Page 12 of Edge of Desire

Suddenly, I heard this soft voice ask, “Can I help you?”

“Awwhk!” I wasn’t expecting that thing to talk.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry about that. You scared me is all. Anyhoo, I’m Avery Middleton. Is this the Middleton residence?”

“Justin’s sister, Avery?”

“The one and only.”

“What a surprise. Come in, please.”

Did I imagine shock in her voice or was it just plain old surprise? Let’s find out, then, shall we?

The gate slid open, so I mustered up my courage and waddled through it.

This place was amazing. Grand, huge, unreal. Not really the Justin I knew, but oh well. I huffed my way up the circular driveway, which wasn’t exactly short, and then up the steps to the front double doors. Charleston was a flat city with no hills in sight, unlike Seattle. I wasn’t used to all the climbing up and up. I reached out to ring the bell when the door was opened by a tiny blonde-haired woman. She was shorter and way thinner too. Well, let’s be honest. Everyone was way thinner than me these days. But she was super tiny, and I was super jealous.

I was still catching my breath when I bellowed, “Hi!” Did my booming voice just echo throughout the whole house? I never really thought I had a booming voice before. “I’m Avery. But lots of people call me Ava. But that’s back in Charleston because my grandmother is also Avery. She’s Big Avery and I’m Little Avery. Well, I’m not so little anymore.” I bent my head in and kind of whispered that part. I’m not sure why because it wasn’t like it was exactly a secret or anything. “Actually, we should probably change it to Big Avery and Extra-Large Avery. That would be more appropriate, I think. But, as I was saying, back in Charleston, lots of people call me Ava so as not to get us confused. Now that I’m in Seattle, I’m thinking about dropping the Ava and just going with Avery. What do you think?”

I finally took a good look at her, and her brows were all scrunched up as she gaped at me like a goldfish that had been tossed out of its bowl. Jeez, why did I ramble like that and not introduce myself like a normal person?

I stiffened my spine and raised myself up to my full height. “Well, you must be Caroline and I can’t tell you how pleased I am to meet you. I am so excited for you and Justin. Please forgive me, but if the truth be told, I’m super nervous about being here because it’s been a long time since I’ve seen Justin, and well, I just don’t know if he’ll even want to see me. And I’ve never met you and you know how that goes. I didn’t want you to hate me or anything. But I thought I’d stop by to visit you because …” I spread my arms out wide and sang, “Tada,” and then I made a comical face. “I’ve taken a job with SoftwarePlus and I’m relocating to Seattle. I’ve already started work this week. I got here on Monday, but I’ve been so busy I haven’t had time to call. Well, that’s not quite true. I was nervous about calling. I didn’t know if you’d even want to meet me or if Justin would want to see me. So, if either of you don’t, I can go. I’ll understand.” I made my funny face again.

What was it with these dorky faces I was making?

I was met with another odd look. Her brows were still scrunched but now her mouth had done it too. She stayed like that and maybe that expression had implanted there. One thing was sure—it wasn’t budging. Maybe it was there for life. Well, I wasn’t stupid. I could take a hint. She wanted me in her home about as much as she wanted a million fleas. Anyone who’s ever had a flea infestation knows exactly what I’m talking about.

“Okay, then. I guess that about wraps it up here. Will you tell Justin I said hey?” I patted her on her tiny shoulder right before I turned and shuffled down the steps, trying my best not to cry. I really didn’t know where the double hell I was. Should I go right or left? Did it matter? I just needed to get away from here because I didn’t want to wait for an Uber in front of their house. I made an instant decision and went left. I pushed my way through the exit gate and kept on going. A mere moment later, I was out of breath, huffing my way down the street. That’s what happens when you’re Extra-Large Avery. You can’t even run a half of a block before you feel like someone stole all your oxygen. And then the dreaded side stitch attacked. I bent in half, wheezing and trying to get rid of it. Jeez, I really needed to do something about this, because this was ridiculous. What if a murderer was chasing me? I may as well just open my arms and hug him for all the good my running away did.

Then I heard her call out, “Avery. Wait. Don’t go!”

I would’ve said something back, but I couldn’t spare any air, so I raised my arm instead.

She grabbed it and pulled me back toward the house, with me still bent over at the waist, trying to breathe. Of course, with me being Extra-Large Avery and her being Super Tiny Caroline, she didn’t pull me too far. When I was able to breathe again, I looked up, and well, I’ll be. I thought I had run so far, but it was only a few feet past the gate. What a loser.

And then she spoke. “I’m sorry you misunderstood. I was trying to process everything you said. Of course, we want to see you. And my word, Justin will be so happy to see his only sister. I can’t wait to see his face when he sees you!”

Finally, my lungs were able to work semi-properly again. “Really? You wouldn’t just be saying that, would you?” I gasped, still somewhat desperate for air.

“No, come on. He’s home now.”

“He is?” I was suddenly overwhelmed with an extraordinary case of nerves, so much so that my stomach started to rebel and began to make all sorts of odd noises.

Caroline looked at me and asked, “Are you okay?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Come on. There’s a bathroom right inside, just in case.” We headed back to the house.

She still held my arm and took me through the house that kept going and going. We finally ended up in a room with a humongous TV and there stood Justin talking with another man.

“Honey, look who’s here,” Caroline announced.

Justin turned around and so did the other man. I tried to give him a quick glance, but sweet heavens, he was really something. I forced myself to look away and focus on Justin, but he had this horrible expression on his face.

“Justin?” I half smiled. I couldn’t figure it out. I mean, yeah, I was a bit hefty, but was I that offensive looking?

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