Page 4 of Just One Chance
Ha.Avery and every newscaster in all of Charleston. “I’ll definitely let you know.”
***
Melba was sitting in a rocking chair on Avery’s front porch when she finally made it home, Jasper sitting contentedly in her lap. “Well?” she asked, not even bothering to offer a greeting.
“Well, what?” Avery said.
“Did you get the dirt on the new guy?”
“What dirt? Seriously, Melba. Why does it have to be dirt? You watch too many soap operas.”
“I’m just curious, that’s all,” she said, though she didn’t sound at all defensive. Melba was nothing if not self-aware. “A new guy moved in on my street. I’m entitled to know a little bit about him.”
Avery unlocked her front door. “I don’t know anything more than you do. He works at MUSC. He’s from Chicago. He’s super smart, apparently, some sort of child prodigy who went to college at sixteen, but otherwise, he seems like a pretty normal guy.”
“Who knows nothing about hurricanes or living at the beach.”
“You’re the one who told me to go easy on him,” Avery said. “Not everyone has our good fortune.” That was maybe an understatement. Avery knew how lucky she was. The only reason she could manage to live beachfront right outside of Charleston was because her family had owned land on Sullivan’s Island for more than a century. Her house had belonged to her grandmother, then to her parents, and now it was hers. Fully paid for, which was good because the taxes alone almost felt like a mortgage payment.
“True enough,” Melba said, standing up from the rocker. “Hey, did I see that old boyfriend of yours hanging around here the other day?”
Avery tensed. Battling about Tucker was not something she currently felt up to. “It’s not a big deal, Melba. He just stopped by to say hello.”
“Avery Grace, don’t make me call your mama. That boy is trouble and you know it.”
Avery was tempted to roll her eyes, but she couldn’t exactly fault Melba her reaction. When Tucker had broken Avery’s heart a year before in the worst possible way, Melba had been her soft place to land. Avery had cried more than a few tears curled up on Melba’s couch, Jasper snuggled beside her.
“It’s not like that,” Avery said. “We’ve been texting a little, just here and there, and he said he was in the neighborhood, so he stopped by. It’s not a big deal.”
Melba snorted. “In the neighborhood? Who else does he know that lives on the island? Nobody drives out here unless they’re visiting here. You mark my words, sweetheart, he’s after something.”
Avery stepped to Melba’s side and kissed the side of her head, giving her shoulders an affectionate squeeze. “Thanks for looking out for me, Mel. I promise he was just being nice, but I’ll be careful. You don’t need to worry about me.” Even as Avery placated Melba, a small niggling of doubt tickled the back of her mind. Ithadbeen strange when Tucker texted her a few weeks before, and even stranger when he’d shown up at her house all full of charm and compliments. She hadn’t seen him in almost a year. For him to drop in unannounced on a Sunday afternoon was . . . unexpected. If he wanted to see her, why hadn’t he called? Or even just texted? His only explanation had been that he’d been in the neighborhood and wanted to say hi.
Avery knew Tucker’s facial expressions, though. And the intensity in his eyes had said a lot more than just hi.
Avery pushed her door open and set her groceries on the floor inside. “You want to come in?” she asked Melba. “I’m cooking. You can eat with me if you want.”
“Naw, it’s too hot for cooking. Jasper and I will have sandwiches for dinner and then wine for dessert.”
“Please don’t give your dog wine, Melba.”
Melba left Avery’s porch, raising a hand and waving her fingers over her shoulder without turning back. “What you don’t know doesn’t hurt you,” she sing-songed as she walked away.
Avery shook her head, finally pushing into the cool interior of her home. Most of the year, she hardly needed to use the central heating and air. The temperatures stayed mild enough she could open her windows to the ocean breeze and count herself lucky that her power bill was so low. But once June hit, she sealed her house up tight and relished in the cold, crisp glory of a fully air-conditioned home. She loved her Southern heritage. But full summer heat and humidity without air conditioning? No amount of Southern pride was worth that nonsense.
As she unloaded her groceries, Avery’s phone pinged with an incoming text.
From Tucker.
Have dinner with me?The text read.I’ll bring over some take-out and we can eat at your place.
Avery reached for her phone and stared at the screen, her hand trembling as she thought about what to say.
Did she want to see Tucker again? Have dinner with him again?
Tucker had broken her in ways that had done long term damage. She’d been ready to commit, dive headfirst into a springtime beachside wedding with a dozen bridesmaids and a yacht club reception when he’d dumped her completely out of the blue, saying he just wasn’t ready to settle down. Avery suspected what he really meant was he wasn’t ready to settle down withher.She didn’t exactly fit the mold of a proper Charleston attorney’s wife, and Tucker’s family was the kind of family that definitely cared about being proper. His mother had never really loved his relationship with Avery. When they broke up, she’d figured she’d finally gotten through to Tucker that Avery just wouldn’t do. Not if he wanted to actually be somebody in the circles that mattered.
Avery had never cared about fitting into anybody’s circle. And maybe that was the problem.
