Tonight has been so much fun. I have enjoyed getting to know Callie and Leighton so much this week. When I lived here with Jaxon, I was usually the only girl. The boys never had a girl stick around long enough to get to know and Molly was usually trying to stay away from her family.
“Is the room okay for Ava?” Callie finally asks, eyeing me suspiciously.
“It was beautiful. Thanks for helping Jaxon with it. Ava loves it.”
“I know you probably don’t want to talk about it, but how long are you going to stay here and what’s going on with Jaxon?” I take a deep breath and shake my head.
“I don’t really know what’s going on with us. It’s like we are both trying to avoid having that conversation. I mean, my life is in Atlanta, but after being here this week, I’m not sure I want to leave. He is so good with Ava and she adores him. It’s just hard after thinking he didn’t want her for the last few years to see him so in love with her.”
“I can’t pretend to even understand how you are feeling, but I promise if he had known about her sooner, he would have done everything he could have to find her.” I know she’s right. I have seen enough of him in this last week to know there is no way he would have not wanted her.
“Why didn’t you ever show up at Bo and Cindy’s with her? I can assure you they would have wanted to be a part of her life. I do know that for a fact,” Callie says. I have often wondered this myself. What would have happened if I had just called them or visited them?
“I don’t know. I guess I was just scared they wouldn’t want her either. After both my parents and Jaxon rejected her, I didn’t want to take the chance.”
“This is definitely changing the subject, but what is going on with Molly and her cutie boss she hasn’t been able to stay away from?” Leighton asks, pointing to a table with just the two of them sitting at. Molly has been glued to the guy since I have been here.
“I have no idea. They do look a little cozy though. All I know is he is new to town and apparently has housed our family lately,” Callie says, looking over at them sitting together at a table. “Maybe he can handle her. He seems nice.” I haven’t heard the full story on Callie and Molly and what all went down when they found out about each other, but I’m sure with Molly being involved in it, it was rough.
“Hi mommy.” Ava runs up and jumps in my lap.
“Hey baby girl, are you having fun.” She nods her head at me and smiles big, before looking over at Callie and Leighton.
“Can I go see daddy? I miss him,” she asks. Why is she asking me if she can go see Jaxon?
“Of course you can baby, just remember don’t go with anyone you don’t know.” I give her cheek a kiss and let her down and watch her run away. I look around at this big mixed up family and can’t help but be a little sad about what all I have missed with them in the past years.
“Hey, can I sit with y’all?” Molly asks, looking uncomfortable.
“Sure,” Callie says, pulling the chair out beside her. “You can fill us in on your hot boss.” Molly looks at her like she has lost her mind. “Oh come on, you have to realize how hot he is. You two seemed to be getting comfy.” Molly starts shaking her head immediately.
“He’s my boss, that’s all. Besides, I don’t date, not anymore.”
“He seems really nice. They aren’t all psychos. Maybe you should give him a chance. I would definitely say he’s interested since the entire time you have been sitting here, he hasn’t taken his eyes off of you.”
“Stop looking over there,” she whispers to Callie, who just laughs.
“Okay, so how are you liking living here again?”
“It’s okay, different, but I needed a change. Can’t say I enjoy being in that living room anymore, though,” she says, knocking the smile right off of Callie’s face. I am obviously missing out on some story now. I’ll have to ask Jaxon about that later.
A few minutes later, Collin comes over with Lucas and Ash to sit with us. I’m not sure, but I think this makes Molly blush. Maybe she does have a crush on the boss after all.
“So Lucas, what brought you to town?” Leighton asks him. I have been around this girl a good bit this week and she definitely doesn’t mind asking any questions.
“My grandfather ran the real estate agency here for years. I was working in one outside of Nashville when he decided to retire, so I thought it would be a good place we could move to and start over in a new town.” We, who is he talking about we?
“We? Are you married?” Leighton asks another inappropriate question, making Lucas choke on his drink.
“No. I was. She died a few years back.” I glance over at Molly to see her reaction and she seems as surprised as the rest of us. “We would include me and my son. He’s five. He’s staying at my parent’s this weekend.”
“You have a son?” Molly practically shouts at him, looking terrified. I guess she didn’t know that either.
“Yes, his name is Max,” he says, watching her reaction very closely. She gives a nice fake smile to him before quickly standing up, excusing herself, and walking inside the house. That’s the Molly I remember.
I turn around when I feel hands on my shoulder to find Jaxon staring down at me. “Where’s Ava?”
“I thought she was with you,” I say, quickly standing up to look around.
“I haven’t seen her in a while. The last time I did she was sitting over here in your lap,” he says.
“She asked me if she could go see you. I thought she went straight to you,” I practically scream. My heart starts beating faster as I look around for her.
“She never came to me. I have been standing in the same place this whole time. She walked by me and smiled, like she knew exactly where she was going. Maybe she’s inside with my mom.” We all head inside to look for Cindy and Ava. Cindy is standing in the kitchen washing dishes, but Ava is nowhere around.
“Hey, have you seen Ava?” Jaxon asks her quickly, looking around in the other rooms.
“I haven’t seen her in about an hour. She was outside then.”
“Jaxon, where is she?” I scream, grabbing his arm. I look in his eyes and he looks as terrified as I feel.
“We can all split up and look for her. She has to be here somewhere. Maybe she went to see the horses at the barn,” he says, trying to stay calm. “Everybody look around and we can meet back here in a few minutes.”
After thirty terrifying minutes of walking all over the Taylor’s property and screaming for Ava, we are back in the living room with no Ava. Where could she be? I sit down on the couch and can’t stop the tears from falling now. I watch Jaxon walk out of the house. Not a minute later, he comes back in with my phone in his hand.
“Call him,” he grits through his teeth. I know what he’s thinking, but there is now way Trent would have taken Ava. He would never hurt her.
I grab my phone out of his hand and scroll until I see Trent’s name. I press call and wait for him to answer.
“Maya, it’s about time. Where are you, baby?” he answers. What does he mean where am I?
“Do you have her?” I can barely get the words out through the tears.
“Do I have who? Maya, what’s going on?”
“Ava, do you have her? She’s gone. Where are you?” I ask him, actually praying he does have her so I can get to her soon.
“I don’t have Ava. I’m at Jaxon’s sitting on his front porch. I’ve been waiting here for almost two hours. I’m done with this. I want you and Ava to come home with me.”
“You’re in town?” I ask, getting Jaxon’s attention. Before I can say another thing, Jaxon has my phone to his ear.
“Where the hell are you?” he screams, turning his back to me. “No, you stay there. I will see you very soon.” He ends the call and hands me my phone. “You, stay here.” He turns around and heads to the door.
“I’m coming with you,” Brody, Collin, and Ash all say at the same time. He nods his head at them and opens the door. I run to him and grab his
arm before he gets in his truck. He turns around and looks at me, but I can’t say anything. In this moment, I have no idea what to say to him or what he is going to find when he gets there. I shake my head and throw myself in his arms.
“Hey, it’s going to be okay. We will find her,” he says, pulling back to wipe my tears with his fingers. “I promise, we will find her.” I nod my head and pull his face to mine one last time. I don’t know what is going to happen today and I don’t know where I’ll be tomorrow. I just know I needed one last kiss from him to remember.
I’m still standing in the driveway crying when I feel Callie come up behind me and hug me. “Let’s go find your baby,” she says, holding her keys in her hand. I am definitely thankful for this girl.
Jaxon
“Where are we going?” Brody asks from the passenger seat.
“My house, Trent is waiting on my front porch. I’m glad y’all came. Don’t let me kill him. I’m going to need him to tell me where my daughter is. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he happens to be in town the same time Ava goes missing.” I don’t think I would kill him, but I am so mad right now, I’m not sure. This is the man who has already stolen my wife and my daughter. I don’t know how he did it, but I will find out.
I pull into my driveway and see him sitting on the porch. I barely get my truck in drive before I am already to the porch. Brody grabs me and jerks me back before my fist can connect to Trent.
“Where is she?” I scream.
“I don’t have her. I got to town two hours ago and came straight here. I just want to see her. That’s all. I would never take her,” he says in a rush.
“You already took her and Maya. Why? How did you pull it all off and where is my daughter?”
“I didn’t take them from you. You gave them up. I took care of them because you weren’t man enough to do it,” he says coming closer to me. Brody grabs me again pulling me back.
“We can talk about the past later. Right now we need to find Ava. Trent, are you sure you don’t know where she is? It’s a little strange you show up and she disappears,” Brody calmly asks Trent, while still holding me back.
“I would never take her away from Maya.” I want to believe him. This man was my best friend for years. Some things are unforgivable though. I turn around and walk off before I put my fist in his face. I look up to see a familiar jeep pulling in. I should have known Callie wouldn’t let this go. Maya has the door open and is running to the house before Callie even gets stopped.
“Is she here?” she asks when she gets to me. I shake my head and watch her face fall.
“Maya,” Trent says behind me. Maya’s head snaps up and she looks behind me.
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know. I would never take her, you know me better than that,” Trent says, walking up to her. As soon as he steps beside me, she takes a step back and shakes her head.
“You have to find her,” she whispers to me. I nod my head and take a step closer to her, relieved that she doesn’t step back from me.
“Tell me one more time what happened the last time you saw her,” I say calmly. She nods her head and repeats everything Ava said to her.
“Why would she say she misses me? I was right there with her?” I ask out loud. Turning back around to Trent, I watch him shake his head and step back.
“I have never asked her to call me daddy,” he says. Before I can stop her, Maya steps around me to face Trent. He smiles at her and smirks at me until she starts talking.
“Why did you tell your sister we were married?” she asks him. A look of surprise crosses his face.
“I never told her we were married. I hardly ever talk to my sister, you know that. When did you talk to my sister?”
“I didn’t,” she tells him. “Molly said that Margo came to her house and told her we were married and Ava was yours. She also told her I had up and left you to run back to Jaxon. Why would she say that?” He shakes his head again and takes a step toward her. She takes another step back and hits my chest. I feel her hand come around and grab mine. If she is this scared of him, why has she been with him the past five years?
“I never told her that. I have talked to her twice in the past five years. Once was when she told me about those pictures and the other time was the night you left to come back here. I told her you were here and I was upset. That’s all I said.”
“Where is Margo now?” I ask Trent. Once he finally stops staring at Maya’s hand in mine, he looks me in the eyes.
“I guess she’s in Nashville. That’s where she was living at one time. I didn’t ask her the other night.” I notice Ash walk off to go to the truck.
My daughter is missing, and I have no idea how to find her. Some detective I am. Maya turns around in my arms and starts sobbing uncontrollably. “We have to find her,” she screams over and over.
“I issued an amber alert and called and got Margo’s tag number. I called the station here and they are looking for her car. Do you have her cell number?” Ash asks Trent. This news makes Maya cry even harder and bury her face in my neck. I wrap my arms around her and try to reassure her. Deep down, I’m about to lose it with her. Having her in my arms is the only thing keeping me sane right now.
“She wouldn’t take Ava. She has no reason to want to take her,” he says, defending his sister. As much as I hate to admit it, I agree with him, but there’s no way I’m saying it. Margo has nothing to do with Ava.
“Then you have no reason to be upset that I want to trace her phone and make sure she’s in Nashville,” Ash replies, holding out his hand. Reluctantly Trent pulls his phone out and starts going through the numbers. After calling the number out to Ash, he looks back at Maya in my arms.
“Maya, can I please talk to you.” I look straight up to the sky, because I can’t stand to watch her walk away from me to him. Her grip on me tightens before she says, “I really need my daughter right now.”
A few minutes later, Ash returns. Maya is still sobbing in my arms and Trent still looks like he just lost his best friend. “She’s in town. I sent it in and they have spotted her car in town. It’s at a hotel.”
“Why is she in town?” Trent asks. Ignoring Trent, I grab Maya’s face and with my hands and look in her eyes.
“I need you to go inside with Callie and Leighton and lock the door. We will go to town and check everything out. Keep your cell with you and I will call you as soon as we know anything. Okay.” Maya quickly shakes her head.
“I have to go, what if she has her?” Maya turns around to Trent. “Why would she want Ava?” He rolls his eyes at her and shakes his head.
“She wouldn’t take her. This is ridiculous. You should really be looking for whoever really took her,” he says to me. I almost agree with him again, but something is off about this whole situation. Why would she take her?
“I hope you’re right. Let’s go talk to your sister and then we will know for sure.” I walk Maya to the door and tell them again to stay there and not to go anywhere.
“I’ll follow you guys,” Trent says, heading to his truck.
“Why don’t you ride with us,” I suggest, watching him break out in a sweat.
“That’s okay. I can see Maya isn’t ready to talk to me yet. I’ll get out of your way as soon as we see my sister hasn’t done anything.”
“Really?” I ask. “You have been calling her nonstop for the past week, but now all of a sudden you don’t want to talk to her. Get in the truck, Trent. We need to have a little chat.”
Reluctantly, he follows us to my truck and gets in. I can see him in rearview mirror staring down. He is texting somebody and his face is breaking out in sweat again. I’m good enough at my job to know he is up to something. I floor the gas and hope I can get to that hotel before he can warn her to get out. I hear Brody on the phone with Mrs. Barbara at the hotel asking what room number Margo is in.
“She said she couldn’t tell me. I don’t know how we are going to able to find her with
out a warrant,” he says quickly. I know he’s lying. Mrs. Barbara would do anything for Brody. He has the number, he just doesn’t want Trent to know. I look in the mirror again to see a relieved look on Trent’s face. Why would he get his sister to kidnap Ava?
As soon as we pull up to the hotel, we are all out of the truck in seconds.
“Why don’t I just text her and have her come down here to talk to us. I’m sure she has a good reason to be here,” Trent says.
“Or we could just go to her room,” Brody says, heading inside. He walks straight up the stairs and stops at room fourteen. Instead of knocking, he knocks the door off the hinges. Before I realize what is happening, Trent is in the room with Ava in his arms. Thankfully she’s asleep.
“What are you doing, Trent? Give me my daughter,” I say quietly. I know this is not going to go well, but I also know I want Ava to stay asleep until I can put her in Maya’s arms.
“You don’t deserve her. If you really wanted her, you would have found her when you saw her picture. How could you look at that and not want her?”
“I do want her. I didn’t know about her until a week ago. There is no way you are taking her from me. Give her to me now,” I say.
“What are you doing?” Maya asks, coming into the room. I should have known she wouldn’t listen to me. She turns to Margo who is sitting in the corner with her eyes wide. “Margo, why would you do this?”
“Let’s go Maya,” Trent says. He pulls a gun out of his back pocket before he walks over to his sister and asks for her keys. Why did we all leave our guns at home? She gives him her keys and he moves Ava to one arm, holding the gun with the other one.
“Give her to me,” Maya walks over to him and demands. I try to grab her arm to pull her back, but he is quicker. He grabs her and twists her, pointing the gun at her.
“I told you if you were stupid and stayed here, I would come get you. Now we are going to go home and you are never taking Ava away from me again. Do you understand?” he asks.
“Please, let me hold her. I’ll go with you wherever you want to go, but please let me hold her,” Maya sobs.
Forgiving You: A Switched Series Novella (The Switched Series Book 3) Page 8