Page 41

“Fantastic,” I said, sighing in relief. “I’ll see about heading that way tomorrow. I may take Avery with me. We haven’t had a weekend away in about sixteen years. She might like that. Would you be down to keep an eye on Ashton if we do?”

“Say the word, bro. He’s a cool kid.”

“Thanks. I’ll let you know what she says. Might try to get her to leave tonight.” I raised a hand to say goodbye to Claude. “See you later.”

The old man waved a hand at me, then put his hearing aids back in as I departed.

The drive to the store only took a few minutes. I spotted Avery’s rental and mentally cursed myself. We still needed to pick up her new car. The whole thing with Farrah had pushed that to the back of my mind. I’d call the dealership later and arrange to have it delivered today.

It took a few minutes to find the two of them in the store, and when I did, I did a double take.

The cart was already filled with food. Boxes of snacks, freezer meals, frozen pizzas and burritos, packs of sandwich meat and cheese, four loaves of bread, and enough fruit and vegetables to feed an army.

“All this?” I said, gaping at it.

Avery nodded toward Ashton. “I’m going to have to get a second job to pay for this kid’s stomach.”

Ashton grinned at me. “I’m a growing boy.”

I burst out laughing at that. “Very true. Do you guys need to get anything else?” I pointed to the freezer section. “Ice cream?”

“Can we get ice cream?” Ashton asked, turning wide, hopeful eyes on Avery.

“No,” she said. “You conned me into two boxes of Little Debbie cakes, I’m not getting ice cream, too. I don’t need you having a heart attack before you’re twenty-five. Let’s check out before we grab anything else.”

She maneuvered the cart to the register, and she and Ash started unloading it onto the conveyor belt.

The cashier looked equally shocked by the amount of food, but kept quiet as she scanned everything.

The total, which was obscene, popped up on the register.

I pulled my card out, but Avery was too fast, shoving my hand out of the way and swiping her card before I could get there.

“I was going to pay for that,” I protested.

“I know,” she said. “And you don’t need to.”

“That’s not why I was doing it. I just want to contribute.”

Avery put a hand on my chest and smiled politely. “You’re paying the entire pack’s expenses out of your own pocket. I think you’re contributing enough. I can pay for my own groceries, Cole. Really.”

That stung a bit. They’d spent years living mostly on their own, and they were my family.

I wanted to provide for them, give them what they needed and try to make up for the years I’d missed.

It was silly—a few hundred dollars in groceries was a drop in the bucket compared to everything else—but I still wanted to help out.

Avery must have seen the disappointment on my face as we pushed the cart from the store. “You look like your dog died. What’s up?’

“Sorry.” I looked at both of them. “It’s just… I regret that I wasn’t there to help you guys out all these years, and now that I’m trying, you don’t want me to.”

“I get that,” Avery said. “But it’s not like I don’t know how to take care of myself. Ash and I have been doing this for a long time.”

She hadn’t meant it as a slight, but it still felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach.

“This is how it works in a partnership,” she added. “You pick up the slack when I need you to, and you do the same for me. Right now, I can manage. There is no slack to pick up. Okay?”

“I suppose so,” I said reluctantly. “I promise you this, though. Once all the pack stuff is sorted out, I’m going to make sure you don’t have to worry about anything.”

“That sounds like a nice plan,” she said, smiling.

“Speaking of that,” I said. “I’m going to have your new car delivered today or tomorrow.”

“Oh, shoot,” Ashton said. “I totally forgot you bought a car, Mom.”

Avery chuckled as we packed groceries in the back of her rental. “Me too, actually. A lot happened.”

What better time than now to bring up the trip to Atlanta? Maybe she’d be more open to it now that we were having a lighthearted conversation?

“I’ve got to head to Atlanta and pick up some cash at a bank there,” I said. “Why don’t you go with me, Avery? We could make a little mini-vacation out of it. A couple nights away?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Avery said. “What about Ashton?”

“What are you talking about?” Ashton sounded affronted. “I’m not a baby. I don’t need my diapers changed.”

“That’s not what I mean. I’m talking about the stuff going on. With Kyle and whatnot.”

“I talked to Trent,” I said. “He’s happy to hang out at your house and sleep in the spare room. You’ve had a rough few weeks. Why not come with me and relax a little?”

“Yeah, Mom,” Ashton urged. “Go. You deserve it. Go eat some good food and whatever.”

Avery took a few beats to think about it, then her shoulders relaxed, and her lips quirked up into a smile.

“Okay, fine. We can do it. I don’t have any pressing deadlines right now. I can take a couple nights away.”

“Great,” I said. “I’ll book a hotel. We can leave tonight.”

“Tonight it is.”