Venture Forward by Kristen Luciani Page A

right-and-decent thing.”
    “Nobody asked me to come home. I did it on my own — not because I felt guilty, but because I wanted to be here for you. I gave up my hopes and dreams for the future and got a job here in LA. I did everything possible to help and make Tara comfortable. How can you insinuate that I don’t care? Everything I did screams how much I care!”
    Tears spilled over. It felt good to release the emotions that had crippled her over the years. Her mother would always mourn the loss of the daughter she couldn’t save, because of Avery’s decision. It didn’t matter that the doctors had agreed. In Jane’s mind, Avery had singlehandedly made the choice that resulted in Tara’s death, and it was unforgiveable.
    Jane’s shoulders shook from the force of her sobs. “You left me here! After Tara died, you left me alone. You never cared about me. It was always about you. That’s why you went to Pittsburgh. You wanted to escape. Admit it!”
    “Is it so bad that I wanted my own life? You never gave a shit about me! Daddy did, but you managed to push him away too!”
    “Your father is a lying, cheating bastard. He left when things got too hard. He couldn’t handle Tara’s illness. He couldn’t be a responsible and dependable parent, and he was a shitty husband! Don’t make him out to be some kind of victim. He’s a worthless piece of crap!”
    “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” Avery’s voice was barely audible, her shoulders quivering with muted sobs.
    “So now you’ve come back for… what exactly? To mourn beside me in an attempt to ease your guilty conscience? To placate me?”
    “I was hoping we could try to make things better, but you’ll never let this go. I’ll always be the one who disappointed you, the one who abandoned you in your time of need, the one who—”
    “Don’t be such a martyr. You think you know what I’m feeling, but you have no idea.”
    “That’s because you don’t talk to me! You never did. It was always about Tara. And now that I’m here, it’s still all we talk about. Or argue about. Or cry about! If you can’t talk to me, if you don’t care to fix whatever shred of a relationship we have…” She picked up her handbag. “…then I don’t really know what else to do. I’m never going to be good enough to fill the void. I’ve tried for too long. I love you, but I just can’t do it anymore. It’s not my fault.”
    It was really and truly over. She left without another word, tortured by the muffled sounds of her mother’s weeping, and with the heart-wrenching realization that the tears weren’t for her, but for her dear departed sister.
     

CHAPTER TWELVE
     
    “ PAUL, AVERY HUNTER JUST arrived. Should I bring her to the conference room?” Alison’s voice interrupted his scattered thoughts. The past twenty-four hours of anticipation had been sheer agony.
    “No, I’ll be right out.” Chris and James were on their way, but he’d asked Avery to stop by earlier. If friendship were all she was prepared to offer, he’d take it. Something about her energy calmed him, strange as it seemed. For some inexplicable reason, the anger faded away, and the demons didn’t seem so insurmountable.
    His pulse quickened at the sight of her flipping through pages of the specs he’d sent to her office. Her casual outfit of a fitted, white button-down shirt and skinny jeans got his blood pumping, and all thoughts of sensors and engineers dissipated. Long blonde hair fell around her shoulders, and she absently twirled a strand as she perused the document. Just seeing her made all the bullshit with that book morph into white noise.
    “Hey, thanks a lot for coming. I hope you weren’t too bored reading all that.”
    “Don’t worry. It was riveting.” The faint smile set off alarm bells. Something was wrong.
    “Ali, can you send Chris and James back when they get here?” He led Avery into the hallway and dropped his voice. “Everything