“I was testing you.” She smooths both hands over her linen slacks, unaware that she just knocked my careful composure sideways. “I needed to know you weren’t going to be another man in an apparently long line of them who looked at that girl and saw someone to bend to his will instead of a person worthfighting for.”
I open my mouth. Close it. Open it again. “You?—”
“Told her the same thing, by the way. She needs to stop carrying the weight of other people’s wrongdoings on her own shoulders. We can’t measure our worth by the worst things that were done to us.” Mariel sighs. “She’s too good for that, and I hope she’s starting to believe it. You’ve helped her, although not quite as much as she seems to have helped you.”
I’m still processing the whiplash when her first comment registers. “When did you talk to Avah?”
Mariel raises an eyebrow. “She stopped by this morning.”
“She—” I slump against the cushions as the room tilts. “She told you about her father?”
“Showed up at my door, just like you. Except she was crying, which you’re not, so congratulations on the composure.” The older woman folds her hands in her lap. “She wanted me to know that you had nothing to do with her father or his scheming and that whatever happens going forward, Joel and I should not let it affect the partnership. She said you can help NorthStar grow beyond what we ever imagined. But more than that—” Mariel pauses, and her voice softens. “She said you need this kind of purpose in your life. That you have so much good in you, and our community would give you a place to put it.”
My chest is caving in on itself, the part of me that’s spent years staying guarded collapsing under the force of my love for a woman who came here to protect me, knowing it would expose every secret she’s worked so hard to keep hidden.
“It looks like the two of you are getting your wires crossed,” Mariel says, satisfaction settling into the fine lines on either side of her smile. “But you’re also dead set on protecting the other. Joel and I want people involved in NorthStar who have the backs of the people they love, especially when things get hard. That matters more to us than a spotless past or bottomless bank accounts.”
I nod because I don’t trust my voice.
“I just hope she figures out whatever she needsto in Florida and comes back soon. Colorado is a much better place with her in it.”
My entire body goes still. “Florida?”
Mariel’s smile falters. “She said she had to go to Florida to take care of some family?—”
“She’s gone?” I practically shout. So much for that laudable composure.
“She was heading to the airport after she left here.” Mariel’s brow furrows. “She said you would understand.”
I’m on my feet before I’ve made the conscious decision to stand. “The fuck I understand.”
“Language, Jeremy.”
“Sorry. I—” I press both hands against the top of my head and pace the length of her living room, past the family photos and the cozy throws, my pulse hammering in my ears.
Avah is heading to Florida, on God knows what kind of self-destruct mission, because every person who was supposed to love her taught her that she’s the problem.
I won’t be another man who lets her think she has to carry the weight of the world alone.
“I have to go.”
“I assumed.” Mariel rises from her chair and follows me toward the door. “Jeremy.”
I turn, one hand on the doorknob.
“When I lost my daughter, I thought the grief would swallow me whole. It nearly did. But Joel pulled me back by refusing to let me disappear into it. He didn’t fix it. No one could give me back what I lost. But he showed up and stood next to me while I figured out how to survive it.” She holds my gaze with the intensity of a woman who has earned her wisdom by navigating the layers of grief that reshape a life. “Avah doesn’t need rescuing. She needs someone to stand at her side, not in front of her. There’s a difference.”
“I know.” Yes, I want to slay every dragon circling Avah. But whatI want more is for her to know she’s capable of slaying them herself. And that I’ll be there whether she needs me for the fight, or just to hold her after. “But I have to find her first.”
“I have a feeling you’ll manage.” Mariel opens the door with a teasing laugh. “Figuring things out is what billionaires do best.”
I’m dialing Sloane before I reach the car.
She picks up on the first ring. “We need to talk, Jeremy. Where are you?”
“On my way to DIA. Did you know Avah was going to Florida?”
“Oh.” A beat of silence and then a sigh that I’m pretty sure sounds relieved. “Yeah. She stopped by this morning but didn’t want?—”
