Finding Forever (24 page)

I gave him to you because I thought you were going to do right!

I wanted to shake her, to scream, “Do not let your bullshit mess things up with this good man, dummy!”… However, that would be hypocritical of me.

“Nothing happened to that. Just know that I do like Avery, and I do want it to work. You did a great job matching us, and I really,
truly
thank you. I just have to make sure it’s right for me.”

I nodded, giving her a smile. “I can certainly understand
that
.”

We exchanged brief goodbyes, and she exited the store, leaving me alone with Melanie, who was still wearing a scowl. “What’s
your
problem?” I asked, lifting an eyebrow at her.

“I don’t trust that bitch. And I see you’re
still
stuck on stupid, giving that girl advice about a man that was supposed to be yours.”

I shrugged. “Avery was never
meant to be mine
. What are you talking about?”

She stared at me for a second before her lip curled in disgust. “Nothing, I guess. Are you gonna give him a heads up about her?”

“And say what?” I cocked an eyebrow at her. “The girl you seem to be falling in love with, and showering with gifts doesn’t quite feel the same as you, but she’s working on it, and she likes you, I just thought I would give you a complex about it anyway? No, I am
not
calling him.”

“So what
are
you gonna do?”

“Well… I’m gonna finish shopping, then we need to get you a plane ticket for this trip, don’t we?”

Mel was so distracted by her excitement she didn’t realize I tuned her out as she babbled on about all of the things we were going to do while in San Diego. My mind was already going a mile a minute, dissecting the run-in with Maya. I didn’t want to think I’d made a mistake in matching him with Maya, but the conversation had left me feeling a little uneasy. If that girl broke his heart, I would…

What would I do?

Even though I was fully committed to moving forward into a newly designed life, there wasn’t a day that went by without thinking about Avery. I couldn’t piece together when, how or why he’d made such an impact, but it wasn’t something I could deny. I could only try to forget, and hope it faded away— sooner, rather than later. My main goal was to be happy, and I couldn’t do that while I was holding on to hope for something that wasn’t going to happen. Avery went easily —
very
easily — into his new relationship with Maya.

He moved on. I should too.

He was obviously focused
.
I was too.

— 10 —

— Avery —

“Don’t you think you’re moving too fast?”

I chuckled, pulling to a stop at a red light as Des — on speakerphone— continued to ramble about how unsure she was about my relationship with Maya. She’d done a complete reversal on her assessment that I was womanizer, and now considered herself my personal love coach. I didn’t mind, because I mostly ignored Des’ bullshit anyway, and I appreciated having my sister back on my side, completely.

“It’s not a big deal, Des. Chill.”

She sucked her teeth. “Avery, did you forget you sent me a picture? Those diamond cuts are
huge
. Those aren’t the kind of earrings you give a girl you’ve only been dating for three and a half months. They need to be half— no, a
quarter
— of that size. Hell, actually, you shouldn’t be giving her
diamonds
yet anyway. The two of you aren’t even serious!”

“I’m trying to
get
serious.”

“You’re moving
too fast
. Now, I know I’m the
little
sister, and I also know I got in trouble for sticking my nose in like this with Tori, but I can’t just not say anything. It seems like you’re rushing things with Maya for some reason. I mean, yeah, she’s a pretty girl and all, but I’ve seen you two together, Avery. Something doesn’t quite curl all the way over there.”

I shook my head as I pulled into the parking lot of Maya’s restaurant,
Coral
. “Thanks for being so positive about my new relationship, Des,” I joked.

“I’m not trying to be negative, I promise. It just seems as if you’re overcompensating or something. I don’t know. Just be careful, and I’ll talk to you later, okay? I love you.”

“Love you too, sis.”

I ended the call, and grabbed the box with the earrings in question from my glove box. For the last two weeks, I’d been insanely busy. Phone calls, video conferences, flights, meetings, and a ridiculous amount of paperwork were all a part of a deal that would expand Ignition closer to the east coast, so I’d been immersed in that, and unable to spend much time with Maya. I needed to make it up to her.

I didn’t see her when I first walked in, so I strode past the host’s desk and headed for the back, where her office was located. She was on the phone when she answered the door, but she stepped aside to allow me in while she finished her call.

“Hi stranger,” she said, tossing her phone onto her desk as she ended the call. She didn’t seem inclined to offer more of a greeting than that, so I pulled her into my arms for a hug, but she shied away when I tried to kiss her.

“You’re upset with me about something…” I sat down on the edge of her desk, using my grip on her hand to pull her close. “What’s going on?”

She shook her head. “Nothing. I just… I haven’t had an easy week, and I’ve missed you.”

“So… you act like you aren’t happy to see me?”

Pushing out a heavy sigh, she slipped her hand from mine to cross her arms. “It’s silly, I know, but… I guess I didn’t realize how busy you were. We only see each other
maybe
twice a week now, and at first it was every other day.”

“It won’t always be like this,” I insisted, standing up. “I’m just working on something big right now, and it’s demanding a lot of my time. After this, I’ll actually have
more
time, because we’re hiring more people for corporate, and I can start sitting around on my ass, being at the garage more… being with you more. It’s temporary.”

“You promise?”

I wrapped Maya in my arms, placing a kiss against her forehead. “Yes, I promise. I know we’re still… figuring each other out, but you have to know I want to make you happy. In fact… I got you something.” I pulled the box from the inside pocket of my jacket and placed it into her hands, waiting to see her reaction when I opened it.

Instead of the excitement I expected, her jaw clenched, and she pressed her lips together in a tight smile. After staring at them for a moment, she spoke. “Avery… these are beautiful. They must have cost a lot of money.”

“It’s no big,” I shrugged, confused by her reaction. It was as if she was
mad
that I was trying to do something nice. “I know I haven’t been available, and I wanted to try to make up for it.”

She gave a dry chuckle. “Make up for not being available.
Right
.” She closed the box, tossing it onto her desk with the same indifference she had given her cell phone. “Thanks, Avery. I have to get back to work now, okay?”

Mental note: don’t buy anymore fucking jewelry.

“Yeah, I’ll let you get back to it. Do you want to have dinner or something tonight when you leave?” I asked, hoping to bring us back out of the awkward feeling that had settled over the room.

“Actually, I think I’ll take a rain check. I’m pretty tired already, so when I get off tonight, I think I’m gonna get some sleep.”

But… you said you misse— whatever.

“Okay. Maybe this weekend then.”

“Maybe.”

I got the hell out of there. I don’t know what was going on, but one thing I
wasn’t
about to do was try to drag anything out of her. I was doing the best I knew how, and if that wasn’t enough, or was a problem… it was
hers
, not mine.

The next few days passed in a blur of more meetings and paperwork, but on Friday, I boarded my flight from California to Dallas with 25 more Ignition locations in four new states, and the open door to start selling franchises. I was exhausted, but the effort had been more than worth it, and
now
, as I had told Maya, I could sit back and relax, and let my corporate team do the work. I was sick of wearing suits.

When I touched down in Dallas, my thoughts immediately went to Maya. Since that day at the restaurant, she’d been withdrawn, and not very responsive to my attempts to reach out. I made the — admittedly risky— decision to stop by her house, knowing she was usually home, showered, and preparing to go to bed at this time. I considered stopping to get something for her, but her reaction to my last gift was still etched into my mind, so I nixed that, and a few minutes later, I was pulling into her driveway.

“What, did you forget something?” She opened the door with a smile I hadn’t seen from her in nearly two weeks, but it dropped from her face when she realized it was me. “
Oh.
Avery… what are you doing here?”

I lifted an eyebrow. “I just got back in town, so I wanted to come and see you… did you have company or something?”

“My mom just left,” she said, tightening the belt of her robe around her waist. “And I was getting ready to get in the shower when the bell rang, I thought it was her coming back.”

“Okay… can I come in?”

Her eyes widened, and she glanced around behind her before pulling open the door to let me in. “Yeah… come on in, I guess.”

You guess?

I couldn’t help frowning a little as I wondered what was up with the weird vibe Maya had going on. “So… I think you’ll be happy to know we signed the deal today. It’s all done, the first Ignition shops on the West Coast will open in a little over a year.”

“Oh, okay. That’s great Avery!” She managed a smile, and pulled me into a lackluster hug.

“Did you start wearing a new perfume or something?” I asked, after breathing her in as I
always
did when we embraced.

She immediately stiffened in my arms. “What?”

“You smell different,” I explained. “Not your usual perfume. This one is… interesting.”

“Oh.” She pulled away from me. “Well, like I said, I was getting in the shower, so…”

“Maybe I should join you? I think we need to do a little reconnecting.” Cupping her chin, I tilted her head back intending to kiss her, but again, she pulled away.

“I don’t think so, Avery. Actually, you should probably go. It’s not okay for you to pop up at my house unannounced like this.”

What?

“Maya… you showed up at my door insanely early three Saturdays in a row last month for ‘surprise pancakes’, and I didn’t have a problem, but
this
is a problem for you? Are you serious right now?” I chuckled at Maya’s dumbfounded expression, but she quickly recovered.

“Well maybe I shouldn’t have been doing that either. It was too much. This is too much. The earrings, the other jewelry, it was too much. You’re smothering me!”

Again,
What?

My face contorted into a scowl. “Maya, a few days ago you were complaining about us not spending enough time together, how the hell am I
smothering
you now?”

“I’m telling you how I feel. This is all… moving way too fast, and it’s getting more serious than I’m comfortable with for someone I’ve only known for three months. It’s overwhelming.”

“Then say
that
. How was I supposed to know you were feeling like that when you’re telling me you wish I were around more? Where is this coming from?”

She shook her head, tucking her hands in at her sides. “I… I don’t know. I know it’s sudden, but its how I feel. Maybe we should take a step back, and move a little slower with this.”

Yeah, maybe so.

“Whatever, Maya.” I turned toward the door to leave, but she caught me by the arm.

“Avery… please don’t be angry with me. You don’t have to go. I’m gonna jump in the sho—”

I held up a hand to stop her. “No, I do have to go. I just got off a plane, I don’t feel like arguing with you. We’ll talk another time.” I shrugged away from her touch and left, still wondering what the hell had happened when I pulled into my parking space at home thirty minutes later. Is this what Tori was talking about when she said that sometimes chemistry and compatibility couldn’t force two people to work? Because one thing I wasn’t going to deal with was a relationship where things were constantly hot and cold. One week we’re at Pier 1 looking at table settings “just for fun” and two weeks later, stopping by to see her after being out of town was
smothering
her. That didn’t make any sense.

Through Tori, I’d met and dated seven different women who were supposedly ‘perfect’ for me. The first six didn’t work, and at this point, number seven was going downhill
fast
. Maybe she was on to something with her little ‘meant to be single’ mantra, because if this was the type of stuff I was going to have to put up with… I wasn’t.

This was bullshit.

— Tori —

This is
beautiful
.

Whenever I came to visit Renee’s San Diego home, after eating excessive amounts of whatever her husband, Eric, pulled off the grill, I inevitably ended up on the balcony of the guest room. The ocean view always brought me a sense of peace, and with all of the other recent adjustments to my life, it felt more serene than usual. Last year, I didn’t make it down to see her because I was so wrapped up in things with Rafael, but never again. I would
always
make time for my friend, as she
always
made her way to Dallas to see me.

“I thought I’d find you out here.” I smiled at Renee as she stepped out onto the balcony with me and slipped an arm around my waist. “Mel is already passed out after eating all of that food.”

I dropped my head onto her shoulder as I laughed. “I don’t know
where
she puts it all, but she certainly does put it away.”

After a few quiet moments, Renee gave me a little squeeze. “Okay, so talk. Tell me what’s going on with you.”

“Going on how?”

“Girl, please,” she said, pulling me over to the outdoor sofa. “You know what I’m talking about. In the last six months, you’ve gotten divorced, sold your business, put your house on the market, and gave up on love… it sounds like a mid life crisis, but you’re not quite old enough for that yet. Now that I’ve got you in person, I need you to tell me what the hell is going on.”