I took a breath. “Yeah. I think it will be.”
41
ALEX
The second they pulled up, I could tell something was wrong. I could see it in the way Ava wouldn’t get out of the car, and in the way Eleanor moved like she was holding herself together with sheer force of will.
Leo came up beside me, hands shoved into his pockets. “What’s wrong with Ava?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know, buddy. But she looks pretty sad about something.”
“Yeah,” he said quietly. We stood there together, two worried guys pretending we weren’t worried, giving them the space they needed.
After a minute, Ava finally climbed out of the car and walked up the steps. She looked straight at Leo. “Do you want to watch a movie?”
His face brightened instantly. “Yeah!”
And just like that, they disappeared inside together, the door swinging shut behind them.
Eleanor made it to the porch a few seconds later. She looked like she’d just gone ten rounds with the world and barely came out on top.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
After a sigh, she said, “Yeah. I think it will be.”
“What happened?” I asked as she stepped into my arms.
I pulled her close without even thinking, and that smile I couldn’t seem to stop spreading across my face. She fit there. Right there. I breathed in the clean, familiar scent of her floral shampoo and kissed the top of her head.
Whatever it was, we’d face it together.
Eleanor told me what had happened on the drive over, about the chalk, the hose, her mom, the way Ava had fallen apart. I hated it for her. For both of them. But I understood complicated families. Understood how old wounds had a way of bleeding into everything.
“I really want to go today,” she said quietly. “But sometimes after something like that . . . Ava doesn’t want me to leave. She just needs me.”
“I get that,” I said. “Life with these kids can be tricky. You do what you need to do.”
When we went inside, Leo was already on the couch, remote in hand. Inside Out was on the screen, the opening credits rolling.
“I like to watch this when I don’t feel right,” he said.
Ava’s brow was still furrowed, but she nodded. “It’s a good movie.”
“Can we join you?” I asked.
“Sure!” Leo scooted over to make room.
Ava looked up at Eleanor. “Aren’t you leaving?”
“We don’t have to,” Eleanor said gently.
Something eased in Ava’s face, like a knot loosening. “It’s okay,” she said. “You can still go.”
Eleanor sat beside her, visibly relaxing.
“How about this?” she said, glancing at me. “I think we have time for a movie.”
“Of course we do,” I said. “Inside Out is a classic.”
