Episode 588: My Only Wish This Year

Sebastian simply nodded and turned his back, pretending to study the contents of the shelves. It wasn’t good to see his father. He wasn’t really in the mood to see anyone of late. Not even Ava. He was only here with his dad because he’d been summoned and couldn’t really refuse; he owed his father.

"I had hoped to see you at Thanksgiving. Your mother and sister would have appreciated it."

Bas winced at the mention of that day. The reason he didn’t want to see anyone. "You know why I wasn’t there."

"Considering she’s about to become a part of our family, isn’t it time that you encourage her to get over whatever issues she had with my dealings in the past."

"Don’t count on it. I couldn’t even encourage her to marry me."

"What? You offered her that ring, and the Marques name and she turned you down? What’s wrong with the girl?"

Unlike his father, Sebastian assumed he was the problem. He was the reason she needed to think. She still wasn’t sure about him. She’d been sure about a recovering addict with an extremely checkered past, but she wasn’t sure about him. And he didn’t know how to convince her. That was all he thought about now. How he might persuade her to say yes.

It was all he thought about as he returned home, until Ava cleared her throat, and pulled him into the moment. She kissed the corner of his mouth and said, "Happy Thanksgiving."

Sebastian blinked, only then noticing the aromas in the air and the feast on the table, complete with candlelight. "It’s Thanksgiving. Again?" He swallowed hard. The first go round had been trauma enough, though he knew traumatizing him wasn’t Ava’s intention now, any more than it had been then. "Thanks for doing this. I do love Thanksgiving food, but honestly I don’t have much of an appetite."

"Maybe because there’s a question you’re burning to ask me?" Ava prompted.

"Seriously?" His pulse thundered. He prayed it wasn’t a misunderstanding.

"When you asked me the first time, it scared me, the last guy who asked failed to show up for our wedding. I’ve kind of been freaking out that this was the beginning of the end for us. But now that I’ve had time, I think you’ll like my answer better, that is," she gave him a wobbly smile, if you want to ask me again."

Episode 589: Christmastime Is Here