Page 98 of Cruel King

As she sets mine in front of me, she says, “I remember when you were a little boy and your mother would take all of us kids out for a treat. You always wanted peach pie, and I remember how disappointed you were when you couldn’t get it. So I made peach crumble for dessert tonight.”

“I never did understand why I couldn’t get peach pie any time other than a few weeks in the summer,” I say as I inhale the sweet scent of the dessert she made just for me.

“Well, dig in. I hope you enjoy it.”

With the first spoonful of peach crumble, I savor all the flavors in the dessert. The peach and cinnamon in the filling and the brown sugar and butter for the topping taste like perfection. I devour it, loving it and the person who made it for me.

I push the bowl away and smile at Ava. “That was incredible. Thank you.”

She still has half the dessert in her bowl and smiles back at me. “I’m so glad you liked it, Matthias. You looked utterly happy eating it.”

I want to tell her I’m happy because I’m with her, but I don’t say those words. Not yet.

Ava stands from the table. “I’ll be right back. If you want more peach cobbler, feel free.”

Something’s wrong, but I don’t know what. I thought things had gotten better once we sat down to enjoy her delicious dessert she made especially for me.

When she doesn’t return after a few minutes, I make my way upstairs to find her staring out her bedroom window at the lawn that connects this carriage house to the main house. My heart sinks as I watch her and know she’s thinking about Theo.

“Thank you for dinner, but I think I need to go now,” I say as casually as possible, hoping to hide the disappointment filling me.

She turns around and shakes her head. “Why?”

One of us has to admit the truth, and I guess it’s going to have to be me. So be it.

“Tell me you aren’t thinking about the two of you all those times you played out on that lawn growing up. I know you’re always going to love Theo, but it’s more than that, and I don’t think we can get past what happened.”

Shaking her head again, she walks over to stand in front of me. “No, you’re wrong, Matthias. I wasn’t remembering Theo and me. I was actually thinking about the first time I thought you weren’t just the oldest King brother who never really spoke to me. You and Theo were out there with Ronan teaching him to play baseball. He must have been about nine or ten, which would have made you about sixteen. You were pitching to him while Theo caught, and you were so patient with him, even though he missed every ball you threw to him. You just kept telling him to keep his eye on the ball. I watched for fifteen minutes, and never once did you get frustrated. Theo started teasing him, but you stayed calm the whole time.”

I can’t help but smile at the memory of that spring day. Ronan had asked our father to teach him how to play baseball every day for over a month, but he had no time because my mother was sick. We didn’t want to listen to the youngest King whine about not knowing how to play, so Theo and I decided to help him since both of us had played ball in grade school.

“The three of us spent all afternoon out there until Ronan finally got good enough to hit a decently thrown pitch,” I say with a smile. “From that day on, he had a glove in his hand whenever the weather was nice out. I like to think we gave him his start.”

“And he’s been at it ever since. He played right through college, didn’t he?”

“He did,” I answer with a nod. “I think my mother would have been proud to know he turned out to be a hell of a ball player.”

Ava and I fall silent until I ask, “Why were you thinking about that?”

With a shrug, she says, “I don’t know. I came up here to go to the bathroom, and when I was passing my room, the memory popped into my head.”

“We’ve been in each other’s lives for a long time.”

“All my life.”

I know what she’s saying. She’s still mourning the loss of her friendship with my brother. Maybe sometime in the future we can try to be together again, but now it’s too soon.

“I’m going to go now. Thank you for dinner, Ava. Maybe we can do it another time.”

As I turn to leave, she grabs my hand. “No, please don’t go. I know tonight hasn’t been great, but it doesn’t have to end.”

“I just don’t think it’s the right time.”

She frowns and lets go of my hand. I walk away, but before I reach her bedroom door, she asks, “Why didn’t you kiss me last night when we stopped in front of the house here?”

Looking back at her, I answer, “I thought we should take things slowly this time.”

“Well, maybe I don’t want to take things slowly. Maybe I liked the speed we took things last time.”