1061: Mistletoe

“Hi, I was just closing up but you’re welcome to come in and shop if that’s why you’re here. I know with work hours it can be tough to carve out time for Christmas shopping, I’ve barely started mine.”

Xavier nodded and stepped inside. Ava closed the door, locking it behind her. While she had no problem with Xavier shopping after hours, she didn’t want strangers wandering in to do the same.

“Feel free to browse, or if you have something specific in mind, just give me a shout, I’ll be over at the bestsellers, I have some shelving to do. Oh, and Sebastian’s picking me up in an hour. He went to get our tree and run a few other errands while I finish up here, and well, you don’t need to know that. My point is, he won’t be here for awhile, I get how uncomfortable that might feel for you after the misunderstanding Tansy overheard and-”

“You really believe that was a misunderstanding?” Xavier asked with a shake of his head. “You really believe that was a misunderstanding, that Sebastian isn’t anticipating my departure from town, plotting some way to push for it?:

The thought had crossed Ava’s mind plenty of times but Sebastian was right, for their marriage to work, trust had to be there. She had to side with Sebastian even if her gut suggested otherwise. Bottom line, expecting Sebastian and Xavier to get along had been foolish.

“Sebastian and I have talked about this several times, he’s assured me over and over that-”

“Well, if he said so, it must be true. He’s never given you any reason to doubt him, right?”

“He has done things in the past, but in the present he’s my husband and I need to believe him. I want to believe in him. And,” she took Xavier’s hand. “I like having you in my life. I want us to continue to be friends, but if that’s going to happen I need you to back off the accusations.”

“Back off from telling the truth?”

“Okay, well maybe now isn’t the time for you to Christmas shop here. You’re clearly still irritated by what you think Sebastian did. So maybe until those emotions subside we should take some time apart.”

“One more thing,” Xavier said, “then I’ll go, I promise.” Anguish filled his eyes. “Is the reason you’re unwilling to question him, is that, is it because you’re pregnant?”

“What, no, I mean, we’re moving in that direction, but no, I’m not.” Ava’s puzzlement over where the question came from quickly morphed into suspicion. “did someone tell you-”

“One more thing then,” Xavier cut her off with his words, and a kiss.

Episode 1062: Present Without A Bow