My eyes traveled upward in thought. I let my gaze run along the seam between the ceiling and the wall. “I don’t know, Avery. I think I might be one-and-done with this TV thing.”
“What?” He leaned toward me. “You’re such a natural. And I thought you were having fun. The accolades in the press, the constant requests from patrons to meet the pastry chef, the party at TiffanTosh’s place and all the contacts that are sure to open up. You’re meant to do this, Char. Admit it.” He pulled my hand from my lap and folded it between his palms. I hadn’t realized I was cold until the warmth from his grasp cut through my chill. “You’re perfect for this job. No one else could do it like you.”
We sat in silence, hearing the empty building settle in twinges and moans as it bedded down for the night. Finally, I revealed my confession. “I do like being liked,” I admitted softly.
Avery’s tone was reflective. “Charlie, I’m pretty sure you have no idea how much you are liked by the people who surround you. You’re one of a kind, Char. It was true a decade ago, and it’s still true today.”
I laid my mop of hair and heavy head on his shoulder. “Thanks, Avery. You have no idea how much I needed to hear that tonight.”
The heat from the fireplace warmed my skin through my whites, and I felt myself being pulled into the escape of sleep. I closed my eyes, making myself a feeble promise to just let my eyelids rest a moment. I must have dozed because my eyes would not obey my brain when it told them to open up already. I felt Avery’s arm around me, then his hands turning me slowly to face him. When I succeeded in propping my eyelids open, Avery’s face was all I could see, and his lips were planted squarely on mine. He kissed me softly at first but quickly graduated to an urgency that shot me straight out of groggy and right into an adrenaline rush.
I pulled away. “Avery,” I said, wiping my mouth with my hand. “This is not happening.”
“Are you sure?” he said, still close, still staring at my mouth. “We have a lot of history here, Char. And we know we can be great together. This is a low-risk enterprise.” He smiled and leaned toward me again.
I put my hand on his chest and pushed him gently but firmly away. “We aren’t culinary students any more, Avery. This would never work now. We’re too different.”
Avery shook his head with a resoluteness mirrored by the set of his jaw. “We are more alike than you want to admit, Charlie Garrett. We could build something that Flower Boy can’t even dream of.”
“His name is Kai,” I said, suddenly chafing in the heat from the fireplace. I stood to find the switch to extinguish the flames.
Avery followed me. He grabbed my hands and turned me toward him. “I can give you what he can’t, Char. I understand you. He understands what he wants you to be, not who you really are.”
His words sliced through any remaining fog. I cleared my throat. “That might be true,” I said slowly. “But I think I’ll let him be the one to decide that.” I stood, patting my hair where Avery’s shoulder had done some damage. “We’d better call it a night.”
I walked toward the front door, not turning to respond to his words but feeling them sting just the same.
“My door is always open, Charlie. Just remember that, in case things don’t turn out like you’ve planned.”
21
ZARA opened the door with a flourish, somehow managing to twirl even as she pushed the screen door wide.
“Auntie Char! It’s my birthday! Do you like my dress? It’s new and it’s a color called fuchsia which is a weird word and it has sparkles and little hearts everywhere and it’s from my Nana Henrick.” Her words came out in snippets as she spun away and then toward me. I grabbed her around the waist and lifted her up. She giggled with the giggle reserved only for a birthday girl.
“I love your dress,” I said, smacking her cheek with a loud kiss. “You look especially beautiful today.” She squirmed in my embrace until I whispered into her ear. The sudden change in volume shocked her into stillness. “You’re going to want to open my gift now. And you might want to do it in a corner where your mom isn’t watching.”
Her eyes got big. She nodded in solemn understanding. “’K. I know right where to go.” She took the small wrapped package I offered and scurried up the stairs.
Just in time, too, because Manda the Enforcer came down the hallway with the intensity of a natural disaster.
“Oh, thank God you’re here early,” she said, gripping me by one hand and pulling me toward the kitchen. “Ten little princesses are about to descend, and I can’t find the candles. Jack isn’t back from getting the pizza, and Polly won’t stop trying to eat the balloons that Dane dropped all over the house. Choking hazard!” She swiped a saliva-coated green balloon from Polly’s mouth and swung her up to a hip in one motion. “Dane! Where are you?”