Page 124 of Take This Heart
Milo laughs under his breath.
“We still haven’t met her. Can you believe that?” Kathleen looks at the three of us like we can help her understand it. “The whole thing is very odd. I’ve asked Bruce to bring her over, but he still hasn’t.”
“Very odd,” Anthony agrees.
“I think Bruce has been too busy trying to bring the Whitmans down,” Milo says, looking over at me. He shakes his head. “Hopefully, after the recent town meeting, he’ll stop this madness.”
“Has Ava been apologetic about the fire? Or any of her behavior?” Kathleen asks.
“She apologized the day it happened,” Milo says. “Not enough, in my opinion, but maybe a start?”
He looks at me again like he’s not sure of what to say.
“She seemed a little shocked by some of the details my dad told her. Didn’t you get that impression?” I ask Milo. “My dad said later that he’d tried to say the things about Bruce as carefully as he could, but he thought it was important that Ava heard how much my mom wanted her.”
“She was so young,” Kathleen says, her eyes sympathetic. “And Bruce was two years older than her. Even though it was legal here, he should’ve known better.”
My eyes fill with tears. “Growing up, I would’ve loved to have a sister. I still can’t believe I have one! It’s…well…I need to get used to the idea of it. I think I’d feel a lot differently about it if I hadn’t had such a rocky start with Ava.”
“Oh, honey,” Kathleen says, reaching out to squeeze my hand. “Her behavior has been inexcusable.”
I wipe my face and groan. “Ugh, sorry. I’ll work through my feelings about it…another day.” I laugh awkwardly.
“How about we talk about something lighter?” Milo says, leaning over to kiss my temple.
“Oh look, there’s a Ruddy Duck!” Anthony points at the water. “That duck stamp artist I follow on TikTok drew that one this year for the competition.” He grins. “So damn good. Her channel has educated me on all the ducks around here. And she’s a local too.”
He isadorable.
“Oh, I love that artist too!” I say, leaning to the right to see the duck better. “Is that a Common Merganser next to it?”
“Sure is.” He looks at me, impressed.
“I learned everything from them as well,” I say, laughing. “Kira Sabin, right?”
“Yes! You know her?”
“Not personally, but I’d like to.”
We talk until it’s dark and the air grows cool. I feel more relaxed than I have in a long time. And then Milo takes mehome, and we take a bath together. With our fingers threaded together, his chest to my back, we talk until the water cools. After craving him all day, it’s a relief when he takes me to bed and sinks inside of me. Afterward, we lay side by side, catching our breath. He takes my hand and kisses my knuckles.
“When we get back…I don’t want to sleep without you,” he says, pulling me into his side.
“Noah wants me and my brothers to start talking about how we want our houses to be. We each have a few acres set aside for that. None of us has given that much thought yet…too focused on everything else, but I’ve been dreaming about what I’d like.”
“Yeah? And do you see me in that house?”
He leans over me and brushes my hair away from my eyes.
My mouth parts and I stare up at him. This man could afford to live anywhere, have multiple houses if he wanted…
“What are you asking?” I whisper.
“I’m asking for you to please envision me wherever you are...because that’s where I want to be.”
I tug his head down and kiss him until I’m dizzy.
“Yes, I see you in that house,” I tell him.
