Because Forever (The Avenue Book 2)

by B. Cranford

  Then, she’d slid into place and asked one of the waitresses to tell Ashton and the others to come sit with her.

  It worked, and what followed was a night of drinks—the non-alcoholic kind for pregnant Ashton—and laughs until the front doors were locked and the last patrons escorted to cabs and Ubers out front.

  “Oh, no reason,” Aaron finally replied, looking away from his sister and out the front window.

  “Um, there clearly was a reason. And where’s Simon?” Ashton pressed her brother, which suited Odie. She could tell that Aaron, who she’d never known very well, but liked nonetheless, was holding something back.

  But what?

  “He’s out of town. Work, you know, stuff.”

  Odie fought the urge to scoff at the terrible, evasive answer. And then decided that, nah, she was going to go for it. “For a lawyer, you’re a really bad liar, Aaron.”

  “Burn,” Ashton giggled into her drink. “Can you get drunk on soda? I feel giddy.”

  “Sugar high. Though, I’d have thought you’d have built up an immunity after all the ‘pregnancy’ cravings you’ve been having.”

  Ashton glared at Andrew, who’d put exaggerated quotation marks around “pregnancy”, making it clear he didn’t believe it was all cravings.

  Which, Odie knew to be true. Ashton had confided in her that she was enjoying having her man at her beck and call—and the age-old excuse of “eating for two” to cover her sweet tooth.

  “Cravings I am honored to fulfill, my love,” Andrew said, kissing his girl and winking at Odie, making her giggle into her own drink. “But Odie’s right, A. You’re not normally a bad liar, so what gives?”

  “Just because I’m a lawyer, doesn’t make me gifted at lying. Don’t stereotype.”

  “Then don’t deflect.”

  “I’m not deflecting. I’m just . . . standing up for my people.”

  “Your people,” Andrew scoffed, “yeah, okay. Seriously, bro. What the hell’s going on?”

  The thought that occurred to Odie seemed to occur to Ashton at the same time—Odie watched as her friend’s body stiffened, her eyes locking on her brother’s, before voicing the thought that was circling in Odie’s mind. “You two, you’re not–not in trouble, are you?”

  “What? No. No!” Aaron reached over the table for his sister’s hand, grabbing it and taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Little. I promise, Simon and I are fine.”

  “Okay, but to be clear, if you’re not, I get him in the divorce.” Ashton smiled a watery smile at Aaron, the sight of the tears in her eyes making Odie smile and ache all at once.

  On the one hand, of course her pregnant, hormonal friend was on the verge of tears.

  On the other, the idea of anything happening to their family—which included Simon, who’d been with Aaron for more than fifteen years—hit Odie square in the chest, too. The Andrews’ siblings had been through enough already.

  “Of course, but that means I get Dunk if you two break up, you know.”

  “Not happening, man. Never happening.” Andrew’s words were steady and sure, and said while he had his eyes on Ashton, the love he felt for her clear.

  God, this is what I want.

  With Austin. This is what I want.

  The thought might have scared her on any other day, but not anymore.

  They were all-in. If things went the way she wanted—expected—them, too, then she’d have it.

  Soon.

  “Okay, so you and Simon aren’t breaking up, thank you baby Jesus. So, again, why are we all here?” Ashton asked, after a visible swallow, which Odie assumed was to rein in the hormones.

  “Aside from the fact I have barely seen you for weeks—especially since you two moved into your new place—I have some maybe-news.”

  “What’s maybe-news?” Odie couldn’t help the question, because it seemed like maybe it was a thing that brother and sister shared. An inside joke of sorts.

  “When something is in the cards, but not definite. Like, when I was offered that promotion last year—did Aussie tell you?”

  Odie nodded at Aaron, remembering Austin’s pride that his brother had been offered a partnership at the law practice where he worked. “He did.”

  “Right, so, it was a known secret around the office for a week or so before they officially made the offer—so when I told Austin and Ashton about it, it wasn’t official news yet.”

  “It was maybe news,” Odie said, nodding her understanding. “Got it.”

  “And now, I have more maybe-news. But it involves Simon.”

  “He’s pregnant?” Austin walked up to the table, his ridiculous guess making all four of them laugh, the odd tension breaking for the moment. “Get out, big brother, and let me sit next to my girl.”

  Aaron obliged, pulling over a chair from a nearby table to sit at the head of the table, while Austin put an arm over Odie’s shoulders, drawing her closer to him. “Hey, Garfield. Good night?”

  She kissed his cheek, in the place where his smile made little ripples. “Uh huh. I had fun.”

  “But you didn’t get to see me man the bar.” He pouted at her, his happiness over her bonding with his family in a new way clear through his teasing.

  “Another time, babe.”

  “Sounds good,” he replied, before turning to his brother and picking the conversation back up where it had been. “So, maybe-news?”

  “Simon’s cousin, Kendra, passed away a couple of days ago.” Silence descended, everyone taking a moment to grieve for a person that they’d probably barely known—Odie had never met her, but she assumed that maybe Ashton and Austin had at some family event or another—before waiting for Aaron to continue. “Car accident. She was a single mom, and she left—”

  “Aaron?” Ashton reached out a hand to grip her brother’s, which was fisted on the table.

  “Sorry. She left a will, and in it, she said she wanted Simon to have custody of her son.” Aaron blinked a few times, and Odie’s heart lurched.

  A little boy. Who’d just lost his mother.

  Yes, the circumstances were greatly different than the ones in which Austin and his siblings had lost their very-much-alive mother—who’d disowned all three of them—but Odie couldn’t help but assume that the emotions swirling within Aaron were bringing up old memories and feelings.

  “The boy’s father wants to fight for custody, but he’s got a bad record. Domestic assault, drugs. It’s not–he’s not going to win, but still Simon’s gone out to Arizona to find out what’s happening, to see what he can do.”

  “Where’s the boy–what’s his name?” Andrew asked, a hitch in his voice revealing that his own memories were at the forefront of his mind.

  “Finn. His name is Finn. And fuck, he’s the cutest thing. He’s only four.” Aaron pulled his phone from his pocket, swiping the screen and turning it around so they could all look at the image there.

  An adorable little boy, his black hair cropped close to his head, a neat plaid shirt buttoned all the way to the top, a bright smile showing all his teeth, and a little gap between the front two, which made Odie smile.

  “Are you going to–you’re not there. Why?” It was Austin who asked, but neither Ashton nor Andrew gave any indication they thought the question odd.

  “I’m going tomorrow. I had to wrap up a few things at work, then I’m taking a week off to go out there. I wanted to tell you before I left but”—he smiled sadly as he slid his phone away, having taken one last look at the photo on the screen before he did so—“we were having fun, you know? It was nice, to have that break.”

  Ashton stood, Andrew’s hand on her ass the only indication that she’d needed a little guidance to find her feet past her ever-expanding belly. She leaned down to her oldest brother and pressed her lips to his temple, before saying, loud enough for all of them to hear, “You’re the best man I know, aside from Simon, and you deserve your fun. Tomorrow you’ll go and be the husband Simon needs, and bring that little man home to us
all, okay?”

  Aaron nodded, standing to loop his arms around his sister.

  Odie watched with her heart in her throat as Austin stood, moving in on his siblings, wrapping his brother and sister up in a group hug. Andrew watched too, opposite her in the booth, a look in his eyes that Odie expected was reflected in her own.

  Love. Mixed with a little heartache.

  Chapter Nine

  Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

  Odette came awake to the sound of her phone vibrating on the table beside her bed. Her mind was a little foggy—although the memory of Austin walking her to her door and kissing her forehead goodnight, with a promise that the wooing would begin in earnest the following day, was clear as day. Rolling over to see who was messaging her so early, she frowned at what she saw on the screen.

  TM.App: Welcome to TrueMates, Lasagna Lover!

  TM.App: You’ve made your first match!

  TM.App: Log in to see if CrocMan is your True Mate™!

  She stared at the message for a moment, wondering if she’d had more wine than she’d thought. But no—she’d stopped after one glass, enjoying the time spent with Austin’s family while he worked the bar. Besides, not even drunk, single Odie would consider signing up for a dating service. And though she was technically still single, she and Austin had a plan.

  She and Austin had a plan . . . Lasagna Lover . . . CrocMan . . .

  “Oh, for crying out—” She swiped open her phone, ignoring the messages from the new app that she definitely hadn’t downloaded and brought up Austin’s details.

  It only rang once before his throaty, early-morning voice greeted her. “Hey, Garfield. Couldn’t sleep without my arm poking you, huh?”

  “Good morning, CrocMan, how was your evening after we said goodnight?”

  “It wasn’t me,” he said, the note of innocence that he’d threaded into his voice not fooling her for one second.

  “Uh huh, and yet, you seem to know what I’m talking about. How’s that?”

  “Would you look at the time? I gotta go, babe. See you later!”

  “Wait, Aus—” He’d hung up before she’d even finished saying his name, and she laughed at her ceiling, lay back on her bed and decided that, what the hell, she was going to play along.

  Opening the TrueMates app that she assumed Austin had downloaded the previous day when he’d borrowed her phone, she checked out the profile he’d created for her first.

  Name: Garfield Arbuckle

  Age: Old enough to know better, young enough not to care

  Loves: Lasagna, Crocodile Dundee, Blonde Curls, Not Red Wine

  Looking For: An Aussie who’s not, Forever

  “Oh, Aussie,” she laughed, enjoying the little notes he’d added to ensure that only he could match her—from what she could tell of the app, they had to have an 87.5% match rate or higher to be able to share messages.

  Shockingly, her match rate with CrocMan was 100%.

  Hmm, I wonder how that happened?

  After checking out the photos Austin had added to her profile and his, she tapped the message icon that displayed a little pink ‘1’ in the corner. The message was short but to the point.

  CrocMan: I’d love to share a plate of lasagna with you and talk about forever . . .

  God, he made her laugh. Enjoying what she could only assume was Wooing: Part One, she tapped out a reply.

  Lasagna Lover: I don’t share Italian food.

  The response she got was so fast, she knew he must have been waiting since he’d hung up for her to contact him.

  CrocMan: That’s okay. What about forever? Are you looking to share that?

  Lasagna Lover: You know, I might be. But I’d need to know more about you first, CrocMan.

  CrocMan: That could be arranged. Brunch, perhaps?

  Lasagna Lover: I love brunch.

  CrocMan: Funny, me too. Just another reason we’re TrueMates, Garfield.

  Lasagna Lover: Are we on a first name basis already, Mick?

  CrocMan: If we aren’t, how about you meet me at the bakery on Main, and we’ll get there together?

  Lasagna Lover: Get where?

  CrocMan: Wherever you want, babe. Wherever you want.

  Odie’s grin was so wide as she replied with a time to meet that she thought it might split her face. Of course he wouldn’t just ask her on a date in a regular way—Austin would always do something that would amuse her first, if he could.

  After all, he’d been making her laugh for twenty-five years already. Why stop now?

  Rolling out of bed, she headed first to the bathroom to shower and brush her teeth, then got dressed and ready to go with time to spare.

  Yeah, she definitely wasn’t high maintenance when it came to getting ready.

  Unsure of what to do with the time before she was meeting CrocMan for their first date, she grabbed her iPad and checked to see if her mom was online for a chat.

  She was.

  “Hi Mom.”

  “Hey, sweetie, what are you calling so early on a Sunday for?” Her mom’s smile was familiar—it was the same one Odie saw in the mirror every day, so alike they were. “Is everything okay?”

  Odie hesitated for a moment, not sure whether to tell her mom about Austin or not, before the decision became an easy one. Of course she was going to tell her mom—she told her mom everything. “I have a date for brunch this morning. But I’m ready early and I”—she shrugged—“just wanted to say hi.”

  “A date? Anyone I know?” Her mom asked that same question any time Odie mentioned the opposite sex, but usually the answer was no.

  Not today though.

  “Yes. Austin.”

  “Ooh!” Her mom’s face lit up, her excitement clear. It was entirely possible that Karen Peterson had been waiting a good two decades for Odie and Aussie to get themselves sorted out. “A real date, sweetie?”

  “A real date. We, ahh . . .”

  “So, you forgave him for overreacting about that Subway Man?”

  The “Subway Man” was what her mom called Meatball McGee—who’d earned his nickname not, surprisingly, because he was a gym-junkie and a bit of a meathead, but because he and his twin brother owned a series of Subway restaurants. His brother, Matt, was known as Turkey.

  Yes, they were nicknamed after their favorite subs.

  Yes, that was one of the things she’d found out on her one and only date with Meatball.

  No, she was never eating Subway again.

  Well, maybe the cookies. But definitely not the sandwiches.

  “We talked, a couple nights ago. And yeah, I forgave him—once he apologized.” She’d explained the sordid story and the subsequent weeks of not-talking to her mom already, and her mom had been firmly Team Aussie, which would have pissed Odie off but for the fact that Austin was practically family.

  After all, when his own family had fallen to pieces, it was Odie’s who’d picked him up and helped put him back together.

  “Good, good. Oh, finally—” Her mom abruptly stopped talking, looking over her shoulder at something.

  “Mom?”

  “Oh sorry, sweetie! Your dad is here. Wanna say hi?”

  “Hi pumpkin,” her dad greeted, before Odie even had a chance to reply to her mom.

  “Hi Dad.”

  “You’re dating the Andrews boy? After all this time?”

  “Dad, we—”

  “Remind him that I know where he lives,” he threatened, the twinkling in his eyes giving away the fact that he, like her mom, was happy with this new development.

  “Except you don’t,” Odie couldn’t help but point out. “Since he’s been living in Madison for years.”

  “Well, then, I can find out easily enough. Or I can come to that bar of his.”

  “Right, good point. Thanks, Dad. I’ll make sure he knows.”

  “Good, good. Now, pumpkin, I have to go but be nice to the boy, okay? He’s been waiting years for this chance.”

  He disappeared from the screen w
hile Odie was still processing the idea that her father had seen that Austin wanted to be more than friends with her when she’d missed it. In his place, her parents’ dog, a little black Pomeranian named Wilbur, filled the screen.

  “Mom, you need a haircut,” Odie said dryly, reaching out as if to touch him, unable to resist the urge to snuggle the little floofball, who was panting happily.

  Wilbur was replaced by her mom again, who was laughing at Odie’s joke, but sobered quickly when it was clear Odie was waiting for something more. “Are you happy, sweet girl? Is seeing Austin what you want?”

  “Yeah. I mean, part of me worries it won’t work out, but . . .”

  “You can’t predict the outcome but I will say this—there are no two people in this world better suited than you and Aussie. Your dad and I have known it for a lot of years. And now you just have to believe in it, and give it the best possible chance. Worrying about what ifs and assuming it’s all going to fall apart? That does nothing except guarantee that that is exactly what will happen.”

  Odie nodded. “I know. I can’t quite seem to stop the part of me that wants to hold back a little, just in case. But . . . I do know.”

  “There’s a difference between taking it slowly and holding back, just remember that. And it’s okay to want to be sure before diving headfirst into the deep end. Remember that, too.” She knew her mom was right—but she had needed to hear it.

  What she didn’t need to hear was, “Bring him out for dinner soon. It’s been too long since we’ve seen him and now he’s your boyfriend, we have to meet him officially.”

  “Mom, you’ve known him since he was a kid.”

  “Not as your boyfriend.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend,” Odie muttered mutinously, knowing she was hanging onto the details—maybe she was anti-semantics like Ashton?

  “Maybe not yet, if this is your ‘first’ date,” her mother replied, her hands raised to make quotations around first to illustrate her skepticism, “but he will be. And besides, we miss him.”

  Buzz. Buzz. Odie’s phone vibrated beside her, giving her the perfect excuse to say goodbye, which she did with blown kisses and promises to yes, bring Aussie out to her parents’ place just as soon as she could arrange it.