Chapter 14
Ava pulled in a breath of fresh summer air and sighed. The only thing better than the sound of distant cicadas chirping, or the sight of nearby lightning bugs swirling and tumbling in the night, was the sound of Richard’s voice through the line. She hurried along the well-tread path with the phone to her ear. The same path she’d trekked several dozen times in the last few weeks.
“Dang, I miss you,” Richard said, his voice low and raspy. “I mean, this is nice, talking to you privately once night falls, meeting up at our special place, but I want to watch a movie with you cuddled up next to me. Not with acres between us while we text back and forth.”
She sighed and grinned. “I want that too.” Only recently had Richard begun to speak up about the long-dwelling elephant in their lives. The fact that they each felt the need to keep their growing feelings a secret.
“I think I should be the one to tell them,” Richard said.
She glanced up, wondering how close he was getting to her. It was often they timed it just right and met exactly at their secret little place beneath the massive oak tree. But if one of them got there first, they’d simply keep on walking until they spotted the other and walk the rest of the way together.
“Is this because of the whole wine cellar incident?”
Laughter spilled from the line. “Are you referring to last night when you volunteered to get the wine from the cellar, and I said I’d help, and we made out until we heard footsteps coming down the stairs?”
Now she was laughing. “Yeah, we almost got caught. But actually, I was referring to the moment that I noticed—in front of everyone—that your hair was sticking up on one side —”
“Because your fingers were running through it,” he purred.
“And just as I was trying to motion for you to fix it, Emmitt asked if Lucy had been licking your hair.”
“Until Maverick, who could probably barely see me through the dang phone screen, said it looked more like a gorilla gave me a cowlick.”
Now they were both laughing.
“You know,” Richard said with a sigh, “now that you mention it, thatisthe incident that pushed me to the brink. It’s time for us to tell them.”
“I’ll think about it,” she promised.
A thrill of anticipation shot through her as she spotted him in the distance. His vague silhouette against the glowing inn at his back, and a tiny spot of light peeking from the phone he held.
“I see you,” she said.
“No fair,” he said. “I can’t see you yet.” Which is often how it was. It was darker out here, further away from the Homestead.
“Do you think anyone’s onto us?” Richard asked.
“Not yet,” Ava said. “I mean, we dragged the tax stuff out as long as we could without getting into trouble with the IRS. And we’ve been pretty discrete since then. But when we’re all together…”
Richard sighed. “It’s so hard,” he finished for her. “Theworst. I don’t want to hide it anymore. We like each other. We’re grown adults. What are they going to do?”
“View me differently,” Ava answered. Blocks of worry stacked tall in her gut as she elaborated. “I don’t want them to think I’m a trouble starter.”
“They won’t,” he assured through the line.
“Or a contention causer.”
He chuckled a little. “You’re not.”
A vision of Maverick came to mind. “Or a heartbreaker,” she added.
“You’re…well, youmightbe that,” he allowed. “But if it’s Maverick’s heart we’re talking about, he’s got it coming to him, trust me.”
She couldn’t help but laugh despite the guilt. No doubt Maverick had broken more than his share of hearts over the years, but that didn’t make her feel any better about it.
“Man, you are beautiful. Have I told you that lately?” Richard’s low, husky voice was in stereo now, coming from two different places at once. And suddenly his big, strong arms were encircling her.
Ava leaned into him as he nuzzled his nose into her hair. “Mmm, you smell a lot better in person.”
