Page 62 of Unexpected Love

I couldn’t have picked a better place to start again.

I’ve been working with Abbey in the mornings when the shop is busiest. Though, I’ve noticed the shop is busiest in the mornings because people come in for the treats Abbey makes, not because of the books.

“You know you could open a bakery with these, right?” I ask, waving a croissant around with one hand and covering my mouth—half full of the bite I’m chewing—with the other.

Abbey laughs, but doesn’t say anything.

“I’m serious. You need help in the mornings because of the crowd you’re bringing in with the mini bakery you’ve already created. You would kill at selling these things for real.”

“I’ve thought about it, but there aren’t any buildings available here on Main Street, and I don’t know if it would do well somewhere else.” She shrugs as she wipes down the counter from the morning rush.

I don’t know Abbey well, but something in that statement doesn’t ring true. “The people of this town would come to you no matter where you’re selling, believe me.”

We’re interrupted by the sound of my phone ringing. “Crap. I’m sorry! I thought I silenced that.” I reach into my back pocket, pulling my phone out and muting the call.

“It’s fine. Take it.” Abbey waves me off.

I look down to see who it is first and see it’s Nicole’s lawyer. I don’t waste time and answer immediately. “This is Ava Day.”

“Ms. Day, I’ve got some news I’m sure your client will be quite pleased with.”

“I knowI should wait for everyone else to get here, but I don’t want to,” I tell Scott when he opens the door for me a couple of hours later.

After the phone call with Nicole’s lawyer, I shot Scott a text asking if he’s free this afternoon. Once I had confirmation he was, I texted Caleb and Emily to tell them to meet me here around four, when I knew Declan and Quinn would be dropping Max off from school.

It’s quarter to four now, but I can’t wait to share the news with Scott. I don’t hold the smile back as he closes the door. “Nicole dropped the suit. Max is yours. Technically, she can refile, but a judge will never give it the time of day—not after this.” I feel the tears in my eyes before I finish speaking, and I see them reflected back at me in Scott’s.

“It’s over? Just like that?” His voice wavers, clearly overcome with emotion.

I give him a watery smile. “Yeah, just like that. It’s over.”

Scott stumbles slightly, catching himself on the wall next to him, and the tears slip free. “I don’t think I realized how scared I was about losing him until this moment.” He turns so his back is to the wall, his head falling back. As his shoulders shake, he lifts his hands, covering his face.

I know it’s mostly relief coursing through him, but there’s grief there, too. I know because that’s exactly what I’m feeling. Scott might not have to worry about losing Max to Nicole anymore, but he will lose all of us. He’s going to miss out on so many moments we all just assumed we’d have together, and it sucks.

I move to Scott’s side, wrapping my arms around his waist in a tight hug, and I let my own tears fall. The only saving grace is that we don’t have to spend the precious time we have left fighting to stay together. Now, we can just focus on us.

It takes him a second, but Scott’s hands fall from his face, and his arms wrap around me, hugging me as tight as I’m hugging him. Scott might not be my father, and I might have only known him for the past five years, but he has loved me and treated me more like a daughter these last five years than my own father has in my entire life.

“I want more time,” I whisper against him.

“Me too, Shortcake. Me too.”

Guess who’s getting their own place as of this weekend?

Gage

That was fast.

Where?

The guest house behind Scott’s place. Quinn and my brother are moving in with each other.

I’min the middle of typing more when my phone rings—Gage’s name on the display.

“Impatient much?” I laugh as I answer, curling up on the porch swing at Declan’s with a large fuzzy blanket to keep me warm.

It might be winter, but it’s still early winter, so while the temperatures are definitely dropping, they aren’t unbearable. Of course, this is Maryland we’re talking about, and I’ve learned over the last five years that in Maryland, it could be the dead of winter, and you might end up with a day that hits the mid-sixties. They don’t say Maryland has twelve seasons for nothing.

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