by Jillian Hart
“Okay, call me confused.” She stared at the driver in his suit and cap, holding open the passenger door for her. “What about Danielle?”
“Rick is going to take you to Danielle’s house. I’m going to borrow your SUV and swing through and pick up take out so we all have something to eat. I’m coming with you tonight instead. My plans can change. Yours shouldn’t.”
“You mean…you’re going to babysit with me?”
“Do you have a problem with that?”
She was vaguely aware her jaw was hanging open, but she couldn’t seem to make it shut. She couldn’t seem to move anything at all. All she could do was stare at this man—this perfect man—and feel even worse. How was she going to keep from falling one hundred percent in love with him now?
Brice held out his hand. “Your keys?”
She went in search and found them in her pocket. Did he know what this meant to her?
“I’ll see you soon.” He leaned close, so close she could smell the faint scent of fabric softener on his shirt.
Her spirit lifted from simply having him near.
He pressed a sweet kiss to her cheek. “I know family is important to you. That means, since we’re dating, your family is important to me.”
She sank onto the leather seat, dazed. This wasn’t a dream, was it?
Brice knelt down on the sidewalk until they were eye to eye. “We are dating, right?”
“Right.” Her entire soul smiled.
“All right,” Danielle said, dragging Ava into the kitchen. “When did you start dating Brice Donovan?”
“Officially about twenty minutes ago.” Ava leaned over the counter to get a good look out the kitchen window. There he was, as gorgeous as a wish come true. He’d climbed out of her SUV and was now carting with him a box of drinks and several big food bags bearing the Mr. Paco’s Tacos emblem.
“Why didn’t I know about this? You girls aren’t supposed to leave me out of the loop!” Danielle looked rushed as she grabbed her purse and rummaged around for something. She pulled out her cell and hit the power button. “You have my number, call if there’s a problem. I just can’t believe this. Brice Donovan. He’s wonderful. Jonas knows him from the community of united churches charities board. They served on it together for a few years. He just raved about him. Oh, look, he’s here. And I’ve got to go. I’m completely late.”
“Don’t worry. Tell that great husband of yours that it’s all my fault. I was late in the first place.”
“He expects it.” With a wink, Danielle rushed to the door. “Madison’s not to have sugar. Tyler will try to talk you into too much television.”
“I know the scoop. Go. Before your husband holds it against me. It’s okay that he’s here, right?”
“Uh, yeah.” Danielle grabbed her keys and rushed into the living room. After a final kiss to her little ones she headed to the garage door.
It closed the same moment there was a knock on the front door. She swung it open and wasn’t prepared for how good it was to find him there. He could be anywhere tonight, but he’d chosen to be with her. Which worked out just fine since she wanted to be with him.
She took the drink box. “Come on in. The kids are watching TV. I like your choice of take out.”
“I figured we couldn’t go wrong with tacos.” He shouldered past her. “Do you want this on the table?”
“Yep. I’ll round up the munchkins.”
Brice set the bags of food on the table and glanced around. He wasn’t surprised by the comfortable-looking furniture and pictures of cute kids on the wall. Several family vacation photos were framed in recognizable places like the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. It felt like a real home. Cheerful checks and ruffles sparingly decorated the kitchen and what he could see of the living room. There was a TV in a cabinet tuned to a wholesome-looking cartoon. A couch faced it.
Ava knelt down to talk to the kids out of his view on the couch. She was pure tenderness, and his heart thudded to the floor. She was truly a kind woman. No doubt about it, she’d make a great mom. It was a side of her he hadn’t seen but guessed was there.
A preschool-aged boy hopped up, stood on the cushions and threw his arms around Ava. The kid wore a plastic fireman’s hat and the brim bonked her in the temple when he gave her a wet smacking kiss, which she pretended was gross just to have him laughing. Then she tickled his stomach, reminded him of the rule about the couch and standing and watched while he jumped down with a two-footed thud.
“Did ya bring lotza mexifries?” he asked as he charged Brice’s way. “Aunt Ava says I gotta have lotza mexifries or I’ll get shorter insteada taller.”
Yeah, he could see Ava telling that to the little guy. Funny. “Don’t sweat it. I got the largest tub of them.”
“Whew.” As if that had been a big worry, the kid pulled back his chair, climbed up and settled into his booster seat.
Brice wasn’t around kids very much, but this one was cute. He started unpacking the food. “You like tacos, kid?”
“Lots.” The preschooler rested his elbows on the edge of the table and propped his chin on his hands. “Are you a fireman?”
“No. Are you?”
“Yep. I put out lotza fires today.”
“Good work.” Brice pulled the boxed kiddy meal from the giant bag.
He felt more than heard Ava’s approach. It was as if his spirit turned toward her, recognizing her and only her. She had a curly-haired little girl on her hip, and the sight did something to him. She had the little girl laughing, her chubby cheeks pink with delight.
“Aunt Ava! Aunt Ava!” The boy shouted, holding up three sticky-looking fingers. “I put out three fires today.”
“Sorry, I can’t hear you,” she teased as she slid the little girl into a high chair. “I’m deaf from you yelling so loud.”
“Oops. My bad.”
Brice didn’t need to wonder where the kid had learned that—his gaze landed on Ava again as she double-checked the little girl’s lap belt on the high chair, and satisfied, straightened. “Brice, I hope you brought a lot of mexifries. We don’t want anyone at this table to get any shorter than they already are.”
“I brought the biggest tub.”
“My hero. It’s hard for a girl not to like a guy who knows what’s important in life.”
“Mexifries are one of the real secrets to true happiness.”
“Exactly.” She peered into one of the food bags. “Nachos. Burritos. Tacos. I’m speechless with gratitude.”
“Not hunger?”
“That, too. Let me get milk for the kids. If you want to start doling out the food?”
“Sure.” As he got to work, the little tot across the table stared at him like she wasn’t too sure she approved of his presence.
“Aunt Ava! Aunt Ava!” The boy twisted around on his knees and hung over the back of his chair. “I getta say grace! I getta say grace!”
“Okay, okay. But what’s your mom’s rule?” Ava asked from behind the refrigerator door.
“Umm.” The kid appeared to be thinking extremely hard.
This was not his experience of a family, Brice thought as he put the tubs of mexifries in the middle of the table. His mom would have a coronary at the noise level. No laughing at the table. No yelling. Sitting like a little gentleman—always. Use our best manners all the time.
All that had its place, but this was better. Comfortable. Fun. That was one of the things he cherished about Ava so much. She could make the simple things in life, like settling down to the dining room table, feel like a refreshing and cheerful kind of heaven on earth.
Ava slid a plate and a cup of milk in front of the boy. “No hats at the table, Tyler.”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot.” He handed her the bright red fireman’s hat. “Can I say the blessing now?”
Ava dropped the hat on the back of the couch and returned to hand out another plate. “Brice, do you mind if Tyler does the honors?”
He could tell by the twinkling humor in her eyes t
hat the boy’s blessing was cute. Call him curious. He took the offered plate. “Sure.”
“Now, Aunt Ava?”
“Hold on a minute.” Ava rolled her eyes as she slid a cup on the toddler’s tray.
“Now?” The kid sounded as if he were about to spontaneously combust.
“Now.” Ava dropped into her chair.
Before Brice had time to bow his head, the little boy started in. “Thanks for the eats, Lord. God bless us every one!”
“Dickens’ A Christmas Carol has made an impression on him,” Ava explained after they’d muttered a quick “Amen.” “He keeps watching this wholesome cartoon version of the movie over and over and it’s driving Danielle insane.”
Before Brice could answer, the boy hollered. “Aunt Ava! Hurry, I need mexifries. I’m shrinking.”
“We can’t have that. Brice, you look a little shorter, too.”
He held out his plate. “Load me up.”
What else could he say? This was exactly what he expected of an evening spent with Ava. Maybe not what he’d planned, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered to him was being with her. For now and, he suspected, for his lifetime to come.
“I can’t believe you’re still talking to me,” Ava said in the quiet of the warm night standing beside her SUV. It was dark out. Almost eleven o’clock. “Especially after Tyler squirted you with the hose.”
“We were playing fireman, and it was an accident. I dried out pretty fast.”
“You handled being drenched from head to toe in your snazzy clothes pretty well. Most men would have gotten really angry.”
“I’m not like most men.”
“I’m noticing that.” It was hard not to.
Don’t think about how perfect he is, she warned herself. That would just start making her nervous. Look at him, Mr. Fantastic, nice, wealthy and kind. He liked fast-food mexifries and went to church faithfully every Sunday. They’d talked about that after the kids had been in bed.
And after discussing faith, they went on to talk more about his family and hers. Chloe was still honeymooning in Fiji. His mom was ready to drive him nuts now that his sister was married off and she kept making elaborate plans for his upcoming birthday, and his dad was holding open a position at his investment firm, which Brice still didn’t want.
She told of Katherine’s upcoming wedding and all the planning that took, that she still hadn’t picked a cake yet. She talked about their cousin Kelly who’d gotten married and was living in California on base with her marine husband. Then she mentioned the stress of owing her grandmother so much money.
Somehow they’d managed to avoid the more personal side of their conversation. Like, did he want kids? How many? She wanted children, but she had to find someone to get married to first. And wasn’t that practically impossible? Certainly not a topic for a first date. If seeing her taking care of kids hadn’t totally scared him off, talking about marriage and wanting kids would.
Then again, why risk it?
She dug through her purse for her keys. “It looks like you need a ride home.”
“Nope, Rick should be arriving here in the next few minutes.”
“Well, I don’t want to leave you standing here alone.”
“It’s late. You’ve got to be tired from running after the kids. Go home.” He smiled his billion mega-watt smile with the double dimples. “I’ll be fine. I want you to drive safely.”
“That’s always my plan. I might not be the best driver, but I’ve never hit anything. Except for Grandpop’s St. Bernard. I didn’t see him in the rearview mirror.”
Brice burst out laughing. “Does anything normal ever happen to you, or it is always a circus with you?”
“Always a circus. You’ve changed your mind about dating me. By the way, I didn’t hurt Tiny at all.”
“Tiny?”
“The St. Bernard. Not even a bruise. He didn’t want us to leave and I couldn’t see that he’d planted himself behind the car to stop us from going. He must have been in a blind spot because I checked the mirrors before I started backing up. There was this horrible thud. You should have seen the damage to Dad’s bumper, though. It was the family car, and because they didn’t want the insurance premium to go up, he didn’t get it fixed. My family never let me live it down.”
“And Tiny?”
“He learned to keep away from me when I was behind the wheel. I miss that guy. He passed away a month after Grandpop did.” The pain of the loss still stole her breath. “Your grandparents are alive and well?”
“Thriving. They’re vacationing at their home in Italy. They like to travel. They should be back for my birthday this week.”
“I’m glad they are enjoying their lives. My grandparents always meant to do that, but they never got to travel much before they ran out of time to do it together.”
“Our grandfathers were very close friends. I know he still advises your grandmother on her investments. Is she still living in Arizona?”
“She’s stayed away since Grandpop passed. She said the house had too many memories of him, so she moved to their home in Scottsdale. They’d only had it for a few years, so I guess there weren’t as many memories there. I think it helps her to be away, although we miss her. Dad’s down there now, too, with Dorrie. They’re all coming back at the end of summer for Katherine’s wedding.”
“My grandparents can’t seem to breathe without the other. Were yours like that, too?”
“Gran said that losing her husband was like having her heart cut out. She’s never been the same. They were very much in love. The real way.”
“The way it’s meant to be. My parents never managed to find that with each other.” He shrugged. “They get along all right, they’re compatible, but it’s not what my grandparents have. They’re tight.”
“I know what you mean. Gran has always said Grandpop was her gift straight from heaven. She had all the best blessings in him.” Okay, this was getting dangerously close to the topic she wanted to avoid, because she did not want to mess this up with Brice.
And yet, she couldn’t seem to stop herself. “I’ve always thought they were the happily-ever-part of the fairy tale. You know, after Cinderella gets her shoe back and her prince, and Snow White is awakened by her prince, they end the stories. But I knew that kind of love was real because my grandparents lived for each other. They breathed together. It’s what I always wanted.”
Great going, Ava. She held her breath, waiting, just waiting, for him to start moving away.
But he didn’t. “Me, too.”
Headlights broke around the corner at that moment. It was Rick with his fancy limo and he pulled right up to the sidewalk, so Ava didn’t know what else Brice had been about to say.
He brushed a kiss to her cheek. “Good night, beautiful.”
Her soul sighed. “Wow, aren’t you Mr. Perfect?”
“Oh, so it’s working. Good to know I’m charming you.”
“Only a tad. A smidgeon. A pinch.”
Okay, that was an understatement. If she could measure how much Brice Donovan had impressed her, it would be the distance from the earth to the moon and back six hundred times.
Then he was gone, leaving her there in the light of the moon, unable to stop the full-blown wishes rising up from her soul.
Chapter Twelve
With hopeful cheer mid-afternoon light tumbled through the new larger front windows of her shop. But was she feeling hopeful? No. Astonished would be one word. Overwhelmed would be another.
She couldn’t stop staring at the two dozen yellow, red-tipped roses Brice had sent. What was a girl to do when her hopes were already sky high, tugging like a helium balloon against the string? With every breath she took, she drew in the delicate fragrance of the lovely bouquet and tried to convince herself she wasn’t scared.
The door behind her whispered open and there was Aubrey hefting a really big box. Ava caught the door, holding it as her twin tumbled inside.
“Whew, it�
�s a scorcher out there. The air conditioning feels nice.” Aubrey slid the box to the ground. “Those flowers are gorgeous. From Brice?”
It wasn’t exactly a question. And it wasn’t exactly what Aubrey was asking. Ava could feel their shared brain cells firing. Her sister knew how she felt. She knew what those roses meant.
It was a shocker how calm her voice actually sounded. “Yes, they just arrived. Isn’t it a totally nice gesture?”
“Nice, sure. But a bunch of daisies is nice. Roses say something much more. Like the L word.”
“The L word is none of your business, nosy.” No sense in getting into a blind panic. “Brice and me, we’re in that awkward more-than-friends stage, but not totally committed stage. Who knows how it’s going to work out? Doom might be lurking out there somewhere, just waiting.”
She had to be prepared for it, if it was.
“What doom? There’s no doom.” Aubrey went straight to the roses and inhaled deeply. “A man doesn’t send something like this unless he’s trying to sweep you off your feet.”
“Yes, well, it’s working.”
“So, you called him to thank him, right? What did he say? Is he taking you out soon?” Aubrey pulled a pint carton of strawberry milk out of the box, still cold from the grocery store. She opened the spout and held it out for Ava to take. “What? You’re just standing there not saying anything. You’ve called him, right?”
She took the milk. “Uh, I haven’t got there yet.”
“And you’re procrastinating because…?”
“Okay, I can admit it. I’m a big chicken. Babysitting with him at Danielle’s went so great. I mean, he was really Mr. Perfect. What if I mess this up?”
“Ava, Ava, Ava.” Aubrey was using her gentlest voice, the one that was filled with so much unconditional sisterly love. It just proved that Aubrey was blinded by flaws, too. “This romance with Brice is totally new for you. You’ve finally found yourself a perfect guy.”
“And it’s too good to be true, right? That’s what I’m afraid of.” And much, much more, but could she admit that to Aubrey?
No.
“You are perfectly lovable. Mom was wrong to say that to you when she left. To blame you for her unhappiness. It wasn’t true then.”