We just make it to the counter when Ava turns away from me, directly towards Sarah. ‘I’ll have a hot chocolate, please. I just need a tissue.’ She wanders off, literally rubbing shoulders with Sarah as she passes. My wife doesn’t bat an eyelid at the woman who nearly tore us apart. Or one of the women. I watch in dread as Sarah’s gaze follows her path to the nearby pile of napkins. She looks confused. John hasn’t told her about Ava’s accident? And then as Ava heads back, wiping her nose, her eyes fall straight onto Sarah. She frowns, eyeing Sarah as she stares. ‘That woman is staring at me,’ Ava says when she’s returned to me, moving in closely to my side. ‘Do I know her?’
‘No,’ I answer immediately, just as Sarah approaches. If looks could kill, Sarah would be dead on the spot. I just know my expression must be harbouring all kinds of threats, but she heeds none.
‘Jesse. Ava.’ She passes her eyes between us, and the atmosphere thickens in an instant. ‘Lovely to see you.’
Ava looks up at me in question. I shake my head, returning to the counter and pulling Ava with me. I throw my order at the server, beginning to shake with the strength it’s taking not to fly off the deep end. What the fuck is she playing at? Jesus, if Ava were herself, Sarah would probably be swimming in every coffee my wife could find and throw at her.
‘Who is she?’ Ava asks.
‘It’s not important,’ I all but snap, tossing a tenner on the counter and swiping up our drinks.
‘Then why are you all bristly and mad?’
‘I’m not.’ I place her hot chocolate in one hand and take her other, pulling her on, though she puts up a fight, trying to wrench herself from my grip. Damn her!
‘Jesse, let go of me.’
I do, but only because I don’t want to hurt her. Though my relinquished hold causes her to stumble back again, and in the process of saving her from tumbling to the floor, I send our drinks there instead. ‘Ava, damn it, be careful with yourself!’ I kick the cups aside and thank everything holy that she has leather trousers on, protecting her skin from the hot spray.
‘Who is she?’ Ava demands, standing firm, her eyes jumping from me to Sarah, completely ignoring the mess at our feet. ‘I don’t have a good feeling about her. Tell me.’
Jaw tight, I damn her to hell and back in my head. ‘We’re leaving,’ I grate, thrusting my hand to the door. ‘Now, Ava, or so help me God.’
She snorts and turns towards Sarah. ‘Who are you?’ she asks.
Sarah glances at me, absolutely perplexed, though once again she completely disregards my threatening look. ‘My name’s Sarah.’
Ava’s body language changes in a nanosecond. She’s now bristling as much as me. ‘Sarah?’ Her eyes cast to mine. ‘Your friend, Sarah? Your uncle’s girlfriend who’s in love with you?’ If I wasn’t in such a pickle right now, I’d appreciate the fact that my wife clearly isn’t happy about this. She looks fuming mad. ‘The woman who whipped you?’
Sarah, wary, steps back, so obviously confused by what’s transpiring.
‘Just go, Sarah. Now,’ I warn before it gets nasty, because God knows my wife is perfectly capable. Her spunk has only grown with her age. It’s had to, if only to handle me.
Shoulders falling in defeat, Sarah finally turns and leaves the coffee shop, and I brace myself for the wrath of my wife. ‘You said she wasn’t in our lives any more. Not even in the country.’
‘She wasn’t.’
‘So are you telling me I’ve lost my mind as well as my memory? That I imagined that?’ Her hand shoots towards the door that’s slowly closing behind Sarah’s back.
‘She showed up last week,’ I confess. ‘I didn’t get a chance to tell you.’
She laughs, and it’s full of sarcasm. ‘It wouldn’t matter if you did, would it? Because I wouldn’t fucking remember now, would I?’
‘Watch your damn mouth, Ava.’ For God’s sake, it’s getting pottier.
A member of the café staff appears with a bucket and mop, looking at us nervously. I step out of the puddle of coffee and claim Ava.
‘Get your hands off me,’ she spits, shrugging me off and hobbling on. I sigh and follow. Now would be a good time for a Reminder Fuck. Just to remind her of her place.
I keep a safe distance behind her, not too far in case she staggers or trips again, as I follow her back across the park where we left my bike. I can see with each step she’s getting slower, and her limp is more obvious. Though my stubborn little temptress won’t ask for help. Tough. She’s getting it. I pick up my pace and overtake her, dipping in invitation, rather than manhandling her into my hold in my usual fashion. She climbs straight onto my back, no question. ‘I’m only accepting because my leg is hurting,’ she mutters. ‘I’m still not talking to you.’
I roll my eyes to myself. ‘Fine.’
‘Why didn’t you bloody tell me?’ she yells in my ear, making me flinch and wince and close my eyes. ‘It’s bad enough that I can’t remember a thing, and now I have to worry about someone trying to steal my husband?’
‘No one is going to steal your husband,’ I say. Stupid woman. ‘Sarah means nothing to me. Never has.’
‘You clearly mean something to her. What does she want? Why is she here?’
‘Ava,’ I sigh, thoroughly done with this conversation. But through my thick skin, I get that she’s feeling vulnerable. It’s my job to reassure her. ‘Unravel your knickers.’
She completely ignores me, ranting on. ‘And are there any more witches ready to try and get their claws into you?’
‘Ava, will you leave it?’ I’m not growling, but I’m pretty damn close. Keep your cool, Jesse. Keep your cool.
‘No. How am I supposed to know who to fight off if I can’t remember any of them? You need to tell me.’
Of all the things I want to remind her about, that isn’t one. Besides, it would take too fucking long. I haven’t the energy. ‘I said, drop it.’
‘And I said no. What am I sup—’
I stop, lower her, and pull her around my body so we’re front to front, grabbing her cheeks. I catch her gasp of shock in my mouth when I kiss her hard, shutting her the hell up. I’m distracting her. Resorting to desperate tactics. It’s something I won’t apologise for. Besides, it seems she rather likes kissing me. Thank God. I lift her from her feet and continue walking, never dropping her lips. All the way back to my bike. ‘It was a lovely afternoon. Don’t let anything spoil it.’ We have far more important things to deal with than Sarah or any ex. ‘Please.’
Her face twists, her energy obviously wiped from the exertion of stressing, and her forehead falls to my chest. I cup the back of her head and massage into her hair, avoiding the site of her cut. ‘I’m tired,’ she moans.
And I feel guilty. I’ve pushed her too much. I take her helmet and gently push it onto her head, wondering if it would be unreasonable for me to demand she and the kids wear helmets while driving in the future. After the accident, nothing I demand to ensure their safety should be unreasonable, and she’d better accept that. ‘Come on. You need to eat.’
I snap her visor down and plant a kiss on it before helping her onto the bike.
Chapter 21
I take her to a small bistro not far from our health club. She’s obsessed with the eggs Benedict here, has been for years. So that’s what I ordered her. But she’s hardly touched a damn thing, picking and poking at the food on her plate. ‘Eat,’ I demand.
‘I’m really not hungry.’ She drops her fork and pushes her full plate away before falling back on the chair.
My lips twist in displeasure. I’ll force-feed her if I have to. I don’t care where we are. ‘Here.’ I grab her fork and load it with some egg, holding it across the table to her. ‘Eat.’
Eyes sulky, her jaw tight, she moves back some more. ‘I’m not hungry.’
‘And I’m not in the mood for your defiance.’ My head cocks in warning. ‘Eat.’
‘No.’
‘God damn it, Ava, you need to keep up your energy.’ I make a racket scraping my chair across the floor with me still sitting in it, so I’m beside her, closer, ready to pry her tight lips open to get this food inside her.
‘Why? To deal with your unreasonable arse?’
I’d laugh if I wasn’t so fucking livid. ‘Don’t make me ask you again.’ I can feel myself starting to twitch in my seat. Today started so well, and now she’s ruining it with something so silly as refusing to eat. Why can’t she just fucking behave?