The sun was peeking though the blinds when Avery woke. She didn't remember falling asleep. Last thing she remembered was going through old photos and thinking about her and Jax's relationship so many years ago. Peeling the blankets back, she stretches and tries to clear her head.
Climbing out of bed, Avery walked down the hall to the bathroom to shower. After showering and toweling off, Avery dressed in her favorite pair of warm denim shorts, coral crop top and sandals. She left her down and her face free of makeup.

 
       When Avery got down stairs, her mom and dad were sitting at the table eating a hearty breakfast of pancakes, sausage, and eggs with orange juice and coffee. the fact that she didn't have to cook herself anything was one of the many things she missed about being home. Her mom was the best cook and in the ten years she had been out of Charming, Avery hadn't had her mom's cooking a handful of times when she was able to convince her mom and dad to come out to North Carolina.

"Good morning! Coffee's in the pot Avey." Said her dad, Quincy, around a mouthful of buttermilk pancakes.

"Thanks dad. Anyone need a refill while I'm in there?"

"No sweetheart." Said her parents in unison.

       Walking into the kitchen, Avery grabbed a mug from the cabinet and fixed her a cup of coffee, black with lots of sugar. Grabbing her mug, she went back to the dinning room and took her seat and fixed her plate.

"What do you have planned for today Avey?" Asked Paige as Avery chewed a bite of the best buttermilk pancakes she'd had in quite some time.

"I was gonna go down to the hardware store and get some paint and start at the office. Movers will be here next week. But I didn't sleep all that well last night so I'm kinda dragging."

"Must be the difference in times zones." Said Quincy.

"Yeah, must be." Avery didn't want to tell her parents the real reason she hadn't slept was because all she could think about was Jax.

The three of them continued to eat their breakfast, falling into a comfortable silence. The pancakes seemed to melt in Avery's mouth and she wasn't so sure that she didn't moan a few times with the deliciousness of the sausage as it hit her taste buds.

"When will your car be delivered?" Asked Quincy as he pushed his plate away from him.

"Should be here tomorrow."

"Then use my truck today. I don't have anything planned other than working on the lawn mower and if I need something from the hardware store, I'll just use your mom's car. Also, tell Pete to charge anything you get at the hardware store to my account."

"Dad, I can't let you foot the bill for my renovations."

"I'm not asking you to let me do anything. I'm telling you to charge it. Avey, your mom and I talked about it last night and we're so glad to have you back in Charming that we want to pay for the renovations at the office. We know you put a lot of money down on this venture and we want to help any way we can."

"Mom.. dad..."

"No, this is settled Avery. We're paying for the renovations. So whatever you need, just tell Pete to charge it and have it delivered."

Knowing that her dad was sure of his decision and there was no arguing with him when he set his mind to something, she told him "Thank you" and finished her breakfast.

*****

Avery spent all day at the office painting and cleaning the worn hardwoods. Turns out the floor wasn't as bad as she thought they were. All they really needed was a good polishing and they would be good as new.
Plopping down in an old chair that was left behind from when the realtor closed up, she wiped sweat from her brow and took a long pull from her bottle of water. The sound of Harley's caught her attention and once more Avery wondered if one of them would be Jax.
She listened as the rumble from the bikes got closer and closer and began to slow. Looking through the glass front door, she saw the bikes come to a stop in front of the office. She would recognize the two bikers anywhere. It was Bobby and Opie.
Avery didn't want to analyze the feelings of disappointment that flooded her when she realized Jax wasn't one of the bikers paying her a visit. Once again, she caught herself wondering where he was and what he was doing.
Pulling herself from that pointless line of thinking, she watched as Opie unfastened his helmet and hung it on his handle bars before turning to Bobby as he did the same. She watched as the two of them approached the door to her building.
When she left 10 years ago, Opie and Jax both were in the beginning stages of prospecting for the club. Being children of two of the first 9 members, she knew their prospecting periods hadn't been easy.
Standing, she walked over to the door and I looked it with trembling fingers. She flipped the lock and opened up the door. Before she could ever say hello, she was pulling into a big hug from Opie.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes? How long have you been back?" He said as he released her from the hug but still held her at arms length so he could look at her.

"Just got back last night."

"We heard there was lawyer moving to town. Didn't know it was my favorite little girl." Said Bobby as he pulled Avery in for a tight hug.

"Well, I'm not a little girl anymore Bobby but the lawyer part is right. Your looking at Avery Mitchell, attorney at law." She said smiling up at the two of them, pride exuding from every pore of her body.

"So you became a lawyer after all?" Asked Opie.

"Sure did. It was the only reason I left Charming to begin with."

"True that. Who all knowns your back?" Asked Bobby.

"Just you guys and my parents. Oh, and Ralphy & Jax. You guys remember Ralphy don't ya? Drives a cab in the area?

"So Jax knows your back?" Asked Bobby.

"Well, he knows I'm in town. I'll put it that way."

"Ahhh, I see." Said Opie.

"But yeah, we remember Ralphy Hux. He's been driving that same yellow cab for 9 years." Said Bobby. "I'm sure that if he knows, other will find out soon enough.

"No doubt about that." Said Opie laughing. Ralphy's parents were known as the town gossips. If you wanted to know anything going on in Charming, his parents were sure to know even the most minute detail.

"I'm surprised Jax hasn't stopped by. I'm sure he would love to see you." Said Bobby.

"Funny you mention him. I saw him last night down at the convenience store buying rubbers and smokes. Didn't get a chance to speak because he tore out of there like a shot cat when he saw whatever was on on fire in the hills." Said Avery.
She knew that the club couldn't tell her what happened so it wasn't like she was fishing for informs on Jax.
Or was she?

"Yeah, that was a pretty big fire huh?" Said Opie

"Yeah. Whatever it was that exploded or whatever rattled the windows in the store. The clerk working there looked to be pretty rattled by whatever it was when I paid for my things and left." Said Avery as she walked further into the building, gesturing for Bobby and Opie to follow her.

"And you haven't seen the kid since?" Asked Bobby.

"Funny. You still call him kid after all these years. But no, I haven't seen him." Said Avery. "Should I have seen him,"

"No, I just figured that as hot and heavy as you two were when you left that the minute he laid eyes on you he wouldn't have wanted to let you out of his sights again." Said Bobby.

"It's been ten years guys. I didn't expect to come back and pick up where he and I left off by anyone's stretch of the imagination. If he had things to do, he had things to do."

"May have been ten years ago, and don't you tell him I'm telling you this shit, but I think that boy still has feelings for you." Said Opie.

"After ten years? You can't be serious." Said Avery hoping she sounded as calm as she wanted them to believe she was. In all honesty though, he emotions were all over the place. Opie- Jax's best friend and brother for all intents and purposes- had just told her he thought Jax still had feelings for her.

"No offense Vee, but we have been here the past ten years when you haven't. We watched him try to drown his feelings in bourbon and pus... sorry, women." Said Bobby, winching at his almost use of the word pussy.

"You two know that I did ask him to come with me right? He made the decision to stay here." Said Avery defensively.

"We know. And I mean know harm by it. I'm just saying that he was doing all of that hoping to forget about what he was feeling." Said Opie as he took a step closer to Avery. "And again, if you tell him any of this, I'm going to deny, deny, deny."

"Ope, I ain't seen him since last night and I was to nervous to even speak to him. I think your "slip of the tongue" is safe with me." Said Avery smiling up at Opie.

"Anyway, we should probably head out. We got church in a few." Said Bobby. "You should stop by the clubhouse. I'm sure the rest of the guys would love to see you. Not to mention Gemma and John."

"I would love to see them! I've missed them nearly as much as I have my own parents." Said Avery.

"Theyve sure missed you too. I'm serious, stop by anytime. You know you're always welcome." Said Opie.

"I'll think about." Avery said smiling up at the two men.

"Anyways, we gotta go. See ya around." Said Opie and he and Bobby walked out the front door of her office.