Ever After (The Christmas Cottage - Book 2) Read online

  “I’m the kind of friend who speaks the truth. I’m not saying anything to you that I haven’t already said to him. It may not be kind, it may not be pretty, but at least it’s the truth!”

  “You’re horrible!” she cried, contempt lacing her words. “I can’t understand what you hope to accomplish by doing this. Is it so important to be right that you would destroy peoples’ happiness? Is your ego that big?”

  “Baby, this has nothing to do with ego. I hate seeing people mess up their lives and that is exactly what the two of you are doing. You both deserve to be happy; it’s just not going to happen if you stay together. Mason deserves a wife who has the same goals and ambitions he does and you deserve someone who loves you.”

  “Someone like you?” she asked snarkily

  “No, not like me, just me,” he said confidently.

  “You’re insane, Brian. I can’t possibly love you; not after this. You ruined my wedding! This was my dream! My fairytale and you ruined it! Do you have any idea how long and hard I’ve worked on this? The amount of time, money and effort that went in to this wedding? And because of your own selfish desire you swooped in and ruined it!”

  “Seems to me you’re more concerned about the damn wedding than you are about the marriage. Care to comment on that?”

  “I don’t care to comment on anything else to you. I want you to leave. I want you to just go and stay away from us!”

  He heard her words but there wasn’t as much conviction behind them as she thought. Walking up to her, he smiled sadly. “So you’re going to marry him? You’re going to go through with this wedding?”

  Tears welled up in her beautiful blue eyes and Brian cursed himself for putting them there. As one lone tear escaped he reached out and wiped it away with the pad of his thumb; lingering for just a moment to caress her cheek. Ava didn’t pull away and he took that as a good sign. Not caring about the consequences, he leaned in and kissed her one last time. Her resistance didn’t last long and Brian knew she wasn’t as certain as she had been an hour ago about marrying Mason.

  Reluctantly, he raised his head, wiped away one last tear, and walked out the door just as she’d requested.

  It wasn’t until a week later that he’d found out that the wedding had been called off. He’d been at a New Year’s Eve party when he’d seen Mason walk in alone. Brian had frantically looked around for Ava, but it was soon blazingly obvious that she wasn’t there. That fact was confirmed when Mason approached him, beer in hand, and greeted him with, “Any eligible ladies here tonight?” And just like that, it was as if the previous months had never happened.

  That again only stood to confirm his belief that Mason and Ava had been wrong for one another. Now he had to figure out how to convince her how right they could be.

  ****

  Saturday morning dawned bright and beautiful and Brian was a man with a plan. Ava was graduating today; he’d heard her and Lacey confirm that. He was going to show up at her graduation, present her with a beautiful bouquet of flowers in front of family and friends and get himself invited to any celebratory gathering they were having. It was the perfect plan and he was confident that nothing could go wrong.

  Except it did.

  The campus seemed unusually deserted considering there was a graduation today. After driving around in circles for what seemed like hours, he located a campus police officer and stopped to question him. “Excuse me, but where is the graduation ceremony being held?” he asked.

  The officer looked at him with confusion written on his face. “There’s no ceremony today. The university holds graduation ceremonies in May and December. Students graduate in August but there’s no official ceremony.” He looked at Brian with compassion. “Sorry.”

  Brian thanked him and drove off, furious with himself for not being better informed. Ava and her family could be anywhere! Where was he supposed to begin to look? Slamming a fist on the steering wheel, Brian cursed going from a man with a plan to a man with nothing. Driving around the campus wasn’t going to get him anywhere so he drove to the first place he could think of in hopes of garnering information – the campus bookstore.

  It was a relatively quick drive and he found himself practically racing from the car in search of someone who could help him. Walking inside he looked around in search of…well, he wasn’t sure but in order to not draw too much attention to himself, he had to force himself to slow down. Browsing up and down a couple of aisles to blend in had him mentally kicking himself for the time he was wasting. Finally, confident that enough time had gone by so that he looked like an actual customer, he walked up to the information desk and smiled at the petite brunette who was working there.

  “Hi,” she said cheerily. “Is there something I can help you with?”

  “Gosh I hope so,” he replied easily. “I was wondering if Ava was in today.”

  “Sorry, Ava’s off today. Were you looking for something in particular? Are we holding a book for you?”

  “No, no, nothing like that. I was interested in some books on library sciences and Ava had told me that she had majored in that and so I was curious to pick her brain a little more. I’ve known her for years and just recently reconnected with her here at school.”

  “Oh, that’s great,” the brunette replied. “Ava’s awesome. Her family took her out today to celebrate her graduation. She was super excited about it.”

  Suddenly Brian got an idea. “That was this weekend? I had completely forgotten. Did they take her to that Italian place she loves so much? What’s the name of it, Bella…?”

  “Casa Bella’s, that’s it! Ava really does love that place. In my opinion there are much better Italian restaurants but she refuses to try any others!” She smiled and then added, “Do you want me to tell her that you stopped by?”

  “That won’t be necessary; I’ll stop by again during the week. You have a great weekend,” he said with his biggest smile and waved and he exited the building feeling rather smug at his elementary level detective work.

  A look at his watch told him that it was a little too early for lunch at an Italian restaurant. He’d come to the campus early because it seemed logical that the ceremony would be in the morning. Now he had a little time to kill so Brian decided to hit Starbucks and then camp out near Casa Bella’s and wait.

  There was a spring in his step as he climbed from the car at Starbucks and when he stepped inside and removed his sunglasses his smile broadened. There, in line, was Ava. She looked crisp and cool and beautiful. Her blonde hair was playfully curled and loose, her floral dress hugged her to perfection with tiny little straps and a row of dainty pearl buttons down the back. She hadn’t noticed him yet and Brian was careful to not let his presence be known until he was right behind her.

  “Can I buy the graduate a latte?” he asked quietly, bending so that he said it almost directly in her ear.

  Ava jumped and turned to see Brian smiling down at her. “Brian?” she said, her hand on her chest as if to still her beating heart. She looked around to see who else was around that might have noticed her scare. “What are you doing here?”

  “Same as you, I’d imagine. Getting some coffee.” He simply smiled and looked at her. “You look beautiful today, Ava. What time is the ceremony?” He played dumb, waiting to see if she’d be honest with him.

  “Oh, um, there is no real ceremony. I’m meeting my family in a little while to get some pictures with me in my cap and gown and then we’re going to lunch.”

  “If there’s no ceremony, why the cap and gown?”

  “I have the option of participating in the December ceremony so I ordered them. I’m not sure where I’ll be in December so they wanted some pictures of me in it just in case I’m not here to be a part of it.”

  “Makes sense,” he said, nudging her forward to place her order. “It would be a shame to not take part in the ceremony after working so hard toward the degree, though, wouldn’t it?”

  “Not really. I accomplished what I wa
nted to and it’s just a ceremony. I still have my diploma and that’s really all that I need.” She waited while he placed his order and once they both had their drinks, Brian led them to a corner table. Once they were seated Ava took a sip and then looked at Brian expectantly. “So what are you up to today?”

  It was a simple question, Brian knew, but he wasn’t sure how honest he should be with his answer. He stalled by taking a sip of his own beverage before answering. “Well, if you must know, I was hoping to see a graduation ceremony.”

  “Seriously?”

  He nodded. “Oh, absolutely. I’ve never had the opportunity to be an observer at a college graduation; only ever been to my own and I was curious to see what it was like from a spectator point of view.” He kept his tone playful and light and he could see Ava’s mouth twitching with the need to smile.

  “Well, sorry to disappoint you but there’s no spectator seating or ceremony today. Just a couple of pictures in the park with the Callahan’s. Nothing exciting.”

  “That depends on your definition of exciting.” Ava arched an eyebrow at his words but Brian continued. “You see, for a guy with no family in the area, observing another family, particularly one that is celebrating such a momentous occasion would be very exciting.”

  Ava leveled him with a glare. “So basically you’re telling me that you want to come and watch me get my picture taken with my family. Do I have that right?”

  “When you put it like that it sounds ridiculous,” he teased. “Look at it this way, it could be very beneficial to have me be there.”

  “Oh really?” she said, humor and disbelief mingled in her tone. “And why is that?”

  “For starters, who is going to take the group shot?”

  Ava merely stared. “I think dad has a tripod and a timer on his camera.”

  Brian waved that idea off. “Sure that can work but then someone is always having to run and set up the shot and then has to hope that they don’t look like they’ve just jumped into the picture. Wouldn’t it be easier to have an impartial third party there to help take the pictures so that everyone can relax?”

  “Are you into photography or something?”

  “Not particularly.”

  “So then this all just falls in the ‘for fun’ category?”

  Brian nodded, his grin widening when he realized that she was actually considering inviting him along. Luckily that meant that he wasn’t going to have to look like a stalker later on waiting for her outside the restaurant! “So what do you say, Ava? Wouldn’t it be nice to let everyone relax and have fun on your big day?”

  Indecision was still written on her face but Brian knew she’d cave. “I don’t think it’s a good idea, Brian,” she began.

  “You seem to have that opinion a lot,” he retorted. “What have you got to lose?”

  “Oh, all right. But just the park and then you go away. No more chance meetings, no more inviting yourself to family outings, are we clear?”

  “Perfectly,” he said sweetly and hated the bald face lie. “We’ll get some great pictures and then I’ll be on my way.” He looked at his watch and stood. “Why don’t we head over now and scope out some good locations?”

  If there was one thing Ava loved, it was being prepared and having a plan. Arriving at the park early had already been part of her plan, but the fact that Brian was on the same page and wanted them to be ready and have a location selected before anyone arrived made her smile.

  Brian knew the instant Ava realized that he was a planner just like she was and her smile pleased him. Common interests, common ground; the sooner she began to see how much they truly did have in common, the sooner he could see her agreeing to go out with him.

  ****

  “It’s going to clash with my dress.”

  “It’s going to look beautiful.”

  “I am going to blend into the background!”

  “You could never just blend, Ava. You’re too beautiful; you’ll stand out no matter where we take the picture.”

  His kind words took a little of the heat out of their current disagreement. So far they’d looked at a half dozen locations in the park for the family picture and Ava had a problem with each of them. One spot was too green, another too ‘woodsy’, the third had too many people milling about. Ava didn’t mean to be so disagreeable but she wanted the pictures to be perfect and stated that point again to Brian.

  “Sometimes things can’t be perfect, Ava. Sometimes the best things in life are a little less than perfect and it still makes them wonderful.”

  She had to wonder if they were still talking about the location for the picture. Brian was staring at her so intently that she had a hard time looking away. He drew her in like a magnet and she was just about to take a step toward him when she heard her name being called from somewhere behind her.

  “Ava!” She turned and saw her parents heading her way with Lacey and Ean not far behind. “We thought you’d be waiting by the car,” her mother said, stopping to fuss with Ava’s hair. “You could have called and mentioned that you were walking around. Poor Lacey shouldn’t have to be out walking around aimlessly in this heat.”

  Lacey gave her an apologetic look and then stepped in between mother and daughter to hug her friend. “No worries; the doctor said that a little exercise is good for me!” She kept her tone overly cheery in hopes of defusing any arguments. It was bad enough that Ean was overprotective, it was worse when her in-laws chimed in.

  Ean stepped in and hugged Ava right before her father did. “So, where are we thinking for these pictures?” her dad inquired.

  “Ava and I were just discussing that,” Brian said, suddenly taken aback when all eyes turned to him as if just now realizing that he was part of their group.

  Lacey looked at Ava quizzically before greeting Brian and then introducing him to everyone. “Ava didn’t mention that you’d be with her today,” she said casually, fishing for a little info since Ava had clearly left her out of the loop on what was going on.

  “It just sort of happened,” Brian responded as he glanced at Ava and winked. “We ran into one another at Starbucks and when she told me what you had planned, I offered my assistance.”

  “Well isn’t that sweet?” Linda Callahan gushed. “Honestly, Ava, don’t you think that was sweet of him?”

  It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see the wheels turning in her mother’s head. There was going to be no getting rid of Brian today. By the time pictures were done, he was going to be invited to lunch and then to stay forever. Why hadn’t she seen this coming?

  “So where are we thinking?” Lacey asked, turning to take in the landscape. “That area over there is beautiful with all of the flowers.”

  “Ava believes that it will be too much with her dress,” Brian said, his tone playfully disproving. “However, I think if she puts on her cap and gown, we can get some great shots over there and then move someplace else for some poses without the graduation finery. What do you say?”

  It was hard to argue when the man made such a convincing argument. Dang it! “I just have to go and get my stuff from the car,” Ava said and turned to go. Brian’s hand on her arm stopped her.

  “Give me your keys,” he said simply. “You’re in high heals and it’s very warm out. Let me run to the car and you find a shady spot with your family to wait and I’ll be right back.”

  She hated that he was saying all of the right things and making such a good impression. At this rate her parents will start planning the wedding and asking when they’ll be grandparents again. Dang it, dang it, dang it!

  “That’s very nice of you to offer, Brian, but I really don’t mind.”

  “Oh, nonsense, Ava,” her mother chimed in. “I’m sure Brian will be back in a jiffy and in the mean time we can discuss poses and stay cool. It really is oppressive out here today.” Ava was no fool; her mother wanted Brian out of earshot so that she could grill Ava on him. There was no way around it without getting into an argument so she
quietly handed Brian the keys and sent him on his way.

  “So, the flowers? Everyone okay with the possibility of bee stings?” Ava asked, hoping her sarcasm wasn’t too obvious.

  “Knock it off, brat,” Ean said. “What’s the deal with this guy? Isn’t he Mason’s best friend?”

  “He is,” Ava nodded in agreement.

  “So why is he with you? What’s up with that?”

  It was the implication that bothered her and had her snapping and getting defensive. “What’s up with that? Well, let’s see; he’s a nice guy who happened to want to help out some unappreciative people, apparently.”

  “That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Ean snapped back. “I’m just wondering why he would even want to help out. You broke up with his best friend; does this guy know anything about loyalty?”

  “Please, Ean, stop being such a chick,” Ava sighed. “First of all, it’s not like I broke Mason’s heart; our break up was mutual. Secondly, Mason’s engaged and getting married so clearly he’s doing okay and finally, I never did anything to Brian. He’s just a good guy who wanted to help us out. Do you have a problem with that?”

  Four pairs of eyes stared at her in disbelief and then everyone started talking at once.

  “Mason’s getting married?”

  “Did you know?”

  “Do you think he was cheating on you with her?”

  “Are you okay?”

  “How did you find out?”

  “I never trusted that guy…”

  On and on it went and the funny thing was, for all of their questions, none of them seemed to wait for an answer before asking another question! She listened half-heartedly to the conversation and was relieved to see Brian heading her way. A smile tugged at her lips as she took in his appearance. He was dressed semi-casually in dress pants and a polo shirt, his sandy brown hair in disarray from the heat and running back and forth to the car. His brown eyes twinkled when he caught her smiling at him and when he winked at her and broke into a smile of his own, his dimples made an appearance.

  All in all, he was quite a fine example of the male species and for the first time in a long time, Ava found herself appreciating the male form.