Liv comes around the counter and gives me a bread-scented hug. “I just don’t want us to be apart again. I love being part of Ava’s life, and I love having you around.”
I squeeze her tight and breathe in. “I’m glad I’m back too. Despite everything, I’m glad Ava has a chance to grow up here.”
A poke in my ribs breaks Liv and me apart. “Pay up,” Ava says.
I take my wallet out and put a dollar in the swear jar.”
“Uh-uh, that’s not enough. You said a bad word in public where other children could have heard you.”
I stare at my daughter. “There were no other children around,” I argue.
“There could have been.”
She’s holding the jar with one hand and the other is on her hip. Liv snorts, and I can’t look at her because I’ll start laughing, so I take another dollar and add it to the jar.
“Thank you,” she says and returns once again to the kitchen.
Liv’s smile as Ava walks away from her is one of amusement filled with pure love. I know she wants to be a mom one day, and she already missed out on Ava’s baby years.
I vow to keep my head down and stay away from trouble for all our sakes.
Across the road, Arlo is placing something in Birchcraft’s display window. Something tells me getting close to Arlo will bring trouble for both of us, but I know there’s no way I’ll decline his offer.
I wasn’t lying when I said I’ve always wanted to fly.
8
ARLO
When I get homefrom work, I make myself a sandwich and bring it down to the workshop. With the doors open into Fletcher’s backyard, I’ll hear the doorbell. And as if by magic, it rings.
I go around the house to meet them, stopping as I reach the open gate on the side. Ava has on a black-and-red ensemble and she’s wearing her ladybug wings, but it’s her dad that makes my stomach flip flop. Levi is wearing a tight pair of black jeans that shows the slim lines of his legs perfectly, and since he’s facing the door, I have a premium-seat view of his ass. My eyes keep roaming up to his red T-shirt, and I wonder if their matching clothing was Ava's idea or his.
How does he manage to be so effortlessly good-looking?
When he introduced himself in the store, it took me a moment to figure out why his name was familiar. He’s the one people are talking about.
The wild child. The kid who got other kids in trouble. The bad influence.
Somehow even before meeting him, just by knowing Ava, I can’t believe a word of what people around town are saying about him.
I know to trust my instincts. If Levi is trouble, I know it’s not because of whatever happened in his past, but because just staring at him makes my breath catch and my stomach flutter.
“Hey,” I say, trying to sound like I didn’t take a moment to watch them.
Levi looks a little confused by my appearance from the side of the house.
“It’s this way. The house actually belongs to my friend. I live in the back.” I guide them through the open gate toward the back.
“Oops, sorry. I hope he doesn’t get upset that we rang the bell,” Levi says.
I laugh. “He’s out at the moment, so there’s no one home. You’re safe.”
“Phew,” Levi says, clearing the non-existing sweat off his forehead.
Ava walks beside her dad, holding his hand. I can tell that she’s excited from the way she’s using her free hand to play with her hair.
When we reach my workshop, she says, “I promised Daddy that I’ll be a good girl. I won’t shout or get too ‘cited.”
