Ava knows who Jimmy O'Brien is - her first love and soulmate. Forced to spend time apart, Ava and Jim deal with their trust issues and insecurities.
When the lovers finally reunite and resolve to fight for each other, their fragile happiness is put...
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There was a photoshopped picture of a model I'd never met and me on the internet. I saw it last night when Ava was lying in my arms, with her head tucked in the crook of my neck and her bare chest pressed against mine.
The evening was perfect until it wasn't because that photo put me in a shitty mood Ava noticed. She shrugged and kissed me when I showed her the image and told me not to worry.
She trusted me, but after she left this morning, excited about the video call with her future mentor, I checked the same gossip pages. There was nothing else for now, but the label fired both Wyatt and his niece, and I couldn't let my guard down in case she decided to pull another stunt or tried to hurt Ava again. I hadn't been cautious before, and I wouldn't repeat the same mistake.
By the time I'd parked my Audi at Alfie's, I felt calmer. Nature had always had that effect on me. Ava did, too, but I wouldn't see her until the following afternoon. Although I was in no rush to finish the works at the Victorian, it was sensible to do as much as I could before the release of our second album, and she needed some time to work on her book.
The architect I hired, Hudson, arrived at the house an hour after I did. I saw him from the garden where I was hanging a hammock for Ava. She loved reading outside, and I wanted her to have a special spot where she could do it.
"Jim," Hudson called me, waving his hand.
I jogged over to him and fished the keys out of my pocket. "Good morning. You didn't get lost; that's cool. I was expecting you to call and ask me to come get you."
"It's not the easiest place to find, but that's the point, right?" he said as we strolled to the house.
The guy was used to working with people like me, and, according to Riley, whose house he designed, he was reliable and discreet.
"Yeah," I said, unlocking the front door. Hudson followed me inside and hummed, glancing around.
"I like it. Lots of light and space. The previous owner altered the original layout of the house, didn't he?"
I headed toward the stairs, motioning for Hudson to follow me. "He did. The second floor hasn't been touched, and neither has the attic. That's what I'd like to focus on."
Over the next forty minutes, the man mostly listened and took notes. I didn't want to change the master bedroom, but two of the tiny guest rooms could be made into one, and the attic would have a bigger window for Ava to turn it into her writing nook.
Hudson promised to work up a blueprint and show it to me by the end of the week.
When he left, I cleaned the house and mowed the lawn. By the time I was done, sweat had soaked my shirt. I whipped it off and dried my temples with it before leaving it on top of one of the shrubs.
Grabbing an apple from a tree, I bit into it and walked toward the fence.
Another house sat down the road, partly concealed by a garden similar to Alfie's.
