Page 18 of A Little Too Late
Fuck. Everyone in the room is watching this little drama play out. And Ava has cast me in the role of the owner’s asshole son.
Which I am.
“If you don’t have an employee ID, I have to charge you,” Deborah says. “Five dollars.”
I’m fishing my wallet out of my pocket when my father comes galloping into the room. That’s not an exaggeration. He moves like a husky dog on the first day it snows. “Ava! You’re never going to believe this.” He skids to a stop in front of my ex. “The Sharpes are going to be forty-eight hours early for their meeting.”
“What?” Her pink lips part in shock. “They’re comingtonight?”
“That’s right. Just got off the phone.”
“Holy crap. What time are they showing up?”
“About six o’clock. Dinnertime.”
She blows out a breath. “Okay. We’ll do a welcome dinner in the Evergreen Room. And I’ll ask accounting and legal to reschedule for earlier in the week.”
My father beams.
“Oh good,” I say. “I can meet the buyer tonight and sit in on those meetings.”
They both turn to me, and the look on Ava’s face suggests she would rather have oral surgery than see me at that dinner.
My father doesn’t seem to take notice. “Morning, Reed. You’re welcome to come to the dinner.” Then he puts a hand on Ava’s arm. “We’ll huddle up in the Evergreen Room in twenty? I’ve got to tell Melody about the change of plans.”
“Sure,” Ava says, straightening her spine. “I’ll be ready.”
“I know you will.” My father gives her arm a pat and bounds out of the room.
“Damn it all,” Ava says. “I need caffeine.” She grabs a cup and fills it with coffee.
“Yes, you do,” the woman who came in with her agrees. “How about I run and find the chef for you? I’ll tell her that she needs to drop everything and plan the meal.”
“Oh, Halley, thank you. Send her to the Evergreen Room. That’s where I’ll be having my breakdown.”
Her friend laughs. “Two days early? Whodoesthat?”
“They want to catch you off guard,” I offer. “See what the place is like when you don’t have time to prepare.”
She gives me a withering look, turns around, and leaves the room. I hastily fit a lid onto my coffee and then hurry after her. “Hey, Ava? Can I talk to you?”
“Now?” she shoots over her shoulder. “I don’t exactly have the time.”
“I know, but…” I follow her out into the hotel lobby where sunlight is pouring in through the tall windows facing the mountain. “We should talk.”
“Can’t think of why,” she says as I finally catch up to her long strides. Ava used to compete in cross-country ski races. Maybe she still does. “It’s been years, and I can’t think of what I’d even say. I’m over it, okay?” She pulls up short in front of a glass door markedEvergreen Room.
“Ava,” I whisper, putting my hand on the door to stop her from charging away from me. We’re standing closer togetherthan we’ve been in a decade. So close that I can smell the apple scent of her shampoo.
It’s so familiar I feel as though I’ve just chugged a cocktail of sadness and longing. Memories are damn potent.
But Ava looks like she’s ready to spit fire at me. I deserve that.
The least I can do is say so. “Ava, I’m sorry,” I say gently. “I’m sorry for every dumbass thing I did when I was twenty-two.”
Her eyes widen dramatically, and I don’t miss the pain that slashes through them.
“If you don’t want to talk about it, I can’t make you. But you’re stuck with me for a few days. I’m sorry about that, too.”
