“Oh, there you are. Good.” Ava’s eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness as she spoke. “I was getting worried. What’s with the lighting in here?”
“I didn’t want you to see my new exhibit until you were in the perfect spot,” Cynthia said.
“Oh, you mean the Julien Henri exhibit?” Ava asked.
“Julien Henri?” Cynthia said while looking at Carly with a furrowed brow.
“Sorry. I know you wanted to surprise me,” Ava said, “but Carly already told me you have several of his pieces on display. You kind of picked the wrong person to tell your secret to,” Ava laughed.
Carly just shrugged her shoulders and nodded.
Cynthia sighed. “Fine, just follow me.”
“Wow,” Ava said, “don’t I feel special! You really didn’t have to go through such a fuss, Cynthia. I would have been just as happy to come see the exhibit with all the common folk.” Ava laughed. Through the dark, she swore she could see Carly roll her eyes.
“You deserve this,” Cynthia answered. “Come on, and eyes closed until I tell you to open them.” Cynthia put out her hand and led Ava behind one of the curved walls into the biggest area of the gallery, the one where all of the curved walls gave the appearance of forming a circular space.
Ava felt like Cynthia was taking an extreme amount of time positioning her just so. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Cynthia declared, “Open your eyes!”
Ava gasped and spun around. The lights in the gallery were fully on. Surrounding her on all sides were enormous canvas paintings of Claude Monet’s Water Lilies mounted as panels to each circular wall just as they were in the pictures she had seen of the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris. With her hand on her chest, and her mouth hanging open, she proclaimed, “Oh, my! This is beautiful! The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
“No,” the familiar voice said, “you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
Ava spun around again. Max stepped out from behind one of the curved walls.
“Max?” Ava asked, confused. “What are you doing here? I thought you were back at your apartment watching the game with Ryan.”
“Now why would I want to waste my time doing that when I could be here with you?”
Ava smiled and took his hand in hers. “Can you believe what Cynthia’s done here? Isn’t it incredible?” she asked.
“Actually, this was all Max’s idea,” Cynthia said, now walking to the center of the room with Carly.
Ava looked up at Max. “You did this?”
“Well, I may have mentioned to Cynthia that you always wanted to visit the Musée de l’Orangerie,” he gleamed. “I guess we came up with the idea together.”
Ava spun around one more time. “But how …”
“Well, these aren’t the originals, of course,” Cynthia said, “but I pulled in a few favors to borrow these wall sized prints. It’s my going away gift to you.” Cynthia smiled.
“You’re going away?” Ava asked, once again confused. If Cynthia left, what would become of the gallery?
“No, silly, you are!” Carly blurted, clasping her hands together. “Oh, I just can’t take this anymore. Max! Tell her!”
Max took both of Ava’s hands and began to explain. “Ava, I know we talked about you staying here while I’m in California, but the thought of being separated from you was tearing me up inside. At first I just told myself to suck it up, you know? That lots of people have long distance relationships and do just fine.”
Ava nodded, feeling the now familiar tears starting to well.
Max continued, “But once we were separated for winter break, the reality hit as to just how difficult it would be. You seemed to feel the same way. Then I started getting calls from Carly and Holly. They were both telling me how sad you were. Miserable really. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how we would get through.” He tenderly brushed his thumb across Ava’s face to catch the tears as they fell.
“I know, Max,” she replied. “It’s going to be so difficult. I don’t know how—”
Max put his fingers to her lips. “Ava, remember when I was at your house? In the kitchen with your family while you slept?”
Ava laughed. “I’m really sorry about that.”
“No,” Max said. “They weren’t giving me the third degree or anything. Okay, maybe a little bit.” He leaned in and kissed her lips softly before continuing. “Mostly we were talking about you. Everyone was so worried about you. At the time we thought Thomas was still around, and your family was worried about what would happen after I left, so we made plans.”
Max took a deep breath. “Your parents did most of the work actually, but they arranged for you to finish out your final semester at a small college in California. They even managed to get you a room on campus, just blocks away from my apartment. Although, I think that was just to make your Dad feel better … you know, so he didn’t have to think about you staying with me.”
Cynthia put her hand on Ava’s shoulder. “And I have a friend out there who runs a gallery. After I told her how fabulous you are, she agreed to hire you … for a paid position. She’s getting ready to retire and had been looking for someone to take over for her. She’s willing to train you while you’re in school, then after graduation, you’ll be running the place.”
Ava opened her mouth to speak, but didn’t even know where to begin.
“It’s all been arranged,” Max said. “Of course, you don’t have to go. You’re still registered here if you want to st—”
“No!” Ava finally shouted. “Of course I want to go!” She threw her arms around Max’s neck. “I just can’t believe you all did this for me. Forgive me for the weird reaction, I’m just in a bit of shock, that’s all.” She turned to face Cynthia. “I don’t even know where to start to thank you,” Ava said.
“I just made a phone call,” Cynthia stated, smiling. “Your merits speak for themselves. I am beyond sad to lose you, of course. I feel sorry for whoever comes to take your place. There’s no way they can even begin to fill your shoes.” Cynthia grasped Ava’s shoulders and gave her a big hug. Before she let go, she whispered in her ear, “I love you, Ava.”
“I love you, too, Cynthia,” Ava said before walking over to Carly. “And you!”
“What?” Carly asked holding her hands out. “What did I do this time?”
“Oh, let me see,” Ava began, laughing. “You called my sister and boyfriend because you were worried about me, you kept this a secret, and you just made me spend $250 in art supplies for classes you knew I wouldn’t be taking.”
“Hey, Max said to stall you. Who do you think I was texting all day? Besides, you could have said no. Anyway, you can always take them with you. You can never have too many paint brushes.”
“So I guess this means there’s no Julien Henri exhibit?” Ava laughed.
“No, you nerd. Wasn’t this enough?” Carly asked.
“Yes!” Ava hugged her. “Thank you, Carly. I sure am going to miss you.”
Ava went back over to Max. “Wait a minute,” she said, looking at him, “you said my parents agreed to all of this because of Thomas. But now that Thomas is gone—”
“Now that Thomas is gone, they still agree it’s a good idea. In fact, I think your mom is already making wedding plans,” Max replied.
“Wedding plans!” Ava’s eyes opened wide. “Why would she be doing that?”
Max continued to stare at Ava while he got down on one knee. “Ava, I know we are just getting to know each other, but I love you. More than I ever imagined I could love anyone. Every time I think about my future, you’re in it, right by my side. It’s not my future I’m looking at, it’s our future. It’s like you said a few weeks ago … the more we try to stay apart, the more we’re pushed together. So let’s stop being apart.”
Max pulled a small black velvet box out of his pocket and opened it. Inside was a beautiful diamond ring that Av
a recognized immediately: her grandmother’s ring. She gasped.
“Your father gave me this with his blessing. He told me the love he witnessed between us reminded him of his own love for your mother. Did you know that he proposed after their first date?”
Ava wiped away her tears and nodded. She did know that, but had forgotten all about it.
“I promise to love you always, and one day, I will fly you to Paris and anywhere else you want to go.” He took a long deep breath and added, “Marry me, Ava.”
###
END NOTES
Thank you for reading Ava’s Wishes. I’d be so appreciative if you’d leave an honest review at your favorite retailer or book review site. And don’t miss out on the rest of the Haines sisters as The Whispered Wishes Series continues. As always, thanks for your support! ~Karen
OTHER BOOKS BY KAREN POKRAS
The Whispered Wishes Series:
Book 2: Holly’s Wishes
Book 3: Tessa’s Wishes
Book 4: Woven Wishes
Merry Wishes: A Whispered Wishes Novella
Chasing Invisible (Karen Pokras Toz)
Books for Children 7-12 (Karen Pokras Toz)
The Nate Rocks Series:
Nate Rocks the World
Nate Rocks the Boat
Nate Rocks the School
Nate Rocks the City
Millicent Marie Is Not My Name
Pie and Other Brilliant Ideas
ABOUT KAREN POKRAS
Karen Pokras writes adult contemporary and middle grade fiction under the names Karen Pokras and Karen Pokras Toz. Her books have won several awards including two Readers’ Favorite Book Awards, the Grand Prize in the Purple Dragonfly Book Awards, as well as placing first for two Global E-Book Awards for Pre-Teen Literature. For more information and to sign up for Karen’s newsletter, please visit www.karenpokras.com.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
End Notes
Other Books by Karen Pokras
About Karen Pokras