I cock my head to one side. “Oh?” I start as I walk over and sit down. “Share the fun, what’s up?”
Ava keeps her eyes trained on the paper.
Hutch bites his lower lip before speaking and then, on a sigh, says, “Don’t be mad.” I give him a pointed look, and his lips twitch with a smile. “Ava broke her middle finger.”
“Sprained,” Ava corrects.
“Right, sprained,” Hutch continues. “And the bandage got dirty, and Bray didn’t have time to change it, so I did. And well, the finger is swollen, and it does just kind of stick up, and then I started laughing, and Ava asked why, and then I told her. And she started laughing and…yeah.”
I definitely know Ava knows what the middle finger is for because she’s seen people do it. But geez, like I need one more parenting moment this week.
“Ava, we really shouldn’t do that, OK,” I say as I glare at Hutch, whose cheeks are getting more and more red as we speak.
“Yeah, I know. Mr. Hutch said that too,” she says with a small grin and then quickly makes her face neutral again.
I roll my eyes. “You two are trouble, you know that?”
Ava climbs out of her seat and into Hutch’s lap, and wraps her arms around his giant neck and squeezes. “But we’re fun trouble, right?” she asks as she buries her face into his chest.
He squeezes her back and kisses the top of her head. “I think we’re the most fun type of trouble,” he agrees.
She giggles. “Don’t be mad, Mom,” she says in a muffled voice.
I pat her back and laugh because what else can I do? “I’m not mad. Honestly, it is serendipitous that it’s your middle finger.”
“Seren…what?” she says, pulling her face away from Hutch.
“Doesn’t matter, we’ll learn that word another day. Just don’t use that, it’s not nice,” I say.
“OK,” she says with a pout.
Hutch whispers something in her ear and she giggles again. He tickles her, and she squirms off his lap.
“Well, I’m off, kids. Have a great night,” he says, standing and grabbing his laptop.
“Do you have to go?” Ava asks.
He nods. “I promised Miss Jocelyn that we’d go out for dinner.”
“Oh,” she says, looking down and giving him a sad puppy dog face.
He roars with laughter. “Ava, that shit…I mean stuff, doesn’t work on me. I invented it. We’ll play another night. OK? I promise.”
“Fine,” she says, crossing her little arms and trying to look mad, but when Hutch makes a face, her lips turn up into a smile.
“’Night, Carly,” he adds as he opens the door and leaves.
“Wanna see what else I learned, Mom?” Ava asks as I look over at her. I wince, hoping it’s not more inappropriate finger signs. What I wouldn’t give to have a partner who could help me raise her? But at the same time, I’m equally grateful for all the amazing friends who have stepped in, even if deep down, I envy that people like Hutch have found their person and I haven’t. Maybe I should start swiping right.
CHAPTER TEN
Bray
A gentle poking of my ribs wakes me. I open my eyes and jump in my seat.
Ava’s face is about three inches from mine.
“Wakey, wakey, Unca Bray!” she says excitedly. She has chocolate on her lower lip and wild eyes like the sugar rush has just hit her. We’ve been flying overnight, and after arriving in Milan, Fletcher’s family arranged for private vans to pick us up and take us to the vineyard. It’s a nice touch and certainly appreciated. There are fourteen of us from the apartment building, since Cam and Fletcher already arrived three days ago, and Drew and Vito are living here now. Cam and Fletcher have three employees and their spouses and eight friends that are attending, plus their immediate families. All in all, it’s about fifty people. And the McDowell family has wasted no expense. They booked a local hotel for friends and employees. The families have rented a nearby property. And the fourteen of us are split between guesthouses at the vineyard and adjoining property.
