by Addison Fox
“After you tell me about L.A.”
“Julia. Come on. You’ve got juicy details and I want to hear them.”
“You sound like Mary and Sophie,” Julia said on a huff.
“Good. I don’t blame them for wanting details, too. It’s the girlfriend code.”
Julia smiled as she poured two cups of tea. “I’ve not had a lot to share under the code in a long time. I’m out of practice.”
“Not for long.” Avery couldn’t resist teasing Julia and received a satisfied smile for her efforts.
“He’s wonderful.”
“I know that! How’d it happen?”
“I’m not sure, really. I needed someone to talk to about Roman. Someone other than Mary and Sophie. And he was there. And he understood what I was feeling.”
“About what an ass Roman can be?”
Julia’s hand gripped hers and Avery took comfort in the small gesture. “Yes, that. But also my concerns about him. About whatever he was hiding, which, for the record, still pisses me off.”
“Me, too.”
“Yes, well. Anyway, Ken. He listened without making judgments.” Julia giggled, the sound light and happy. It tugged at Avery’s heart and brought a smile to her lips. “And then he finally made a move and kissed me.”
“All I can say is it’s about damn time.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
“Do you think women make judgments? Is that why you couldn’t talk to Mary and Sophie?”
Julia’s smile fell. “I think we all, men and women both, make judgments. I just think women are sometimes too stubborn to realize when it’s not theirs to make.”
“Like everyone wanting Roman and me to get together?”
“That. Other things as well. I think we often mistake the physical power men have and assume that translates immediately to their thought processes. I’ve begun to accept that’s not always the case.”
“Or ever the case.”
“Why don’t we settle on rarely?”
“Deal.” Avery thought through the last few weeks. “Roman pulled away a while ago. When we left Anchorage, as soon as he knew they wanted me for the job.”
“He doesn’t want to hold you back from achieving your dreams.”
“Why can’t he see that it’s not holding me back if we figure it out together?”
“It’s taken me a long time to understand this, but for all the successes my grandson has received in his life, they’ve been shockingly empty.”
“He said the town doesn’t know who he really is.”
“I’m not surprised.”
For all the things her future might bring her, Avery realized, one of the gifts that would never be replaced in her life was her friendship with Julia.
The woman who had started out as an authority figure who inspired anxiety and a subtle dose of fear—her boyfriend’s grandmother—had become one of her closest friends.
“I’m not sure what I’d do without you.”
Julia leaned over and Avery reveled in the tight embrace. “Me, too.”
Avery dashed at the tears that had dripped down her cheeks. “I haven’t written him off, you know. But I’m not willing to sit in limbo, either. I needed to make a decision and I made one.”
“I haven’t written him off, either. But I do hope he gets his head on straight soon.”
• • •
Since Roman’s head was still firmly planted in his ass a day later—after he’d been home a full day and still hadn’t found a way to talk to her beyond polite platitudes in the Indigo lobby as she worked the bar—Avery continued with her plans.
The Luxotica team had already e-mailed her a bunch of documents and she was devouring them with equal parts interest and sheer panic that she was expected to fix things.
And then she’d find herself thinking of ideas in odd moments and realized the fear was well and truly outweighed by the excitement of the challenge.
“Hey.”
Avery turned from where she was stacking bottles of their latest wine shipment on the marked shelves in the stockroom, checking off her inventory as she went.
“Hey.”
Roman stood with his hands in his pockets, his shoulders painfully stiff. The bandage over his eye had changed to a simple Band-Aid and the bruise on his jaw had faded to a greenish yellow.
“You’ve been a ghost around here.”
“I’ve been hanging with the kids for practice. And I was out of town for a few days.”
“In L.A. I know. Your mother swore me to secrecy since things haven’t been announced with the Metros yet.”
“It’s strange to think that’s coming.”
“You ready for the press onslaught?”
“That’s part of what I’ve been prepping for the last few days.”
“It’s time for the next chapter. And soon you’ll be the press, hounding someone new.”
His eyes widened, evidence he hadn’t thought that far forward. “I guess so.”
The quiet returned and the need to fill it up with all the things still unsaid between them pushed her on.
“I’m happy for you, you know. Really happy. You’re going to keep doing something you love, even if it’s in a different form than you’re used to.”
“I hope so.”
“With those Hollywood looks and cultured arguments honed in debate class.” She winked. “I know so.”
“Look. Avery.”
She waited, curious to see if he could find a way out of it. A way to pull himself back from the idiotic path he’d opted to walk for both of them.
“I didn’t mean to start something and then get us here again.”
“Here where?”
“Where we act like two strangers to each other, offering up polite chitchat because we don’t know how to act.”
“I know how to act.”
She moved closer to him and laid her hands on his chest. “I know exactly how to act.”
She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. The immediate reaction—the same one that had pushed them both since they were kids—had him opening his mouth as his arms came around her. She kissed him once more before she stepped back from the circle of his arms.
“I love you. I’ve always loved you and, like one of those saps in weepy movies, I always will. The difference is, I’m not going to sit around and wait for you to figure it out. Not anymore.”
“You deserve a life.”
“We all do. With the people we care about most.”
She pointed toward the shelf. “There’s still a few bottles of Petrus there. On the bottom shelf, hidden at the back. You should take them. Celebrate your new job.”
• • •
Roman stared at the bottle of wine, where it sat on his dresser. He’d not taken all of the remaining bottles she’d offered, but he had taken one, intending to get drunk on it back in his room.
It was the morning after and not only had he not gotten drunk on the wine, he’d never even opened it.
His phone buzzed with a text message and he looked down to see one from Mick.
YOU SURE YOU AREN’T COMING TO THE AIRSTRIP?
Roman ignored it. Ignored the fact that in mere moments, Mick would be lifting off the ground and flying Avery to Anchorage, where she’d get her connection to L.A.
He could fix this. Could still make the changes he needed to make. He knew it, even as the fear of holding her back lingered like lead casings around his ankles.
The knock on the door wasn’t unexpected—he’d been waiting all morning for his mother or grandmother or even Grier—to show up and tell him what a moron he was being.
Which was why he was surprised to see Mike on the other side of the door.
“Hey, Mike, what’s up?”
“Miss Avery’s left town.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“So why are you still here?”
Roman looked into the kid’s face—they were almost eye level, Mike was so tall—
and wondered at the mix of anger and resentment he saw there.
“I let her go.”
“Why?”
“Because she got a new job. It’s complicated, kid.”
“Actually, it’s not.” Mike moved into the room. “I’ve idolized you. Absolutely idolized you. And it’s really embarrassing to find out you’re a big pussy.”
The anger rose up swift and strong. “Excuse me?”
“She’s awesome.”
“I know she is. That’s why she deserves a chance at happiness.”
“She wants it with you.”
Roman shook his head. “I’m not the answer.”
“Look, Mr. Forsyth. I know you think I don’t know anything, but I do. I know how much I love hockey. And how much I love my family, who pushes me to play and practice hard because I love it and I’m good at it. And I love my girl, Vicky. She’s the best thing that ever happened to me. And I sure as hell wouldn’t let her go because of hockey.”
“I let Avery go a long time ago because of hockey. And now I’m letting her go so she can have her dream.” And I’m letting her go because I was the last in a long line of people who’d failed her and I can’t do that again.
“I thought you let her go because she had to take care of her mom.”
Roman stopped, caught at the kid’s logic. “There was that, too.”
“My brother told me you used to send her mom money.”
Roman closed his eyes, the evidence of the town grapevine—and the absolute lack of secrets—shocking. “And just how would he know that?”
“Drunk people talk and Ms. Marks used to talk to him at the bar.”
“Oh.”
“You took care of Avery and helped her out the best you could. Now you can do better.”
The incredible clarity Mike seemed to have at seventeen suddenly started to remove the fog that had clouded his own eyes, shocking Roman to his core.
Was it really that simple?
A glance at the kid’s eager—and wise—face suggested it was that simple.
And he’d be a monumental fool to continue listening to the irrational fears that had driven him up to now.
“You’ll go far, Mike.”
“I hope so. But remember how I said playing in the play-offs must be like ice cream and Christmas and sex all rolled into one?”
“How could I forget? It was quite poetic.”
“I was wrong.”
“How so?”
“Being with the right person trumps it all.”
• • •
Mike’s words were still ringing in his ears ten minutes later as Roman raced over to the airstrip. He’d already caught Jack, pleased he’d gotten to him before the man had started his runs.
Roman put his mother’s truck in park and cut the engine, then raced across the tarmac.
“I’m not leaving without you.” Jack grinned, his hand held to his forehead to ward off the bright morning sun.
“I’m not worried about you. I’m worried about Avery.”
Jack shrugged. “So you follow her to Los Angeles.”
There was an odd sort of logic to it, but Roman waved toward the plane. “I need a grand gesture. You can help me figure out one on the way.”
Five minutes later they were taxiing down the runway, and Roman turned toward Jack, excitement winging its way down his spine. “I’ve got an idea.”
• • •
Avery heard Mick’s chatter and tried to summon up something in return, but all she’d managed since takeoff had been one-word answers and half laughs to his attempted jokes.
She knew he was trying to make her feel better, but after his third moose story, she decided she’d had enough.
“Mick, I love you like a brother. Honest, I do. But if you don’t shut the fuck up, I may have to strangle you with the cords to your headset.”
“Sorry.”
“So am I. But I still mean it.”
“Okay.” His grin was gentle as he maneuvered them through the air and she settled back in her seat, trying to focus on the promise at the end of the destination and not what she was leaving behind.
Mick’s voice rose up and she turned toward him, prepared to say something else unkind and bitchy when she realized he was talking to the tower. It was only when he caught her eye that she realized he was really talking to her.
“Take the headphones.” He pointed toward the pair at her knee. “Put those on.”
With a resigned sigh, she picked up the headphones. What could he possibly want to talk about now? “Can you hear me?”
“That’s my line.”
The husky voice floated through her headset and Avery felt her pulse bump up a few notches.
“Is this the town ass of Indigo, Alaska?”
“You bet it is, coming to you live over Air Indigo.”
“Perhaps you’ve mistaken me for someone who gives a shit. And”—she risked a glance at Mick— “who is not in a good place to have a private conversation.”
“I’m not looking for private.” She heard a serious edge to his voice. “And for the record, I know damn well Mick and Jack can hear me. So can everyone back at the airstrip.”
A loud cheer went up as the women at the airstrip let out a hearty squeal and Avery risked a glance at Mick, who just rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders.
“So we have an audience.”
“You bet your sweet ass, you do!” hollered back through the headset.
Avery let out a deep sigh. She’d lived her life in the small spotlight of Indigo. Her fellow townsfolk knew her happiest and her saddest moments and had shared many of them with her, even if it was merely through observation.
“All right then, Sexy Voice. What do you have to say?”
“Three things and I need complete silence until I get them out.”
When the open line stayed dead, Avery whispered, “Go on.”
“I love you. I’ve always loved you, and I always will.”
“That’s your three?”
“In the end, is there really anything else?”
“No.”
“But now that those things are out of the way, there is something else I need to say.”
She couldn’t resist the tease. “I thought that was all that ever needed to be said.”
“Yeah, well, indulge me.”
“Anytime, baby.”
A light giggle floated through the headphones, and Avery heard the distinct sound of someone being shushed.
And then Roman’s voice came through the headphones again, and Avery was caught. Completely trapped in his words. “I will follow you anywhere. I want you to have a life and a career and I want you to fulfill all your dreams. I’m happy to follow you and if we have kids I’ll run them in the carpool when you have to meet a foreign diplomat and his staff.”
“And if you have a game?”
“There are no more games. I’m done with all of them. I’m a grown man and my life and the people in it are more important to me than any game. You most of all.”
“Thank you, Roman. That was sweet of you. I’m going to sign off now.”
Mick eyed her sideways and she covered the speaker. “Turn it off.”
“You okay?”
“Absolutely.”
“Then why did you turn off the headphones? I’ve got so much squawking in my ear you have no idea.”
She reached over and grabbed his hand. “Because some things should be private.”
Avery felt the plane descend through the sky and knew she had a decision to make about her career. She might stick to the L.A. plans or she might change her mind, but whatever she decided, she was going to do it with Roman and not apart from him.
• • •
“You’re still here.” Roman’s blood pumped double time as he saw Avery standing at the gate.
“Where’d you think I was going?”
“To L.A. You turned off the headset.”
“What I had to say didn’t need an
audience. And no, I’m not going to L.A. Not today, at least.”
He nodded and simply stood there and took her in. The beautiful girl next door he’d spent a lifetime in love with. No matter how many times he’d told himself otherwise, she’d always had his heart.
And he knew with absolute certainty he never wanted to be free of her.
“I love you, Avery. I’ve always loved you. A part of you lives inside of me, and you’re so deeply embedded there, I know nothing can change that. Different cities. The passage of years. Creaky knees and a bum eye.” He saw the first hint of a smile in her face. “None of it changes how I feel for you. You’ve always been the one for me.”
“I love you, Roman. And I want to make a life with you. A life that we make together. Built on the foundation of both our dreams.”
“Even though I got my turn?”
She moved closer and he felt her hand close over his. “And I had my turn doing what I needed, too. I know now I wouldn’t give up that time with my mother. With your mother and grandmother. It all made me who I am today and I like that girl.”
“I do, too.”
“So can you promise me we’ll make decisions about our future together from now on?”
“I promise.”
“And you won’t go thinking there’s some enormous score, keeping tabs on our life?”
“No scoreboard. I’m done with them.”
“There’s just us.”
“Just us.”
She wrapped her free hand around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. Unlike the innumerable kisses they’d shared before, Roman knew this one was different.
Monumental somehow.
This was a kiss to seal their future.
He could only thank the heavens he’d gotten to her just in time.
Epilogue
Crisp air surrounded them as the annual Labor Day festival on the town square wound down to a close. Roman delighted in the feel of Avery’s shoulders under his arm and the slight buzz from an afternoon spent drinking beer, eating hamburgers and watching the town of Indigo wrap up summer. Already, the hints of winter were making themselves known, with shorter nights and the cold snap of air that had people burrowing under their blankets.
“I’m glad we were able to be here for Labor Day.” Avery smiled broadly as she looked up at him.
“Me, too. Aside from battling jet lag, it hasn’t been so bad.”