‘What’s that?’
‘Your mom loved you, more than anything in this world. Her parenting skills may have been unconventional at best but never doubt you were everything to her.’
Ava nodded; her throat tight with a burning sensation she couldn’t swallow past. Blinking back the tears she stood slowly.
‘Thanks Baz.’
‘Don’t be a stranger okay?’ He relit his joint which had gone out.
‘Don’t worry Baz,’ she gave a small smile, ‘I know where to find you.’
‘Here,’ he picked up the photo of her and her dad and handed it to her. ‘You should keep this.’
‘Are you sure?’ her eyes widened.
‘I got dozens of memories of him up here,’ he tapped the side of his head, ‘you should have that.’
‘Thanks,’ she whispered as her eyes filled with tears.
He nodded once and she turned for the doorway. She didn’t even need to whistle for Bailey. Sensing her movement, the dog scrambled to her feet, her claws skittering against the tiles as they headed back out through the beaded curtain and into the front yard.
Opening the door to her truck she waited for Bailey to scramble up before climbing in behind her. Placing the folder and framed picture down on the seat next to her, she stared out the dusty windscreen aimlessly.
She felt Bailey crawl into her lap as if she could sense her distress. She reached up and licked Ava’s chin, nudging her with her nose.
‘Alright girl,’ Ava murmured absently as she ran her hands over her thick fur as much to comfort herself as her dog.
There was so much she didn’t know about her mother. Serenity had never spoken about her family or where she came from. Occasionally she’d talk about Ava’s father as if to keep the fading memory of him alive, but even then, all Ava really knew was that he’d been born in San Miguel, El Salvador and fled aged 18 during the civil war. He’d met her mother in San Francisco. It was love at first sight and Ava had been born nine months later, almost to the day.
But if what Baz had said was true and her mother had been born on Midnight island, there was a slim possibility she still had family there, maybe some aunts or uncles, possibly even some cousins. She could at least discover some of her family history, maybe even figure out why her mother had run.
She couldn’t deny that the mysterious house was nagging at her like a persistent toothache. The curiosity was almost overwhelming. Why would her family not want the house and refuse to live in it? And why, in all the time it had been up for sale had no one wanted to buy it?
‘What do you think?’ she murmured as she looked down at her dog.
Bailey’s ears twitched, her tail thumping against the exposed foam of the seat that was being held together with peeling duct tape.
‘Okay then,’ she blew out a breath as she nudged Bailey out of her lap.
She clambered over to her side, turned in a circle a few times before settling down and tucking her head onto her paws, watching Ava with dark liquid eyes.
‘Are you ready for an adventure then?’ Ava asked.
Bailey’s tail thumped against the seat once more.
‘Alright then,’ Ava picked up her sunglasses and slipped them back onto her face. Turning the key in the ignition the engine struggled and spluttered to life. Ava’s mouth curved at the corner.
‘I guess we’re heading to Midnight then.’
2
‘Don’t look at me like that,’ Ava blinked.
Bailey sat at her feet staring up at her with dark eyes.
‘Seriously, it’s not my fault.’
The dog snorted.
‘It’s the rules,’ Ava protested.
Bailey lifted a paw and nudged her.
‘I can’t,’ she sighed, ‘you’ll get me in trouble.’
Bailey butted her legs with her head and looked up at her with sad eyes.
‘Urgh, you’re killing me here,’ Ava looked back along the deck to make sure no one was watching. ‘Fine but you’d better behave.’
Ava reached down and unclipped the bright red leash from Bailey’s collar. The second she was free she nipped the leash from Ava’s hand and stuck her head through the railing, opening her mouth and letting go.
Ava leaned over the railing and watched the bright red trail of leather swirling down beneath the water. She watched in silence for a few moments before turning back to her dog.
Bailey sat back down on her haunches, her thick bushy tail swishing against the deck happily as her mouth lolled open in a wolfish grin.
‘You’d better hope the guy in charge doesn’t catch you off your leash, it’s a long swim back to the mainland.’
Bailey jumped up, rubbing her body along Ava’s legs and nuzzling her hand.
‘Okay girl,’ she smiled softly as she stroked her.
Her gaze was drawn back to the water which rippled and danced, glittering as the sunlight caught the waves. She drew in a deep relaxed breath, almost tasting the salty air on her tongue as the hot summer breeze tugged at her long dark hair. There was a tremble of excitement in her belly, a quiet whisper somewhere in the back of her mind as she got her first good look at Midnight Island.
‘So, this was where my mom was born,’ she murmured as she rested her hand on Bailey’s head, her sharp gaze taking in every detail as the island grew larger across the small expanse of water.
The smooth rocking of the waves was soon replaced with the thunderous boom and crash of the waves against the base of the cliffs. Her eyes were drawn up and she caught her first glimpse of a huge gray stone building staring out forlornly across the water.
Her stomach clenched against the sudden and renewed fluttering, a strange mix of nerves and curiosity. She’d never owned anything in her life other than her truck and now she technically owned what looked like a rambling Victorian mansion on a cliff top.
Her hand released her dog and gripped the rusted white railing as she unconsciously leaned closer. She couldn’t see much from her vantage point now that they were heading in closer to the dock, but for a second… she shook her head, she wasn’t a whimsical person at all, but if the house had been a person, she would say that it had almost felt like it had locked its gaze on her and was watching.
Shaking off the strange feeling she pushed away from the railing and turned. Heading down the battered metal steps to the lower deck, she stopped abruptly.
A pair of amused blue eyes watched her, dropped to her dog who stood pressed against her legs, then lifted back to lock onto Ava’s wary gaze.
His lips twitched.
Jack, she’d heard him called when she’d first boarded the ferry. The captain of the rusted, but seaworthy, ‘Sea Witch’ had barked orders down at the younger man standing in front of her now.
Despite the fact the captain was much older, with a heavily lined, weather beaten face, and the guy in front of her was gorgeous in a kind of rugged fisherman kind of way, there was enough of a resemblance for her to assume some kind of familial relationship between the two.
‘You should head back to your vehicle miss,’ the corner of his mouth curved. ‘We’ll be heading in to dock soon and my uncle is real strict about animals on leashes.’
She nodded, her cheeks flushing as he threw her a disarming smile. Jesus, the guy was really good looking. She moved past him with Bailey following in her wake as he stepped aside. Even Bailey looked back and wagged her tail.