Page 39 of Shuttered Hearts

I glance at her quickly, a little concerned. Thanksgiving is a little over a week and a half away. I’ve never known Ava to take that much time off work. “What’s going on?”

Ava avoids looking at me and looks out her window before answering. “Nothing. Like I said, I have a bunch of saved-up time.”

“Ava, you can talk to me,” I tell her quietly, sensing there is more to her wanting to stay for so long.

I see her look over at me from the corner of my eye. “I know, but I’m not ready to talk about it.”

“Okay, but you’ll let me know when you are?” I don’t like the idea of Ava feeling as if she can’t talk to me about whatever is bothering her, but I’ll respect it and trust she’ll come to me when she’s ready.

“Yeah, I will.”

The door opensbefore Ava and I make it up the porch steps, and I’m honestly a little shocked it’s Caleb at the door. I would have thought Quinn would have been the first to greet us with how antsy she had been when I left last night.

“Thank goodness you’re here.” Caleb rushes to pull Ava into a tight hug. “Quinn is driving me crazy with her pacing. I don’t know what’s gotten into her. She’s normally so calm under pressure. Like, scarily calm,” he says, looking at me over Ava’s shoulder.

I have a feeling part of Quinn’s uneasiness is due to what she told me the night of Max’s birthday. I can imagine reliving those memories, bringing them to the forefront of her mind, is making her anxious. She thought finding her mother would give her answers to the questions she always had and feared those answers would show her she had no other outcome in life other than being the same as her mother.

We could all tell her until we’re blue in the faces that she is nothing like Nicole, but she has to believe that for herself, and until she does, the idea of her mother being in her life will always terrify her.

“Custody battles are always scary, even when the other person doesn’t have a leg to stand on. We’ll get this all figured out,” Ava tells him.

“Well, come on in, everyone’s inside.” Caleb turns and leads Ava and me into the house. “Ava and Declan are here,” he announces as we enter the kitchen.

“Ava! Did you bring me anything?” Max asks as he rushes over to my sister.

“Max! That’s so rude!” Quinn shouts, stopping her pacing to look at him, shocked.

Everyone else laughs, used to this interaction between Ava and Max.

“It’s fine,” Ava says. “This was such a spur-of-the-moment trip I didn’t have a chance to get anything good, but I did bring you this cool deck of cards I found at the airport in Boston. They’ve got fun facts about the city on each of them,” she says, reaching into the bag, pulling the cards out, and handing them to him.

“Awesome.” Max turns for the living room, mind now focused on the playing cards.

“Hey, Ava. Good to see you,” Emily says from the stove.

Scott moves to get up from his seat at the kitchen table, but Ava moves toward him first. “Sit back down. I’ll come to you.” She bends down to hug him. “How much longer are you in that cast? I can’t imagine you’re enjoying it much.”

“Just a few more weeks in this one before I can switch to a walking boot, but you’re right, I’m ready to be done with this thing. It’s wonderful to see you,” he says, reaching out to squeeze her hand. “Sorry for the circumstances.”

She smiles at him, squeezing his hand in return. “I’ll take any excuse to be here. I’m thinking about making this an extended trip. Maybe crash your Thanksgiving dinner.”

“You could never crash something in this house. We would love to have you and your brother with us.”

Ava smiles at him again before turning toward Quinn. “Hi, I’m Ava, Declan’s younger and much more outgoing sister.”

Quinn chuckles slightly, making her way over to Ava. “Nice to meet you, I’m Quinn.” Quinn puts her hand out for a handshake, but Ava quickly pushes it away, pulling her into a hug.

“Oh no, I feel like I’ve known you forever with how much this group talks about you. I’m hugging you.”

I can see the shock on Quinn’s face, and it takes her a minute to return the hug, but when she does, I see her relax into it—her eyes close as I see my sister whisper something else in her ear. They pull away, and Quinn nods slightly before they both turn back to the group.

“So, what’s for breakfast?” Ava asks. “And can I help with anything?”

twenty

DECLAN

“Dad,can I go over to Ethan’s house?” Max asks as we finish breakfast.

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