The Night Before Read online

  “Ellie, calm down. You broke up with Rashad like five minutes ago.”

  “I broke up with Rashad like three weeks ago,” Ellie said, flashing her a look. “I can admit that I’m needy.”

  “Rebound,” Ava sang under her breath. She unwrapped one of the many candy canes she’d taken the liberty to remove from the candy dish and popped the tail end into her mouth.

  Ellie shrugged. “So? Rebounds are underrated. I see absolutely nothing wrong with indulging in a fine, muscular, did I say fine rebound.” Ellie looked at her pointedly. “You should too.”

  Ava rolled her eyes, deflecting again. “But does Kendrick know that he’s just a rebound?” Ava asked, glancing at her friend as she made the corner onto the street that Ava had called home throughout most of her childhood.

  Ellie shot her a look. “Like he cares.”

  Ava didn’t dispute her friend’s assessment. Of course, he didn’t care. He was a dude. But Ellie did. She talked tough but was quick to catch feelings. That’s how Rashad had lasted so long in spite of his super wack, deadbeat shenanigans. Ava didn’t need to share that info with her friend though, because she was well aware. One of the defining points of their friendship, which had been going strong since the ninth grade, was that they were honest with each other. That, and they analyzed themselves to death.

  Ava knew her issues, which sometimes trickled over to her relationships. Ellie knew hers as well, pinpointing her sometimes strained relationship with her mom and white stepdad. Ellie’s dad was black and her mom was white, and had remarried a white man. It wasn’t a big deal except that Ellie always said he was white.

  “My mom is white but this guy, Sam? He’s white.”

  Ellie was convinced he had long harbored issues with her because she identified as black, even though her deep blue-green eyes and thin, curly hair immediately indicated that she was bi-racial. Ellie split her time between her mom’s white household, with Sam’s two younger daughters, and her dad’s, who’d also remarried and had a young son with his new, black wife. Ellie was stretched between two worlds, she often said, though she felt most comfortable at her dad’s.

  “Tell mama I’ll see her tomorrow,” Ellie said as she pulled up outside of Ava’s mother’s modest but cute bungalow. She was planning to come by after she had dinner with her mom. “You’re seriously gonna go over there tonight?” Ava asked, quirking an eyebrow at her friend.

  “Did you not just hear me tell you that I’m needy? Besides, Kendrick is cool. And he’s in real estate. He can probably hook me up.”

  “Alright,” Ava said warningly, pushing the door open. The cool air immediately circled her and she shivered. “See you tomorrow. Love you.”

  “Love you too,” Ellie said, kissing her hand and waving it in Ava’s general direction. She waited until Ava made up the short sidewalk to the house and stuck her key in the lock before peeling off way too quickly because it was just beginning to snow.

  Ava walked into the house, greeted by warmth and the smell of vanilla. Her mom, Caren, wasn’t much in the way of a regular cook but she could bake.

  The house had remained virtually the same since she’d left for college, cute and modern, despite its old school exterior. Her mom loved color, and the couch was peach with bright yellow, orange and deep purple pillows decorating it. The art on the walls were mostly from West African artists, with one special piece she’d picked up when she an Ava had taken a trip to Ghana three years ago.

  There were a couple of glasses of wine sitting on the coffee table and Ava knew her mom’s boyfriend of eight months, Jeff, was over. She’d met him for the first time earlier in the evening and immediately understood exactly how and why her mom was so smitten.

  Meeting Jeff in person felt like meeting an old friend. Sure, they’d spoken on the phone a few times prior, and she’d even chatted briefly with him on video during one of her very frequent video chats with her mom, but in person, he was even more charming. And it wasn’t practiced charm—it was charm born from confidence, both in himself and his place in life. Jeff was comfortable in his own skin and that radiated from him. He wasn’t trying to prove anything; he was good with his station in life and his demeanor announced you could either get on board with that, or not. That by itself was attractive.

  He actually reminded her of Elias that way. Ava closed her eyes at the intrusive thought and at the way her belly flipped a little just thinking about him. Which is why when that third dance ended, she was happy to get away from him. He smelled way too good; his arms were way too strong, his smile way too relaxed for her to keep up her pretenses much longer.

  But it was his conversation, his low baritone in her ear as he talked with her about his job, his life, her life, that had her interested. It was his perspective. It was the fact that even though he was obviously super confident, he also listened and wasn’t all about himself. She’d teased Ellie but if she’d danced with him for another song, there was a good chance Elias would’ve had her in some darkened corner, and she would’ve been a joyful participant.

  She bit her lip, as she made her way through the warm living room. It’d only taken a couple of hours with Elias for Ava to feel as though she was already on the verge of getting caught up. And Lord knows she’d already done enough of that with Ty to last a lifetime.

  “Hey, Mom,” Ava called out as she rounded the corner to the spacious kitchen. “You said you already handpicked the decent Lifetime movies for tonight, right?”

  She paused when she entered the kitchen, taking in Caren’s worried eyes. Jeff was holding his phone, his expression no more relaxed than her mom’s.

  “What’s going on?” Ava asked frowning, looking at the two of them. Jeff was cool and all but he could definitely catch hands if he’d hurt her mom. Well, maybe not catch her hands, seeing as how she was 5’5 on a good day, but he could catch a bat. Or some hot grits.

  “Jeff’s daughter, Trina, was just in a pretty bad car accident.”

  Immediately, Ava’s stomach dropped. She didn’t know Trina of course, but she knew Jeff was close with his daughter and two grandkids, who lived in Savannah. She was actually surprised to still see him at the house since he was planning on driving there to spend Christmas Day with her and her young her daughter.

  “Is she okay?”

  “She’s… stable.”

  Ava stepped further into the room, placing a hand on her mom’s shoulder as she looked at Jeff, who ran a hand over his graying head.

  “She has broken ribs, and they had to do surgery on her leg. Reagan and Jackson are fine,” her mom said, answering Ava’s concerned look. “They weren’t in the car. But Jeff is going to have to go now, of course, and look after them for a while.”

  Ava nodded in understanding, her gaze darting between the two of them, before it hit her.

  “It’s fine Mom, if you need to go with him,” Ava offered. She did mean it. Obviously Jeff’s family needed the help. And it was equally obvious from what he wasn’t saying that Jeff wanted Caren with him.

  “I know we planned to…”

  “It’s okay Mom, really. I’m a big girl. This is important, clearly.”

  “You’re welcome to come with us,” Caren offered, as Jeff nodded.

  Sorry as she was for Jeff’s daughter, Ava did not want to spend the holiday crammed in a hospital or babysitting two kids she didn’t know.

  “Seriously, no worries. I’m good. I promise. Go take care of Trina and her family.”

  Caren glanced at Jeff, who’d stuffed his hands in his pockets. Although he wanted Caren with him, it was also clear that he wouldn’t intrude on the decision-making. Ava’s respect for him swelled.

  “Well, then what will you do tomorrow?” Caren asked, her small features wrinkled in concern.

  Ava stuffed her hands in the oversized pockets of her sweater dress.

  “This guy I met, Elias Young, wanted me to hang out with him tomorrow.”

  At that, her mom raised her brows and grinned.r />
  “Really now.”

  Ava rolled her eyes. “Yes.”

  Caren’s eyes were lit with interest as she stared at her only daughter.

  “And did you agree?”

  Ava shifted her weight and looked away, unable to hide her grin.

  “Wow. That must’ve been some party,” Caren said, smiling.

  “Ellie hooked up with his cousin Kendrick,” Ava told her, causing her mom to shake her head and roll her eyes.

  “I’m not surprised.” She paused, her expression turning serious once more. “So, are you really going to go out tomorrow? It would get you out of the house.”

  “I’ll think about it. Probably,” Ava lied.

  “You’re lying. I think it could be for you to—”

  “Good-bye, Mom,” Ava interrupted before her mom could once again warn her to live her life to the fullest and not hold on to “toxic anger” over her failed relationship.

  “You guys better get on the road,” Ava suggested. “It was already starting to snow a little bit when Ellie dropped me off.”

  Caren smiled and stepped forward, hugging Ava tightly.

  “I love you, daughter.”

  “I love you more mother.”

  “And I’ll text you so you can tell me about this dude,” Caren said discreetly, causing Ava to chuckle.

  “You guys be safe, and I’ll keep your family in prayer, Jeff.”

  “I appreciate it, Ava,” Jeff said, offering her a brief hug and kiss on the cheek after her mother released her. “Thank you for being so understanding too.”

  Not thirty minutes later, Ava sank into the deep couch cushions in her mom’s living room and flicked on the television. Her life had been in transition for the past three months, ever since she ended things with Ty. Or rather, he ended things by doing what he did. After five years together, five years of her dealing, things had ended so dramatically horrible, it was almost surreal. As if she was looking down into her life from above or something because there was no way it could actually be hers.

  She’d been adjusting for the past twelve weeks—trying to get some semblance of her life back. Trying to remember who the hell she was, prior to Ty taking up every inch of her life. She moved out of the place they’d been sharing for the past couple of years, into her own little bungalow, which she was renting on the west side of town. And she enjoyed it, getting back to herself. Getting to know herself again without some man up in her grill, burdening her with his wants and expectations.

  It only made sense that she was closing out the year doing something she’d never done before in all her thirty-one years—spending the Christmas holiday without her mom. She’d be spending Christmas alone too because she’d definitely made her mind up—she was not going anywhere with Elias’. Now that she was away from his presence and his cocky smile, her mind was clearer. And her mind was telling her one thing: nope.

  She’d turned off the lights in the house, leaving on only the white lights from the Christmas tree and fireplace after changing into her annual Christmas pajamas Caren always bought them—which were soft, comfy and way too big. She took a sip of eggnog, which she’d mixed with a bit of rum as she began watching the cheesy holiday romance her mom had selected. But half the enjoyment of even watching these kinds of flicks was making fun of the utter cheesiness, and with her mom gone, she had no one to crack jokes with. She frowned after five minutes and flicked the channel, stopping only when she came up on her all-time favorite, A Charlie Brown Christmas. She smiled as Linus and poor Charlie Brown went off on their venture to pick that pitiful tree that everyone laughed at.

  Her phone buzzed and she picked it up, half expecting it to be her mom.

  “Ava.” She could almost hear Elias’ voice saying her name, and she smiled, but only for a second before frowning. She debated if she should respond. But it was probably best since she needed to tell him their date was a no-go anyway.

  “Elias.”

  “You’re home safe?” The text came immediately and Ava grinned.

  “You’re a little late to be asking about my well-being. I could’ve been in a ditch somewhere by now.”

  “Are you?”

  “Am I what?”

  “In a ditch somewhere?”

  “If I were in a ditch, I wouldn’t have the time to be texting you would I?”

  “I don’t know what people do in ditches.”

  Ava laughed aloud.

  “You are so not funny.”

  “But you’re laughing right now anyway.”

  “Nope. I’m actually about to stop texting you because my phone is nearly dead.”

  “Karma from all that rude reading you were doing at the party.”

  Ava rolled her eyes, grinning.

  “Good night, Elias.”

  “Sleep well, Ava. See you soon.”

  Ava sighed, letting her head against the back of the couch, her gaze on the Christmas wreath hanging over her mom’s small mantel. Her mom could’ve been a decorator instead of an English professor at the local community college. Ava stared at the lights, thinking of the ones she’d just danced under earlier tonight with Elias. She should call him now and tell him she wasn’t going on a date with him ever. That’d be the polite thing to do.

  “I’m such a punk,” she breathed aloud, just as the lights suddenly clicked off.

  She blinked as if that would eliminate the pitch black of the living room.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  She reached blindly for her nearly dead phone on the plush couch cushions then shined it over the darkened living room, though it didn’t do much in the way of light, and got up from the couch, careful not to bump into the coffee table, as she made her way to the large window by the TV. She sighed loudly and shook her head. The entire block was encased in darkness, which meant the power outage hadn’t affected just her. The snow was still coming down in thick sheets, and she peered out the window again, contemplating her options before checking the weather on her phone.

  “An ice storm?” she said aloud again, pressing her head against the cold window pane.

  The heavy snow had officially been upgraded just twenty minutes ago. Which meant that she was stuck in the house with no power, no heat, and no realistic time frame for any of that to be rectified since it was Christmas Eve. Weighing her options as she went to search for a candle in the kitchen, she quickly dialed Ellie. The phone went straight to voicemail, probably because she’d turned it off to get her freak on with Kendrick. She tried her one more time, but again was met with Ellie’s bubbly voice telling her to leave a message.

  “Fan-freaking-tastic,” she muttered. She checked the weather in Atlanta. It was cold but the skies were clear.

  The temperature was already beginning to dip in the house, just that fast, and she stuffed her hands in her pajama pockets, trying to think. Ellie wasn’t answering the phone and she literally knew no one else in the town. Her mom had friends that she could probably technically call if she knew their numbers, which she didn’t. And staying in the freezing cold house wasn’t happening either. Yeah, she was going home. Tonight. If she left now, she could beat the storm before it hit since it was moving into the town from the opposite direction of Atlanta. Once she got on the freeway, just a few miles outside of the city, she’d be good.

  Armed with a new plan, even if it was admittedly kind of a crap one, Ava quickly made her way up the stairs and packed her clothes. She’d only been there for a day, so the packing took all of five minutes since it was dark and she was trying to move quickly. She did a quick walk-through and blew out the candle she’d lit and left on the kitchen counter, but not before she stuffed the sugar cookies from the reindeer plate on the stovetop into a baggie and crammed them into her purse. No use in Christmas being completely ruined.

  A minute later, Ava slid out of the front door into the frigid cold. She’d call her mom once she was on the highway, because she didn’t want to worry her when she already had so much on h
er plate.

  She slid into her car and immediately turned the ignition, blasting the heat, even though it was currently coming out cold. Damn, this Christmas sucks. The only highlight so far had been Elias, and there was a good chance she’d never even see him again. Once he realized she’d not only blew him off but had driven back to Atlanta without a peep, Ava was pretty sure whatever interest he’d previously expressed would be done for. Not that she cared.

  The streets were a whisper when she turned out of the dark neighborhood. After just seeing it all lit up for Christmas it was weird seeing the houses pitch black. She could barely even make out their outlines. She quickly flicked on her high beams, which helped some but not really. Literally, no one was on the streets— the business lights were off, and for a second, she was scared. She paused at the street light for no reason, since it was down too, took a deep breath, and kept going. She was out of options and she was grown ass woman, not a character in some Christmas ghost movie. She actually saw a flick like that last year, when her mom had come to visit. It was the stupidest thing ever.

  Finally, she came to the exit that led to the interstate, turning her wipers on triple time because it was snowing so hard. Two hours ago, there was no way you could’ve told her she’d be driving her car, which needed to have the tires rotated, back to Atlanta at nine o’clock at night on Christmas Eve. She blew out a breath, squinting out of the windshield because she could barely see the asphalt through all the snow. There seemed to be only one other car on the highway, though it was a good fifty feet in front of her and she could barely make out the taillights.

  She chewed her lip, trying to calm herself down because driving in these conditions was scary, and she was only doing thirty miles per hour. The yellow line dividing the highway lanes was completely invisible. Unexpectedly, she hit a small bump and immediately, she felt as though she was starting to slide. Her heart began thumping in her chest. She hit the brakes and suddenly, she was spinning.

  “Oh my God!” she yelped, gripping the steering wheel tighter, as she frantically pumped the brakes, trying desperately to control the wheel. But that only made it worse. She’d completely lost control and the car continued to spin… she closed her eyes and screamed.