Page 31 of Someone to Hold
I choke out a laugh as I awkwardly climb in after stowing the crutches. “Since when?”
“Not for this kind of girly stuff,” she says asshe fastens her seatbelt. “What’s the point? Jon and I have been dating forever, and we’re eloping. None of this is necessary.”
“Speaking of that, why aren’t you having a big wedding? I know your mom doesn’t live in Skylark anymore, but you have friends here. What about the rest of your family, or…” I shake my head. “I don’t know anything about your dad?”
Avah shoots me some major side-eye. “What’s up with twenty questions?”
“I was just telling Chase how you’re my best friend. And somehow I know so little about you when I’m a book that’s open so far my spine is cracked. I mean, you know that it’s been over two years since I had sex. That’s a lot of detail, Avs.”
“Jon and I had sex last night. Reverse cowgirl. We’re even. Feel better?”
“Yikes,” I whisper. “Not the kind of detail I meant. I don’t even think I know what reverse cowgirl means.”
“Google it,” she says as she merges onto the highway, heading west toward the Flatirons and the town of Boulder. Her appointment is at a bridal boutique in the college town. “And then tell me about the hot cowboy. If the Airstream’s a rockin’, don’t come?—”
“Hard pass on both.”
“You need a dick appointment,” she says, like she’s talking about the weather. “Chase Calhoun is a viable option.”
“He’s my late husband’s best friend.”
“Did they see each other once during your marriage?”
“They lived different lives, especially after Teddy and I got married.” I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not interested.”
She laughs softly. “You’re lying.Everyoneis interested in Chase.”
I shift in my seat and look out the window at the passing scenery. Spring comes late to the foothills, and while a few of the cottonwoods have green buds coloring their branches, most of the trees are still bare. I’m like one of those naked trees—no one cansee the changes taking place in me yet, but when my season comes, I’ll bloom in a way that surprises everyone. Myself included.
“I know what you’re doing,” I tell my bestie. “You’re trying to distract me from talking about you by talking about me. You know you can tell me anything, right?”
I see her grip tighten on the leather steering wheel. “I know,” she says quietly, “but I don’t like talking about myself or my family. My dad’s in jail. Has been for years.”
The words hit me like a splash of cold water, and my chest tightens. “Avah, I’m so sorry. Are you?—”
She waves away my concern. “Suffice to say, he won’t make it to the elopement.”
“Do you want to tell me why?” I ask slowly.
She glances at me as she pulls off the highway and heads toward the historic Pearl Street Mall. “I know you love a true crime documentary. He’s not a serial killer, if you’re wondering.”
I swallow. “Is heanykind of killer?”
“No,” she answers with a breathy laugh. “He ran an insurance scam on elderly people. Bilked hundreds of cotton-headed grandmothers out of their savings. It’s embarrassing. I grew up as daddy’s little princess. The gifts he gave me…the big house and fancy car…extravagant vacations—all of it was a lie.”
“You were a kid, Avs. You have no reason to be embarrassed.” I pause then force myself to ask, “Did your mother know?”
I see my friend’s chest rise and fall with a slow breath. “She denied any knowledge, but I think she understood there was something shady going on. She divorced my dad after the scandal broke. Reinvented herself. Both of us. Harris is my mom’s maiden name. She changed our names before moving to Skylark.”
“Does anyone in town know?”
Avah shakes her head. “It was like she orchestrated her own version of witness protection. Mom closed her eyes and put her finger on the map. That’s how we ended up here. She broke ties with everyone she knew in Connecticut and kept any mention ofour past vague. There’s a lot you can get away with not saying when you’re a bitch to people. I think that’s why I got so good at the mean-girl routine. It kept everyone at arm’s length so they never got close enough to ask the right questions.”
“I like you just the way you are.”
“Because you’re the nicest person on the planet.”
“Because you’re a good friend.” I reach out and squeeze her arm. “A good person.”
