Ever After (The Christmas Cottage - Book 2) (8 page)

“Very funny.  But there was no way for us to talk with him hovering.”  She studied Ava for a moment.  “You slept with Brian, didn’t you?”

“What?  How?” Ava sputtered.  “Okay, I don’t even have it in me to deny it.  How did you guess?”

“Other than the glowing complexion and the sappy smile on your face?  Please…I’ve known you your whole life.  Nothing gets by me.”

“Especially now since the bump isn’t sucking your brain waves,” Ava deadpanned.

“She better be a genius for all she took from me,” Lacey smiled.  “So, tell me all about it.”

While Ava knew that Lacey wasn’t asking for graphic details, she managed to give her the highlights without blushing too terribly.  “Honestly, Lace, it
was wonderful; he’s wonderful!  I’m so happy!”

“I’m so glad, sweetie.  You deserve to be happy.”

“I wasn’t sure I was capable of it.  I don’t remember feeling like this before.  I feel like I’m walking on air and I can’t stop smiling!”

“Smiling’s a good thing and you have a gorgeous smile.  I just don’t want you jumping into something before you’re ready.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I hate to be a buzz kill when you are clearly still basking in the afterglow but you jumped in way too fast with Mason and I don’t want you to make the same mistake with Brian.  Don’t rush things.”

Ava made a face and wanted to argue but she knew Lacey had a point.  She just wasn’t willing to admit it out loud yet.  “This is completely different than with Mason; Brian knows me better than Mason ever did.  I think that in time this could be something completely amazing; Lace, this could be my happily ever after.”

Lacey would be happy to never hear of fairytales or happily ever after coming from Ava’s mouth ever again.  It was good to see her friend so happy and so she kept any further negative comments to hers
elf and listened as Ava waxed poetic about all of the things she wanted to do with Brian and all of the places she wanted to go.

“What about the job interview next week?  You’re still going on that, right?”

“Hmm…I had forgotten about that.  Of course I’ll go but it would have to be a spectacular job offer to make me consider moving away now!  Between you and Olivia and now Brian, I don’t want to leave!”

“Oh, Ava, no!”

“What?  What did I say?”

Although Lacey had not one minute ago vowed to keep all negative comments to herself, she couldn’t help herself.  “Ava, it’s starting already!”

“What?  What is?”

“You haven’t even gone on the interview and you are already not wanting to go because of other people!  You have to live your life for you, not for anyone else!  Don’t let me or Olivia or Brian keep you from living your dream!”

“I’m not!” Ava cried.  “Geez, since when did it become a crime to not want to move away from your family?”

“It’s not a crime, Ava.  It’s just that less than 48 hours ago you were certain that you were moving away and now after one night with Brian you’re reconsidering.”

It was hard to argue with the truth.  Again.  “Look, I’m not committing one way or the other; I’m simply keeping my options open.”

Lacey’s disbelief was written all over her face.  “Look, I certainly don’t want to be the reason for you to start doubting yourself…”

“You mean again?” Ava snapped, referring to Lacey’s attempts the year before at making her cancel her wedding.  Sure it all worked out for the best but at the time her friend didn’t seem to have a problem voicing her opinions no matter how badly they hurt.

“I just had a baby and I am emotional and for that reason alone I get a free pass to say what’s on my mind.”

That made Ava smile.  “Okay, but you only get to use that excuse once.”

“Deal,” Lacey agreed and relaxed.  “All I’m saying is that I want you to take things slow and don’t give up the things that you want.  If Brian really cares about you, he’s going to take your feelings into consideration.  Right?”

“When you’re right, you’re right,” Ava said and then turned when her brother entered the room carrying enough snacks and beverages to feed at least a dozen people.  She turned back to look at Lacey as they both broke into a fit of giggles.

Ean sighed.  “I am just completely outnumbered…” he mumbled.

The next several weeks flew by.  Between her job at the book store, her search for a career, spending time with Lacey and Olivia, and settling into her relationship with Brian, Ava’s life was beyond full.  Each day she woke with a smile on her face and a sexy man by her side.  They went on dates to the movies, museums, and dinner.  They talked for hours about their jobs and careers and mostly, Brian encouraged Ava to share her dreams. 

In all of their conversations, Brian was careful to neither fully encourage nor discourage Ava when a job opportunity presented itself that would have her moving away from
Raleigh.  Should she decide to take a job that meant relocating, well, he’d deal with it when the time came.  He wasn’t foolish enough to believe that everything would be perfect but Brian was also walking a fine line of learning from experience; he remembered well enough what had happened a year ago when Mason had tried to control Ava’s future and that was not something that he ever wanted to be accused of doing. 

Ava was an intelligent woman; a free spirit.  He could only hope that the things that drew him to her also didn’t take her away from him.

As Brian was trying to find the proper balance where Ava’s career search was concerned, Ava had a dilemma of her own; wondering why Brian wasn’t weighing in more.  If he truly felt for her the way he said he did, wouldn’t he be trying to persuade her not to even look at jobs that would take her out of the area?  Granted, there hadn’t been that many but when they came up, he wished her luck on her interviews and was waiting for her when she came back; anxious for a report on how it went.  He never mentioned moving his business and it didn’t take long for Ava’s insecurities to come to the surface.

They were sitting on the sofa in Ava’s condo watching a movie when she finally decided to broach the subject.  “I was thinking more about the job with the med school up in
Richmond,” she said casually, reaching for the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table in front of them.  It was said without eye contact, just something that she seemingly threw out there and waited for his response.

“
Richmond, huh?  I didn’t think that you were all that crazy about that one.  The starting salary was a little low, wasn’t it?”

Ah, so he had paid attention to her ramblings about the pros and cons of the job; that was promising, wasn’t it?”

“It was a little low but the area was really nice and I’ve been looking at houses online and I think that I can find something a little newer and a little bigger than what I’ve got here for around the same price.  It might be nice to upgrade in the process,” she said, still looking as if she was actually interested in what was on the TV.

“So this is about a house?” he asked, confusion lacing his voice.  Grabbing the remote, he muted the television.  “You’d take a job that you weren’t crazy about because of a house?”  Now his tone was slightly irritated.

Ava finished chewing her snack before turning to face him.  “Of course it’s not just about a house, Brian.  I’m trying to look at the total picture.  I mean, the job has potential.  I may be starting out with a lower salary than I want, but the possibility of expansion and growth within the company is promising.  If I’m going to find the perfect job then I want to have the perfect house to go with it.  You know me, Brian, I want the total package.”

He groaned inwardly.  Her and her damn
perfect. 
Mentally counting to ten, he did his best to plead his case without being overwhelming.  “I think your quest for all-things perfect is very noble, Ava, but life isn’t always perfect.  Sometimes you have to take a good look around you and realize that what you have is satisfying and good and be happy with it.”

“So I should settle?” she said a little too defensively.

“No, not settle; just have more…realistic expectations.”  There, that sounded good, didn’t it?

“Brian, that night that you came to my hotel room, do you remember what you said to me?”

“Of course I do.”

“You told me that I was a passionate person and that Mason was stifling that.  Well, what I learned is that you’re right; I am passionate, especially about the things that I want.  I don’t think that my expectations are too much.  I want a job that has potential and a home that I love.  What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing’s wrong with it, per se, it’s just that you keep tacking on the word ‘perfect’ and there is no such thing; not really.”

“Well that’s just sad, Brian,” she said wearily.

“Why?”

“Because it means that you are the one who is settling.  You’re the one who’ll never be truly happy because you’ll just take what’s in front of you and never dream of more.”

He stood because his temper was rising.  How dare she lecture him on his dreams!  She had no idea how hard he’d worked to get where he was or how long he’d dreamed of having the woman that he loved just simply sitting beside him on the couch!  It may not seem grand or extravagant, but that was his vision of perfect.  He was just about to say as much to her when Ava came to stand beside him, her hand on his arm.

“I don’t want to argue with you, Brian.  I really don’t.  I just don’t want to see you settle when there’s so much out there in the world to see and do!”

“Has it ever occurred to you that I sincerely like my life the way it is?  I have a great job, great friends and I have a very supportive family.  I built my dream home and while it’s
my
dream home, it may not be perfect to somebody else.  That doesn’t make me love it any less!”

“
Your house
is
perfect!” she cried.  “I didn’t mean to imply otherwise, it’s just that…”

“And on top of all that,” he interrupted, “I have the woman that I love finally standing beside me
and
she,”
he stopped and placed s gentle kiss on her lips, “is damn near perfect.”

Ava couldn’t help but smile.  “I’m glad that you think so but I’m far from it.”  She shrieked as Brian scooped her up in to his arms and headed toward her bedroom where he showed her all through the night just how perfect she was.

****

It didn’t take long for some of Brian’s words to start making Ava think.  Was she being realistic?  Was she searching for something that didn’t exist? 
Was that why she wasn’t married yet?  Was there really no such thing as fairytales and happily ever afters?  For that she wasn’t sure but she did know that she wouldn’t know what she was going to do or where she was going to go if she stopped searching.  Her job at the book store was a dead end and while she had sent her resume to over a dozen companies, nothing thrilled her as of yet.

Well, at least not in the job department.  Her time with Brian?  Now that was thrilling.  One of the things that made Brian stand out above any man that she had ever dated was that he challenged her.  Mason had
yes
’d her to death to merely appease her but Brian wasn’t afraid to say no to things that he didn’t want to do or to let her know when he thought she was making a mistake.

That one took a little getting used to.

After a lifetime of no one really telling her no or disagreeing with her, having someone point out her mistakes and imperfections, but not in a mean or bad way, was a brand new experience.  The first lesson learned came after their very first night together; Ava never made the mistake of getting out of bed to freshen up in hopes of fooling Brian again!  He still teased her about it, but lightly and looking back she realized how silly it was.  Brian wasn’t with her because she woke up with lip gloss on and her hair perfect, he was with her because he loved the person that she was inside.

That took a little getting used to, as well.  Ava wasn’t overly vain
, but she knew that she was attractive and again, most men gave her what she wanted because of how she looked.  Not Brian.  She could walk around without any makeup on and her hair in a ponytail and he’d still want to take her out.  Not that she tested that theory too often, but he never really made a big deal about her appearance.

That thought made her frown a little.  Clearly he found her attractive
, but was it normal to not even acknowledge when she went from one extreme to another?  Mason had often made her feel bad when she would be at home in her sweats on a Saturday, just wanting to hang out.  He’d ask if she was going to do her hair or put on some makeup but Brian never said anything like that.  He accepted her no matter what.

It was a feeling that left her a little unbalanced.  How did she go about pleasing him when he didn’t seem inclined to share with her what she did that pleased him?  Well, she
knew
the things that she did that pleased him, but that was in the bedroom; she was curious how to keep Brian satisfied out of the bedroom, because eventually, that part of the relationship died down too, didn’t it?

To be honest, that part of their relationship just kept getting better and better
, but how long would that last?  Shouldn’t they be cooling down by now?  Settling into things?  Talking about the future? It had been about six weeks and although she could still hear Lacey reminding her to take it slow, Ava felt that at age twenty-seven, there was only a certain level of slow that she was willing to go!  The bottom line still remained:  she wanted to find a job first and foremost, but her ultimate goal was to get married and have a baby before she was thirty.