And her entire adult life had revolved around Ian. His schooling. His career. His everything. Ava had wanted to be supportive, but she realized that in doing so she’d put him first in all things, which meant she’d taken a back seat for her own life.
Amanda gave Ava the key to her cabin and a map of the resort before she was called away to a delivery emergency.
As Ava walked down the trail that led to her home for the next six weeks, she found herself taking a detour and the next thing she knew she was standing at the garden where her wedding ceremony was supposed to have been held, she glanced down at her watch, in ten minutes time.
She lowered down onto one of the white folding chairs and thought about the movie Sliding Doors. The film follows two versions of Gwyneth Paltrow’s day. One where she comes home early and discovers her boyfriend is cheating on her, and the other when she comes home when she was expected and is none the wiser to the infidelity that is happening.
Today wasn’t exactly that situation, but it sort of felt like it. In one version of Ava’s life, she would be about to walk down the aisle to pledge her life to a man that she did love, but now wasn’t so sure she was in love with.
She had to admit, that she was much happier with this version of events. The scariest and most upsetting part of the entire day was that she never would have chosen this path for herself. What did that say about her?
Truly the only regret she had about this version was that she’d broken the promise she’d made to her mom.
“I’m sorry, mom,” Ava whispered and realized that part of the reason she never explored the idea of not being with Ian was the feeling she was experiencing now.
She never wanted to disappoint her mom. Even though she was gone. No, especially because she was gone.
A tear formed in her eyes and she lifted her hand to wipe it away. When she did a rainbow of color reflected as the sun caught the diamond that was sitting on her left hand and she realized she was still wearing her engagement ring. The same ring she’d been wearing for nine years.
Nine years, she’d been waiting for this day. A day that would never come to fruition.
She rolled her ring around her finger and after taking a deep breath, she slid it off her finger. When she did a sense of relief even greater than she’d felt earlier flooded through her.
Her phone buzzed and she looked down and saw that it was Audrey letting her know that Viv wanted to send out a search party and come find her. Ava messaged back that she’d just finished her meeting and would be there soon.
As she stood and looked at the wooden arch covered in flowers and she did feel a tinge of sadness. She had always wanted to get married in Hope Falls and this would have been a beautiful wedding, but it also would have been the biggest mistake of her life.
* * *
Asher turnedthe water off as he stepped out of the oversized shower and grabbed a towel off the heated rack in the luxurious master bathroom. The photos online had not done the cabin justice. This wasn’t anything like the cabins he’d grown up staying in when his family vacationed in the Poconos. Sometimes those cabins didn’t have running water or electricity. This cabin was state of the art. When she saw it, Blake had coined the phrase glabin, which had been inspired by the term glamping.
He turned to face the mirror over the sink which had a television and digital clock that was built into it. As he stood in front of it, he noticed the digital numbers read 4:00 p.m.
When he saw the time two things struck him. He had an hour before he and Blake were due at Logan’s for dinner. And four o’clock was the time that the woman at the front desk had said the Wells/Simpson wedding was supposed to be taking place.
He found himself wondering how ponytail was doing. Worrying about her.
Normally, he was good at distancing himself emotionally from situations. It was sort of a job requirement. He couldn’t let other people’s traumas affect him and do his job properly. He had to remain detached. And he was good at it, which was another one of the hundred or so reasons that Jenna had left him.
But for some reason, he hadn’t been able to shake thinking about the woman who’d woken up today thinking she was going to walk down the aisle to the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with, only to find out that he’d taken off and not only that, he’d been having an affair.
Maybe it was affecting him because he’d been so blindsided when he’d woken up in the hospital room and found Jenna crying. He’d thought she was crying because she was so happy he was alive, but in actuality she’d been crying because she’d hit her breaking point. She’d been upset because she couldn’t be married to him anymore. He remembered how empty he felt when she walked out of the hospital room and his life.
Asher shook off the old memories that haunted him as he started to dry himself off with what might have been the softest towel he’d ever felt. After patting down his legs he ran the towel across his abdomen and upper body. As he did, he paused at the scar he had that sat in the center of his chest like a bullseye.
People thought that their hearts were on the left side of their bodies. Kids were taught to place their right hand over the left side of their chest when they said the Pledge of Allegiance as if they are covering their hearts. But in reality, the heart was more centered than that. It sat only slightly behind the left breast plate.
His fingers traced the physical reminder of the day he’d lost everything. In one day, he’d lost his undercover career and his family. But he guessed he hadn’t lost everything, he hadn’t lost his life.
He’d never forget after Jenna broke the news to him that she was leaving him, and his captain explained that his cover had been blown since he’d protected a civilian, the doctors came in and told him that if the bullet had been even a millimeter to the left it would have pierced his heart and to the right it would have hit his lungs.
As it was, the bullet had missed every major organ and exited through his back. But even the placement of the exit was a miracle. If it had been a centimeter to either side it would have hit his spine or spinal cord.
He could have easily ended up paralyzed or dead.
There were times, especially the first few months after the shooting, that he’d wished he hadn’t made it. But then, he thought about the girl whose life he’d saved. He’d followed up to make sure she was okay. She’d had a minor wound but had been released from the hospital the same day as the incident.
His captain had told him that she was doing everything in her power to find out who he was because she wanted to thank him. The station couldn’t give her any of his information, because his identity had to be protected since he’d been undercover during the incident. From what he’d heard, she’d been persistent following up for months even years after the incident.