“Nothing, baby. Just grown-up mommy stuff.”
Holly pulls out of the parking lot, heading toward Rivers Edge. “What exactly did she say to you?” Holly asks in a low, calm voice. I recap our conversation in as much detail as I can and wipe my eyes and nose on a tissue she pulled from her console.
“What am I going to do, Holly?”
“Do you really think what she said is true, Avery?”
“He told me Vanessa was his ex-girlfriend, but that they didn’t really go out very long. She had a picture of them, Holly. A picture that was taken last night. Last night when he was supposed to be at Jack’s with Jake. She was obviously there with them. You should have seen the way she was hanging on him,” I mumble.
“I think before you jump off the deep end here, you need to talk to him. Ask him about it and make him explain. Even if what he tells you hurts and proves that he’s an ass, at least you hear it from him and not some spoiled, high-maintenance witch.”
I sit back in my seat, my mind still tryingto process all that has happened in the last thirty minutes. The drive back is fairly quiet. Holly and Brooklyn chat happily, but my mind won’t focus enough to allow me to get into their conversation.
When Holly pulls up at my house a half hour later, she unloads Brooklyn while I grab all our bags from the trunk. I unlock the front door and tell Brooklyn to go play for a bit before we leave to go to my parents’ for supper.
Holly draws me into a big hug, surrounding me in the comfort that only a best friend can provide. “It’s going to be okay. Call him.”
“He’s working until nine tonight. Besides, I don’t think I can talk to him tonight. I need time to process all this and think.”
“Well, don’t wait too long or overthink it. You need to find out what’s going on before you assume the worst.” She hugs me again before she heads out. “I love you, Ave.”
“I love you too, Holl.”
I watch my best friend leave and fight the urge to cry again. I can’t break down now. I have Brooklyn to care for and a dinner to get ready for. This thing with Maddox is going to have to wait until later.
*****
When we get to my parents’ house, I start to feel overwhelmed. Even though Jake and Nate are both working today, Will and Travis brought friends so everyone is talking and carrying on at once. I’m not feeling very sociable, so I head upstairs to my old room to try to get my bearings. As I sit on my childhood bed, listening to the muffled talk and laughter coming from downstairs, I can’t help but run back through my conversation with Vanessa, again, for the tenth time. Is it true? Am I the other woman again?
After everything that happened with Drake, I was so hesitant to try dating again. When I met Kevin, I thought I could handle it. Kevin was from St. Charles and drove to my dad’s job sites every morning for work. I stopped in to visit my dad and Travis one morning and saw him. It didn’t take long before he was hanging around after work and staying at a hotel here in Rivers Edge. I would drop Brooklyn off at Holly’s house a few nights a week and would meet him in his hotel room. One night, after about three weeks into our relationship, I was leaving to get Brooklyn to head home. When I opened his hotelroom door, a woman was standing there, tears streaming down her sad face. Turns out she was his girlfriend. She had started to suspect something was going on with him, so she had followed him that night. She watched me show up to his room and spend two hours there. This time, I was the other woman. Without even realizing it, I had been the one person I never wanted to be. I knew exactly what that girl was thinking of me, of this situation. I know what she was feeling because I went through the same thing two years before. That was the last time I went out with a guy…until Maddox.
The tears fill my eyes again at the memory. I hear a soft knock on the door but don’t say anything. Will slowly pushes the door open and steps inside. “Hey. You okay?” he asks with concern-filled eyes.
“I will be,” I reply. I don’t want to get into the Maddox drama. Not until I know more about what is going on, and definitely not with Will. The last thing I need is for him to go all “overprotective brother” on me.
He sits down next to me on my bed and throws his arm around my shoulder. I lean into his embrace and let out a deep sigh. “I take it this has something to do with Maddox?”
“How did you know?” I ask with a small sniffle.
“The only time I’ve ever seen you cry was over a guy. Do I need to kill him?”
Normally I would have laughed at his attempt to cheer me up with humor, but today, I just don’t have the laugh in me. “No.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
“Not yet. I still have things I need to sort out. I haven’t actually talked to him yet.”
“I’m confused. What does that mean?”
“Will, I promise when I’m ready to talk, I’ll call you. Right now, I just need to process and figure this all out. Is that okay?”
He looks at me long and hard before he answers. “Okay. Call me when you’re ready to talk, and I’ll be at your place in a flash.” He leans over and kisses the crown of my head. “Come on. Mom’s looking for you. Dinner’s about ready.” With that we head downstairs to join my family for dinner.
*****
That night after Brooklyn goes to sleep, I lie on my couch with the TV on for background noise. I can’t concentrate on what’s going on during the repeat episode ofFriends. It’s after nine o’clock. Will Maddox call me or come over? Does he have plans tonight with Vanessa? “No, don’t go there yet,” I chastise myself. “Wait until you hear what he has to say.”
At nine thirty, my phone dings signaling a text. I know who it is without even looking. I look down at the phone I’ve held on to with a death grip for the past hour and tap the screen to display the text message.
