Even Tate looks at me, one brow arched.
I’m missing something, but have no idea what it is. “I, uh, I don’t have anything else.”
Dallas sighs, but recovers quickly and smiles at Ava. “Well,Iwould like to thank you for all this, Miss Williams. You have a beautiful plan laid out for us, and the effort you’ve already put in with this portfolio is worth noting.” He looks at me again.
I stare at my hands on the table.
“Thank you, Mr. Anderson,” Ava says, standing as she shakes Dallas’s hand. “I appreciate that, it means a lot.”
The board breaks up the meeting, and while Ava is locked in conversation with Dallas and a few of the members, Tate leans over to whisper to me. “You know, I was totally oblivious when I was first with Ellie.”
“What are you talking about?”
Tate glances toward Ava. “My advice, this job will go much smoother if you stop acting like all her ideas are insignificant. She’s talented, but she wants you on board with her like everyone else.”
Did I act like her ideas were insignificant? “I am. I hired her.”
“And also glared at her the entire time, and grunted when she made a suggestion or offered a solution to a problem.”
In my mind, I was straightforward. Professional. Exactly what I needed to be. “Do I need to release balloons every time she has a good idea?”
“No.”
“Then what more do I do?”
Tate chuckles and takes out a package of baked potato chips. Where he got them, I don’t know, but he tears into the bag. “You’ll figure it out. Remember, we’re around if you need anything else. This is a good project, Ryder. The kids will love it.”
Tate winks and slips into the hallway to rejoin his family who are now mingled in a growing crowd. The second Tate emerges, Ellie’s eyes light up like her world just got a little better. A simple thing, but today it packs a punch. Envy grips my throat.
Mason is lost in conversation with Dax about the outlook for the high school varsity team next spring. Skye hugs Parker’s big bicep and gushes over his performance during the All-Star game. Griffin has his mouth against Wren’s neck, whispering sickly sweet things and kissing her like we’re not here.
Ava catches my stare, chin lifted, shoulders back.
I narrow my gaze, trying to decipher the emotions on her countenance. I’m out of practice with her, and in another breath realize I don’t like that I am.
I give up after a moment and ask, “Are you irritated?”
“Not yet.” She flicks her brows, a definite implication that she could become so soon.
I go out on a limb and assume she means if there is an irritant, then I will be it.
All at once, Drake’s face fills my mind. Not because I have a particular inclination to think of my former best friend, but because there is a mousy little boy who looks unnervingly like the man coming right at me.
Next thing I know, the kid is wrapped around my thighs, hugging me too tightly. “I got your picture!”
My eyes pop, hands fly in the air away from the kid. I look around the hallway, desperate for someone to rescue me.
No one comes but Ava.
“Charlie,” she says, “come here. Remember, we talked about hugging strangers.”
She finagles the kid off my legs, and I try to ignore the spark of heat on my chest from the place her palm naturally went to brace as she pulls him back.
Her eyes lift to mine. “Sorry. He’s affectionate.”
“Ah, Ryder could use it,” Griffin says, laughing.
I fight the urge to flip him off. There are little kids around, but I give him a sharp look that hopefully tells him exactly what I planned to do.
