Page 5 of Unexpected Love

“I think it’s actually meeting and seeing her with her family. Hearing her talk about her students, even the ones that piss her off.” He pauses for a moment. Whatever he’s thinking has the goofiest smile forming. “She really cares. Like in her soul, she cares about all of them.” He glances at me, and the smile falls, his eyes taking on a serious look. “After everything she’s been through, and not just with her mom, but everything in her life, the fact she still cares so deeply blows me away.”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen my brother look this way when talking about anyone—even Melissa. He’s a man who is falling madly in love with a woman, and I couldn’t be happier for him.

“I knew she was a great woman based on how Scott and Caleb talked about her, but you’ve made me a little jealous. I’d love to have someone talk about me the way you just did Quinn.” I reach out and squeeze his hand. “I can’t wait to meet her.” I turn forward in my seat and buckle myself in. “As for kissing her in front of the whole town, if it’s meant to be it’ll all work itself out. I have no doubt you’ll fight to make sure that happens if that’s what you want.”

My brother has always been a man to go after everything he wants. Take his art, for example. Even when my parents told himno, he still did it. He may have caved to many of their demands, but he still made his art a priority.

Declan will respect whatever Quinn wants, but he’ll only accept defeat when he truly believes it’s what she wants. Declan is one of the best men I know. I have no doubt he’ll make it very hard for her to say no.

He studies me for a minute before finally buckling his seatbelt. “Thanks, Ava.”

“Of course. Are we going straight to Scott’s now, or are you taking me to the inn to get settled?”

“In what world am I letting you stay at the inn? You’re staying with me. If you’re good with it, we’ll head straight to Scott’s. It’s Sunday, so everyone will be there for breakfast.”

“Yeah, you know I don’t need much sleep to function. As long as they have coffee I’ll be good to go.”

Declan is quiet for a moment, his gaze focused on the road in front of him before he finally responds, his voice quiet. “I’m really glad you’re here. I’m not happy about the reason, but I love when you visit, and it’s been a while. I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too.” I reach over and squeeze his forearm, resting on the center console. “I wasn’t kidding about all the time off I have saved up. I could stay through Thanksgiving. We could celebrate with the Marks instead of going home.” I shouldn’t continue with this lie, but thinking about going home and trying to act like nothing’s going on with my parents makes me exhausted. I just can’t do it—not yet.

He glances at me, concern evident in his eyes. “What’s going on?”

I look out the passenger window, avoiding his line of sight. I’ve never been a good liar, not when it comes to him. “Nothing. Like I said, I have a bunch of saved up time.”

“Ava, you can talk to me.”

I hate the worry I’m causing him, but I’m just not ready to get into all of it again. I know he'll believe me and support me however he can, but I don't want to see pity in his eyes when he learns the truth about my situation. “I know, but I’m not ready to talk about it.”

“Okay, but you’ll let me know when you are?”

“Yeah, I will.”

“Thank goodness you’re here.”Caleb rushes to pull me into a hug the second he opens the door. “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.”

I pull back but keep my hands on his shoulders, squeezing slightly. “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.”

“Well, come on in, everyone’s inside.” Caleb turns and leads Declan 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 me.

“Max! That’s so rude!” A woman, I assume Quinn, stops pacing and looks at her brother in shock.

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

“It’s fine.” I chuckle, looking at Quinn before turning back to Max. “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 factsabout the city on each of them.” I reach into my bag, pull the cards out, and hand them to him.

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

“Hey, Ava. Good to see you,” Emily, Caleb’s wife, says from the stove.

I give her a wave before catching Scott trying to stand from his seat at the kitchen table. A few weeks ago, Scott fell while coming down the stairs and broke his leg, requiring surgery to fix it. He’s been in a cast since and shouldn’t be moving around more than necessary.

“Sit back down. I’ll come to you.” I make my way over to him, bending 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,” he says, reaching out to squeeze my hand. “It’s wonderful to see you.” A look of gratitude crosses his features. “Sorry for the circumstances.”

I offer a small smile and squeeze 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.”

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