Ava tore her gaze away to look at her friend. They linked arms again, and Ava pulled them across the street to the café.
“Yup, that’s him.”
Before reaching the entrance, Morgan pulled them to a stop, a serious expression on her face. Her dark brows slanted in concern as she looked at Ava. “You’re not thinking of getting back with him, right?Because something is happening there. I could’ve cut the tension with a butter knife.”
Ava scoffed. “No, of course not. There’s nothing between us.” The words burned in Ava’s throat.
Morgan stared at her for a long moment, analyzing the truth of Ava’s response.
“It’s in the past,” Ava said, unsure if the assurance was meant for Morgan or herself.
Chapter 17
The Reunion
Ava pulled up to the curb outside the Portland Airport terminal after dropping Morgan off at the train station to catch her train back to New York. The brakes on her dad’s old Subaru squealed in protest despite how gently she pressed her foot on the pedal. She cast a glance at the white box strapped in the passenger seat.
Should she have warned her brothers about the extra passenger? Probably.
Her brothers strode through the automatic doors and stopped on the sidewalk, turning their heads in opposite directions in search of the right car.
Lucas looked like he had just left work, his quarter-zip layered over tan slacks and expensive loafers. Their grandfather’s old watch gleamed on his wrist as he lifted the hand to run it through his gelled-back hair, tugging on the ends before letting go. Noah towered over their older brother, his strawberry blonde hair catching the light as he stretched his neck from side to side. He pushed his black framesfurther up his nose before spotting and waving at her. Lucas followed Noah’s wave and scowled at the car, a stark contrast to Noah’s big grin.
She rolled the passenger window down. “Hey guys,” she said.
Lucas reached for the passenger door just as Noah called out, “Shotgun.”
“Too late. I already touched the handle,” Lucas replied.
“That’s not the rule and you know it. You’ve always been a cheater, Luc,” Noah complained.
Ava watched Noah accept the rolling bag Lucas held out to him and round to the trunk to load their bags. She popped the trunk as Lucas opened the passenger door.
“What up, Dodo?” Lucas said.
Ava narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance. She suddenly felt less bad about the surprise waiting for him.
He stopped midway to sitting down, noticing the box clipped into the seat like a passenger. “What the hell is that?”
“Did I forget to mention I was carpooling? Say hi to Dad,” Ava replied.
“You’re so fucking weird. Unbuckle it.” Lucas scoffed, eyeing the box in disgust.
“Unbuckle it, what?”
Lucas rolled his eyes behind his Ray-Ban sunglasses. “Please unbuckle Dad’s ashes from the seat.”
Ava reached over to release the seat belt and picked up the box. “No problem, there you go. Was that so hard?”
“That’s what she said,” Noah chimed in, hearing the tail-end of their conversation as he opened the backdoor to climb inside.
“Nice.” Lucas grinned over his shoulder at Noah.
“Ugh, what are you, 13-year-olds?” Ava said. She thrust the box at Noah behind her. “Here, you hold on to Dad. You can spend some quality time together.”
Noah’s eyebrows pinched in confusion before breaking into a small smile. He carefully held the box, running his hand over the top. “Hey Dad, fancy seeing you here,” he said in a low tone to the box. He lifted his head to meet Ava’s gaze in the rearview mirror. “When did you get the ashes?”
“They arrived at the cabin on Monday. I didn’t realize they mail people's cremains like that. Or I would have if Lucas had warned me sooner–”
