"He's a good guy. And he knows what he's doing—he was raising Ava by himself before they ever met Hannah."
She closed her eyes briefly. "I know."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I'm good." She smiled. "It's nothing. Just a thought that hit me. And see—I didn't say I'm fine."
"I did notice. Thanks." He nodded. "Do you want to share what the thought was?"
"I feel awful admitting it. But it was relief." She swallowed. "Grady has Ava because her mom died. When we saw him at Molly's after my first appointment, and he offered to take Zia…"
She shuddered.
He tightened his arms around her. "You don't need to say it. I was scared too."
Chapter Seventeen
On Friday morning, Reaves stood on the front steps with Alara and Zia, watching Grady's car come up the driveway. Zia bounced up and down on her toes.
"Here they come!"
He chuckled. "You're going to have a great time."
She looked up at him, wide-eyed. "I know. I can't believe there's a place where all the doggos who don't have anywhere else to live get to go and stay. Isn't that awesome?"
"It is," he agreed.
Her little smile faded. "Don't you think so, Mom?"
"I do. I think it's great. But you know you can't have one, right?"
Her shoulders drooped. "I know. But I can make friends with them. And maybe I can go back and see them again." She looked up. "But are you okay? Do you want me to go with you instead? I don't mind."
Alara held her arms out and Zia went to hug her. "I don't mind at all. I want you to go and have fun. Enjoy seeing the dogs and the cats. There'll be cats there too."
Zia shrugged at that.
"And enjoy yourself with Ava. Okay?"
"I will. Ava's awesome. She's kind of quiet. But she likes talking to me."
Reaves smiled to himself, wondering how much talking Ava got to do. But Alara surprised him when she said, "That's because you're a good listener."
When Grady brought the car to a stop at the bottom of the steps, Zia hugged Alara one last time. "Are you sure you'll be all right?"
"I'll be fine, Z. I promise. You go and have fun. I'll see you this afternoon. Just forget about me and enjoy yourself."
Zia scowled at her. "I'll never forget about you. That's a silly thing to say." She came to Reaves and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I'll see you later, Prince Daddy. You have to hold Mom's hand when she has the injection. They hurt, you know."
"I will. I'll take good care of her."
Zia frowned. "Do transfusions hurt?"
Reaves didn't know whether to correct her, but Alara beat him to it. "It's not a transfusion, Z. It's an infusion. They're going to put some extra iron straight into me, so they can top me up more quickly than I'd manage by only getting it through food."
Zia considered that for a moment, tilting her head to the side. "That makes sense. But I hope you have to keep eating iron, too. It's in the cheesy green muffins, and I like those."
Alara laughed. "I think we're safe there. Mrs. Faye likes making them."
