Chapter 36

Ava

I stretched, standing up as the plane began to deboard. I pulled my carry-on out from the overhead bin and followed in line until I was out in the terminal area. I looked up at the signs and followed them down through the crowds to collect my luggage. The sun shining through the sliding doors, and I couldn’t believe I was in Los Angeles. It had been a long flight there, but I was glad I had come. I pulled my luggage from the turnstile and walked outside, breathing in the warm California air. I pulled up the app on my phone and ordered an Uber, which was already there waiting in the wings. I climbed inside, and we headed off toward my hotel. It was the first time I had really ventured out on my own, and the palm trees looked just like they did in all the pictures. We drove past the Hollywood sign and up to the hotel. The driver helped me unload my bags, and I headed to the desk to get checked in.

The lady at the front desk was nice, and she could tell by the bags under my eyes that I hadn’t slept in a while. My head was just so clogged with everything going on, and I hoped this trip helped relieve that. When I got up to my room, I sat on the bed and called my mom to let her know I had gotten there okay.

“Hey, sweetie,” she said. “You made it.”

“I did,” I said. “How are things there?”

“Well, we got a surprise visit from Mason and his mother,” she said.

“Wait. What?”

“Yep. They showed up on the doorstep this morning,” she said.

“What happened? What did they want?” I asked, surprised by the news.

“Mason’s mother basically broke down and apologized for her part in everything,” she said. “I followed suit, feeling it was time to let all of it go, at least with her. She has filed for divorce from Mason’s father.”

“She has?”

“Yeah. Apparently she didn’t know anything about what he did to Spencer Hotels,” she said. “I could tell by the look in her eyes that she meant every word she said. I’m glad she’s back in my life. Thank you for that.”

“I’m glad, too, but I had nothing to do with it,” I said. “I’ll be honest. I’m taken back by the news. I was not expecting to hear that at all.”

“Sometimes things have a way of working out, just maybe not in the order you’d hoped for,” she said. “I’m sorry for acting the way I did.”

“I understand, Mom,” I said. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she said. “Now go enjoy your trip. I’m going to make some food for us here and relax.”

“Okay.” I chuckled. “I’ll call you after the school tour.”

I hung up the phone and sat on the bed, in awe of the news I had just gotten. I couldn’t believe Mason had gotten his mother to do that. It was what we had been trying for all along. I sat back on the bed and relaxed, looking out at the bright sunshine and the California scenery. I sat there for about an hour, just thinking, before realizing I was absolutely starving. I gathered my purse and sat down to put my shoes on. As I tied my second lace, I looked up, hearing a knock at the hotel door. Who could be coming to my room? I walked over and peered through the peephole, then stepped back in amazement. I reached for the handle and threw the door open, smiling big at Mason standing on the other side. He leaned against the doorframe and flashed me one of his charming smiles, pulling some flowers out from behind his back. I was so shocked and excited to see him standing there in front of me. My parents must have told him where I’d gone.

“Mason,” I said, taking the flowers, “what on earth are you doing here?”

“A little birdy told me you’d flown out here to search out art schools in L.A.,” he said. “I couldn’t let you come out here without chasing you down and telling you exactly what I thought about all of it.”

“Of course.” I chuckled. “When have you been one to hold back?”

“Never,” he said, standing up straight. “May I come in?”

“Oh, yeah, of course,” I said, standing to the side and closing the door.

“It’s really pretty out here in California,” he said, walking over to the window. “I came here when I was twenty on a spur-of-the-moment vacation with John.”

I laughed. “I’m sure you saw so much of the scenery.”

“Well, the scenery that mattered to a single, twenty-year-old kid.” He shrugged. “But there is one thing I just can’t wrap my head around. I can’t figure it out for the life of me.”

“What’s that?”

He turned toward me and crossed his arms over his chest. “Why you would come all the way to Los Angeles for art school when there are some of the best schools in the country right there in New York City.”

“I don’t know.” I sighed, plopping down on the bed. “Everything got so out of control in New York. I felt like I was going to explode. I thought if I was going to change my future, I should get away from all the heartbreak and pain. I wanted to go somewhere I didn’t have to be sad all the time.”

“Is it working?”

“No,” I said. “Especially not with you chasing me down out here.”

“I woke up this morning with an even greater determination to fix things than before,” he said. “I went straight to my mother’s, and we went to your parents’ house. Your mother and my mother sat down, and all it took was for one of them to open up and admit they were wrong. They both folded instantly. They mended everything, and my mother is taking yours out to lunch on Tuesday. My mom is leaving my father. She filed for divorce. She couldn’t live with what he did to you and your family, and it was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

“I know,” I said. “It’s really great news.”

“Wow, word travels fast,” he said. “Did the tabloids pick it up?”

“No,” I said with a laugh. “I called my mom when I got here to let her know I arrived okay. She told me all about it. She sounded really happy to have your mother back in her life. It was the first time in a long time I could hear relief in her voice. It really took me by surprise, Mason. Thank you for doing that. It was what we had wanted all along. I don’t know why it took so long.”

“Some things take longer than others, and I guess they don’t always happen the way we want them to,” he said.

“That’s exactly what my mother said. You are spending too much time with her.”

“She’s a smart woman,” he said. “And you’re a lot like her in many ways. You’re stubborn, smart, beautiful, and you know exactly what you want. You just have to unscramble it in your brain first.”

“You think my mother is beautiful? Should I leave you two alone?” I joked.

“Come back with me to New York,” he said, rushing forward and sitting next to me on the bed. “We have lost out on over ten years together, and I can’t imagine missing out on one more day. I will do anything to be with you. You’re the one I want to spend the rest of my life with.”

“Mason,” I said, trying to push away the excitement in my chest.

“We were meant to be together,” he said. “Like it was written in the stars or something.”

“Now you sound like Blair,” I said. “We need to get you your own family and friends.”

“The point is, I love you, Ava,” he said. “I don’t know a lot about what I want in the future, but I know one thing is for sure. Whatever it is, I want you to be by my side to go through it with me. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life pining for you, regretting everything, turning into a bitter old man, running a company and hating everyone around me. I don’t want to turn into my father.”

“You could never be your father,” I said, smiling.

“I hope not, but I don’t know what I would do without you,” he said.

“What will people think when I walk into a restaurant with the bearded, wooly man?” I asked, pulling on his beard. “You look like you’re eighteen again. What’s next? You going to grow out your hair and buy some hiking boots?”

“Maybe.” He smiled, touching his nose to mine. “I love the beard. I love turning back into the man I knew I could be. I missed myself. I’ve been miserable in that world that I just took on as my own. I didn’t even realize it until you came back into the picture. I had brainwashed myself into thinking I had no choice but to be my father’s son. The whole time, though, I was fighting it tooth and nail.”

“I missed that man too,” I said.

“You did more for me than bring love into my life,” he said. “You helped me find myself in the darkness. You were that light that showed me the way, showed me I could be whoever I wanted to be, that I wasn’t stuck being the next owner of York Hotels. I could have what I wanted and do as I pleased.”

“I think I created a monster.” I laughed. “But to be honest, you did the same thing for me. I was determined to go down a path I didn’t want to go down because I thought it was the only way. You showed me I had to let go of that. I had to stop shouldering all the blame for everything that had happened in our lives. You showed me that living someone else’s life wasn’t what was going to make me happy and that I had to find what really made me happy.”

“And have you figured that out?”

“I think so,” I said. “You make me happy. I love you, too, very much, and I’m glad you hunted me down.”

“I couldn’t leave you out here in California. Some cute rich guy might scoop you up.”

“You’re the only cute rich guy I’m interested in,” I said, smiling.

He reached up and tilted my chin toward him, leaning in and kissing my lips softly. I closed my eyes and sighed, feeling the comfort and closeness between us. Everything was falling into place, and it felt perfect. Then my stomach growled loudly. Mason pulled back and looked down at my stomach.

“Is that a monster?” he asked.

“Hey, give me a break. I haven’t eaten in, like, two days.”

“Well, what in the world are we waiting for? Let’s go get some dinner,” he said, smiling. “What would you like to eat? I’m pretty sure we can find any kind of food here in Los Angeles.”

“I don’t even care as long as it’s fit for human consumption,” I said, groaning as he pulled me up off the bed.

“I think I can handle that request.” He kissed me lightly again.

I couldn’t believe how perfectly everything had turned out.