Page 51 of The Wedding Crush

What does she mean? Let’s introduce ourselves as if for the first time? Or pretend my brother and her best friend aren’t engaged, and I’ll ask her out on a date?

“What did you have in mind?” I ask.

Avery lowers her chin to her chest, giggling. When she meets my stare again, she brightens, and I can’t discount the hope fluttering in my chest like an army of caged butterflies.

“God,Morgan and Dante will never let me live this down but…” She winces. “I was thinking maybe they’re right and we should clear the slate. You know, get to know each other on our own terms, or whatever?”

She inhales sharply.

It’s that last word that I cling to, though, as she goes on about how much we’ve got in common.

Whatever.

Avery didn’t say date or be friends or even let’s simply be cordial to each other. She wants us to build something new. Thatwhateveris more than enough for me. We get to decide.

“At the end of the day, I hate that I misjudged you.” She shakes her head, like she’s physically dislodging the thought. “I’ve been thinking a lot about our icebreaker, and how I sorta dropped that bomb on you about my marriage. Then you meet Ace at the vineyard, and he tells you he doesn’t have a father, which isn’t exactly true.”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to explain,” I say, even though I’m holding my breath and hoping she will.

She nods to herself as she pulls in a long breath.

“I want to, though.” Avery reassures me. Then, like there’s no screen between us, she fixes me with a stare so intense, so confusingly familiar. In the space of a breath, she rewrites every page I thought I knew about her as she softly adds, “I’m a widow.”

My heart bottoms out.

I was prepared for Avery to tell me about a messy marriage. About the complications that go with severing ties and years of promises and vows. In my mind, I’d already filled in blanks about financial woes and an ugly custody battle because how could I look at this woman, Pollyanna with her ever-present smile as she solves the world’s problems, and imagine she’s been masking an unthinkable hurt?

Of all the things she could’ve said, I never in a million years would’ve expected she’d lost her ex.

The parties, the overcompensating cheeriness, she doesn’t want to bring others down. She’s sunshine because she must be to block out the darkness.

“Avery, I’m so sorry.”

She waves me off, but I know loss. After Dad and Nono, I struggled to find my footing. Grief and devastation touched every aspect of my life, including my marriage. And while death and divorce are nowhere near the same—I might still bump into Carina; I know she’s still around, living her life, but Avery will never see her husband again—that sort of pain, bereavement, it’s real and unrelenting.

“It’s been three years since I lost Justin.” Her voice drifts as she lowers her gaze. “It still doesn’t feel real.”

God, part of me wishes I could reach through the screen and take her hand in mine, say something sympathetic and profound. Tell her everything is going to be okay. But deep down, I know it won’t. Time will pass, and that wound will heal, but the scar, the proof of that pain, just underneath the surface, will always be there.

I smile solemnly, encouraging Avery to continue.

“He was on his last tour. His contract was up, he was getting out, and we were finally going to have a big reception since we’d gone down to the courthouse initially.” She laughs absently. “After watching me watchSay Yes to the Dressa bazillion times, Justin was so thrilled knowing Ellis Events was taking off.”

“I’ll bet.” I smile over the lump in my throat.

Avery shrugs.

“Anyway, I don’t want to go too deep. My point in telling you all this is that we’ve gotten to know each other in snippets through Morgan and Dante, and strangely…from the Gossip Set.” She giggles. “I’d love for us to connect without the middle people. I’m hoping, in sharing real pieces of myself, maybe we’llbothbe inclined to do so…”

Before I get the words out to tell her, “Of course, yes, I want a clean slate,” I hear her repeatedly mutteringpleaseunder her breath.

Something like joy jolts through me as we circle back to her question.

“I’d love you.” I gasp, quickly correcting myself. “I meant I’d love to get to know each other on our terms. Or whatever…”

She deflates into a fit of giggles.

“This is too good. Serious Stefano the suit with a slip of the tongue…” Avery presses a hand to her heart, her shoulders shaking. “Who would’ve thought we’d ever see the day?”

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