“Good. My ankle in my cast itches a little but other than that I’m good.”
Blake lowered down in the seat across from Ava and set her crutches to one side. It was obvious that the teen had something on her mind, so Ava just waited quietly until she felt ready to talk.
“Thanks again for doing the dance thing.” Blake pulled her phone out of her pocket and held it up. “I got it back.”
“Good.” Ava couldn’t help but feel a little bit of guilt for what had happened after the dance-a-thon. She and Asher were both adults and Blake wasn’t exactly her “patient.” She was available to her in this camp setting, but that wasn’t exactly the same thing.
Still, it wasn’t sitting right with Ava from an ethical standpoint. Especially since Blake didn’t know about the history Ava shared with her dad. Not that it seemed to matter considering his silence over the past few days was saying loud and clear he had no intention of anything else happening.
“Um, so…my mom’s here,” Blake blurted out.
“She is?” And just like that the mystery woman was no longer a mystery.
It also might explain why she hadn’t heard from Asher. He was busy. With his ex-wife and the mother of his child.
“Yes, and James is not with her. I think she might know about him and Lisa but I don’t know for sure. And I don’t know if I should tell her or not. I mean, her and my dad have been getting along really well. And I think they might get back together. He’s always been in love with her. I mean, the only reason they broke up was because he almost died when he jumped in front of a bullet for some lady he didn’t even know.”
Ava nodded, doing her best to keep her expression blank even though inside she was strapped into an emotional roller coaster going a hundred miles an hour and all she wanted to do was scream and close her eyes.
Guilt washed over her for concealing who she was from Blake. It felt dishonest even though she hadn’t felt it was her place to go against Asher’s wishes. Besides the guilt she felt sadness, anger, hurt, disappointment and a lot more that she probably had no business feeling about a man who had made zero promises to her.
Asher obviously had unresolved issues with his ex. And even if that wasn’t the case, there was no way they could start a real relationship when he insisted that they keep who she was a secret from Blake. The entire situation was way too complicated to continue. Ava knew that logically. Unfortunately, her heart and her hormones didn’t care much about logic. They were only interested in what they wanted. And both of them wanted Asher Ford.
“Do you think I should tell my mom about what I saw?” Blake asked, her raw vulnerability shining through her big brown puppy dog eyes.
Ava knew she needed to put all of her personal feelings aside and be there for Blake. So that’s exactly what she did.
“I can’t tell you the answer to that. But what I can tell you is that in this situation, there is no should. The only should in this mess is that you were put in an impossible position that you should never have been put in. So, no matter what you do or don’t do, or what the fallout is from your decision, none of this is your fault.
“I will say that secrets can hurt you, and this one clearly has. This is not your burden to bear. If you can’t tell your mom, I do think you should consider telling your dad so that you’re not carrying the weight of this around anymore. He can handle it.”
Now that Ava knew Asher better, she was confident in making that statement, even if it meant that she’d just pushed the man of her dreams into his ex’s arms by advising his daughter to give him information that would possibly blow up her marriage, but that was the right thing to do.
“But again, it’s totally your decision. And there is no right or wrong answer.”
Blake nodded her head, and Ava could see that the girl was taking her words to heart. “Okay, thanks Dr. A.”
When Blake stood, she lifted her crutches and as she got situated Ava walked to the door and held it open for her. On her way out, Blake paused in the doorway, turned and then wrapped one arm around Ava’s neck.
Ava hugged her back and felt a very displaced maternal instinct for the girl. She wasn’t sure if it was because of how Ava felt about Asher. Or if it was because she’d had a soft spot for her ever since the first day she sat in the chair and Ava recognized her intelligence. Or if it was because when Blake had gotten injured, she’d asked Ava to go the urgent care with her. Well, Ava and Noah but still. Whatever it was, Ava knew in that moment she’d do anything to protect the girl in her arms.
“Thank you,” Blake said again before quickly releasing her arm, turning and heading toward the main hall.
As Ava watched her go, the guilt she’d been feeling earlier reared its ugly head once again and it wasn’t alone. It had invited the green-eyed monster to join the party.
Ava knew that she had no right to be jealous of Blake’s mom or the fact that she had such an incredible daughter with such an incredible man, but knowing something didn’t make it magically become reality.
The truth was, she was jealous. She wished that she had a family unit. And not just any family unit, she wanted to be a part of Blake and Asher’s family.
But that was clearly never going to happen, and since she had no plans on turning this into a Glenn Close Fatal Attraction situation, she knew she needed to cut off her feelings for Asher completely. Not just cut them off, she needed to cauterize the suckers, so that way they never had a chance of growing again.
And she would. Tomorrow.
Tonight, she planned on giving herself permission to indulge in trash TV, feel sorry for herself, drink wine and eat all the junk food she wanted and then tomorrow she’d face the fact that whatever she’d had with Asher was not real. It was an enigma. An anomaly. It was a shooting star that shined brightly for a brief time but then burned out.
After grabbing her bag, she walked back to the cabin and had just pulled on her sweats and put her hair up in a ponytail when there was a knock on the door. Her heart instantly lodged in her throat as it pounded wildly.
Was Asher on the other side of the door?
