“Any idea how long they’re going to keep you?” she asks.
I know she’s not going to want to hear this, but I tell her anyway.
“Well, the cops said that they can’t release me until Max’s attorney shows up from the city to sign some court paperwork that’s required.”
“What? But that doesn’t even make any sense! You have even been to court yet,” she says. “What about parole? What about being innocent until proven guilty?”
I shake my head.
“I think our buddy Max has his hands in the pockets of some people way up the food chain,” I say. “Nothing I can do but wait it out.”
“This is so wrong,” Ava says as she starts to pace the hallway outside of my cell.
I can tell that she is super upset and she’s not wrong to be. The situation is blatantly unfair, even the cops agree, but our hands are tied.
“Look, I know you’re upset,” I say. “So am I. But getting frustrated isn’t going to help anything. It will all be okay; we just need to give it time to work out. You should go home and get some rest. There’s nothing you can do here.”
She stops pacing and comes to stand up close to the bars of the cell and sticks her fingers through the bars to hold mine. I can see the tears welling in her eyes,
“It’s all going to be fine, Ava,” I say. “I promise. “Don’t cry.”
She tries to pull herself together and shows me what she brought for me—a change of clothes, toothbrush and toothpaste, a few essentials for having to stay here. When it’s time for her to leave, she has trouble letting go. But after a few tear-filled moments, she heads back to the house to wait.
“Any idea how long this whole process is going to take, guys?” I ask the officers.
One of them used to be in my chemistry class in high school. He comes over and pulls up a stool outside the cell to sit down and talk with me.
“Not sure, to be honest, Trevor. This guy that pressed the charges is a real heavy hitter. He’s got a big-time fancy attorney and a lot of money behind his bite.”
“Yeah, I know,” I say. “I’m definitely not a fan.”
“Not saying it wasn’t justified, but why did you beat the crap out of him?” he asks. “He’s got the whole thing on video. You gave him a solid pounding.” He laughs a little and it makes me chuckle too.
“He was treating Ava like crap,” I answer. “Disrespecting her in her own home and right there in front of me. I just couldn’t stand for it.”
He nods in understanding. If it’s one thing that country guys know, it’s that we don’t mess around when it comes to respect. It doesn’t matter how much money you have here; you just don’t go around treating people like crap no matter who you are.
“Is she worth it?” he asks as he looks at me with a serious expression.
“Who, Ava?” I ask.
“Yeah, I’m assuming she’s your girl. This guy might cause you some real trouble. Is she worth it?”
I nod and answer without hesitation.
“Yeah, she’s definitely worth it. She’s worth everything,” I say.
9
Ava
While I wait for Trevor to be released, I can’t just sit around the house and do nothing. Doing nothing only makes me worry and stress more and will end up driving me crazy. I couldn’t sleep at all last night, and after a phone call to the jail this morning to check in on things, it didn’t seem like he was going to end up being released today either. Max is dragging his feet and prolonging this as much as he can.
Since I feel like I have to dosomething, I start working on the repairs at the house. I pick up right where Trevor and I left off and try to finish the jobs that we started on my own. Some of the stuff is a challenge to do without Trevor here, but I am determined to make the repairs and to use the time to work on fixing the house up by myself so that when he gets out, we can make a home here together.
It’s funny how much I’ve actually learned that I hadn’t even realized that I’ve picked up on. By the late afternoon, I’ve gotten two windows repaired, a doorframe rebuilt, and part of the wall patched up. I never would have dreamt that I could do things like this before. Since I have a feeling that Max is going to end my design career in a single swipe, I start to consider the possibility that I might be able to go into a design career that is a bit more hands on. Trevor builds and fixes things. He farms and takes care of the mechanical and structural nature of stuff. Maybe I could start doing some actual hands-on design, some crafting that isn’t just online or on paper, but is actuallyreal.I get kind of excited at the prospect of it and when I go to visit him at the jail tonight, Trevor seems to be every bit as excited about it as I am.
“I think it’s agreatidea!” he says with enthusiasm. “We could maybe even start our own business here. You design the stuff, and I’ll help to build it.”
