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“Why didn’t you say goodbye?”
His question was so raw, so real. She’d wondered if he ever thought about her. If he ever thought about the woman he’d spent two weeks with. Or if he even remembered her.
When they ran into each other a few days ago, that question had been answered for her. She’d known that he remembered her. But now, she was seeing a totally new depth to his memories of her. She’d mattered to him.
The fact that she hadn’t said goodbye mattered to him.
“I just…I don’t know, I couldn’t. We barely knew each other, and I didn’t want to make you feel, I mean not that you would have felt any obligation but I just…I didn’t have the right words to tell you. Also, I just…I didn’t want to ruin the time we’d shared together. I just…I wanted it to be what it was. I wanted to keep it perfect.”
It wasn’t until she spoke the confession aloud to Keaton that she actually realized her own truth. She’d been scared that if she told him, it would have tarnished what was otherwise the most perfect relationship she’d ever had.
“There you are!” A pretty blonde exclaimed as she threaded her arm through Keaton’s. Avery recognized her as one of the PAs of the show. “Uncle Keat, Aunt Laney says you need to come back because we’re making a toast for Uncle Seb and Kennedy.” She held out her hand to Avery.
Keaton didn’t respond to her, he didn’t even acknowledge that she was there, he just kept staring at Avery.
After a few moments of silence, the young woman stretched her hand out. “You’re Avery, right? I’ve seen you around at the castle.”
“Sorry.” Keaton blinked and shook his head slightly. “Avery, this is my niece, Iris. Iris this is Avery Stone, she owns Stone Castle.”
Iris’s eyes lit up. “Cool.”
“Hi,” Avery lifted her hand in an awkward wave, suddenly feeling very out of place. “Nice to meet you.”
“How do you two know each other?” Iris asked, her blue eyes bouncing between her uncle and Avery.
“We met when I first moved to town,” he answered.
“Oh, did you two…” Iris waved her hand between Avery and Keaton, suggesting the same thing Avery’s mom’s eyebrows had.
“We werefriends,” Keaton stated firmly.
Friends. It was such a nice word but it felt like a knife piercing Avery’s heart.
“There you guys are!” Another blonde, who was the spitting image of Iris, joined them. “Aunt Laney says you two need to come back to the table for toasts.”
Keaton’s eyes closed, and the same look of frustration he’d had when Maura interrupted their conversation at the castle showed on his face.
“She sent out a search party to find the search party?” Iris asked with a teasing tone.
“Ivy, this is—”
“This is Uncle Keat’sfriendAvery Stone, she owns the castle,” Iris cut in.
“Hi, Ivy,” Avery said awkwardly.
Ivy smiled warmly. “Hi.”
Keaton sighed. “I have to go.”
Avery smiled and nodded as they all said their goodbyes, hoping to hide the pain his ‘friend’ description of her had caused. How could she be more upset about Keaton calling her a friend than she was at walking in and finding the father of her child boning the nanny on their wedding day?
She needed therapy, that much was clear.
8
“You better bea good boy for Gaga.” Keaton used the term that his nieces called their grandma as he kissed Mojo on the top of his head before handing him to his aunt.
As much as he appreciated his aunt watching Mojo, he wasn’t thrilled at the thought of not seeing him for two to eight weeks. The lazy five-pound couch warmer had wormed his way into his heart.
