“But new details are emerging as she talks to you. The tattoo is interesting. Not sure if it’s related, but we are going to look into it.”
“No problem. As much as Fern doesn’t want to relive everything, she wants those men who took her caught. I’m furious that it happened to her as well. That’s not right.”
“Nothing about what happened to her is,” Chay said.
“Is that why you got into law enforcement?”
“No.Bad Boys.”
“The movie franchise?” she asked.
“Yeah. I liked the idea of taking down criminals and being the good guy.”
She could see that. They hung up, and a few minutes later she pulled into Chay’s driveway. She was still smiling, thinking about him watching the Martin Lawrence and Will Smith movies.
Chay carried Ava’s and Gracie’s bags while she got the baby into the house. It didn’t take them too long to get Gracie settledon her blanket playing while Chay went to the kitchen to make dinner.
“I’ll help. I don’t want to be a burden,” Ava said.
“You’re not a burden. I’m glad you’re here. I made Crock-Pot chicken tortilla soup. So there’s not much to do. We can eat on the couch so Gracie can keep playing.”
“Perfect.”
They made their bowls and soon were sitting close to each other watching Gracie play. It was really hard for her not to weave that fantasy she’d had for the last few days around them. Gracie mumbling, crawling, rolling over and playing with her feet while they sat next to each other talking about their days and eating dinner.
Her own parents loved each other deeply but were like oil and water. Dinner in their home growing up had been noisy and boisterous. Until this moment Anna hadn’t realized how much she needed this peaceful kind of dinner.
“Aponi stopped by to see me today.”
“Uh-oh,” Chay said.
Ava smiled, as she guessed he’d wanted her to, based on his tone. “She’s going to be donating a rug to the silent auction my mom is organizing. I think Sassy wants her to be part of an exhibit there.”
“Good. I think her work deserves more attention.”
“She’s still thinking about it,” Ava said. Wondering if she should bring up the personal stuff, too. But then she tried to figure out what she wanted from him if she did. Did she want Chay to say that he thought she was fine? Or that she needed to do some work? Definitely not the latter.
“That sounds like her. She is very private about the artist side of her personality. She likes that everyone loves her rugs and their quality but doesn’t feel like it’s about her…it’s aboutthe weaving and the practice, which has been around since the dawn of our people.”
“That’s fascinating,” she said. “I’d love to know more about it.”
“I’m sure she’ll tell you if you ask her. I know some of it, but sometimes I zone out when she’s talking about it.”
“Chay! Shame on you.”
“Tell me you always listen to everything your parents say.”
“Okay, point taken. I do zone out sometimes…I’ll ask her,” Ava said.
They ate more of their soup, and when they were finished Ava was back to feeling awkward again. They’d slept together, but he hadn’t asked her to stay with him because they were dating. He’d invited her because he wanted her to be safe, and possibly he’d felt guilty.
“So…what should we do now?” he asked.
“I think we have to watchBad Boysso I can try to understand how they motivated you to become a cop.”
“I never should have mentioned that.”
“No, you shouldn’t have, but you did. Also, do you have popcorn? I can’t watch a movie without it.”
