Fall Into Love

by Melody Anne

  My fists clenched involuntarily. It had taken me awhile, but I figured it out. I knew what he wanted. I guess Avery didn’t tell him that I’d pretty much pushed her away already, though.

  “You’re helping me so that I’ll stay away from her? That’s what this is all about, right?”

  He shrugged. “My daughter has had a plan since she was ten. She’s always been focused toward that future. Lately she’s been too unfocused. I don’t want her to get distracted and ruin everything she’s worked so hard for.”

  “To make you happy,” I muttered.

  His sharp gaze cut back to me. “Excuse me?”

  “Avery. She’s not happy with your plans for her future, but you’d know that if you stopped telling her what to do and listened to her for once.”

  “You don’t know anything. We’ve all always had the same dream for Avery. Her mother and I are merely guiding her along.”

  “Really? When you were twenty, was your big dream to be a corporate attorney? You had visions of defending white-collar assholes who extorted money or didn’t pay their taxes?” His eyebrows dipped down. God, this guy was clueless. “Avery has a huge heart and she wants to help people. Christ, you should be able to relate at least a little bit. You’re running for mayor. It can’t be all about the money. You have to want to at least help someone, even if it’s your rich, privileged friends.”

  “She’s never said anything about this.”

  “Have you ever asked her what she wants?”

  He gazed over my shoulder and a muscle ticced in his jaw.

  If nothing else came of this conversation, maybe Avery’s father might finally pull his head out of his ass and look at her. Really see his daughter.

  “Look, I screwed up,” I said. Exhaustion seeped into my bones. I had no idea what time it was, but it had to be morning by now. “I know that. I knew what would happen when I went back to the trailer. Like I said, all I want is for my sister to be safe. Maybe even get some help somewhere. She’s a good kid, and the shit Davis has done to her, no one deserves that. She’s seventeen. She should have the chance for a good life.”

  Mr. Hartley’s gaze searched my face, as if he were looking for something.

  “Here’s the deal,” he said, once again all business. “We’ve got Davis on felony drug charges. There was enough heroin and cocaine in the home, along with paraphernalia, to send him away for a long time on that alone. I can try to get your sister to cooperate and testify against him regarding the other things he’s done, but my recommendation is to stick to the drug charge. It will be less traumatic for her, and it’s enough to have her placed in state care.”

  “No fucking foster homes,” I ground out.

  “If you’ll let me finish, I was going to tell you that there is an inpatient drug rehabilitation program that she would qualify for. I know the place and it has a good track record. If she is a ward of the state, then the cost will be covered by public funding. It’s an intensive three-month program, and I believe, if I have the correct information, she will turn eighteen soon after the program is done. Which means she will no longer be a ward of the state and can make her own decisions about where she lives after that.”

  As he talked, a weight lifted from my shoulders. This was the light at the end of the tunnel I’d been looking for for years. This was Sara’s chance. “What’s the catch?” Because there always was one.

  “There is no catch, Mr. Hunter. The right people have stepped in and are offering you and your sister a chance. It’s up to you whether you take it or not, but I can assure you, offers like this don’t come along twice.”

  “I agree. To all of it.” I didn’t need to think about it. If it got Sara help, if it gave her a chance at a better life, I’d do anything.

  “The first thing I’ll do is file a motion for termination of guardianship,” Mr. Hartley said. “With the pending charges, it shouldn’t be hard at all. I’ve already got a judge in mind. Once Sara is made a ward of the state, I can get things in motion.”

  I scrubbed the heels of my hands over my burning eyes. “Thank you.”

  Hartley nodded briskly and closed his briefcase. When he stood up, the door to the room opened. An officer stood just outside. I would willingly go back to prison now, knowing that Sara would be safe.

  “You’re free to go, Mr. Hunter,” Avery’s father said. He extended his hand and I stared at it.

  “What?”

  “The restraining order expired last week and was never reinstated. There won’t be any charges brought against you, as Davis has already been arrested. He was intoxicated and high tonight, and it would be a matter of your word against his. You might have been merely dropping by to get a few things for your sister and were attacked.”

  He said that with a raised eyebrow, and I swallowed loudly.

  I reached out and finally took his hand.

  “Here’s my card. I’ll let you know when we are ready to move Sara. You won’t be able to see her until her treatment program is finished, so I’ll be sure you have a chance to say goodbye first.”

  I stepped out into the hall with Mr. Hartley right behind me. I half expected one of the officers we passed to grab me and haul me to a cell. But none did.

  When I turned the final corner into the lobby, I saw Avery sitting with Grant. They were both still in their dinner clothes, and they were talking quietly, heads bent together. The surge of jealousy flared hot and fast, and it took everything I had to push it back down.

  “And this is where you tell me to stay away from her, right?” I turned back to her father.

  “No. I won’t forbid her from seeing you if it’s what she wants. I’ve got to accept that she’s a grown woman.”

  I stared at him in surprise.

  “But before you go running back to her, I want you to consider something. That”—he nodded his head to where Avery was now staring at the two of us—“was a direct result of her knowing you. Caring for you. You talked about the better life your sister deserves. Think about the kind of life my daughter deserves. Is it one where she’s in danger, or is it one where she is well taken care of, like she should be?”

  He was right. My life was lying at my feet in a pile of shit. I had nothing to give her. I was nothing. She might not deserve an asshole like her ex, but she did deserve someone who could give her anything she wanted. Safety at the top of the list.

  “Give me a minute with her,” Mr. Hartley said, then walked over to Avery. I was close enough to hear what he said to her. “You accused me of not caring, but that’s the farthest thing from the truth. I’m sorry that I haven’t been the father you needed . . .”

  She gave me a small smile over his shoulder.

  I cringed when I saw the flash of pain in her eyes.

  I cataloged every single bruise, every tiny cut, the way her cheek had swollen so much that her eye was half closed. Dressed in a fancy cocktail dress with dark bruises marring her beautiful face. The contrast to her life and my life was laid out right in front of me. I couldn’t deny that her father was right.

  When she turned her face to hug him, I booked it for the doors. Yep, I was a chickenshit coward. But I knew that if I got close enough to smell her perfume, or touch her skin, I’d never be able to walk away. And I had to.

  I was out the door and halfway down the steps when I heard the voice.

  “Hey, dickhead,” Grant yelled.

  I stopped and turned around. I had nothing to say to him. He was lucky my knuckles were swollen and bruised, or I’d be tempted to punch him for what he did to Avery.

  “You’re just going to leave her there? She waited for three hours to know what was happening to you.”

  “I didn’t ask her to.”

  “Wow. That’s it? You’re just going to walk away now?” he challenged.

  I scrubbed my fingers through my hair. “You saw her. That wouldn’t have happened if she didn’t follow me. She deserves better, man.”

  “Don’t you think she should de
cide that?”

  “Why the hell do you care?” I growled. “You fucked some other chick when you were with her. Not really sure you should be dishing out Avery advice.”

  Grant cringed. “I screwed up in a big way. I know that. We’ve already talked about it, and there was never anything real between us, not romantically. You, on the other hand, have brought out a side of her I’ve never seen before. She’s happy when she’s with you, she’s alive, and now you’re just going to walk away from her.”

  His words were like a knife driving into my chest.

  “I’ve got zero to offer her. Hell, after tonight, I’m not even sure I have a job anymore. I got nothing. She deserves everything,” I said slowly.

  “If you think she wants material things, then you don’t know her at all.”

  “I know she doesn’t, asshole. But she sure as hell shouldn’t be walking around with a bruised-up face either. That’s on me.”

  “She made the choice to follow you,” he said.

  “Exactly! And look what it got her! I couldn’t keep my sister safe for years, but I’ll be damned if anything happens to Avery. I can do something about that.”

  “Fine. Go. But take it from someone who’s been there, you’re going to regret it for the rest of your life. Someone like Avery won’t come along again.”

  Grant turned around and went back inside.

  Did he think I didn’t fucking know that?

  I wanted to drive my fist into something hard so that it would hurt.

  She was already a huge part of me, and walking away was killing me.

  I drove my hands into my pockets instead and stepped onto the sidewalk. I didn’t know where I was going, I just needed to think. Make sense of everything that had happened tonight.

  Sara was finally going to be okay.

  Davis was finally going to get what he deserved.

  Things fell into place better than I could have ever hoped for.

  Except for one piece.

  Once piece that I knew would be missing for the rest of my life.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Avery

  “Hey, Avery, study group time changed,” Kayla shouted across the quad. “We’re meeting at seven in Tim’s room.”

  “Thanks!” I lifted my hand in a half wave and watched Kayla bound up the steps to Bradford Hall Law Building.

  I’d been back on campus for two months now.

  My father called in a favor and got the judge to sign off on time served after everything that had happened. His way of proving he was going to change, that he would put our relationship ahead of any campaign or electoral seat. He’d won the mayoral seat with a wide margin, so I didn’t know if the pressure was off or if he really was trying, but I had decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

  He did seem different now.

  I wanted to go back and finish my community service, but only because I wanted to see Seth. After he left the police station without telling me, I tried to call him for weeks. He never called me back. I even went to Jimmy’s when I knew he’d be working, but the girl at the bar told me Seth wasn’t there anymore.

  I had no idea where he lived, and my father would not tell me anything, citing client confidentiality. Ryan wouldn’t tell me anything either when I tried him, citing best friend obligations: Seth had made his decision and he had to respect that, even if it was a bonehead move, he had said to me on the phone, a sad note in his voice. I had no choice but to keep going and hope that Seth would finally call.

  He never did.

  I spent every afternoon for that first week after at the lake, hoping that he’d come by.

  But then my father had pulled more strings and I was reenrolled in my classes, so the days flew by as I tried to catch up on the weeks I’d missed. Plus I had several meetings with my law adviser trying to figure out what I needed to take to change my area of focus from corporate law to family law. Most of my classes counted, but there were a few specialized ones that I had to have, which would push my graduation off by one semester.

  It was totally worth it.

  My father had been weirdly okay with the change. I’d expected a fight, or at least censure about my choice, but he only nodded and said, “As long as it’s what you want.” Even my mother had pursed her lips and said nothing.

  She’d never done that before.

  So everything had fallen into place, and I should have been happy, but there was still one thing missing. One thing I couldn’t get out of my head.

  Seth.

  I went from sadness to anger to worry and back again to sadness. I hoped he was okay. I had to believe that he was. All he had wanted was for his sister to be safe. I did find out from my father that Sara was successfully admitted to an in-treatment program, and I knew that Davis skipped a trial and a judge gave him twenty years.

  For those things, I was happy for Seth.

  But if things had been settled, I couldn’t understand why he didn’t call.

  A bleak voice in the back of my head said that I hadn’t really mattered to him. I was a distraction. He’d never cared about me. But I refused to believe that. The first month after that night, I looked at the picture I’d taken at the lake, tried to find something in his eyes that said it was all just for fun. I still had the picture, refusing to let that memory go.

  Everything had happened so fast, but it was real. I know it was.

  Even though we’d had only a couple of weeks together, it felt like so much more. Days and nights added up to more than just time. I missed him. Even now, after almost two months without him, I still ached to hear his voice. When I lay in bed, I thought about him, about how much I wanted to wake up next to him again.

  Mostly, I just wanted to know that he was okay.

  That he was happy.

  And some days, I’d be walking on campus and I’d hear a guy laugh and it would sound so much like him that my pulse would leap to life. Maybe I needed more closure than a fight in a hospital hallway.

  Something I was never going to get.

  I pulled my jacket tighter against the biting wind and hurried toward the campus coffee shop. It wasn’t my normal time to stop for coffee, I usually hit it first thing in the morning, but it made no sense to go back to my apartment, then drive all the way here to meet with my study group.

  I had plenty of work to do before group, and a low-fat cappuccino sounded amazing.

  The place was hopping for a Wednesday afternoon, and I got in line.

  My phone vibrated in my purse.

  Party Friday night at Kappa house. You in? Lotsa cute guys! ;P

  Every week Shari tried to get me to go to a frat party. Said I needed to get back on the horse. I chose to commute rather than move back into the sorority house. With the classes I had to make up, I needed to study hard if I wanted to stay on track.

  I didn’t want to go to a party, but maybe it was time.

  Sure. I’ll meet you at your room at nine.

  Holy shit! Did hell freeze over? I’ve got my wingwoman back, baybee! <3

  I smiled at my phone. Maybe not ready to play wingwoman quite yet, but I couldn’t hide away in my apartment every weekend, hoping for something that would never happen. Life goes on, and I needed to go with it.

  “What can I get for you?” the barista asked. I hadn’t even noticed the line moving.

  “Low-fat cappuccino with an extra shot, please.” I handed her the money and stood to the side to wait. A guy laughed somewhere behind me and I froze. Goose bumps sprung up under my long sleeves.

  I reached for my cup and saw that my hand was shaking.

  How often did I think I heard Seth’s laugh on campus that first month? I nearly went crazy looking for him around every corner. It was never him, though. Always some other guy.

  I took a shaky breath in and blew it out slowly. There was an empty table near the window, the perfect place to hunker down and study for a few hours. I made my way toward it, and my glance slid farther into the room.
>
  People crowded the couches near the cozy fireplace, and most tables were full.

  I started to slide my bag off my shoulder when my cup slid from my numb fingers and hit the floor with a dull thud. The lid popped off and coffee splattered on my jeans, but I barely noticed. My eyes were locked on the figure sitting at a corner table. The one leaning close to a girl with short dark hair who was laughing at something he said.

  A sick feeling grew in my stomach, and I took a small step back.

  Just like the laughter, this had to be my mind playing tricks on me.

  “I’ll get that,” the barista said, coming toward me with a mop. Several curious glances were thrown my way.

  “I’m sorry,” I mumbled.

  The couple in the corner had barely moved.

  “Joe, make another cappuccino, extra shot, will ya?” the barista yelled.

  I took another step back. “That’s okay.”

  “Don’t worry about it. This happens about once a week.” She smiled and I tried to smile back, but my mouth felt frozen. It was the similarity in features, that’s all. The guy had the same color hair as Seth.

  Until he turned around.

  Oh, God.

  Seth was there.

  In the campus coffee shop.

  With a girl.

  He met my gaze, and for one small instant there was nothing there, but I saw the second he knew it was me. Familiar eyes widened. His mouth, the one that had kissed me like I was all that mattered, opened and closed. He started to push out of the chair, but I don’t know what happened next because I turned on my heels and ran for the door.

  It was a thousand times worse than walking in on Grant and that girl.

  My eyes burned, and it felt like a vise squeezed around my chest, making it next to impossible to breathe. Forget study group, I just wanted to get into my car and drive.

  Away.

  God, why did he have to be there?

  Who was she?

  A sob flew past my lips as I hurried toward the student parking lot, my stupid heeled boots making it hard to run any faster.

  “Avery.” His voice carried across the space between us, but I sped up. My heart threatened to beat right out of my chest.