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“Yeah, I knew that excuse about wanting to find the restroom sounded kinda fishy,” Ava said.
She turned to Benjamin as he parked the car. “You know, we don’t have to be enemies.”
“What…who says—we’re not enemies.” He paused and chuckled. “Well, we are married.”
“Ha-Ha.”
“That’s the fakest laugh ever,” he hissed.
“Maybe, but I’m serious.”
He caught sight of the already impatient Uncle Barney peering from where he stood.
“We aren’t enemies. I never was yours, at least,” Benjamin said.
“Well, pardon me if I’ve gotten the opposite vibe from you during all those charming dinners we had.”
“Okay, okay, maybe there has been some hostility—”
“Some?”
“Are you this sassy with the people at work too?” he teased and reached for the door, stopping only to say, “…you’d act the way I did if you were in my shoes.”
Her eyes went down to his handmade leather shoes and she shook her head. “Would love to be in those shoes. What are those, Italian?”
“Haha.”
She smiled. “Now that’s the fakest laugh ever.”
“Meh,” he shrugged and got out of the car.
“You should come around and check it out someday,” Ava said, as they walked to Uncle Barney.
“Check what out?” Benjamin asked.
“My work. The homeless shelter.”
He tapped the car keys on his hand and shrugged. “You trying to save my soul?”
“I was beginning to think you two were smooching in there,” Barney snickered.
Benjamin rolled his eyes. “This house has fifty rooms. You think I have to smooch in the car?” Ava smiled as she listened to their voices, her eyes wandering around the compound as they walked in. She admired the lush greens popping out here and there; her father’s handiwork. But there was something more than just the warm feeling she got from seeing the fruits of her father’s labors; she felt happy and at peace, something she hadn’t felt in a long time. Tomorrow she would go visit her father again. She did so almost daily. But this time, she could do so and really mean it when she told him that everything was going well.
The front door opened, Lucy stepped out, her gaze hot and narrowed on Ava.
“Where have you all been?” she demanded. Barney scratched his head.
“Sorry, mom, I thought bed-time wasn’t until ten,” Barney teased her. Ava looked at her and made sure their eyes met, then she smiled at Barney’s joke and joined in the conversation with the others again. She didn’t have to turn around to know that Lucy was about to explode back there.
Did you really think Barney would scare me away?
On the one hand Ava felt empowered, as if she had defeated the dragon. But on the other, she worried about what this irrational woman would do next. There were plenty of nasty ideas in a mind of a person like Lucy Radcliff...
