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.
She picked up her keys. She walked to the front door and opened it. And the Georgia night was warm and still and smelled like somebody three houses down, was burning leaves. That particular autumn smell she associated with being a child and knowing that something beautiful was ending, but it was ending in a way that was itself beautiful. She stood on the porch.
She stood there for a full 30 seconds. Then she went back inside and walked down the short hallway and knocked once lightly on the doorframe of Ava's room. Marcus was sitting on the edge of the bed. Ava was under the covers with the dinosaur book closed on the pillow beside her. She wasn't asleep yet.
She looked at Victoria in the doorway with those direct. Dana bright eyes. The festival tomorrow, Victoria said. What time does it start? Ava sat up two inches.