Page 97 of Ties That Bind Us

“Ava,” Vince said flatly as he opened the door. “I wasn’t expecting you to come by. Come inside, it’s freezing out there,” he said, ushering me in. He shut the door tightly behind us.

“Is everything okay? It’s ten o’clock.” His face filled with concern.

“I—I didn’t know where else to go,” I said quietly. I was nervous being in his house, almost like an outsider.

“Are you feeling okay? I thought you’d be at home resting. Did you walk here?” Vince was baffled, trying to piece my late-night visit together.

“Nick and I had a fight.” I sat down on the couch and Vince came to sit next to me.

“Is everything okay?” he asked again.

I shook my head. “Not really. I said some pretty awful things.”

“Ava, I’m sure Nick doesn’t blame you. You guys have been through a lot the last few days.” Vince tried to reason with me.

I bit my lip, not sure if I should tell Vince the entirety of it. I came here because I needed his help, though, and he couldn’t help me if he didn’t know what was really going on.

“I feel like I resent him for the accident. He swore he’d protect us and then he let . . .”

“Ava, I’m going to stop you right there. Looking at things like that isn’t going to do anybody any good. Nick didn’t let anything happen. If it was meant to happen, it would’ve happened either way. Nick isn’t any more responsible for what happened than you are.”

I swallowed the growing lump in my throat. “I blame myself too.”

“How do you figure that?” he asked. “You didn’t cause the accident.”

“It’s not just the accident, though.”

“I’m not following you, Ava. What do you mean?”

I sucked in a sharp breath, readying myself to tell him the truth. “I was pregnant. We lost the baby in the accident.”

Vince’s face turned white. “Ava . . . I’m so sorry.” He put his arm around me and pulled me into his shoulder. “I can’t imagine how much you’re hurting, but you can’t blame yourself for that. I know Nick, he won’t either.”

“He should. It almost makes me angrier that he doesn’t. When I first found out, I wasn’t happy about it. I think this is my punishment for feeling that way.”

“It doesn’t work that way, Avs.” He gave me a soft smile. “Did I ever tell you that before Sophia and I had Gigi we had a miscarriage?”

I shook my head. I’d had no idea.

“It happened so early that most people didn’t even know she was pregnant. It happened a long time ago, and I’m only telling you now because I want you to know that I know what you’re feeling. I know what Nick’s feeling. You’re hurt and you’re blaming yourselves and each other because you’re grasping for some kind of explanation.”

My tears were flowing freely now, and I couldn’t stop them.

“It almost killed Sophia and me. We almost got divorced because of it. She was shutting me out, and I wanted to be strong for her, and neither one of us realized how much we could really help each other. You are never going to get an explanation for this, Ava. Sometimes bad things happen for no reason at all.”

“What if this is some kind of sign that Nick and I aren’t supposed to be together?”

“Ava.” Vince smirked. “You and Nick are made for each other, and trust me, I was the last person who wanted to admit that. He loves you more than anything, think about what he has already done for you. After Andrew died, you became a completely different person and he brought you back. You’re incredibly lucky to have found each other, but that doesn’t mean it’s always going to be easy. Things like this, things that hurt you and rock you to your core, are going to happen. But that’s when you should be leaning on each other and not pulling apart.”

Hearing Vince talk like this had me convinced that something had possessed my brother. He had never been emotional like this, but I had never needed it more than I did in this moment.

“You’re right.” I nodded. “I should go talk to him.”

“You should.” Vince smiled. “You know I love having you here, but you need to go fix things with your husband.”

“Thank you. You have no idea how much I needed to hear that.” I wiped my tears, ready to go back and face Nick.

“That’s what I’m here for.” He smiled. “Why don’t you let me give you a ride? You’re not exactly dressed for the weather.”

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