Page 10 of The Comeback

I laugh. “Thanks, Gab.” I settle back in my seat, pulling my list toward me. “Let’s get to work double-checking your guest list. Invites are going out next week.”

Gabriella squints at me but dutifully pulls out her laptop. I push away all the lingering feelings from Kristen’s call. I have to get everything absolutely right for this wedding. My job might be hanging on it.

CHAPTER 7

JETT

I stop by Jenna and Devin’s house Monday night on my way home. I didn’t make the family dinner last Thursday. (I really did try to get there on time, but an accident on Highway 90 turned me being slightly late after training into way too late.) Weekends are my busiest days, so this is the first chance I’ve had to see my family in almost a week. My phone buzzes with a text from Hayden as I head up the sidewalk. We’ve been texting off and on since the charity game—silly bets about one thing or another as she tries to win back the twenty she lost from me last Thursday. I don’t pause to respond—I want to give my attention to Hayden when I do, and I’ll give my family my attention when I’m with them. I’ve enjoyed Hayden’s texting and flirting, and Claire’s over the moon about it. Like Hayden predicted, the picture she posted of us got a ton of engagement, and my agent has texted several times to applaud me over this development. Maybe I should call and ask Hayden out; I’ll ask Jenna what she thinks.

I knock on the door and hear Jenna’s grandma Miss Maggie call for me to come in. The house is quiet as I step inside, and Miss Maggie is sitting in a recliner, reading. The kids must be in bed.

“Hello, Miss Maggie.”

She smiles as she puts aside her book and adjusts the recliner to put the footrest down, leaning forward for me to approach her and kiss her cheek. Jenna and Devin have the only grandkids between our two families, so we all spend a lot of time together. Miss Maggie is one of my favorite people to talk to.

“Evening, Jett. Perfect timing to keep me company. Jenna and Devin are at the storage unit,” she says.

I chuckle. After watching Jenna’s kids, Miss Maggie was probably looking forward to some quiet time, but I’m not sorry to find her alone. I should go help Jenna and Devin unload Miss Maggie’s stuff at the storage unit, but I’d rather visit with her.

“How are you?” she asks. “You look exhausted.”

I sit down on the couch next to her recliner. “Practice was intense today.”

“And you haven’t been sleeping.” She raises her eyebrows and then pats a finger gently under one of her own eyes. “Bags like you’re taking a six-month vacation, honey,” she says.

I shrug. I don’t want to admit that Ava is still on my mind, despite whatever’s going on with Hayden. Miss Maggie’s words make me think of something similar that Coach said a couple weeks after Ava left—I was dragging; I looked dead on my feet. Luckily she’d waited until the end of the season to leave, but the minute Coach said something, I made sure to turn things around ASAP.

Despite my lack of response, Miss Maggie says softly, “Jenna told me about Ava.” She reaches over and pats my hand where I’m resting it on the arm of the couch.

I draw in a long breath. “That was years ago. Seeing her again threw me for a loop, but it’s okay.”

Miss Maggie raises her eyebrows again but doesn’t say anything. I hate the silence she lets settle between us, so when a few seconds pass that feel like much longer, I can’t help that something spills out. Despite Jenna, Devin, and my parents all confronting me with similar things, I want to confide in Miss Maggie.

“I didn’t expect to still feel so angry with her.”

“Oh.” Miss Maggie lets out a soft puff of breath with this. “Did you do a good job of grieving the first time around?” she asks.

I shrug again. After Ava left, I pushed every thought I could away. I pretended I was over it quickly. I threw myself into workouts even though it was the offseason, and I buried myself in homework and the job I’d gotten to help Ava pay for everything. I made sure I had no spare minutes to think about her.

“Probably not,” I admit.

Miss Maggie nods. “Well, maybe this is your chance then.” She leans into the arm of the couch, studying me. “It’s okay to be angry about what happened. You were engaged. That’s a serious relationship to lose.”

I scoff. “After seven years? Shouldn’t it be about time I let it go?”

“Not if you never let yourself feel it in the first place.” She eyes me sternly.

I have to laugh at that. “I definitely felt the anger.” Anger at Ava fueled so many workouts that my coach noted my increased strength right away.

Miss Maggie leans back in her recliner, her expression thoughtful, the picture of a wise therapist, her credentials coming from years of experience. “And then I bet you said, ‘Enough. Time to move on and that’s that’?” I don’t have to answer for her to know that’s exactly what I did. Like I said, I’ve known Miss Maggie a long time. “Why are you angry, Jett?” she asks.

I clench my jaw, letting the hopelessness wash over me, but I can’t articulate anything beyond a simple “She left.”

“You need to look at it from a distance. You can’t let go of all this anger if you can’t separate yourself from it.” She pushes herself out of her recliner, thankfully not making me process my emotions right in front of her. But maybe lying down on the couch and spilling my guts to Miss Maggie would be a good thing.

“I made some cheesecake yesterday,” she says. “Let’s have some. Sugar always helps.”

I chuckle and stand. She doesn’t need it, but I take her arm anyway and walk with her into the kitchen. I’d rather keep on ignoring Ava every way I can, but Miss Maggie is probably right about me packing away my emotions for too long.

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