Page 41 of Wild Heart

“Are you sure? I could do something a bit more extravagant. I want it to be special.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell her that not having Ava there would make that an impossibility.

She was missing everything. I’d grown so accustomed to having her around for birthdays, special events, and holidays. Sure, there had been the times in the past when she was on tour and couldn’t make it to certain functions, but this wasn’t that. This was her actively choosing to remove herself from our lives.

Maybe she wanted to punish me. I guess I could have gotten on board with that—even if I was thoroughly confused by it—but didn’t she realize she’d taken herself away from all the people who loved her?

There was no question I wouldn’t be the only one who’d wake up on Thanksgiving morning and think about how she’d be spending the holiday. Who would she be with? Was she even happy? And what about Christmas? Was she going to spend that day alone, too?

Shrugging, I suggested, “I guess if you want to invite Aunt Mina and her family as well, I’d be alright with that.”

Recognizing she wasn’t going to get the answer she hoped for, my mom gave me a nod and a smile in return. “Okay, Tate. We’ll keep it small this year.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

Tears filled her eyes. “She’s going to come back. I don’t know when, and I pray that it’s soon, but eventually, I just know she’s going to come back.”

I swallowed past the tightness in my throat. I had so many thoughts that left me feeling such bitterness towards Ava. Butsince it would only hurt my mom more to hear them, I told her what I knew she needed to hear. “I hope you’re right.”

Her eyes shining with unshed tears, the corners of her mouth curved up into a smile. Then she stood, moved to the door, and walked out.

Once she was gone, I pulled out my phone and called Ava. I hadn’t attempted to call her for weeks—she hadn’t returned a single call or text I sent—but I was done holding back. When the call went to voicemail as I had suspected it would, I seethed, “Do you know what you’ve done to this family? Do you even care? I guess you aren’t the woman I thought you were.”

With that, I disconnected the call and struggled to get through the rest of my day.

11

AVA

I cameto a stop at the front door and dragged my palms down my pants. Anyone looking at me might have thought I was attempting to warm my hands.

It was early in December, the twelfth to be precise, and the weather was getting colder. But the chilly temperature wasn’t the reason I was rubbing my palms along my thighs.

I was terrified about what I was preparing to do.

I tried.

I tried so hard and failed.

But I could no longer ignore reality—there’s no place like home.

Between all the time I’d spent away from Landing while being on tour and the twelve weeks that followed Wyatt’s and Rhea’s wedding, it had become too much. I couldn’t do it any longer.

Despite repeated attempts to settle in, find new people, and start working in a new town, it didn’t happen. My heart was in Landing. The people I loved were in Landing. And no matter how much I told myself I needed to start over, my heart wouldn’t allow it.

So, it was just a few days before Thanksgiving when I decided I was going to return to my hometown. I had planned to return in time for the holiday.

But my plans went up in smoke the next day, when I received a voicemail from Tate, the first I’d received from him in months.

Do you know what you’ve done to this family? Do you even care? I guess you aren’t the woman I thought you were.

It was like my heart had been ripped from my chest.

Those words had me staying put, reconsidering my wild idea of returning to the people and place I’d abandoned.

I didn’t know what prompted Tate to leave that message, but it didn’t matter. I knew the Westwoods. They were the only stability I’d ever had in my life. So, it was no surprise to learn that my absence was impacting them. And if Tate had said what he did to me, I didn’t doubt that emotions were running high.

Could I even face them again?