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“I’m going to see her again.”
He shakes his head, snorting out a laugh. “Fine, keep it to yourself. I’ll find out eventually.”
The server stops by our table and takes Avery’s order. I’m grateful for the interruption. I wasn’t expecting it to be so difficult to talk about what seems to be happening between Victoria and me. Usually, I have no problem offering people the truth, even when that truth is complicated or challenging to admit.
With her though, I want to keep it all to myself. Keep her all to myself.
Interesting development.
“You didn’t find Ains, I take it?” Avery cuts into my thoughts with his words, effectively derailing my wandering mind. Back to business.
“No. He took off right before I got here. He’s posting on socials, but I have no idea if he’s still at the places where the pictures were taken. I’m sure it would be pointless to fly over there. I’ll probably do it anyway, just to have some kind of action to take.”
“Let me go.”
I look sharply toward him, our eyes meeting as I try to read his intentions. He knows me too well and glances down at the table.
“Fran and I have a few weeks off between weddings. I’ll country hop for a while, pin him down, figure out what’s going on. You know that’ll go better than if you show up and start reading him the riot act.”
I let out a sigh and shake my head. He’s right, of course, but it’s still challenging for me to let go of control in this situation. If it was any other person offering this, I’d blow them off immediately, but Avery’s got a better chance of securing a positive outcome with the kid than I do at this point.
“Okay.”
If he’s surprised by my sudden relenting, it doesn’t show on his face. “Great.” He smiles up at the server as she sets down his coffee and croissant.
I can’t stop the smile from sneaking onto my face as I recall Victoria showing up at the house with all of her snacks. I actually ate a couple of them, just to stop her from teasing me.
“What’s that look for?”
I fix my face and shake my head. “Nothing. Thank you for going to find Ains.”
“Yeah, man. It’s no problem. What should I do when I find him? I mean, I'll talk to him, of course, figure out what’s going on. But what’s the desired outcome of all this?”
“He needs to go back to the city and prepare for the new quarter. He’s already enrolled. All he needs to do is show up.”
Avery is giving me that look he gives when he doesn't quite agree but hasn't decided if fighting me is worth it.
“What?” I demand.
He cocks his head to the side. “That’s the only outcome that would be deemed a success?”
My temper flares, but I keep it under control. “He’s had a whole year of fucking off to get this out of his system. It’s time for him to show some semblance of adult responsibility and start college. I already enrolled him. I even leased an apartment so he doesn't have to worry about that.”
“You choose his major for him, too?”
I scowl over at my best friend. “The first two years are general ed. He’ll choose his own major with his guidance counselors when the time comes.”
“Oh, and you’re just going to let him pick whatever he wants? Do you even know what he does on these trips he takes?”
“Party?”
“His last long stay was in Indonesia where he was working with Aid International to build a school.”
“I’m glad to hear he’s so fond of schools. There is a very nice one in Boston waiting for him.”
Avery grins at me, but I can see the pity in his look. He thinks I'm being unreasonable, driving my son away with my unrelenting stance on his future. And maybe I am, but I don’t know what else to do.
“Just get him back to the States, okay? Get him to the estate, and we can work things out.”
