Hearts of Avon Read online

burned in his heart as he watched Caroline holding a ladder. The guy from the other day brushed paint on the house above. “She’s mine. I told you to leave.” John clutched the gun tightly in his hand, shaking as he reached with his other hand to his back pocket and removed the container of bullets. He laid the container on the hardwood floor and clicked it open, removing several bullets to load. They were cold against his fingers as he put them into its barrels. His chest tensed as he moved the rifle’s nose to the glass, fixing its sight on the guy’s skull.

  Five, four, three… he counted, his heart racing in anticipation. Sweat ran down his brow.

  -- --

  The sun was hot on Ben’s back as he dipped his thick brush in the bucket of yellow paint latched to the ladder in front of him. As he stretched to coat it on the weather worn house, a warm, salty breeze curved around him. He was on a heavy-duty ladder but the wind still made him nervous. Somehow, with Caroline bracing the ladder, he felt safe though.

  “If it gets too windy up there, come down until it calms!” Caroline called up to him.

  “Thanks, I’m good for now!” he called back down.

  So far they had just made small talk during the day, but he found himself interested in everything she said, in just being with her. She had avoided speaking about John though, and he knew from the way John had acted the other day he needed to know more about him. John would be back, he knew that, and he felt the urge to protect Caroline if she needed him to.

  The wind lulled for a second then, hesitating stilly, and something felt wrong.

  “Ben!” Caroline called up to him.

  He turned around partially to look down at her and saw something move out of the corner of his sight in the window of the house behind them. What was it?

  “Ben! Come down! I want to introduce you to my mom!”

  Soon he was looking down at Caroline’s vibrant smile and had forgotten all about the window. Her mom was beside her and, my they did look a lot alike. “I’ll be right down!” he called down and placed his brush in a holder by the hanging bucket. As he reached the ground he wiped beads of sweat from his brow with a rag that Caroline gave him.

  “Mom, this is Ben. Ben, this is my mom,” Caroline went through the formalities.

  “Pleased to meet you, Ben.” Caroline’s mom shook his hand with a sincere smile. “My daughter told me about how you stood up for her yesterday. Thank you. And thank you so much for helping us paint the house. You can call me Eva,” she said while passing him and Caroline lemonades she had brought out with her.

  “It’s wonderful to meet you,” Ben said while taking a gulp of the sweet, refreshing liquid. “And you are more than welcome for yesterday. I’m not sure what I actually did, but I was just doing the right thing.”

  Suzie came down The Ocean Whisper’s deck stairs with lemonade for herself and Eva. “Care if we join you after a refreshing drink?”

  Soon they were sitting in the sand, leaning against the house as they drank their lemonade.

  “I can’t believe you dated that guy for so long,” Suzie said out of nowhere. “I mean, three years is a long time to be with such a jerk. He’s so aggressive and mean.”

  “He wasn’t always like that, Sue.” Caroline stood and walked over near her aunt. “He changed.”

  “I don’t think he changed.” Suzie looked up at her. “I think he hid it from you until he knew he had you. I dated a guy like that once. Jerks are all the same. I just wish you would have gotten away from him sooner. He’s like a stalker, following you here like that.”

  For some reason, Ben felt he needed to say something. “She’s not with him now. I mean, I know I’ve just met your family and everything, but Caroline left him. None of us were there, in her shoes. Is there really any need to rehash anything?”

  “Thank you, Ben,” Caroline said. “It’s my life. I made certain choices for my own reasons. It’s really none of your business, Suzie.” A few tears raced down her cheek and she wiped them away.

  Suzie stood. “I’m sorry, honey, I didn’t mean it like that.” She reached out her arms and embraced Caroline as she came to her.

  “It’s alright, I understand,” Caroline said as she came back over toward Ben.

  “We all just care about you,” her mom said. “I know that you know that’s why we talk about things. We just love you and care about you so much.”

  “I know, mom. Let’s just get back to painting, ok.”

  Ben drank the rest of his lemonade, tilting his glass up as the last drops streamed down into his mouth, and then set his cup on the deck’s stairs. As Suzie and Eva set their ladder up he and Caroline went back over to their own ladder. “I know that you may not want to talk about things, but remember that I’m here if you want to,” Ben said as they reached the ladder.

  Caroline put her hand on his. “Thanks, that means as lot. Honestly, I really enjoy being around you. I don’t want to dwell on the past anymore. I would love to get to know you better though.”

  Ben smiled. Her touch gave him a warm feeling. “What do you say about getting some ice-cream with me after we finish later? There’s a great place close by.”

  “I’d love to,” she said as she lifted her hand from his. “I can’t wait.”

  “Well, that wall says otherwise.” He pointed upward and began to climb.

  -- --

  In that moment, next door, John shook violently on the floor, his rifle clutched hard in his hands. He almost choked as tears streamed uncontrollably down his face, resting on his hand below him and the gun’s barrels.

  Why? Why, Caroline? Pain seared through his chest. Why did you have to leave me? I could have changed. I can. He grabbed the floor with his hand, scratching his fingernails across it, feeling pain burn through his joints.

  He had come so close to shooting the other guy. His finger had tensed on the trigger, but when the guy turned around, John lost his nerve. He deserves it. But if the guy deserved it, then why hadn’t he shot? It is Caroline who deserves my anger, not him, he realized. And I still love her.

  John looked to his beer on the floor across from him. He set his gun down and pulled himself over to it, careful to stay clear of the window’s sight. With a bottle opener from his pocket, John cracked the top off and let the warm poison sear down his throat. That would calm his body for now, until he could find some other way to fix or destroy what he loved.

  -- --

  As Ben finished painting the second side of the house they had painted that day, he stared off at the horizon. It was beautiful, and he knew sunset would come soon. He was excited to finally finish painting and get some quality time, just talking with this beautiful girl.

  Soon he was down on the sand, hammering the paint can lid back on his can. His arms were sore from the long day of work.

  “Is our ice-cream treat within walking distance?” Caroline asked as she gathered other painting supplies.

  Ben hefted the can and brought it to where Eva and Suzie were finishing up. “It’s pretty close. I’d love to just walk and stretch my legs.” She looked beautiful in the later-day’s sunlight and he couldn’t help admiring her legs as she walked.

  “Ben,” Eva’s voice drew his attention back. “If you and your dad would want to come over this Saturday, we’re having a cookout for a few of Suzie’s local friends. We’ve got room for two more if you’re interested. We’ll be having tuna steaks, salads and something special for desert.”

  His mouth watered as he thought about all that good food. “I’ll definitely come and I’ll ask Mason. It means a lot that you’d invite us.”

  “It’s the least we can do after all your help today. I’ll stop stalling you now so that you can go get ice-cream. Be careful if it gets dark before you get back. Caroline, Suzie has a few flashlights in the closet inside if you’d like to take them, just in case.”

  As they walked down the street in their sandals Caroline was close to him, so close that every now and then her sleeve would brush up against his a
rm. It was silly, but for some reason he wished he could hold her hand. He wasn’t honest with Mason that morning when he told him he just wanted to be friends with her, but Mason knew that. Ben smiled to himself as he fully realized that truth.

  Soon they were sitting on the porch of Fat Cat Ice Cream. Ben savored the cool flavor of his mango ice-cream as he put the first spoonful in his mouth.

  Caroline had chocolate and vanilla swirl and looked at him silently for a moment as she scooped out her fist bite with her spoon. The sun began to set in the distance behind them and its pink hue ribboned across the sky. “You know, I really like you, Ben,” she said before eating her first bite and scooping in for her second. “Time with you is so, enjoyable. I haven’t known many guys like you.”

  “Thanks, I guess.” Ben leaned back and brushed his fingers against his chest in an arrogantly comedic way. “That’s what they all say.” He grinned. “You’re pretty wonderful yourself, you know.”

  Caroline brushed her hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear, playing with it subconsciously as she did so. “So what drives you, Ben? I know you live with Mason and that the two of you are amazing artists, but what drives you? I want to know who you are as a person. You already know some about me.”

  He had to think about that for a second. He wanted to impress her, but he found all he could really do was be himself. “I guess the beach, the wind, just Avon itself drives me in my art and my desire to stay