Saving Avery (16 page)

I reach out and take his hand into mine. "You didn't ruin anything." Glancing out the window, I say, "The sun is starting to set. We should go enjoy it on the deck."

He nods and follows me up the steps.

As the sky turns different shades of red and orange and Max holds me in his arms, I close my eyes and wish that the day didn't have to come to an end. I would spend forever with Max if I could. The thought terrifies me and thrills me all at the same time. I'm falling too fast and too hard, but I can't stop my heart from wanting what it wants. Max would never hurt me, but it's not him I have to be worried about.

*

After the sunset cruise on the water, we return to Max's SUV. I text Nathan back on the way home --- one text in response to his twenty or more. He's very angry with me, but I refuse to let it upset me. He's still in Seattle; and at this point, it feels like a million miles away.

Max parks the vehicle outside of his house. He gets out, walks around to my side and opens the door for me. I place my hand in his, and he pulls me into his arms. "I know we both have to get up early tomorrow, but I would love for you to stay," he whispers in my ear.

A thrill runs through me as I nod.

He pulls back with a grin on his face and leads me inside his house. We spend the rest of the night watching TV and talking until I end up falling asleep in his lap.

When I wake up the next morning and we part ways so we can both get ready for the day, I am more determined than ever to talk to my sister.

During my lunch break, I call my sister and ask her to meet me at a diner nearby. I really need to talk to her about divorcing Nathan, and I just hope that she'll be more understanding than our father.

"Thanks for meeting me here," I say.

"Sure, Avery." My younger sister is bouncing my niece Sophia on her knee. Sophia just turned two and is cute as a button with curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes. "So what's up? You sounded depressed on the phone."

I stare down at my half eaten turkey sandwich. "I talked with Dad yesterday." If I would tell anyone about my secrets, it would be my sister. We haven't really been close over the past few years, but we were when we were younger. We had to be once we lost our mom.

"About what?" she prompts, sounding impatient.

"About leaving Nathan."

Allison stops bouncing Sophia and gapes at me with wide eyes and open mouth. "What?" she gasps. "Avery, you can't do that!"

Frowning, I ask, "Why not?"

"Think about everything you're giving up. Nathan is a plastic surgeon with more money than everyone in this entire restaurant put together. Not to mention he's like sex on a stick. Do you know how many women dream of marrying a doctor and living the life you do?"

They wouldn't if they knew the truth
, I think to myself. And since when does Allison think of Nathan as sex on a stick? Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I ask her, "What if I told you that everything isn't as perfect as everyone likes to think it is between us?"

She rolls her eyes. "Then fix it."

"You sound just like dad," I grumble.

"Well, at least he's the voice of reason. Leaving Nathan would be stupid." She starts bouncing Sophia again on her knee.

"Since when are you on Team Nathan?"

"I'm not on anyone's team!" she says, defensively. "You just don't know how good you have it," she mutters with bitterness lacing her tone.

I know Allison isn't exactly happy in her marriage right now. She has told me numerous times about Todd barely touching her since Sophia was born. She thinks Todd is cheating on her, and I'm beginning to wonder if she's doing the same thing to him. Allison had been so depressed over the whole thing, but now she seems different. She seems happy even though her marriage is falling apart behind closed doors.

"So what are you going to do?" she asks.

Sighing, I finally say, "I don't know."

"Nathan would give you the world. Who wouldn't want that?"

This conversation isn't going like I had envisioned. I can't even count on my own sister for help. With all of the courage I can muster, I reach across the table and grab her hand. When her eyes meet mine, I whisper, "He hits me, Allison."

She stares at me for a few moments, not speaking. "So what? Todd has laid his hands on me a time or two. A lot of couples go through that, and then they regret what they did." She takes a sip of her iced tea. "Kiss and make up," she suggests.

"You don't understand. I mean he really hurts me. He hits me a lot, Allison. He's mentally and physically abusive."

She rolls her eyes. "Marriage isn't perfect, Avery," she says with a condescending tone. "There are women out there who have it a lot worse than you."

I pull my hand back and stare at her in disbelief. I just confided in her, and she's making me feel like
I'm
the one who's done something wrong. "Thanks for meeting me for lunch, but I should get back to the hospital."

"You don't even work there," she scoffs. "Why would you want to volunteer when you can stay home and do nothing?"

"Because I like doing it. It's rewarding in so many ways," I state.
God!
She is like a horrifying mixture of my father and Nathan combined. "Being a
trophy wife
is not rewarding, believe it or not," I say sarcastically.

"Women would kill to be in your shoes, Avery. Me included," she says in all seriousness.

I narrow my eyes at my sister. "The grass isn't always greener, Allison. Just remember that."

She huffs in disagreement. "Well, in your case, I think it is," she retorts.

Holding back my emotions, I stand and put a twenty-dollar bill on the table to cover my sandwich, coffee and tip. I give Sophia a kiss on the head. With a glance to my sister, I say, "I'll talk to you later." Then I turn to leave.

I'm halfway through the diner when Allison calls my name. When I look back at her, she says, "Think about what I said."

I give her a curt nod. What she said is already forgotten, because it doesn't help me in the situation I am in whatsoever. I need to find a way to get away from Nathan…before it's too late.

*

MAX

I'm anxiously awaiting Avery to return from lunch with her sister. My eyes are glued on the glass window in front of me, and I can barely sit still as my knee bounces up and down under the cafeteria table.

"Dr. Harrison?"

I look up at the waitress. She has a worried look on her face, and I wonder how long she's been standing there. "I'm sorry. Did you say something?"

"I asked if you wanted anything else…more than once," she says with a small smile.

I glance down at my half eaten sandwich and plate full of chips. I'm too nervous to eat. "No, thank you." I stare out the window and sigh. "I'll just take the check."

"Sure thing." She leaves and comes back a minute or two later with the bill. I leave my money and a tip on the table and head for the exit. Just as I'm on the way out, Avery is walking in the automatic door at the entrance. The look on her face tells me it's not good news. She looks like she's trying not to cry. I walk over to her, but keep a safe distance. "Not good news I take it?"

She shakes her head and walks past me, not bothering to even glance my way.

"Avery, wait!" I call after her.

I catch her in the hallway and pull her into a nearby utility closet. Once the door is closed and we're alone, I plead with her and say, "Talk to me."

She crosses her arms in front of her chest and stares at the ground. "My sister isn't going to help me," she says solemnly. "I even told her that he hits me." She sucks in a deep, shaky breath. "It was so hard for me to confide in her like that, but she didn't even care. In fact, she turned it around on me like I should be grateful to be married to him and that the abuse is just a tiny, dark cloud in a bright, sunny sky."

I close my eyes and release a sigh. How can one girl have the entire world against her? That's exactly what it feels like when it comes to Avery. Everyone is willing to turn and look the other way while she lives a life of hell. Well, I'm not giving up on her. I'll never give up. "Let me help you."

I can almost feel the temperature in the small closet go down a few notches. She holds herself tighter and shakes her head. "No. I can't let you get involved."

"Avery," I say, reaching for her, but she backs away out of my reach.

"You don't understand."

"Then make me understand!" I cry, exasperated.

Her eyes meet mine, and I can see the fear inside of them. "He would kill you if he ever found out about us."

So she's trying to protect me when she clearly is the one who needs protection. "Let me make a few phone calls. Let me get in touch with some people who can help. We can find a place for you to go, Avery. You can get away from him. You can ---." Her entire body trembles the more I talk, and so I just stop.

"Please, Max. Don't." She shakes her head sadly and says, "I have to go."

Before I can say another word, she's running out the door. I curse under my breath and rake my hands through my hair. This past weekend had been a dream, almost too good to be true. Nathan will be back in several days, and everything will go back to the way it was. Avery will stay in that house with him. He will abuse her, and there's not going to be a damn thing I can do about it.

I decide in that moment that I can't sit back and watch from a distance for very much longer. I'll give Avery a chance to take the help I'm offering. But if she keeps refusing, I'm going to have to take matters into my own hands. And then Nathan will be the one who will be afraid, because I will do everything in my power to protect her.

*

AVERY

Max had stopped me on my way out of the hospital and asked me to come over to his place later. I reluctantly agreed. Our little tiff in the utility closet is not far from my mind as I step onto his front porch and knock on the door. I expect him to still be angry; but when he opens the door, he is grinning from ear to ear. In fact, he looks like he's about to burst with happiness. "What's your good mood about?" I ask.

"Well, mostly because of you." His words melt my heart, and the argument we had earlier instantly fades from my mind. "And also because I have a surprise for you." He holds his hand out, and I take it. He pulls me into his arms and playfully kisses my neck. I can't help but laugh. "Love that sound," he whispers. He pulls back and stares down at me, his face growing very serious. "Let's not fight or talk about anything that will make us fight. Let's just enjoy tonight. Okay?"

"Okay," I agree.

He takes my hand and leads me into the house. A package is resting on the kitchen counter, and he scoops it up with a big grin on his face.

"Is that part of the surprise?" I ask.

"Yep." We stop in the living room and he says, "Make yourself comfortable. I'm going to get everything ready."

I plop down on his comfortable sofa. I can't help but smile at the photographs scattered around the room. I stare at one picture in particular on the stand beside the couch. Max is a splitting image of his dad, and his mom and sister are gorgeous too. "Good genes," I murmur.

"What's that?" he asks as he walks into the room.

"Oh, I was just saying how beautiful your family is."

He grins at my compliment. "Thanks."

I notice that he has two DVDs in his hand. But when I try to get a glimpse of the movie titles, he conceals them. "Hey, no peeking," he teases. After he sticks one of the movies into the DVD player, he grabs the remote control and sits down next to me. "I had to special order these and get them shipped overnight."

I stare at him curiously. And then when the music for the opening scene begins to play, tears instantly fill my eyes. I turn to the TV and see my mom staring back at me. "Oh, Max," I manage to say. "I haven't watched her movies in so long." I swallow hard past the lump in my throat. "Too long."

He puts his arm around me and draws me back to him. We watch in silence for a while. The movie is called
One More Time
, and it's about two high school sweethearts who lose touch when they go to separate colleges and then are reunited years later after they both are divorced. Their love never died, and they get a second chance. It takes place in the fifties, and my mom's wardrobe is to die for. I know every song in the movie by heart, because she used to sing them to me every chance she got.

When the credits are rolling on the screen, I say, "I can remember my mom boasting about all the old-fashioned dresses and shoes that she had to wear. After she was gone, some of the dresses she kept from the set stayed in her closet. Whenever I needed to feel close to her, I would wrap the fabric around myself. Her perfume lingered in the material, and it made me feel close to her and loved…if only for a few moments."