“Rumor has it Owen’s truck was spotted near the trail to the watermill last night,” Summer continued.
Ava almost lost her grip. “Break,” Ava said, out of breath. They were at the top of the stairs, the dresser angled to turn from the hallway down the stairway. She had a sinking feeling about what Summer would say next. “Owen’s truck was at the watermill. What about it?”
After a moment, they lifted the dresser. Ava carefully descended the top stair, balancing the weight of the dresser pushing down on her.
“Ms. Andrews said he got out of the truck with a blonde woman. Couldn’t see her face, but the whole town is buzzing about who it could be.”
“Oh?” Ava breathed, her lungs constricting. From the direction their conversation was taking or the strain of the dresser bearing down on her, she couldn’t be sure. Probably both.
“It had me thinking,” Summer grunted. “Break.”
They lowered the dresser. Ava held it back with her hip, reaching to the stair railing for support.
“Thinking what?” Ava ventured. They both took a few deep breaths and got into position to lift.
They slowly descended a few more stairs, putting them halfway down.
“Well, you disappeared for a long time the other night at the bar. And then Owen is spotted with a blonde woman the next night. At a place notorious for hookups. Made me wonder if it was you.”
Ava’s arms gave out a few steps from the bottom. “Break,” she shouted.
They dropped the dresser. The stairs groaned from the impact.
“I need you to take more weight. My arms are giving out,” Ava panted.
“I’m holding all the weight I can manage, Ava,” Summer snapped back. Summer never snapped at her. “Were you with my brother last night?”
Ava swallowed hard, rubbing the sweat off her forehead to stall.She knows. “Yes.”
Summer’s eyes closed, her chest rising and falling with deep breaths. When she opened her eyes, she drilled Ava with a hard look. “Let’s finish getting down the stairs.”
Ava’s heart pounded from the stress of the dresser’s weight and the strain of their conversation. They lifted the dresser. Ava descended the last steps. When her feet touched the solid floor, the weight of the dresser became too much for her to support.
“I need you to pick up more slack on your end,” Ava said.
“Story of my life,” Summer muttered.
Ava’s arms burned from the strain. “What does that mean?”
“I’m always picking up your slack, Ava.”
Ava’s arms went out, and she dropped the dresser. Losing support caused Summer to drop her end. Ava leaped to the side, and the dresser slid down the remaining steps and out the open porch door, coming to a rest after bumping against the sturdy porch railing.
Ava’s heart hammered. She looked at Summer, still standing a few feet above her on the steps. “Summer I–”
“I don’t know where to start. The fact that you’re seeing my brother behind my back, after years of me begging you to tell me why you broke up in the first place, or that fact that you don’t think Cedar Fallsis worth coming back to without your dad’s cabin as an excuse. Like I’m not a good enough reason. I’m never enough for you. Or anyone, it seems,” Summer said. She lifted her eyes to the ceiling, furiously blinking back tears.
Ava stepped closer to the stairs. “That’s not true. You’re my best friend, of course, that’s enough reason for me to come back. You are worth it. Worth everything good in the world,” Ava pleaded.
“I’m just not good enough for you to tell me the truth?”
“That’s not–”
“Do you even know what you’re doing? Hooking up with Owen? He has a kid, Ava. My nephew. And I’ll be damned if you break both of their hearts. I love you more than anything, but you weren’t here after the breakup. You didn’t see the shape Owen was in. You know who was? Me. I’ve been there for him. For you. For Avery. Without even knowing the fucking truth.”
Summer stomped down the stairs. The portion of the dresser still inside the doorway blocked Ava’s path where she stood to the right of the stairs. Summer slipped around it to the left and into the dining area. Ava rushed through the living room to the downstairs hallway that connected to the kitchen, hoping to catch her before she got too far. Summer was already stepping out the door by the time Ava got there. She grabbed Summer’s hand to stop her.
“Summer, wait.”
