Bro Code(46)

“Mom, how do you expect me to finish all this work when you keep interrupting every five minutes to ask-” Ava spins around in her chair to make her point, dropping the file in her hands the moment she sees me. “Barrett.”

“Hi.” I smile, the same way I feel compelled to do whenever our eyes meet. Even with exhaustion and stress lining her face, she's so damn beautiful. So young and innocent.

If we were alone, if I was here for a different reason, I'd close the door behind me and pull her into my arms for a lingering kiss.

Ava doesn't return my smile, though. Instead, she bends down and starts picking up the file she dropped, shoulders tensed. “I told my mom not to call you.”

“When's the last time your mother listened to you?” I ask.

“Just shy of never,” she admits, setting the file back onto the desk.

“I'm not here to be your attorney.” That much is the truth, even though the raised eyebrow leveled my way says she doesn't believe me. “How about you just tell me what the problem is?”

“Come on. My mom has to have told you that much.” She bites her lip, but I can tell she wants to say everything that's on her mind. “One of the workers at the factory was hurt. It looks like the damage will be permanent.”

“Hurt how?” There's a lot of ways a case like this can swing.

“An engine on one of the machines crushed his arm. He said it wasn’t that bad, but I guess he was wrong. If that wasn't awful enough, it looks like the safety certificate on the machine expired a month ago. My father's been out sick, but it was still his responsibility, and—now it's mine.” She frowns, her shoulders looking so tense that it's taking everything in me not to step over and give her a massage. “He's suing, but if I pay everything he's asking for, the plant goes under. If I don’t, there’s a possibility he may not be able to work for the rest of his life and his family won't have anything to live on.”

“Doesn't sound like there's much room for negotiation,” I say. “You have any other options?”

“Burning money in court going back and forth over a case I'll probably lose anyway.” She reaches up to try and rub the tension from her brow. “I want to give him the money, Barrett. I don't want his life destroyed because we weren't paying attention. But that means everyone else gets screwed over by the plant falling apart.”

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. “I'm not sure what to tell you, Ava.”

“That's okay.” Her laugh is dry with fatigue. “It's my problem, not yours.”

“I hate seeing you like this.” I close the distance between us in a few steps, and she rises up out of her seat to meet me. “Come here.”

Pulling her into my arms, I exhale when her face comes to rest against my chest. She presses even closer, reaching around my back to return the hug. For a moment she's quiet, taking in deep breaths as a shudder goes through her from head to toe.

“You're so confusing, you know that?” Ava sniffles, but stays exactly where she is. “You keep saying we can't do this, but then you keep doing sweet things, like inviting me to stay with you for the weekend and running down here to try and problem solve with me. What is this?”

I don't have a good answer for that. If I was honest, everything would unravel. “Listen, work has me in an awkward place right now. I thought I was a couple of years out from partner, but they told me I was on the fast track if I can get the deal I'm working on to go through.”

She leans back to look at me, shock and happiness lighting up her eyes. “Barrett! That's great. Why do you feel weird about it?”

“Wouldn't you feel a little strange if something you'd been chasing for years just suddenly dropped into your lap with a nice red bow on top?” I ask.

She shrugs. “Yeah, I guess, but I'd still go for it.”

With her so close, I can't help myself. I move down to kiss her, wanting to wipe all that worry off her face. She leans up into me, returning the kiss with so much sweetness that I have to savor it, lingering against her lips until she's given me everything.

“I wish things could be different between us,” I admit in a whisper.

She opens her mouth to answer when I hear someone coming up the stairs. We immediately step back from each other, and she quickly smooths down her hair before Mrs. Saunders pokes her head into the office.

“Barrett, would you like to stay for dinner?” Mrs. Saunders makes it sound more like a plea than an invitation, but I'm not sure I've ever turned down an opportunity to enjoy her cooking. “The rolls just came out of the oven, and I have enough pot roast for everybody.”

“Mom, you invited him,” Ava says with a slightly exasperated smile, “you knew exactly how much to make.”

Her mother dismisses the accusation with a huff, and I quickly step in to intervene. “Of course. I'd love to stay.”



*



Mrs. Saunders sets the table as Ava and I sit down next to each other, mashed potatoes and green beans filling the space between the pot roast and rolls. A dish of gravy takes up the other side, and I'm about to reach for my plate when Mr. Saunders comes up from the den.

“I was wondering who I heard walking around up here,” he says, then starts hunting through a cabinet until finding an unopened bottle of wine. “It's good to see you, son.”