Page 83 of Along Came Amor
They’d been waiting for ten minutes when the chef stuck his head in to apologize and say a few things were running late. As he was on his way out, Ava’s phone rang.
A glance at the screen showed that it was her stepmother, Olympia.
Ava sighed. She didn’t really feel like talking to Olympia right now, but she couldn’t bring herself to decline the call either. What if it was an emergency?
“I’ll just be a few minutes,” she told Roman and Belinda, who were discussing some of the recent weddings the resort had hosted.
“When I planned Ricky Martin’s cousin’s best friend’s wedding...” Belinda was saying, and Ava was actually sorry to miss that story.
Tucking the planner under her arm, Ava accepted the call and ducked into the hallway. “Hi Olympia. What’s going on?”
“Ava, oh my god, I’m so glad you answered. I know you’re in Puerto Rico, but this child is going to be the death of me.”
Ava shut her eyes. There was only one child Olympia could be talking about. “Where is Willow now?”
“She stormed off to your grandmother’s house, but Ava, the things she said to me. I never would’ve dared to talk to my mother like that.”
Biting back a sigh, Ava found a low sofa in the hall across from the ballroom doors and sat down. This would be a while. “She’s sixteen. It’s a tough age.”
“All I did was suggest she put on a little makeup and a nice dress for our family photos, and she accused me of ‘upholding the patriarchy,’ whatever that means!”
Ofcoursethey were taking family photos while Ava was out of town. Ava ignored the familiar pang of being left out and said, “Do you want me to call her?”
“No, not yet. Just listen to this and tell me if I’m being unreasonable.”
At that, Ava rolled her eyes. As if she could ever tell Olympia such a thing.
By the time Ava hung up, forty-five minutes had passed. Every time she’d tried to go, Olympia had said tearfully, “And another thing!” before launching into something else Willow had done. Ava had explained as best she could that Willow was a normal teenager who needed space to grow, but it had been like talking to a brick wall. The whole time, Ava had been watching the clock and wishing she hadn’t taken the painkillers out of her purse when she’d repacked it. But Romanhadn’t come out to get her, so she figured the tasting was still delayed.
Finally, Olympia had said, “Oh, your father’s back. I have to fill him in.”
“Tell him I said hi,” Ava mumbled tiredly.
“You’re such a good listener, Ava. I wish Willow would be more like you were when you were her age.”
Ava fervently hoped her sister was never burdened with the kind of responsibilities Ava had, but all she said was goodbye.
When Ava returned to the ballroom, Roman was the only one there. He sat on a padded folding chair with one ankle crossed over his knee, writing on his tablet with a stylus. He looked up when she walked in.
“Sorry about that,” she muttered. “It was my stepmother.”
He clicked the stylus onto the side of the tablet and closed the protective cover. “Everything okay?”
“The usual. She had a fight with my sister and needed me to reassure her that she’s a good mother.” Ava waved that away and plastered on a bright smile, ready to give him another chance. “Where’s the food? Have you started yet?”
Roman got to his feet slowly. “It’s over.”
Her breath hitched. “What do you mean,over?”
He checked his watch. “The tasting was already running late, and we didn’t want to delay further.”
“Wait a second.” Stunned, Ava looked around the empty ballroom, as if a platter of hors d’oeuvres might be hiding in a corner. “You did the entire tasting without me?”
He shrugged. “It wasn’t a big deal. Belinda has organized hundreds of weddings, and I’m familiar with the resort’s offerings. Come on. Let’s get back to the house.”
He reached for her arm, but she jerked away before he could touch her. Lack of sleep, a brewing migraine, and the fact that she hadn’t had anything to eat or drink for hours spiraled into a perfect storm of frustration. Her tone came out clipped.
“You know, I really don’t appreciate you making all these decisions without taking my thoughts into account.”
