Page 40 of Happier Days (Family Life in Somerley #1)
CHAPTER FORTY
Ava was with Jack in the boardroom. They’d just ended a meeting with Owen, signing off the feature articles he was going to publish for them. Ava had nipped to the loo while Jack took a call. When she came back, he was just finishing off.
Before she could sit down, he marched over to her and kissed her, pushing her gently back to the wall. She wrapped her arms around him as he pressed himself to her.
‘Now, that is my kind of meeting.’ She grinned when they broke off. ‘I must pop that on to every agenda in future.’
‘I missed you, that’s all.’
‘When I went to freshen up?’ She reached for his hand. ‘Could I ask you something?’
‘Sure.’
‘I’d love to see the extension, if that’s all right with you?’
Jack’s pause made Ava wonder if she’d overstepped the mark, until he continued.
‘Let me check if Mum is around. It makes her unhappy if she finds out anyone has been in.’
‘Oh, no. Leave it then. I don’t want to do that.’
Jack kissed her on the tip of her nose. ‘It’s fine. Give me a few moments to grab the keys.’
Ava waited in the corridor, cursing herself for even asking. But Jack was back in a couple of minutes.
‘Come with me.’ He beckoned.
When she reached him, they went downstairs. At the end of a corridor behind the restaurant was a set of double doors.
Jack unlocked one and pressed down the handle. ‘This was going to be Dan’s new venture.’
Ava stepped into the room, immediately imagining how it would be when it was finished.
‘Dan had such ambition about it. He wanted to make it into something special, that people would travel to see, use for business and pleasure.’
‘It’s a great size for lots of things,’ she said, spotting the bar in the far-right corner. ‘And this is why it hasn’t been finished, because of Dan?’
Jack nodded. He turned away with tears in his eyes.
Ava went to him, wrapped her arms around his waist. ‘I’m sad that you feel sad, but it’s okay. You have to remember Dan in whichever way you can. Whether that’s through laughter, tears, photos and videos, or plain old memories.’
‘He’s still a part of me, I guess.’ Jack wiped his cheeks and rested his chin on her head. ‘I miss him so much, even after what he did.’
‘It’s going to be okay,’ she reassured, unsure what else she could say to him. Her words might be soothing at the moment, but it was only Jack who could carry his grief.
He nodded. ‘I think it’s done me good to show you the rooms now. I have so much to look forward to, but the past was holding me back. I’ve hated coming in here since Dan died. Now, it’s as if I can see how we can honour him.’
Jack gave her a tour of the rooms and told her of the proposed plans to complete them.
‘It’s going to be amazing,’ she said, eyeing it all again for one last time. ‘Dan clearly had a vision for it. It will be lovely to see it finished.’
Jack nodded. ‘Shall we grab some lunch, and then I’ll leave you to it for the rest of the day? How are those cover designs coming on?’
‘Oh, I haven’t had much time to sit down and do them yet, but I am working on them.’
Jack frowned. ‘I don’t expect you to do them in your own time. What do you have planned for this afternoon?’
‘Website tinkering.’
‘Forget that and create me some designs.’
‘Well, if you’re sure.’ Ava couldn’t think of anything better she’d rather do.
‘I’m sure, and if I can interest you in my cooking for dinner tonight, perhaps you might have something to show me this evening?’
Ava spent all afternoon working on Jack’s covers. So much so that she almost lost herself in the zone and was late. A quick shower and change of clothes, and almost a jog along to his place, and she found a more mellowed Jack in his home.
She sniffed with appreciation as he let her in. ‘What’s cooking? It smells delicious.’
‘Chicken and new potatoes, is that okay?’
‘Perfect.’ She removed her jacket only to find him staring at her. ‘What is it?’
‘You remember your walk when you saw Mum at the weekend?’
‘Yes, I went to take some photos of the lake, and she saw me. We walked back together.’
‘What did you say to her about the hotel?’