Other Side of the Wall (13 page)

Chapter 15

I
didn’t know what to say other than his name. I was completely stunned to see
him. He looked great, but very nervous. We all seemed frozen, but my momma, the
eternal hostess, got up and held out her hand. “Scott, I’m Susannah, welcome to
our home.”

She
was being too nice, in my opinion, but he looked grateful for the gesture.

He
shook her hand. “Thank you.”

My
momma gave proper introductions to Tucker and my Daddy. My Daddy was cordial to
him as well, but Tucker did me proud and blew him off again. But that cost him.
My momma gave him the look–the same look that kept us in line growing up.

After
the introductions, Scott turned to me and just looked at me. I honestly felt
like I couldn’t speak. He looked different. I wasn’t sure how to explain it.
Maybe ‘determined’ was a good word for it. I don’t know, but definitely different.

I
think everyone was waiting for me to say something, but honestly I couldn’t
speak. My momma stepped in once again. “Scott please join us for dinner. You
can sit by Ava.”

He
smiled at the invitation and thanked her. He sat next to me, and his eyes never
left me. “Ava,” he said simply.

“Hi.”
I uttered.

He
smiled his true happy smile that lit up his eyes. I hadn’t seen that in quite a
while. I admit I missed it, but I wasn’t going to let it weaken my resolve. I
was staying on my side of the playground. I had to remind myself men were icky,
and he was the ickiest of them all.

My
momma got him a plate and something to drink.

“So,
Scott, we hear you’re a marine biologist,” my Daddy said.

It
was so lame, but no one else had anything better to offer up.

“Yes,
sir, for the Shedd Aquarium. I oversee the oceanarium there.”

“How
interesting. What kind of animals do you have there?” my momma asked.

Scott
spoke like he always had about his job, passionately. I was surprised he hadn’t
started carrying pictures in wallet of his babies to show off. My parents were
attentive and asked follow up questions. I’ll admit I was a little disappointed
that they didn’t give him the third degree. I mean, after all, this man broke
my heart; where was the family loyalty? They wouldn’t even let Tucker get in a
few barbs.

After
several minutes of Scott talking about his job, my parents asked him about his
family and where he grew up, even though they already knew. I had talked about
him non-stop for months during our calls. When he spoke of his parents, he
turned to me. “My parents send their love.”

I
finally found utterance. I loved his parents. “How are they?”

“They’re
doing well, but they miss you.” He swallowed hard. “We all do.”

I
bit my lip, I didn’t know how to respond, but Scott just kept staring at me
sweetly. This was so awkward.

My
mom saved the day again. Or at least I thought. “So where are you staying and
how long will you be in town?”

He
looked at my mom. “You know, I’m not sure where I’m staying yet, I thought I
would figure that out when I got here. I was barely able to get a flight.” Then
he looked at me with conviction in his eyes. “And I plan on staying for as long
as it takes.”

I
wanted to ask, “As long as what takes?” But my mom shocked the heck out of me.

“All
the hotels are booked this time of year around here. We have plenty of room upstairs.
You can stay with us,” my momma offered.

Scott
immediately and happily accepted.

I
jumped up immediately. “Momma, can I please speak to you in the living room.”

I
didn’t even wait for her response before I starting walking toward the living
room

“Excuse
us, gentlemen,” I heard my momma say.  

This
is no time for manners
, I thought.

“Momma,
why would you invite him to stay here?” I said quietly as soon as we were out
of ear shot.

“Ava,
the man just traveled over a thousand miles to see you. You know he’ll never
find anywhere to stay around here.”

“Fine,
then he can stay at Tucker’s.”

“Ava,
you know that’s not a good idea.”

“Momma,
whose side are you on here?”

She
gave me a squeeze and kissed me on the cheek. “All yours, baby girl.” Then she
walked off without another word.

I
had no choice but to follow her back.

My
dad and Scott were chatting nicely while Tucker glared on. I went to take my
seat again, and Scott got up and held my seat out for me.

I
had no choice but to be polite under the watchful eye of my southern momma. “Thank
you,” I said.

After
a few more minutes of conversation, my momma smiled and looked toward the both
of us. “Scott, I’m sure you’re tired after your day of travel. Ava will show
you to the guest room.”

I
looked at her, and she gave me her, “don’t question me” look.

Scott
once again expressed his profound gratitude. Finally, my Daddy showed some
loyalty, or maybe just fatherly love. “Scott, you’re more than welcome here,
but just know, I’m a very light sleeper and I can see the guest house from our
bedroom window.”

Scott
looked my daddy directly in the eye. “I would never do anything to tarnish
Ava’s honor, sir.”

Oh,
my Daddy liked that. But it almost made me laugh. I almost wanted to say,
“Daddy we lived next door to each other unchaperoned for months.” But honestly,
I liked that my daddy still felt the need to protect me.

My
daddy offered to help Scott in with his luggage. I waited by the stairs for
their return. I still couldn’t believe he was here and staying at my house. I
was beyond flustered and, honestly, a tad ticked off. Hadn’t I asked him for
weeks if he would come home with me and he blew me off?

My
daddy and Scott came back in heavy laden. Apparently Scott was planning on
staying for a while.  In addition to his luggage, he also had a couple of bags
filled with wrapped Christmas gifts. My daddy took the Christmas bags and said
he would place the gifts under our tree and bring up the suitcase he was
carrying later. This was quickly turning very surreal for me.

I
looked at a smiling Scott. “Follow me,” I said with no enthusiasm whatsoever.

We
walked up the wooden staircase that had been carefully decorated with real pine
boughs and holly. When we made it to the landing, I pointed to the large loft
that was my Daddy’s man cave. “Feel free to watch T.V. or relax up here.” I
also showed him where my parents’ room was. Their master suite took up a large
portion of the southeastern part of the house. Then we walked down the hall to
the guest bedroom. I showed him in and then shut the door.

I
wasn’t sure if that scared or excited him, but I didn’t want my momma to hear
me be unkind. “Why are you here?”

He
set down his suitcases and moved toward me. I just shook my head no as if to
say, “Take one step closer and you may get hurt.” I don’t know if he was more hurt
or amused at my reaction, but whatever, he just needed to stay away.

“You
did invite me,” he responded.

I
tried to keep my voice down, but it was hard. “Yes, I did. And if I remember
right, you declined and told me you wanted to see other people.”

“I
never declined.”

“Semantics,
Scott!”

He
smiled, which really made me mad.

“And
what’s all this baloney about you staying for as long as it takes. What does
that even mean?”

“You
are so beautiful.”

“Ugh!”
I turned to walk out the door. He could figure out where everything else was on
his own.

He
gently grabbed my hand. “Please don’t go yet. Just hear me out. ”

I
turned and looked at him and then down at our entwined hands. I had very
conflicting emotions. I missed him with every fiber of my being, but I hated
him.

He
reached up and tucked my hair behind my ear like he did from time to time.
“Ava, I’ve missed you.”

I
let go of his hand and walked to the other side of the room near the window.
Being that close to him was making me want to cross the playground. He walked
toward me, but kept his distance. He stood next to me, near the window and
looked out. The room boasted a nice view of our pool. During the day he would
be able to see the ocean too, but it was a little too dark now. If we opened
the window, you could hear it though. I loved that sound.

Scott
pointed out the window. “Is that the guest house where you’re staying?”

“Yes.
And the pool is heated, so you can swim if you would like to.” I could at least
pretend to be a nice hostess.

I
also pointed to the gate that led to the beach and told him what the code was
if he ever he decided to go out there. He smiled and thanked me and admired the
beauty. It really was beautiful. The pool was surrounded by palm trees and
plants and strategically placed lights. There was also a hot tub that was
nicely steaming in the cool night air.

He
looked toward me again. “Ava.”

Reluctantly,
I turned toward him. We still stood a few feet apart.

“I
love you.”

I
was going to protest, but he moved closer and smiled and placed his fingers on
my lips. “I know you don’t believe that. But I’ll be staying until you do.”

I
gave him a look of incredulity. He had a lot of nerve. “Well, you better settle
in for a long winter’s nap then.” I stalked off and shut his door harder than I
should have. I walked downstairs muttering to myself. “How dare he come here
and tell me he loves me after everything he put me through.”

My
momma and daddy were at the kitchen table in deep discussion. They looked up at
me when I walked in, and I just glared at them. How could they let him stay
here? I was marching myself straight out the back door to my place, but my momma
called out after me.

“Ava
Mae!”

I
thought for a second about not responding. I felt like I was nine again.

“Ava
Mae,” she said again.

I
just stood facing the door. “Yes, Momma?”

“With
our new guest, we will need to do some more shopping tomorrow. I expect you to
come with me. Be ready by nine a.m. please.”

“Yes,
ma’am.”

I
think I heard my Daddy laugh.

Men!

I
opened the door and walked briskly to the guest house. When I opened the door
to my house, I felt like I was being watched. I turned up and sure enough,
there was Scott at his window. He waved to me, and I ignored him. This was
going to be an interesting Christmas.

I
knew my momma was going to make me buy Christmas gifts for him. Sure I get it,
it would be terribly rude and uncomfortable on Christmas morning if he didn’t
have anything to open, but seriously, he didn’t deserve it. Several weeks ago I
had such big plans. I had wanted to make this the best Christmas ever for him.
I was going to knock his socks off and show him how much I loved him and that I
was the best girlfriend ever. But come to find out, he didn’t even consider me
his girlfriend. As far as I was concerned now, he deserved coal.

I
sat on my couch and stewed. How did this ever become my life? I’m telling you,
men really are icky, but unfortunately they’re also kind of nice. Scott, just
had this way about him, at least when he wasn’t being a jerk that made me feel
like everything was going to be ok. But I was conflicted, because I wondered
what happened to Miss “I can’t change my own light bulb.” And what about Jenna?

In
the midst of my stewing, my phone rang. It was the only loyal family member I
had left.

“Hey,
Tucker.”

“Hey,
sis, so here’s the plan. Cory and I will sneak in and hog tie him and take him
out to old route…”

I
could barely speak through my laughter. “Tucker, I love you and I’m apt to let
you, but you know what momma would do to you if you came in here and hog tied
Scott? And I don’t even want to know what else you had planned to do to him.”

“Come
on, Ava, you didn’t let me do anything to Peter. How can I live up to being the
best big brother if I can’t hurt these idiots you keep bringing home?”

“Hey,
I didn’t bring this one home.” I paused for a moment. “Tucker, can I ask you
something?”

“Shoot.”

“Do
you think he loves me?”

He
didn’t say anything for a minute. “This doesn’t go any further than this
conversation, but when we were leaving Chicago, I almost stopped the jeep and
told you to get out and talk to the guy. I’ve never seen anyone look so torn
up.”

“Really?”