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“You don’t need it. And you’re not that kind of woman, and I’m sure as fuck not that kind of guy. You get what you work for.”
“Okay.” She smiles wide, her forehead touching mine.
“You hungry?”
“Are you a feeder or something?”
That would be Mom, but… “I thought you wanted a second date badly enough to ask me out?”
“Whatever.” She glares at me, getting to her feet.
“I accept, and I’ve made a reservation.”
“How forward of you. What if I wanted to take you to my death trap?” She pulls her oversized jacket on and grabs her purse.
“Maybe next time,” I tease as I walk us to my car.
I thought I had Ava all figured out. More so than I should, given I wasn’t meant to care. But she’s got these little endearing traits—like the way she fusses with the tendrils behind her ear, curling them as she gets lost in her thoughts. Her expression matches whatever’s going through her mind. If it’s pleasant, she smiles, like she’s doing now. Like she did the entire drive on the way here.
The tavern is busy, but it has a hotel right across the street that means we can both enjoy the meal and our drinks without having to drive anywhere afterward.
“I’ve never really been to the Hamptons.” She looks around the modestly decorated interior. It’s got a cozy farmhouse feel with nautical décor. “I always thought it’d be uppity, but so far it’s so calm and relaxed. I like it.”
“It’s a little different in the summer when all the rich folk come in, but this is it.”
The waitress brings our drinks with the dinner menu, and we’re about to order when Fran starts blowing my phone up. I’m instantly on edge given our conversation yesterday, and the worst-case scenarios are going through my head even though I have no idea what they are. I just see blood and tears because it’s what I remember from when Mom had her last miscarriage. I was fourteen and it was terrifying. I thought she was going to die.
“Everything okay?” Ava asks, eyes furrowing at my phone.
Fran
PICK UP
CALL ME
I do. It doesn’t ring once before she answers, “Oh my God, Damon. Oh my God…he fell. Just fell. He was fine and then he fell, and the ambulance is here. The paramedics… Oh my God.”
“Dad?” I’m standing and dropping some cash on the table. I can hear the clack of Ava’s heels behind me. “Is he okay? Is Mom?”
“I don’t know.” She’s in tears, and I can’t be an asshole and tell her to get her shit together because of everything that went down with her parents. “I’m on my way to the house. Let me know what happens and where they take him, okay?”
“Okay.”
“It’s going to be okay, all right?”
“Yeah.”
“Grayson’s there, right?”
“Right.” She’s on autopilot. It’s her thing when something goes seriously wrong.
“I’ll be there in no time.”
Hanging up, I turn to Ava. She looks as worried as I feel—something Fran would be. It’s a stupid moment to wonder, but… Would she really have my back? Would she love me more than a company?
“Can I do anything?” She doesn’t even know what’s happened and she wants to help.
Because she’s a good person and she cares.
