Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 63854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
“You’re just jelly.” Mason grins. He’s been annoyingly smug since we all agreed that his apartment is perfect for Ava, at least temporarily.
“Of course, I can’t just keep staying with Mason,” Ava says with a serious face. “I don’t want to be a burden. I’ll start looking for my own place as soon as I get there.”
“No, no. That’s not what we mean at all,” Noah says. “There’s no way you’re a burden to any of us. If anything we’re all jealous of Mason.”
Ava huffs a little relieved sigh and scans the faces sitting at the table with her. “So, what kind of a long-term plan are we talking about?”
“We’ve been considering getting our own place, big enough for all six of us,” I say.
The whole table falls silent as my brothers and I all watch Ava’s reaction intently.
“You mean . . .” Ava stares at the twins, Mason, Ollie, and me. Cautiously, she asks, “You mean we’re all going to be living together?”
We all nod.
“What do you think?” Ollie asks.
“If you don’t like the sound of that, you can always just keep living with me, Ava.” Mason jokes, but I can hear the hint of anxiety in his voice. We’re better together, and he knows that.
Ava drops her head, making my heart drop, too. She starts to sniffle.
“Are you okay, Ava?” Noah asks.
When Ava lifts up her face and meets our eyes, her cheeks are already damp. “I’m sorry for crying at Thanksgiving dinner . . . but that’s the best idea I’ve ever heard,” Ava says softly.
Our collective relief is palpable. The tension in the room melts as one by one, we get up, approach Ava, and wrap our arms around her until we’ve formed a protective circle—an impenetrable shell—around Ava.
“Aww . . . You’re having a group hug and didn’t invite me?” Mom’s voice drifts into the dining room from the kitchen, along with the sweet smell of freshly-baked pecan pie.
“What are you talking about?” Noah asks as he gestures for both our parents to come over. “You have an open invitation.”
And there, in our parents’ kitchen, all our arms are linked together, sharing love and strength to prepare one another for all the challenges that lay in front of us.
It doesn’t matter what people say about us. As long as we have one another, that’s enough. We have enough love to last us a lifetime.
Epilogue
Ava—Six Months Later
“Lift your phone so I can see your entire office, Ava,” Jessica says as she peers closer to her screen, probably not realizing that means the camera’s zooming in on her, too.
I watch as giant strands of red hair fill my phone screen. Even up close, she looks great. Her scalp and hair are amazingly healthy.
“Nice.” I hear Tony’s voice, although Jessica’s still blocking the webcam so I can’t see him on my Skype app.
“I really like the view,” Sarah says. “You must be, like, right by the ocean.”
“I am, actually. Wait, let me crack open a window for you. I can hear the ocean from my office while I’m working. Here, listen.” I feel stupid as I hold the phone just outside the window, the salty ocean breeze caressing my hand.
“Oh, right. I can hear it.” Jessica appears to be sticking her ear to a speaker right now because her hair has disappeared from the screen, and I can see Tony and Sarah again.
They’re all at Sunny Side Up, Tony and Jessica grading some assignments while Sarah’s doing the bookkeeping for her animal clinic.
I miss them, and I miss Ashbourne sometimes, but I can’t deny I’m much, much happier here.
And by “here,” I mean in San Francisco. I feel like I need to clarify that these days because it seems like I’m always either on a business trip or preparing for one. I’m seriously loving my new life.
“I can’t hear anything,” Sarah complains.
“Yeah, me neither. Probably because Jessie’s covering the speaker,” Tony says. “But big deal; I hear the ocean every night because Greg plays this compilation of soothing nature sounds. You know, like ocean breeze, waterfall, rustling leaves. I tell him it’s stupid because we hear natural sounds all the time here. It’s not like we live in the big city.”
“To make it more realistic and different from your recordings, you should inhale some smog when you listen to these live ocean sounds.” I pull the phone back into my office. I’m on the seventh floor, which is not terribly high up, but I don’t think my phone will stand that big of a fall so it's probably not a good idea to dangle it outside where it could catch the attention of some seagulls.
“Eh, it’s going to take years until my youngest turns eighteen. I’ll start making vacation plans when they’re all out of the house,” Tony says. “Say, have you heard the news about Joseph?”