Wherever You Are

by Elle Wright

  “Give me that cookie.”

  They’d spent the rest of the afternoon in bed, enjoying each other. El had arranged for a dinner of desserts. A caterer had delivered a bunch of different choices—tiramisu, chocolate cake, apple pie and peanut butter cookies.

  They’d saved the cookies for last, because they were her favorite. Avery swore the caterer was a magician because the cookies were almost better than her aunt Nora’s peanut butter cookies—soft, gooey and full of flavor.

  Avery laughed as El tickled her sides, then...tragedy. The cookie fell. “No!” she shouted.

  The last perfect cookie hit the floor with a soft thud. El looked back and muttered a curse. “Aw, man. That sucks.” He set her to her feet. “I’m sorry.”

  She pushed him playfully and bent down to pick up the cookie. “Now what are we going to eat?” Avery tossed the cookie into the trashcan. “You were so hell bent on getting out of the restaurant, we didn’t bring back my leftovers.”

  “There’s food here. I’ll make you something to eat.”

  “So I can die?”

  El laughed. “Ha-ha. I hope you know I’ve learned a thing or two about cooking. I fed Drake for days while Love was out of town.”

  Avery wrapped her arm around his neck and kissed him. “You’re so cute when you’re defensive.”

  Their gazes locked. El leaned down, resting his forehead against hers. “This is perfect.”

  With El’s hands splayed low on her back, he slowly started swaying them back and forth. Avery couldn’t help the tears that welled up as they danced to a music all their own, a rhythm only they could hear. Perfect was the right word. He was her perfect El.

  His voice was soft at first, and Avery hummed when it registered that he was singing their song. The very first time they’d slow danced it was to Luther Vandross’s Because It’s Really Love at the Black Student Union’s annual eighties party. He’d sung to her then, too. It was also the first time she realized she’d fallen in love with him.

  El’s baritone voice was soft in her ear as he sang. The words took her breath away then because she knew they’d rung true for him then, and they did now. That song had been one of her favorites because it reminded her of her father and long car rides to exciting destinations. Vandross was one of her father’s favorites so she grew up on his music. But after that dance, every time she heard the song it brought back the memory of that party, that dance, her El.

  Avery raked her nails over his scalp and lifted herself up on her good toes. “I can’t thank you enough.” She brushed her lips over his before deepening the kiss.

  With his hand braced against the back of her head, holding her to him, Avery couldn’t have moved if she tried. Which she didn’t. She savored the feel of his mouth on hers, the thrill of his tongue stroking hers. It wouldn’t take much for them to be in the throes of passion again, especially since she was wearing one of his oversized T-shirts and nothing else.

  Breaking the kiss, El embraced her. “Perfect,” he murmured before placing a gentle kiss on her brow.

  Even though they still had a lot to work through, Avery knew that they’d just turned a corner and prayed that when they left their little haven they’d be able to face whatever came their way together.

  Chapter 14

  Back in Ann Arbor a few days later, Avery and El walked hand in hand into the hospital for her follow-up appointment. Their little vacation had been pure bliss for her.

  The rest of the trip had been spent exploring the area during the day and each other at night. And even though her sight had consistently improved, he still helped her hone in on her other senses. He’d planned a boat ride on Torch Lake, a visit to a vineyard for a private wine tasting, complete with a decadent raspberry torte that made her toes curl it was so good.

  For the first time in years, they were in sync, totally enveloped in each other. She wouldn’t trade the time they’d spent together for anything.

  Realistically, she knew they still had an uphill battle before them, but she’d meant what she told him. She was willing to fight for them.

  When they arrived at the clinic, she checked in and took a seat next to El. He was scrolling through his phone. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah,” he murmured, tapping at his screen.

  El had contacted neurology on their way back and asked that she be seen that day. While most of her sight had returned, she was still experiencing some depth-perception problems. One evening, she’d almost broken her neck when she underestimated the number of stairs and took a tumble down a short flight.

  He’d wondered if there might be some residual damage that would benefit from therapy. Initially she’d resisted the thought, arguing that she was too busy to have to go to the hospital every day to do things she could do at home.

  They’d compromised on the visit today, but she was sure they’d argue about it more later when she told him she was done with appointments after this one. It wasn’t that Avery was being ornery, but she’d had enough of doctors, nurses, MRIs, CT scans and lights in her eyes. The miracle that her sight was back at the point where she could read and write again made her want to seize the day—not spend it at Michigan Medicine. She’d rather be back in his house, lazing on the beach with him.

  “You think you’ll be okay here by yourself for about twenty minutes?” he asked.

  “Sure,” she replied. “You’re sure you’re okay, right?”

  “I’m fine, Avie. Just checked my emails and saw something that concerned me about one of my patients. I just want to check in with my colleague about the case.”

  Avery nodded, leaning forward and letting him place a kiss on her brow.

  “I’ll be back shortly.”

  After he left, Avery tapped her hands against her legs. Nervous energy filled her, and she wanted to call Jess. But she’d left her cell phone at home.

  She considered asking a nurse if she could use the clinic phone but decided to wait. When the medical assistant called her name, Avery stood up and hurried to the back when a few of the people in the lobby started staring at her. Back to reality, back to the possibility of someone recognizing her face or her name.

  As she followed the nurse to the exam room, she noticed a group of doctors conversing. After checking her vitals, the nurse asked for an autograph. Avery obliged and relaxed into her chair once she was alone.

  Outside the room, she could hear two women talking. Nothing abnormal, mostly gossip about doctors and nurses. When she heard El’s name, though, she perked up.

  “Have you talked to him lately?” she heard a woman ask. “I just saw him a few minutes ago looking fine as ever.”

  A tinge of jealousy flared in Avery at the woman’s description of El. Her El.

  “No, he hasn’t reached out,” another woman answered.

  Curious, Avery leaned forward.

  “You should call him, Lana.”

  Lana. Who the hell was she?

  “No, Hailey. El just isn’t ready. We went out a few times, double dates with Love and Drake, but he...he was pretty closed off. Love told me it has something to do with his ex-girlfriend.”

  Avery wondered who this Lana was to Love and Drake, and made a mental note to ask Drake when she saw him again. El had mentioned Love was back in town and the two wanted to catch up over dinner. She’d ask then.

  “Love didn’t go into details about their business, but apparently she did a number on him when she left him,” Lana continued. “I tried everything I could to get his attention, too, aside from parading naked in front of him. I even insinuated I’d be open to no-strings sex. He is a hottie.”

  “And he still didn’t bite?” Hailey asked.

  Avery held her breath, hoping that El hadn’t bitten that heifer.

  “No, not at all,” Lana replied. “Anyway, she’s back in town. You won’t believe who sh
e is.”

  “Who is she?”

  “Avery Montgomery.”

  “Shut up. The creator of The Preserves?”

  “Yep.”

  Avery wondered if that Lana woman knew she was in the exam room. But Drake had told her they’d kept her patient status under wraps, with only a handful of people knowing she’d been there. Granted, today, they’d pretty much opened the door by coming to the clinic during normal office hours. Avery had hoped they’d be able to get in and out without alerting the public or the paparazzi to her presence.

  The voices moved farther away, and Avery let out a long breath. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t care what any woman had to say about her relationship with El. No one knew what had happened between them but them. But in this case, the other woman’s words bothered her.

  Had she really left El in that state? Had he been so hurt by her that he’d closed himself off to other women as Lana had described?

  Avery tapped a finger on the chair next to her and contemplated her next move. Jess. She needed to talk to her friend. Pushing the nurse call button, she waited.

  “Can I help you, Ms. Montgomery?” the nurse asked as she walked into the room. “I just received a call that Dr. Laramie is running a little behind. Can I get you some water?”

  Avery shook her head. “No, thank you. But I’m wondering if I can use a phone?”

  The nurse smiled. “Sure.”

  The nurse pulled a cordless phone from the pocket of her scrubs. “Just dial nine first.”

  Avery took the offered phone and punched in a number. When Jess answered, Avery said, “Jess, I need you. I’m at the hospital, at my appointment. Can you come pick me up afterward?”

  * * *

  El stood at the door of his brother’s office. He’d hated lying to Avery about where he was going, but when he read an email from Drake warning him that Lawrence was in town and roaming the hospital halls, he’d had to act.

  Lawrence’s executive assistant had already alerted his brother to El’s arrival, so the visit wasn’t going to be a surprise, like he’d hoped. But his older brother was going to hear what he had to say.

  Cracking his knuckles, El formulated the words, planned the execution and prepared for various responses or excuses Lawrence could give. Finally, when he was ready, he knocked on the office door.

  “Come in,” his brother called.

  El walked into the office. “Lawrence.”

  His brother looked up from a file on his desk. “El, what brings you by to see me?”

  Growing up with Lawrence had essentially saved him from his uncaring parents, but it hadn’t saved him from his selfish and domineering brother. Lawrence had always been more concerned with his money and his women and the Jackson name than about his children or El.

  El suspected that was one reason each of them had gone into a different field of medicine—with the exception of Myles. El remembered clearly the day he’d announced to his brother that he was planning to practice psychiatry. The argument that followed had echoed in the house, drawing everyone from their respective spots to witness the carnage.

  Lawrence had told him that psychiatry was beneath him, that El had consistently disappointed him after he’d sowed so much time and money into his education. It was pretty much the same conversation he’d had with Drake a few years later when Drake announced he would not be following in Lawrence’s footsteps.

  “Drake told me you were in town,” El said.

  “Not for long. I have to head to Los Angeles. Why?”

  El scanned the office, noting the paintings on the walls and the shelf with ceramic pieces on it.

  Lawrence had amassed an impressive portfolio of material things. He had a warped view of beauty, choosing to surround himself with priceless pieces of art, valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars.

  “We need to talk,” El said, cutting to the chase.

  “Is this about the foundation your ex-girlfriend, Avery, is starting?”

  El frowned. “How do you know about that?”

  “Her friend Jess sent an invitation to the fund-raising gala to my office.”

  Surprised that Jess had moved so fast, El made a mental note to ask a few of his colleagues to attend and lend their support. “It’s a very good cause, Lawrence.”

  His brother waved his hand in dismissal. “It’s one of many. Not interested.”

  “Would you be interested if I were to take her back? Would you offer to donate to her foundation if she’d walk away from me, like you offered to pay off her college debt if she left me all those years ago?”

  To his credit, Lawrence didn’t flinch, didn’t react at all. Instead, he steepled his hands together and leaned forward. His cold eyes met El’s. “If that’s what it took, yes. Listen, El, is there a point to this conversation? Isn’t little Miss Montgomery ancient history?”

  “Don’t call her that.”

  Lawrence shrugged. “Okay. Isn’t Avery long gone, doing her little drama on television?”

  “That little drama has earned her status and is very successful. You should try being a little less judgmental. You know what? You’ve always acted like you’re some pillar in the community because you donate to all the right causes and because your last name is Jackson. But you don’t fool me. Your charitable endeavors are all for show because you don’t really care about anyone else’s plight. You only do things that benefit your bottom line.”

  “Our last name is Jackson. That means you have the same responsibilities I do. My grandfather and my father left a legacy that I will damn well preserve. If that means getting rid of people that threaten that legacy, I will.”

  “Why don’t you like her?”

  “I didn’t say I didn’t like her. But she’s beneath you. She’s not suitable for you.”

  What the hell could his brother tell him about preserving a legacy? Drake was only seven months older than the twins, and the product of one of Lawrence’s many affairs.

  El snickered. “That’s rich coming from you. You’ve been married three times, brother. You have cheated on all of your wives, even going so far as to conceive a child with one of your mistresses. Was that behavior fitting for a Jackson? Was it Jackson behavior to treat your kids like ornaments you can bring out once or twice a year at hospital functions or for photo ops? I take that back. That is Jackson behavior because that’s exactly how Mom and Dad treated me.”

  “Don’t get crazy, El. You will respect me.”

  “Newsflash. I’m not one of your kids. I’m your brother. And respect is earned.”

  “Elwood.”

  “No, I’m sick of this. You harassed her, told her she wasn’t worthy of me. Because of you, she left me.”

  “She left you because she followed the money, El.”

  “If she was following the money, she would have taken what you offered. That deal was sweeter, anyway, at the time.”

  “It didn’t matter. As long as she did as she was told.”

  “Man, I swear, if you weren’t old, I’d beat the crap out of you.”

  Lawrence frowned. “I’m not sure what’s gotten into you, but none of this matters in the grand scheme of things. You and Avery are not together anymore.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. Avery and I are working things out.”

  Sighing, Lawrence took a sip of his coffee. “Mark my words, El. If you let that woman back into your life, she’ll hurt you.”

  It was just like Lawrence to not show remorse when confronted with the things he’d done. A few months ago, he’d conspired with Love’s father, Dr. Leon Washington, to break Drake and Love up. He’d even gone so far as to pull strings to get Drake a Johns Hopkins fellowship to get him out of town. It had almost worked, too.

  Fortunately for Drake and Love, it didn’t. El wondered how Ian, Myles and Mel would fare wi
th a father like Lawrence.

  “El, what is it about Avery that has you losing your mind over her?” Lawrence snickered. “She’s a beauty, but she doesn’t have your pedigree. Her parents—”

  “Are hardworking, devoted people who raised their daughter to be the same way,” El said, interrupting his brother. “Avery is intelligent and determined and driven, and she has her own money. She doesn’t need mine. And guess what? If she asked, I’d happily give her anything she wanted. But she hasn’t asked. She’s never asked.”

  Lawrence leaned back in his chair. “Like I said, nothing good will come of this. She may not have taken my money, but she did leave for money.”

  “No, she left because you belittled and harassed her and made her think she wasn’t good enough for me.”

  Shrugging, Lawrence said, “She’s not.”

  El swiped the papers from the desk and blared, “Shut up. For once, shut up.”

  Lawrence simply stared at El as if he’d grown another head or turned blue. Sighing, he said, “What would you have me do? I did offer to pay her off, but that was years ago. As you’ve said, she has amassed her own fortune and is living in another state. If you choose to uproot your life, leave your career and family to go chase after a piece of ass, I can’t very well stop you. But please know this...when she leaves you again or disappoints you again, don’t bother coming to me for anything.”

  “This is a joke, right?” El asked. “Since when do I come to you for anything?” Slicing a hand in the air, El said, “Forget it. I don’t have time to argue with you today, Lawrence.”

  “Like I said, El, you can do what you please.”

  “What I want is for you to respect her. Don’t ever say anything to her about our relationship. That topic is not up for discussion. Matter of fact, how about you never speak to her again?”

  Turning on his heels, El stalked out of the office, slamming the door behind him.

  Chapter 15

  El stormed through the halls back to the neurology clinic only to find Avery gone. He almost tore the hospital up looking for her, but his administrative assistant told him she’d dropped by to let him know that Jess was going to give her a ride home.