Episode 1351: Break My Heart

Since his wife sat there motionless and silent, Bas took a slice out of the other box and put it on a plate in front of her, her favorite topping, margarita.

She thanked him. Quietly.

He shook his head, grabbed a slice for himself and tucked in at the table.

It was a beautiful warm summer night, he wished Avalon looked like she was enjoying it, or even noticed it.

Foot traffic at the store was the worst it had ever been, the only reason Ava had kept the doors open the last while was to let her father see if he could work some kind of magic. Bas saw daily the toll this slow loss was taking on Ava, never more apparent than right this minute.

He was glad he’d offered to grab takeout since she hadn’t sounded up to cooking when they’d talked. Sebastian just wished he could come up with something more meaningful to do for her than that. Saving the store didn’t seem a possibility, but maybe there was some way to brighten her outlook.

“It’s weird,” he said, pausing for a sip of ice water while he put his thoughts together. “When I took this job with my dad, I figured it was just a means to an end, a well-paid way to keep us afloat. Lately though, I’ve had moments where I’m actually kind of enjoying it, and it feels pretty good to have times where it feels like I’m succeeding at it, even though this started out as something dad wanted for me more than I wanted it for myself. So maybe a career change for you will turn out to be more fun than you think, too. Maybe we could start brainstorming ideas for what else you might like to do.”

“I need to tell you something,” Ava said. “I don’t want to do this. Especially not since you’re kind of liking your time with your father. But you need to know what he did. You need to know why I can’t stomach the thought of him.”

Episode 1352 (Title TBD) Coming July 21, 2025