Chapter Thirty-Nine

At a restaurant in the lobby of their hotel Ava and her friends were huddled around a table for breakfast. She was starving and wanted everything: bacon, eggs, hash browns, grits, toast. When her huge plate, fit for a lumberjack, was put before her, she could have dived in head first.

“Oh, Ava. One can never say your eyes are bigger than your stomach,” Celia said with a wink.

“You betcha,” Ava said, as she crinkled the bacon over her hash browns and dug in. “I’m not ashamed.”

“Can you believe this is the last day of our vacation?” Bonni asked.

Fredi shook her head and carefully placed her poached egg on a piece of toast. “No, actually, I can’t. It seems like we’ve been here for ever and yet the time has flown by.”

Bonni swirled her coffee cup. “I love our weekends away together. And I’m sad this one is ending now.”

Ava stopped eating long enough to say, “Don’t be sad, we’ll have more weekends. It’s not even that long until Bonni’s wedding!”

“True, and you all have to be there for that.” Bonni pointed at each one of them, giving them her cop stare. Fredi rolled her eyes and Ava couldn’t exactly blame her.

“Like any of us would miss it,” Ava told Bonni. “Something apocalypse-worthy would have to be happening to keep us from showing up.”

“Exactly,” Celia agreed. “Oh, by the way, Ava, I know you already paid for your return ticket but we were talking and, if you can get a credit or your money back, we can give you a lift on the jet.”

“Thanks, but I won’t need a lift. I’m not leaving.” She waited for the explosion of questions.

Her friends immediately fixed their eyes on her and she gave them a saucy look. “What?”

She feigned innocence because she didn’t want to tell them right away; she’d drag it out a little bit to build the drama. Ava speared more hash browns and bacon, swirled the forkful in the yolk of her fried egg and popped the gooey concoction into her mouth.

“Okay, we need more than that,” Fredi demanded.

“Damn straight. You don’t say something like that without giving any further explanation,” Celia told her, and lifted her cup to take a drink of coffee.

Bonni sat back, nodding her head. “What they said.”

“Well…I talked to Chase…then I talked to David…then I called Kate, my next-door neighbor…then I thought about it a little more…” Ava paused dramatically to take another large bite of her breakfast, chewing as slowly as possible. Celia looked ready to come over the table for her. “I’ve decided to stay an extra couple of days with Chase. Leaving now just didn’t seem right. It would be too rushed.”

“After his grand gesture last night, you would be a fool to leave,” Celia told her.

“Even I have to admit it was pretty special,” Fredi told her.

“Well, I’m glad you guys agree with my decision. I would hate to go against your wishes,” Ava teased gently, knowing her friends wouldn’t give her a hard time about staying. In fact, they would probably give her a harder time if she’d decided to leave.

“So unless Chase and Ava decide to do something wildly impulsive, I guess the next time we’ll be seeing each other is at Bonni’s wedding.” Celia pushed her empty plate away.

“Yes, Quinn and I confirmed the location yesterday.” Ava could tell Bonni was excited and they all started chattering on top of each other, demanding to know where the wedding was going to be held.

Bonni held up her hands and they fell quiet. “So, are you guys up for a trip to Monaco?”

Ava wanted to swoon. Oh, Monaco always sounded so glamorous, what with James Bond, gambling and Princess Grace! And now she was going to be a maid of honor at a wedding there! She made a mental note to see if Chase could be her plus one.

Bonni was nearly bouncing in her chair with excitement. “Yes, I know, isn’t it amazing! We’re going to be going over there for a little while, before and after. Quinn swears up and down that he thinks it’ll be a fantastic setting for a wedding but I suspect there’s also a poker tournament there he wants to moonlight in.”

“I can’t believe he’s deciding your wedding locale based on a poker tournament,” Fredi said, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Hey, now, it was a joint decision. Besides, I knew who he was when I said yes and, remember, if it wasn’t for a lucky win, Quinn and I would never have met,” Bonni replied.

“Wow, who would’ve ever thought the four of us little college girls would be going over to Monaco for one of our friends’ weddings?” Celia was shaking her head in wonder.

“It’ll be beee-autiful,” Ava sighed, just thinking about it. “It’s so lovely over there. It’s been the setting of so many James Bond movies.”

“You guys up for hearing more news?” Fredi asked her friends, and they all turned to look at her.

“Of course, Fredi. You can always tell us anything,” Ava said to her.

Fredi drew in a deep breath and Ava started to get excited; she had a feeling she knew what Fredi was going to say.

Celia slightly rose from her seat. “Are you finally—”

“You can’t even let me make my own announcement but, yes, I’ve decided to open up my own studio.”

“It’s about freaking time!” Celia told her, springing from her chair to hug Fredi.

Fredi tolerated it for a moment before saying, “Get off me, you heathen.”

Celia was grinning as she retook her seat. “Are you taking the space that Landon offered?”

“I rented a place for the studio off-property but I’m going to take him up on his offer to set up a showroom in some of his hotels. Is it still nepotism if it’s via a friend and not family?” Fredi asked.

“We are family,” Bonni said quietly. “And I can’t wait to wear a Fredi original down the aisle at my wedding.”

“For sure, Bonni. I’ve already got ideas we can discuss. But I was actually inspired by someone else on this trip.” Fredi leaned down and pulled her sketchbook from her bag.

Fredi put the book on the table, placed her hand on it and caressed the cover lovingly. “Ava, you have nearly driven me mad over the years with the back-and-forth about your perfect dress but, seeing you here in Nashville, it clicked for me.” She cast a glance at Ava and blew her a kiss. Turning the sketchbook around so her friends could see, she opened it. “I give you the ‘Ava’ dress. Take a look and tell me what you think.”

Silence fell around the table. Ava stared down at the dress and tears filled her eyes.

“Oh, Fredi, it’s my dress. Fredi, it’s my dress! I can’t believe it,” she whispered, and reached out to touch the edge of the paper with her fingers. She glanced up at Fredi and was almost overcome. “You’ve nailed it. All those ideas, all those designs, and you put everything together into this wonderful dress. It’s perfection.”

“Look a little closer,” Fredi said softly.

Ava leaned in and let out an excited cry of delight. “And the boots! The model’s wearing my boots.” She couldn’t believe what she was looking at. “You did this while we were here?”

“You know I always have my sketchbook. It’s your dress, Ava, for when you’re ready. And I have a feeling it’s not going to be too far off.” She glanced over Ava’s shoulder and quickly shut the book.

Ava turned around to see Chase walking toward them. She burst from the seat and ran into his arms. The women watched the two and, when Ava looked back, they all had blissful smiles on their faces.

Chase took Ava’s hand and they returned to the table.

“I just wanted to come and say goodbye. I know all you ladies are leaving, except this one.” He hitched his head in Ava’s direction. She was helpless to stop the smile that went from ear to ear.

“Hopefully, we’ll see you in Monaco as Ava’s plus one?” Bonni inquired.

“Monaco?” He glanced at Ava then back to Bonni.

“We’ll talk about it,” Ava said. “There’s a lot to talk about, and now we have the time to do it.”

Chase brushed his knuckles tenderly across her cheek before saying his goodbyes to the women. He touched the tip of his hat and stepped back to give Ava room for her own goodbyes.

“Stay in touch, girls. We have much to discuss,” Ava instructed, and they shared a big group hug. After extracting herself from them, Ava turned to Chase and held out her hand.

They walked through the lobby of the Opryland Hotel hand in hand. All Ava’s angst about her decision had fled. She knew she was in the right place, with the right man, and was going to do her darndest to make it work.

“I have something to tell you,” Chase leaned down to her and continued. “My label wants me to release the song I wrote for you, but I just want to make sure you’re okay with that. Because once it’s out there, it’ll belong to everyone.”

“I don’t mind. It’s okay,” she replied to him. “Because you belong only to me.”

“I’ve been waiting to hear you say that, Boots. I tell ya, I can’t imagine being happier than I am right now,” Chase said.

Ava gave him a seductive pout. “Wanna bet?”