Page 21 of Where Are You Now
“Great. See you tomorrow at ten.”
He stood and walked her into the hallway. “The exit is just down there and to the right. You’ll see the sign.”
“Okay.”
He gazed at her, and when he did, she could almost swear he had the same sadness that she’d seen that day in the tree before he moved.
“It’s good to see you,” he said, something lingering behind his words that she couldn’t decipher.
“You too.”
“Catch you tomorrow.”
She turned around and walked down the hallway, every nerve in her body on alert. While Ava knew they’d both built their own lives and were two very different people as adults, something strange came over her that she wasn’t able to define. She couldn’t wait to see her old friend again tomorrow.
She went to the desk to be sure she didn’t need to do anything to check out and then greeted her mom in the corner, who was stitching a couple of quilt squares.
“I’m up for coffee today. Want to get some?” Ava asked her.
Martha threaded the needle through the fabric, folded it, and slipped it into her bag. “Of course. I’d love to.”
“I’ve got a lot to tell you.”
Over coffee at The Pink Mug, Ava told her mother about her testing with Lucas and how well she’d scored.
“So I’m fine so far, cognitively—above average.”
“That’s wonderful.” Her mother lifted her latte to her lips, but her questions about Lucas were evident in her loaded look.
“If there’s nothing wrong with me, then we can assume I actually heard the voice that told me to find Lucas.”
Her mom frowned, three lines of confusion showing between her brows. “It’s quite a coincidence he’s here, but you said yourself that he might have come back to visit family. After all, you did the same thing. Anything more than that just seems so far-fetched. You can understand my view of it, can’t you?”
“Absolutely. But isn’t it far-fetched for him to treat me as my doctor in New York after I had a voice tell me to find him, and then when we get to Nashville,he’sthe one doing my testing?”
“It is, indeed, some coincidence—as I said.”
“It’s even crazier than hearing a voice, that’s for sure.” Disappointment over her mother’s lack of belief in her experience slipped out in Ava’s tone.
“What are you trying to say?”
Ava sipped her maple pumpkin chai latte, disturbing the heart the barista had drawn in the top. “I know you requested these tests because you think I’m having some sort of breakdown, but I’m not. I’m telling you, something happened while I was unconscious.”
Her mother’s cheeks reddened.
“I’m not trying to be obstinate, but I also trust that my experience was real.” Ava waved a hand through the air. “Maybe this isn’t all there is. Maybe I wasmeantto findLucas.”
“Well, now you’ve found him, so you can relax.” Her mother smiled cautiously.
Ava had considered that herself, and she was glad. But the thought of having only one more day with her childhood best friend bothered her. Surely there must have been a reason she needed to find him?
Ava wasn’tsure if it had been the adrenaline from seeing Lucas, but she felt incredibly well when she got home. She’d logged in to her work system and checked the status of the Coleman Media account. Sure enough, it had all been signed off by Scott.
Wait a minute.
He’d also posted four more status updates and all four were forheraccounts. Had Scott been designated as her sole replacement for all her reports while she was away? No one else had posted any updates. He’d devoured her list like a praying mantis.
Just great.
