I can feel the wide smile overtaking my entire face.
“Of course it’s okay with me!” I say ecstatically.
I love the idea of us living together and of Trevor being here with me all of the time. Not only does it make me feel safer, considering all the shit going on with Max, but it also makes me happy to think about the fact that we will be able to fall asleep and wake up in each other’s arms every single day, without needing to worry about him having to leave to run home and get a change of clothes or something.
“I can’t wait to get started,” I say. “I’ll grab some boxes.”
2
Trevor
Moving day is loads of fun, and it’s exactly what we need following everything we’ve been through. I don’t have too much stuff, so a few trips in the pickup truck are all it takes to get me fully moved into the house with Ava. We have fun and joke around most of the day, trying to forget about everything else aside from spending the day together and making the move to bring our two separate lives one step closer to a joint one. It takes us all day, but by early evening I am officially all moved out of my old place and into the house with Ava. Fortunately, my landlord is super accommodating so leaving my old house behind isn’t going to cause any issues at all. Figuring out who to hand the farm over that I had been working on will be a bit more of a challenge, but there are plenty of good people here who would love a chance to run that farm. I’ll continue to go over there and manage it until someone else takes it over, but I have a feeling it won’t take long to find the right person for the job.
“How about Chinese food?” Ava asks when we bring the very last box inside. “It’s kind of like a rite of passage to have Chinese food delivery on moving day.”
“It is?” I ask. I’ve never heard of that before. “Is that a city thing?”
“No,” she laughs. “It’s a moving thing.”
“Well, regardless, it sounds perfect to me. As long as we can add something,” I say.
“What do you want to add?” Ava asks.
“A comfortable movie night on the couch.”
Ava smiles and pulls out her phone to order the Chinese food.
“That sounds absolutely perfect,” she beams. “You pick the movie and I’ll order the food.”
I can’t possibly ask for a better night. Ava and I spread blankets on the floor of the living room and have an indoor picnic with delicious Chinese food in those little white to-go boxes. I fumble with the chopsticks and make a few choice remarks about why anyone in their right mind would possibly think it’s a good idea to pick up grains of rice with two small sticks. Ava bursts into fits of laughter until she says her sides hurt from laughing so hard.
We share a bottle of wine while we eat and talk, and then we move to the couch and snuggle up to watch a movie. The windows are half open because the air outside is nice and cool, and so there is a chilly breeze that wafts into the house—just perfect for snuggling underneath cozy fleece blankets. Even though the movie is on, we aren’t really paying attention to it.
“What kind of work are we going to do now?” she asks. “I mean, I have to start working again. And Fairport is a far cry from Manhattan. I’m not sure what I can do here that will bring in even half as much money as I was making before.”
“It’s not about the money,” I say. “It’s about being happy and being together here.”
“I know, but we can’t ignore the fact that there are bills to be paid. You’ve been working on building projects and running a farm, right?” she asks. “Is that something that you’re going to continue?”
“I can,” I answer. “But I would rather see if you and I can start something together like we had mentioned before. I mean, it might be kind of perfect actually. You’re a designer and a genius at marketing, and I’m great at building things with my hands. Surely there’s a niche to fill even in a small town like this?”
Ava looks thoughtful as if she’s trying to brainstorm some ideas that might be viable. And that’s when one comes to me.
“What if we started our own business together and ran it right here out of the house. This house is plenty big enough for you to make a massive workspace inside. And there’s enough land outside for me to build literally anything.”
“But what kind of business?” she asks. “What would we design and make?”
Before I can answer, Ava nearly jumps off of the couch with an idea.
“What about designing small structures, like artist cottages or sustainable greenhouses or those trendy little sheds that people are using for their passion projects. Those are all the rage right now and I bet there’s an untapped market for them here in Fairport.”
“I love that idea,” I say, already excited to get started. “You could handle the design and marketing aspects, and I can construct the sheds and deliver them to the customers.”
“Perfect,” she grins.
Then, she adds something that I was notat allexpecting to hear from a so-called city girl.
“I also want to have our own little farm,” she says with a bit of hesitation as if she thinks I will tease her about it. “I don’t really know anything about taking care of a farm. Hell, I couldn’t even keep my succulent alive in the city and those things are nearly impossible to kill, or at least that’s what I’ve heard. But I really feel like I want to have a little farm now. There’s definitely enough land here to do it, and since you know all about farming, you can teach me. What do you think?”
