“That’s when talk went from whispering to hissing. Carter had just left his fiancée at the altar, according to gossip, and here he was carrying on with a girl who’d never left her town in her life. Within a week, they were living together, her and her family in his new mansion; within a month, they were engaged, and within two, they were married and she was pregnant with his first child.” Josie shook her head. “Everyone figured she had him wrapped around her little finger. But to talk down to my daughter after what she did? No.”
“Mom, I still don’t see how this involves my being adopted.” Ava pointed out.
“She sees what she went through in you. Don’t think for a second that woman hasn’t done her research. She knows you just broke up with your fiancé and would probably assume it was to get with Brice. Also, she knows you don’t have a set job at the moment, and you moved in with Brice within a day of arriving here.” Josie shook her head again.
Ava’s jaw dropped. “She thinks I’m a gold digger?”
“Duh, Sis, because that’s what people called her. Besides, it’s not exactly that hard to see since you two have been spotted everywhere. Furniture store trip, remember that?” Davis interjected.
Ava groaned. “No one told me. Did we end up in the gossip column for that?” She hoped not. “That would be just plain stupid. It’s furniture shopping, not a wedding.”
Davis chuckled. “Brice isn’t one to hold back affection, and there are pictures of you two out and about with him giving you a kiss on the cheek or holding your hand. They even have photos of you two going into his apartment building. They think you’re his new girlfriend. They even know about Perry and what happened there. They don’t know that you’re his babysitter for the team, thank God.”
Ava mulled over the implications of this new information. She felt a sense of violation at having her life scrutinized, and yet she felt defiant. This was her life with Brice. They were doing nothing wrong and certainly nothing that would damage the team. She looked up at her mother for guidance or at least a word of advice.
“Your father brought you in as a last resort,” Josie started.
“Mom! You’re not supposed to tell her that,” Davis grumbled.
“I have to tell her, Davis.” Josie looked at her, her mother’s gaze filled with tenderness. “You deserve to know. The team was going to bench him. Actually they were going to do more than that, but your father intervened and managed to give him a chance, a grace period to get his head together without benching him. He went to the mat for him with the coach as well. Most of the team isn’t cleared, either too banged up or haven’t gotten the doctor’s okay. The lineup we have is one that works not only the best but wins us games.” Josie glanced away. “So they started to interview people to act as his sober coach. Problem was the locals we found who could specialize in this were big fans of his. We didn’t want any excuses from the rest of management to not pony up the dough. For a month we went through the process. It wasn’t until your father got the idea for you to come up that things clicked.” Josie beamed. “Your father vouched for you, and so far you’ve had a wonderful influence on Brice. You were our last hope, and you did it. We knew it was risky, but I knew you wouldn’t fail him, and you haven’t. But the work isn’t done, and having his family back in the picture is going to confuse him. His family hasn’t really been in the picture since he was born. Marion didn’t want to raise any more children after raising her baby brother, but she had kids because that’s what Carter wanted. She loves them but not enough to stick around; at least that’s what’s said.”
Ava’s heart lurched for Brice. Worry gnawed at her nerves. What was he going through right now? She wanted to go back and help him. This would be a punch to the gut, and he had finally started to make progress. Worst-case scenarios played ping-pong in her head. She remembered his words from earlier. “Crap, Davis, I need to go back.”
Josie shook his head. “You’ve given him a start. Now he has to stand on his own two feet.”
Chapter Eleven
Brice strolled out of the bathroom feeling refreshed and relaxed. Some of the thoughts had faded to the background; others still swirled around in his head like gossamer spiderwebs detached from their places to wrap around anything they encountered. They merged and added their doubts to other ideas and notions. He knew a talk with Ava would clear more of the issues he had. All thoughts of a talk vanished as he watched in confusion as Hal from maintenance carried a large pine tree into the room, trailing needles. Christmas decorations glittered on practically every available surface.
How long have I been in there?
He was grateful for the hard work he saw, but at the same time, he was also thankful he’d put on pants. As one of Hal’s employees, Dan, rushed by, Brice grabbed him by the arm. “What’s going on here?”
Dan gave him a small smile and bobbed his head. “You’re welcome. Mrs. Douglas has instructed us to set up the rest of the decorations. She felt the ones put up weren’t good enough. They’ve all been replaced and stored to be disposed of later.”
“Uh, okay, although, Ava isn’t my wife yet so…” He let his voice trail off when his mother came into view, a severe smile on her face as if it pained her to express that kind of emotion, even with Botox. “Mom? Dad?”
His mother stepped forward, while his dad milled around the kitchen island looking displaced and uncomfortable. “We’re here early. Our plane got here just in time. We’ve dismissed Ms. Johnson as we’ll be staying here until the play-offs. I know we haven’t been around, but now we are. We need to be a family, and starting today we will be. No more traveling. Isn’t that wonderful?” She didn’t try to reach out and hug him; tension held her body in place.
Brice couldn’t understand why she was acting like this. None of his siblings had told him they had gone out of their way to visit them. Why him and why now?
He placed his hands on his hips. “Mom, where’s Ava? I need her.”
His mother shook her head. “No, you don’t. I’m here, and besides she wasn’t good for you, getting you in the gossip rags again. What was James thinking? His daughter was just taking advantage of you.”
Brice blinked. “No, she’s been helping me get my ass on track.”
She wrinkled her nose. “No need to swear, honey. And yes, she was. She was using you to get back at her ex.”
Brice closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache coming on. “No, she wasn’t. She was helping out her father and me. What the hell are you talking about?”
“Again, language. I understand, you haven’t been yourself lately, but we’re here now. No need for Ms. Johnson. Besides that, her character isn’t exactly good enough to act as someone who can help you in this area, not like your family can.” She came forward and laid a hand on his shoulder.
Brice shrugged it off. “Look, I’ve been going through a lot of crap lately, letting it affect my game. You guys haven’t been here for me. I’m a grown man who’s acted like a teenager with his first car. Being with Ava has allowed me to see how truly crappy I’ve been. You coming back into my life isn’t going to fix anything when you’re part of the problem.” He hated to say it, but it had to be put out in the open.
His mother reared back as if slapped. “You can’t be serious. We would never… We love you.”
Brice sighed. “I know that, but do you really think your past behavior has helped with stability for me or my brothers? You guys were in our lives so infrequently it was like spotting Rudolph in the middle of summer. We love you, and when you were here, we were loved, but other than that, we were on our own or dealing with servants.” An ache started in his chest, but he had to press on, to say it before he became a coward and stayed silent. “Not even Grandma and Uncle Thomas stuck around for us. We dealt with problems on our own and learned to keep our crap to ourselves.” Old wounds ripped open and grew larger with each word he uttered. “Talking to you and Dad about it would only have made us feel guilty since you both loved to travel. Now you want to come back because you think I’m being taken advantage of by a woman who’s done more for me in less than a week than you have in all my life because you think, what, she’s using me?”
“Well, you have to admit the way she left her fiancé was a bit…abrupt…and she has no job, no way to support herself. I admit she’s college educated, which is good, but other than that, she’s had no aim or drive.”
“That guy was an asshole who cheated on her. You know about cheating, Mom. You and Dad did it on his former fiancée. Didn’t think we knew that, did you?” His anger drove his words. “You know that we know all about what happened back then. What gives you the right to think you can judge Ava without talking to her?”
His mother shifted from one foot to the other. “She’s also adopted and—”
Brice felt something in him snap. “Adopted?
Adopted?
You have an issue with that? Get out. Both of you. Get the fuck out of my house. I don’t have a problem with it. No one in my life is going to use that to keep me from the woman I love. Come back when you have your head screwed on straight and you’re the mom I thought you were.”
“But, the gossip columns. It’s not good for you… We are your family. You need us, not her,” she cried out.
Brice shook his head. “I’m beginning to think you don’t know what is good for me. Just go.”
His mother left, but his father remained behind. “I’ll talk to her. She’s been hit hard by your grandmother’s death. She’s just… She’s not thinking, Son. I’d like to get to know Ava, since you seem to want to marry her.”
Heat flushed through Brice’s cheeks. He swallowed at the look his father gave him. “Um, yeah.”
“You were serious about that, Son, weren’t you? Don’t say things you don’t mean, especially to strangers. What your mother and I did to my ex-fiancée was wrong, I’ll admit it. We’ve made our apologies. You know what your mother said and did was more her mother than her. Your grandmother was a prideful woman, who was also a bitch. As much as I hate it, it’s one of the reasons we were away so much. We didn’t want to be around your grandmother. Thankfully she didn’t affect you or your brothers.” Carter Douglas reached out and gave Brice’s shoulder a squeeze.
He couldn’t accept their actions or their lack of apology. Brice had known the story growing up; his grandmother had always made sure they knew why their mother and father were away, and ignored her various diatribes. Brice and his siblings always ignored her when she came out of her severe depression cloud to utter something she felt worthy of being said. Brice hadn’t even attended his grandmother’s funeral, not wanting to remember all that negativity. Now his mother had brought that into his home, driving away Ava and maybe costing him his relationship, all in the name of trying to help. His shoulders felt heavy, and exhaustion tugged at his eyelids.
“Point taken. You are not forgiven, though. I need to sleep, but we’ll talk after I’ve spoken to Ava. This better not have cost me her… I just…” He didn’t want to think about it.
Carter Douglas nodded. “Just don’t shut us out okay? Please?”
Brice could only nod. He couldn’t see a way for his parents and Ava to exist in his life after the way they had treated her. His father left, the maintenance crew with him. Brice sank down on the couch and looked around the glittering room filled with lights, baubles, and tinsel. All this joy and no one to share it with. Anger burned in his chest. The Talons better not start shit, because Brice was in no mood. He just hoped Ava was at the game; he needed to set things right with her. He texted Davis. He doubted Ava would want to hear from him just yet.
Bring Ava to the game, need to talk to her.
Davis didn’t reply. Worry gnawed at Brice’s gut as he got up and went to bed.
Ava, please don’t turn away from me,
he said silently. His bed felt cold and empty; he reached out and grabbed the pillow she’d used. It carried her scent. “She’ll come back,” he muttered before sleep took him.
She has to.
* * * *
Ava trudged into the arena with everyone else. Her head felt heavy, and she had a crick in her neck that no amount of rubbing and massaging would help. Davis had said Brice had texted him to have her at the arena. She made a mental note to flog him for that. Coward. They found their seats and settled down. She couldn’t ignore the whispers and looks shot her way. After dinner her mother and Davis had shown her the articles that had been written about her and Brice since she’d taken on the position of his babysitter. Snarky drivel mostly, nothing of actual truth. Comments about her weight were sprinkled throughout the pieces. She was surprised at how calm she felt about it. She knew the truth; anything else anyone said was just speculation. The thing she couldn’t shake was what Marion Douglas had said to her. She’d thought she’d made peace with her adoption status, but having someone judge her all over again hurt.
She shuddered. Davis leaned over and placed an arm around her and rubbed her shoulder. “It’s okay, Sis. We’ll get beer and nachos, and you’ll have fun.”
Her stomach rumbled. Despite a big breakfast of home fries, bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs, waffles, and several cups of cappuccino, she still felt empty, hungry. Things hadn’t been helped by Davis pointing out that how Brice played would determine whether or not she would be tagging along to the Tampa Bay game. They didn’t want to spend the expense if they didn’t need to. She wasn’t sure whether she wanted Brice to do well or screw up. As fucked up as that was, she wanted to make sure he kept on track.
Davis smacked her thigh. “Stop worrying. He’ll kick ass—not literally, of course. And he’ll set his parents straight.”
“I’m sure he will, but I don’t know if I have a place in his life with them here,” she confessed.
“Then stop mothering him—not like you’ve done it, though. Mothering is picking out his clothes and choosing his friends and controlling shit like that. You direct him but make sure he doesn’t stray off things. That furniture thing… I’ve been telling him for ages he needed to get new stuff. It was depressing just being in there. Not many of us have seen his place, and I know he doesn’t take anyone over there, even his dates. As for his parents, he’s a big boy, and he can make up his own mind on who he’ll let in his life and who he won’t. Stop worrying. Let’s not talk about that. Have you made a decision?” Davis poked her side.