My mother pressed her napkin to her lips. “We just want to understand your priorities, Eleanor.”
I forced myself not to flinch.
“My priorities are Ava,” I said. “Always.”
“And yet,” Stacey said with a tilt of her head, “there’s this boy.”
“Man,” I corrected before I could stop myself. “And we’re just spending time together.”
My mother sighed in that long-suffering way she’d perfected. “Darling, you need stability. Someone respectable. Someone who can support you and Ava. You’ve been through so much. We only want what’s best.”
“Exactly,” Stacey chimed in. “Running around with some . . . local boy is not it.”
Heat climbed up my neck, that familiar mix of shame and fury tightening in my chest. I stared down at my untouched plate. Fighting was useless. It always had been.
“So,” I said carefully, “you’re staying the weekend?”
My mother took a sip of tea. “The week, actually.”
Of course, she was.
I swallowed hard. “Okay.”
“I wish you would let me introduce you to a few men from my church,” Stacey said.
“Or why don’t we go to church tomorrow as a family. You can see if there are any nice men there. This is a pivotal time for you,” said my mother.
“And Ava,” Stacey added. “This could be a good first step.”
And I sat there, letting their words wash over me like needles. Because for now, until I had a plan, there wasn’t much else to do.
But under all of it, the pressure, the dread, the exhaustion, there was a quiet ember still glowing.
Alex. Ava. The life I was building. The life I wanted.
And that ember wasn’t going out. Not this time.
When Ava came back from the bathroom, everyone went back to their best behavior. At least they didn’t do this in front of her. That was something, I guess.
As we made it out to the van, I turned to Ava. “Chicken Nuggets?”
“Yes, please.”
33
ALEX
It’d been a week since I’d seen Eleanor. I had tried to talk to her at the show the day after brunch with her mother and sister, but I just never found the right time. I tried to text her about it, but all she said was it was fine. I was really starting to get in my head about it. We finished the show, but then it came to strike the sets, and we were too busy to even say goodbye.
I was starting to second-guess things. Maybe she was regretting what happened in the skate room. Why did I choose a skate rental room? She deserved more than that. Maybe she was realizing it.
But tomorrow we had plans to practice a little for tryouts. And I knew, with absolute certainty, that tomorrow at the rink couldn’t come fast enough.
Before I went to bed, I pulled my phone out.
Alex - Good night, I can't wait to see you tomorrow. I'll probably get there around 2.
Eleanor - I'm meeting Belle and Mel at 1, so I'll see you when I get there.
