The rest of the afternoon was spent quietly talking and eating soup. He held Gracie and admitted to himself that if he were a different man, he would have tried to adopt her. But as he waved goodbye to Ava and Gracie and then his grandmother, he knew he wasn’t a different man.
As fun as today had been, he needed to get back to work, figuring out the connection between the two women found in Dark Canyon.
Chapter 7
That kiss. Really, she’d put it from her mind as much as she could, and Gracie had kept her busy as she always did while Ava fed her dinner, played with her, got her bathed and then into bed. But now that she was curled up on the end of the couch a book in her hands, she realized she wasn’t thinking about the epic romantasy she was reading, but instead about Chay.
God, that man was messing with her mind. She had a plan for her life. It was straightforward and easy to follow. All she had to do was stick to it. After Greg had died, her life had shifted. The one she’d envisioned for herself was gone and she’d had to adjust. After Daniel Wayne had been arrested, she’d realized that she’d been stifling her own desires, living in a sort of stasis filled with fear. Fear of Daniel but also fear of trying things. Fear of actually putting her heart at risk again. She’d started volunteering.
Her aunt Kate had been the one to suggest fostering. And after her aunt’s death, when the numbness of grief had subsided, she’d applied. It hadn’t been a hard decision. Aunt Kate had said during one of their many talks that the only regrets she had were the love she’d kept.
It hadn’t made much sense at the time; Ava had almost thought it was the medicine talking, but now she understood it. Every day Ava made the choice on who to engage with and who to actually show she cared for. A part of her had thought that being kind to strangers had been what had drawn Daniel toher, so she’d stifled that part of herself until she’d slowly been strangling.
The little boys she’d first fostered had been a baby step back into the world she’d once taken for granted. And she’d been rewarded in ways she’d never expected from that. Gracie was easy to love. So sweet and innocent.
But Chay was more complicated. Liking him had her nerves buzzing and her head filled with…images of what she’d like to do the next time they were alone. But he wasn’t a baby who hadn’t had time to build up a tough outer shell.
He was a complicated man who had his own baggage. Her pointing it out probably hadn’t been the smartest choice, but she was back to the fact that she really liked him. So she’d had no options.
Letting herself like him wasn’t something she could control. She liked the way he smiled, the way he just got things done and his determination not to let the crimes committed against Fern go unpunished.
Her heart melted every time he held Gracie. No matter what Chay thought, he had the makings of a man who could be a really good dad. But his mind and his past told him otherwise.
A part of her wanted to come at Chay like a therapist. Break down what he had told her and shown her and figure out how to help him to change his behavior. But the feminine part of her wanted Chay just for herself. Wanted to uncover the man he was as they got to know each other.
He’d asked her on a date.
She’d hedged. Hadn’t answered because his grandmother had arrived.
Grabbing her phone, she opened the message app and stared down at his name. Was she going to do this?
Or was she going to continue staying safe in her cozy little home, not taking any risks with her emotions and protecting her battered heart?
The answer wasn’t simple.
As she’d told her clients more than once, it wasn’t easy to risk getting hurt again. The mind made her cautious to protect her from experiencing that kind of loss again. Except…Chay made her want to take a chance.
Before she could second-guess it, she tapped his name and started typing.
Ava: Hey. It’s me. Ava. I think you were asking me out on a date earlier. Where did we leave that?
She hit send and then put the phone facedown next to her on the couch. She wanted to check it to see if he was responding. Though it was after eleven, so he might be sleeping. She went to the kitchen to keep from obsessively watching her screen to make a cup of tea.
The kettle was on the burner when her phone pinged. She raced back over to the couch and picked it up.
“Be cool,” she warned herself but she totally wasn’t as she saw Chay had responded.
Chay: I’m not sure. You were hesitating.
Ugh. He was so right to call her on her own shit.I’m not now.
Chay: So I’m guessing it’s a package deal with you and Gracie, right?
It is.She couldn’t leave Gracie with anyone. Maybe she could get permission but as Marg had stated the courts were being careful while Annie Ross’s murder was being investigated.
Chay: Dinner at your place? I’ll cook. You two provide the entertainment.
Dinner at her place. She glanced around, realizing she needed to get a new tablecloth and maybe some nicer dinnerware. She tended to use the same plate for everything. She never hosted anyone at her place.
