Sawyer slumped in her seat. “I guess.” After a few minutes she turned to Ava and said, “I’m hungry. I’ll watch the signs for the next drive-through place.”
“Noah,” Ava said, “are you hungry? You can’t take any more pain pills unless you’ve had food.”
“I could eat I guess.”
“Fine. At least we all agree on something.”
* * *
THEY MADE IT back to Holly River before the sun set. And considering that mountain daylight lasted no later than early evening, Ava was glad. Noah exited her car by stretching the muscles he hadn’t used in five hours and swinging his broken leg onto the driveway. “Can’t believe I’m this stiff,” he said.
“You fell thirty feet,” Ava said. “I can’t believe you’re still walking.”
They went into the house. Ava and Sawyer let Noah use the bathroom while they plumped the cushions on the couch and brought out extra pillows from the bedroom. When he came back, Noah didn’t argue when the ladies insisted he lie down. Ava put an extra cushion at the end of the couch to support his leg. “Try to keep your foot higher than your heart,” she said. “Improves circulation for better healing.”
“Thank you, Nurse.”
Ava turned her attention to Sawyer. “Are you staying to fix your father some dinner? I can come back later and pick you up so you don’t have to walk back to the cottage in the dark.”
“Of course I’m staying,” Sawyer said. “And I’ll be here all day tomorrow, too.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Noah said. “I’ll be fine.”
Ava didn’t want to have an argument, but the obvious needed to be said. “I understand you want to stay, and I told you we’d try to work it out, but if your dad says he’ll be fine, you’ve missed two full days of classes, Sawyer...”
“I know. I’ll make it up. I’m going over to the cottage now to pick up some clothes. I’ll arrange to meet with kids in my classes on Saturday morning. They can fill me in on what I missed. By then we should have a nurse scheduled to come by the house to see Dad.”
Ava searched Noah’s face for a sign that he agreed with her. He responded with a shrug. Ava supposed he’d had enough drama for one day. Or maybe he was genuinely pleased that his daughter was showing interest in his recovery.
“Okay,” Ava relented. “Go on and get your things. I’ll wait here until you get back.”
Sawyer left and Ava asked Noah if he needed anything. He requested a glass of water. She brought it to him and set it on an end table. “Can you reach it?” she asked.
He gave her a mischievous smile. “I can reach more than that,” he said, grabbing her wrist and tugging gently.
She landed on his lap. “What are you doing?” she said to him. “You could be hurting yourself.”
“Nope. Pain pills, remember? And all the lab stuff checked out fine. The last thing I’m thinking about at this moment is hurting myself.”
She gave him a look she hoped conveyed all her frustration, pretended and fake, at his boldness. The truth was, she felt relieved. He hadn’t forgotten that they’d gotten close. “I guess I don’t have to ask what it is you’re thinking about.”
“Nope.” He wrapped his hand around her nape and pulled her close. When his lips touched hers she felt warm and dizzy at the same time.
After what seemed an eternity and no time at all, he leaned back and looked into her eyes. “That’s the medicine I’ve been waiting for all day. Why haven’t we had a chance to do that before now?”
“Well, you were unconscious, and after that Sawyer was watching every move you made.”
He smiled. “Yeah, she’s acting like a mother bird afraid one of her young will fall out of the nest.”
“One did,” Ava said.
He slowly rubbed her arm, stopping at her wrist where his thumb circled the pulse point. “Let’s get some more kissing in before she flies back in here.”
Ava didn’t even think of arguing. She took his face between her hands, careful not to disturb the remaining bandages, and gave in to the very strong desire to kiss Noah—his lips, his cheeks, the stubble of beard that would probably be gone tomorrow, his eyes.
“I do think you might be feeling better,” she said when she wasn’t exactly finished kissing him, but knew his daughter would return soon.
He grinned. “Makes me feel a lot better when the moaning is coming from you and not me.”
Ava stood, looked out the window. “Sawyer’s back.”
“Just my luck,” he teased.
Sawyer bounded inside. “I have the class work all figured out,” she said. “I can stay all day tomorrow with Dad.”
Noah smiled, nodded. “Great.”
“Oh, by the way, Ava,” Sawyer said. “I ran into SherryLynn. She said your uncle was by today. Who is that guy anyway? SherryLynn said he’s kinda creepy.”
“Don’t worry about him, Sawyer. He just wants to pick an argument with me.”
Noah sat up straight on the sofa. “I don’t like that, Ava. Pick me up tomorrow and I’ll stay in your office with you.”
“No, you won’t,” she said. “The nurse comes tomorrow to check you out, and you’re not missing that appointment. I’ll be fine. We have great security at the home if I need it.” She headed for the door, stopping to give Noah one last longing look. His smile told her he’d gotten the message. She’d enjoyed their time together. She was looking forward to more.
“Get some rest, both of you,” she said. “I’ll check on things in the morning.”
When she left, Sawyer was fluttering around Noah as if she truly were that mother bird and asking if he wanted a sandwich. And Ava was thankful that they were all back in Holly River again and Sawyer and Noah seemed to be mending their differences. Ava was pleased with the way this day had turned out, except she figured she’d have to face her uncle Rudy in the morning.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
ON WEDNESDAY MORNING, Rudy Cahill showed up at Ava’s office. She was adding some final touches to the office Christmas tree, a way of avoiding anxiety about his potential visit. Without waiting to be announced, he stormed into her office.
“Good morning, Uncle Rudy,” she said, wrapping the last bit of garland around the lower branches of the tree. “What do you think of my tree? Are you ready for Christmas?”
“Cut the nonsense, Ava. How can you talk about holidays when you’ve sent lawyers chasing my tail, making all sorts of demands?”
“Only demands that you rightfully owe, Rudy.”
He strode over to her desk, crossed his arms over his chest. “What’s gotten into you, Ava? Doesn’t family mean anything to you anymore?”
“Actually, family means more to me than it does to you.”
“Family means everything to me!” he insisted. “I kept quiet and sacrificed for years so my brother could make all the decisions about the company. It wasn’t easy keeping my mouth shut. And now my nephew’s getting married in a little over a week, and you’re driving an even-bigger wedge between all of us.” He jabbed his index finger on her desktop. “I’ve half a mind to skip the whole thing and keep my family away from yours.”
Ava maintained a placid expression. “Oh, that would be a shame.”
“But I’m a bigger man than that,” he said, choosing to ignore her sarcastic tone. “I’ve always been fond of Jace, and now he’s finally made something of himself.”
Not finished with the sarcasm, Ava said, “I’m sure your approval will mean so much to him.”
“You’ve caused me enough headaches, young lady,” he continued, “but I think I’ve put an end to this malarkey about me owing money to your mama. I’ve been head to head with the paper company accountant for days, and this—” he tossed a large manila envelope on her desk “—is the result of hours of work.”
Ava picked up the envelope, preten
ded to study the dates scrawled on the outside. “What should I be looking for in these records?”
“The truth, dang it! The real and factual money trail, not that hogwash you and that senile bookkeeper dreamed up.”
“Don’t blame Elsie for any of this, Rudy. She simply recorded company transactions until you fired her and put your own super tech genius on the job. I must tell you, he’s quite good at following directions and covering his trail.”
“Don’t think you’re going to scare me with your inferences of crooked behavior, Ava.”
“I don’t think that. I only want to educate you with the veracity of the discoveries my lawyer and I have uncovered.”
“Your lawyer!” Rudy scoffed. “Terry Brannigan is a two-bit ambulance chaser.”
“At any rate, we’ll look these over and get back to you. Perhaps by the wedding date. I’ll let you know our conclusions, and I hope you’ll consider bringing a check to the ceremony—not for Jace, but for Mama. It’s fine if you simply get a toaster for Jace, so long as you don’t come empty-handed.”
“I don’t understand you, Ava. You used to be my favorite of all Raymond’s kids.”
She smiled again as SherryLynn came into the office. “I hope to someday regain that honorable status, Uncle Rudy, when all this mess is behind us.”
SherryLynn came to stand beside Ava. “You’ve had a number of calls, Ava. Some of them sound urgent, or I wouldn’t have interrupted you.”
Ava hadn’t heard the outer office phone ring, so she knew SherryLynn was standing beside her to offer support. “Thank you, SherryLynn.” Turning her attention to Rudy, she said, “I assume we’re done here?”
“Blast you, Ava! You’d better think twice about the trouble you’re bringing down on yourself by threatening me.”
“I usually think twice about everything I do, Rudy. It’s just generally good practice.”
He stomped out of her office and slammed the door. Ava put the envelope away with the intention of getting together with the lawyer to go over the fantasy numbers Rudy and his accountant had no doubt come up with. She realized the different effect this visit had had on her when she noticed her hands—they weren’t trembling as they had before. She’d stood up for her mother, and it felt good.
* * *
AVA AND HER lawyer went over Rudy’s papers that same afternoon. They found nothing to alter their findings of the last week. The lawyer immediately drafted a letter to Rudy giving him no option but to pay Cora all the money he owed her. Apparently Rudy thought by coming to Ava’s office and intimidating her one more time, she would cave under the pressure. He didn’t know her well.
Ava called Noah’s house several times during the day on Wednesday. Because of her workload, which had gotten much worse due to her trip to Tennessee, she didn’t have a chance to pay a visit during the day. But she talked to Noah. He said the nurse had come, and he was feeling well. Sawyer was doing a good job of taking care of him.
That evening wedding preparations took up all of Ava’s time. With the ceremony so close, she joined the women of her family at Cora’s house and they worked on decorations for the barn and table centerpieces. Jace and Carter were there as well, and they did an admirable job of ignoring the work going on in the kitchen while they watched a Tar Heels basketball game.
The next morning, Ava was anxious to get to Noah’s house and see him in person. When she’d left him with Sawyer on Tuesday evening, her lips had still been warm from his kisses, and her mind didn’t let her forget how wonderful Noah’s kisses had become to her.
* * *
THE NURSE HAD just left. She’d given Noah glowing reports about his progress. That was great, he supposed, but no one, not even Sawyer, who was around so much these days, could help him with the restlessness. He’d never been so inactive in his whole life. As Sawyer so often pointed out, he had the fast toys to feed his adrenaline. And sitting on a sofa all day was just not his thing.
He had too much time on his hands. Ava was busy with wedding stuff. Sawyer was catching up on school work. He tried reading but soon lost interest. And then he’d go back to thinking again. About Ava.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that something just wasn’t right. He was about ready to admit that he was head over heels about her, but his mind kept going back over the last weeks. Why hadn’t she told him she recognized him when he came to her door that day? Was she ashamed of what they’d done? That he’d been a married man at the time? But that had been on him, not her. And he thought he’d explained that.
She’d finally stopped insisting that their relationship was all about Sawyer, and that was progress, but in his gut he had the feeling that something was holding Ava back. What was it? Was there something she wasn’t telling him about her family? Some deep dark secret. Or was she still hung up on the feelings of shame?
If Ava couldn’t get over her shame, how could they go forward? Noah simply had to know.
* * *
AWARE THAT SAWYER was meeting with classmates to catch up on her assignments, Ava called Noah on Thursday and told him she was coming over. He seemed almost relieved. Perhaps he had missed her with the same ache that she’d experienced the last couple of days. She headed over to the stone cottage next door with an overwhelming sense of anticipation. She couldn’t wait to see Noah again and prove to herself that he truly was recovering nicely.
She came in via the unlocked front door. Noah came out of the kitchen on his crutches. He gingerly carried a cup of coffee and set the mug on an end table. He looked at her a moment and said, “Hi.”
“Hello, yourself. How are you feeling this morning?”
“I’m okay. Going a bit stir-crazy.”
She nodded and dropped her jacket on a chair. Noah looked wonderful to her, almost like his former vibrant self. She hoped she looked half as good to him in one of her favorite yellow sweaters.
She noticed he wore cargo shorts that looked as though they’d been through a war, and a T-shirt with a college logo.
“Aren’t you freezing?” she asked him.
“Could use a blanket,” he said, settling on the sofa. He lifted his broken leg and rested it in the spot where she would have sat. She backed away, grabbed a throw from a chair and draped it over him.
“Thanks.”
Ava took the chair nearest him. “So, the visit from the nurse went well?”
“Told you it did. She changed the bandages and a few other things.”
“Okay. Good. The bruises on your face are clearing up. Did she say anything about how you’re doing?”
“All good. She said I can’t hope for a quicker recovery than I’m having. So I guess I have to put up with cabin fever for now. Everything go okay with Rudy?” he asked after a minute.
Thinking she would tease him by throwing his own curt answer back at him, she said, “Told you it did.”
“Right. You did.”
He searched around the sofa, running his hands behind his body and between the cushions.
“What are you looking for?”
“Had a book here last night. Must be in the bedroom.”
She stood. “Would you like me to get it for you?”
“Sure.”
She found the book on his nightstand. Before bringing it back, she wondered what was going on. Why was Noah acting so indifferent to her? He hadn’t asked her to sit beside him. He hadn’t kissed her. Was he hurting? Was he angry about something? Was he going to read the book while she sat only a few feet away from him?
She came back to the living room, handed him the book and stepped back. “Noah, is something wrong?”
He didn’t answer. Just stared up into her eyes until her nerves made her restless. She looked away from him but when she returned her gaze, she was met with the same intense glare. “Noah, what’s going on?”
“I’ve been thinking about us,
Ava. The two people we are now and the two people we were. When all you have to do is move from a bed to a couch and back again, you have too much time to think.” He cleared his throat, paused. “I’m completely confused about who we are now, Ava. I’m into this pretty deep. Sometimes I think you feel the same. But sometimes you seem almost indifferent.”
She shifted on the chair. “Noah, if there is one thing I am not, it’s indifferent to you.”
“Okay. I’d like to believe that. But I can’t shake the feeling that you’re holding out on me.”
“What? Why would you think that?”
“That first day when I came for Sawyer we played this little cat and mouse game. You knew who I was. I didn’t connect the dots until the next morning. You refused to look at me directly. And then once the truth was out, it was like this powerful force hit me between the eyes. I’d found you again.”
“Yes, and I’m so glad you did. You must know how I feel about you, Noah.”
“That’s just it, Ava. When I’m holding you, when we’re kissing, I feel this strong bond. And then, at other times I sense a disconnect. Lately I’ve been wondering if you are reliving our past.” He cleared his throat. “I just have to ask the tough question. Are you ashamed of what happened between us, because I’m not, but if you are, and if you can’t get over it and move on then I think we have to put the brakes on this relationship.”
“I’m not ashamed,” she blurted and then swallowed hard, trying to break the grip of panic in her throat. No, Noah, you can’t mean this. Now was the time for honesty, almost the whole truth. “Well, I was at first, mostly because you were married, and I had acted so out of character. But being with you now, even for such a short time, means a lot to me. I care deeply for you, Noah.”
There, she’d said it, and the sky hadn’t fallen and lightning hadn’t struck the house. And Charlie was still playing in his cottage. “I’m no longer looking backward. I’m looking forward with you, Noah.”
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