She also had laundry to do, groceries to shop for, and bills to pay, so she got up and headed for the shower. As soon as she was dressed, she stripped her bed, tossed the bedding in the washer, and started her day by making a grocery list.
Later, she made herself a sandwich and a glass of sweet tea and read the local newspaper while she ate, only vaguely aware of the washer chugging away in the little alcove off the kitchen. As soon as she was finished, she grabbed her jacket and purse, stuffed the list in her pocket, and headed out the door. It wouldn’t hurt to drive by Marjorie’s place. She’d seen Hunt walk in with a biker helmet, so she guessed he was riding a motorcycle. If it was parked at his old homeplace, then she would know he was staying there.
A few minutes later, she turned down Peach Street and saw the black truck. But when she got closer and saw a big black and silver Harley parked between the truck and the house, she knew he was there. So now she knew where to find him, and drove past without stopping, heading for the Crown to get groceries. If she hurried, she could get that pie made and over to Hunt before suppertime.
* * *
Junior called Ray, but Ray’s girlfriend, Susie, answered.
“Hi, Junior. Ray forgot and left his phone here at the house, but he’s not here. He went to get some snacks for the game. It starts soon. Are you coming over?” she asked.
“I guess, if it’s okay,” Junior said.
Susie laughed. “Of course it’s okay. Two of the neighbors and their wives are coming over, too.”
“Do I need to bring something?” Junior asked.
“A bag of chips and a six-pack of your desired beverage would not go to waste. Oh…I’m real sorry about Marjorie,” she added.
“Yeah, thanks. I’ll see y’all later,” Junior said.
The fact that they were all getting together wasn’t unusual, because their mother just passed. But they were getting together to watch a football game, not reminisce about her. However, there was nothing more they could do for her today, and it was New Year’s Day. Football was a religion in the South. They figured their mama would understand.
Junior sat in the silence of his empty house, contemplating how everything in his life started going wrong after Hunt left. He’d dropped out of high school, then couldn’t get a decent job. Even after he got married, he bounced from one job to another until his wife got fed up and walked out. He was drawing unemployment money now, but that wouldn’t last much longer. He needed to do something, but he couldn’t think past the guilt. His mama had made her feelings toward them all too plain when she’d sent for Hunt instead of depending on them to see to her last wishes. He’d never felt more like a loser than he did right now.
* * *
Ava got home with her groceries and started making pie crust, then mixed up the filling and put it in the oven to bake while she switched out a load of laundry. Her parents were in Las Vegas ringing in the New Year, so she was free to putter without her mother organizing some party at their house that Ava would have to attend and put up with all of the single men her mother continued to invite, hoping one of them would tempt her daughter into marriage. In the South, and at the late age of twenty-eight going on twenty-nine, Ava Ridley was considered past her prime.
When the timer finally went off on the pie, she took it out of the oven. Pleased with how it looked, she set it aside to cool. Once she finished her household chores, she went to clean up and change. She was looking forward to seeing Hunt again, but wearing something nicer than pink scrubs.
* * *
After the locksmith was gone, Hunt spent the afternoon cleaning up the house. He was going to mess it up again when he started fixing things, but for his own comfort he wanted the dust off the furniture, the floors clean and mopped, and the bathroom scrubbed.
He’d washed the sheets on his mother’s bed and made it back up, and then left his bag in the closet. After all his years in the military, he needed things to be neat, clean, and in their places to feel comfortable in the space.
He was hot and sweaty and tired when he finally finished, and took a quick shower, dressing only in a pair of jeans and his stocking feet as he went back to the kitchen to make himself a sandwich. It was almost five and tomorrow would be a big day. First the reading of his mother’s will, and then off to the lumberyard for supplies. There were so many little things that needed doing that it could be a whole week before he tore into the kitchen floor to see exactly what all was wrong.
He was just finishing up a ham sandwich and chips when he heard a car pulling up at the house, and braced himself for another sibling at the door. Only when he went to answer the knock, he was surprised to see Ava. And in the blue jeans and white sweatshirt, she looked markedly different from the nurse in pink scrubs. Her dark hair was down, and longer than it had appeared clipped on top of her head, and her smile was an invitation to return it.
Ava didn’t know whether to be impressed by the rock-hard abs and Hunt’s bare chest, or horrified by the thin silver scars laid across it like a roadmap. But instead of commenting on either, she offered the pie she was holding.
“Hello, Hunt. I hope I’m not intruding. I brought you something.”
“Not at all,” he said, and then saw what she was holding. “Oh wow…pecan… It’s my favorite.”
“I know. It’s why I made it.”
“Come in,” he said.
“I think I know the way,” she said, and smiled as she sailed past him and carried it into the kitchen. She set it down on the counter, then turned around. “I spent half my life in this house. Some of the best times I ever had were here with your family.” Then she grinned. “I had the biggest crush on you when I was a kid.”
Hunt blinked. “Uh…I don’t guess I knew that. I hope I wasn’t a jerk around you.”
When Ava threw her head back and laughed, Hunt felt it all the way to his bones.
Ava shook her head. “Thank God. You weren’t supposed to know it. It was one of those little-girl crushes on someone’s older brother, and no, you weren’t a jerk. You were my hero.”
Hunt grinned. “Okay then. So, while we’re talking about how obtuse I was as a teen, how about we cut this pie? Would you eat a piece with me?”
“Sure!” Ava said.
“Give me a second and I’ll go put on a shirt,” he said.
“Don’t bother on my account,” Ava said. “I like the view.”
He shook his head and went to get the shirt anyway. When he came back, he got out plates and forks while Ava cut two pieces of pie, plated them, then carried them to the table.
She waited, watching as he took the first bite, and when his eyes went shut, she smiled.