Page 81 of Heartache Duet
He nods.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
Connor: Dad says it depends on how it’s healed, but you can come over, and he can take a look at it.
Ava: …
Connor: ?
Ava: Are you sure?
Connor: That’s what he said.
Ava: Okay, I’ll be over in a bit.
“She says she’ll be around soon,” I tell Dad.
“Good.”
Something’s off with Dad’s reaction, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Regardless, I find my home back on the couch and wait. Fifteen minutes later, there’s a knock on the door, and I’m on my feet and swinging that bitch open. The door. Not Ava. She’s not a bitch. She’s The Best. I lean down to kiss her, but she presses her hands to my chest, stopping me. She shakes her head, and I smell… perfume? Ava never wears perfume, at least not that I know of. I take a step back to let her in. She’s dressed nice, but like, if she were going-to-church type nice. I like Ava in tank tops and sweats, and yeah, her school uniform, but that’s a whole other conversation. “Why are you dressed like that?” I whisper.
She elbows my gut. “Shut up.”
“Hi, Ava,” Dad calls from the kitchen. He points a knife at the couch. “Just take a seat, and I’ll be with you in a moment.” He’s all sweetness and smiles, and I’m suspect.
My eyes narrow at him and then Ava when she says, “Thank you, sir. I appreciate this a lot.”
I flop down next to her, throw my arm over her shoulders. She pushes my hand away. “What’s with you?”
“Not now,” she hisses without moving her lips.
Dad comes into the living room drying his hands on a dish towel. He sits on the coffee table, dish towel beside him, and asks, “Can I take a look?”
Ava cranes her neck. “Sure.”
While Dad’s focused on peeling off the dressing, I put my hand on Ava’s knee. She pushes it away again.
“It looks like it’s healed just fine,” Dad says. “No more dressing, but be sure to use the cream I gave you until it’s all gone, okay?”
Ava nods. “Thanks again, Mr. Ledger.”
He gathers all the dressing and stands. “No problem.”
Ava stands, too, and I take her hand. This time, she lets me. “I’ll walk you back.”
I open the door at the same time Dad calls Ava’s name. Ava turns to him, her eyes wide, shoulders rigid. Dad stands between the kitchen and the living room. “I’m just starting on dinner. You’re welcome to stay if you’d like.”
Ava does her best not to let her shock show, but I see it even if Dad doesn’t. “I appreciate the invitation, but I have to get back home.”
“Oh.” Dad drops his gaze, his shoulders. “Okay, sure.”
“It’s just…” Ava starts, sensing Dad’s disappointment. “I can’t really leave my mom, so…”
Dad tilts his head. “Isn’t your stepbrother home with her?”
Ava nods, her grip on my hand tightening. “Yeah, he is, but he’s really only there for when things with her get uh…” She glances up at me, and I try to offer an encouraging smile. If this is Dad’s attempt at getting to know her, then we have to try. “Sometimes she gets physical and he—he has to restrain her.” I can hear her voice weaken with every word, so I release her hand, place mine on the back of her head and bring her to my chest, her ear to my heart. Ava exhales slowly, her eyes drifting shut. When she opens them again, she says, “I have to be there, because I’m the only one who can really talk her through whatever she’s experiencing.”