Or they're looking at Ava and deciding what kind of mother they want to be. He looked out the window. Nobody just sits with me. Like right now, like it's enough. The words landed between them and neither of them moved to disturb them.
Outside, a car passed. Down the hall, the sound of a page turning. Ava still reading. I should have told you from the beginning, Victoria said. That part I'm sorry for.
Yeah, he said. That part I believe. But the rest of it, the rest of it was just a person wanting to be a person for a minute. He said, "I understand that more than you know. " He stood. He picked up her mug along with his.
He walked them to the kitchen. She heard him at the sink and then he came back and stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room. And the light from behind him made him a silhouette. "I want to ask you something," he said. "And I want you to be honest. " "Okay, when do you go back to Atlanta? " "I was planning Sunday," she said.
He nodded slowly. "You're staying at Susan Greer's place. " "Yes, she does those peon waffles on Saturday mornings," he said. He'd said that this morning, too. It felt different now. "You mentioned that. " She said, "Ava's got a fall festival at her school Saturday afternoon. " He said, "It's not fancy.
It's a school parking lot with a bounce house and overpriced popcorn. " Victoria looked at him. "I'm telling you this," he said carefully. "Not because I'm asking you to stay, but because," he paused, chose the words with the same care he used for everything. "Because I think you came out here looking for something real. And I'd rather you leave knowing you found it, whatever it is, than leave without having fully looked.
The weight of the offer and it was an offer. She understood that, even dressed as information settled over her. Are you sure? She said, "Considering considering you're a billionaire tech CEO who faked a breakdown on my road. " "When you say it like that, you're still just a person sitting in my living room," he said. "The rest of it is just information. " He moved toward the hallway.
I'm going to check on Ava. You know where the door is. Victoria, whatever you decide. It was a good day. He walked down the hall.
She sat in the quiet house. She sat with the tea smell and the lingering warmth of the kitchen and the faint sound of a child's breathing down the hall and the low tick of a clock on the wall that she hadn't noticed until now. She looked at the framed photo of Dana and Marcus and the baby who was Ava. All three of them in that hospital room looking overwhelmed and grateful. She thought about what he'd said.
The rest of it is just information. She thought about 20 years of people who led with the information. Who saw the company name and the bank balance and the Forbes cover before they ever saw her face? She stood up. She found her jacket where she'd left it over the back of a chair.