messaging him that her home had broken into. He’d want to know, and she was doing it to hurt him back because he’d avoided seeing her tonight.
When the song was over, she hugged her mom and told her good-night, going to bunk down in the room where they’d set up the crib for Gracie.
Playing the piano had made it clear that she needed to contact Chay.
Ava: Hey. Sorry for the late text. Didn’t want you to hear it from Jacob or someone else. My home was broken into tonight. Gracie and I are fine. We’re staying with my parents.
Hitting send, she went to wash her face and brush her teeth. When she got back into the room, she avoided her phone, doing her nighttime mediation routine to try to find some semblance of normalcy. But it escaped her.
Finally she picked up her phone.
Chay was responding. The dots showing up and then disappearing for what felt like an eternity.
Chay: Glad you’re okay.
No way was that all he typed for that long.
Ava: Me too.
Chay: I should have been with you. I’m sorry for today.
Ava: You needed space and I was crowding you.
Chay: Don’t take that on. You needed me.
Ava: I still do. But when you’re ready. We don’t have to barrel into anything.
Chay: What if I want to?
Her breathing got a little heavier at the thought. She liked him and she’d missed him. She’d even told herself that she would give him the space he needed, but the truth was she wanted to be with him tonight. As safe as she felt in her parents’ house, she knew she wouldn’t truly feel secure until he was next to her.
That was dangerous thinking for a woman who’d learned to be independent. A woman who promised herself she’d never depend on anyone again. A woman who settled into her blankets happy to text with her boyfriend.
It took all of his willpower not to get in his truck and go get Ava and Gracie and bring them to his house. Anger, fear and guilt were a potent cocktail running through his system. He’d fucked up. He knew that.
Fear had led him to push her away and now…well nothing had happened to her, she was safe enough, but fate had given him a reminder that he was going to miss her whatever happened.
Chay: Still there?
