Page 55 of Left Behind

She shrugged. “I have mac and cheese in the blue box, and sometimes chicken nuggets.”

Wiley blinked. “Anything else?”

“Ummm, sometimes Miss Mattie gave me a pudding cup.”

“What about burgers and fries, or fried chicken, or soup, or mashed potatoes and meat loaf?”

“Oh, soup. Yeah, soup in a can.”

Wiley sighed. “Hot dogs?”

She frowned. “Maybe I’ve had those. Is that the weenie wrapped in bread sandwich?”

“Sort of. I know you have to like french fries.”

She frowned. “Corina only gives me her cold ones. I don’t like them so much.”

“Corina was an ass,” Wiley muttered.

Ava blinked, then grinned.

At that point, Wiley realized what he’d said, but it was too late to take it back.

“Sorry. I shouldn’t call people bad names. Even when they deserve it,” he said. “But you need to know right now that how you were treated was wrong, and I won’t let that happen again. None of us will. You have four big brothers who will always take care of you. Understand?”

She nodded.

“Good. Better be thinking of what you’re gonna name dolly. We can’t go around calling her dolly forever, right?”

Ava giggled.

Wiley brushed the top of her head, then shut the door to the back seat and got in the car. The best place he could think of to take her to eat on short notice was Granny’s Country Kitchen. It was the closest to home cooking in Jubilee, and if she was used to doing without, then stuffing a bunch of food in her belly all at once would only result in making her sick. But they’d figure it out after he got there.

They were pulling into the parking lot when he saw Linette and two other women walking toward the entrance. Talk about luck.

“Maybe we better leave dolly here,” he said as he helped Ava out.

“She’s taking a nap,” Ava said, and grabbed his hand as they headed up the steps and then into the café.

“Table for two, and we’re gonna need a booster seat,” Wylie said.

“Coming up,” the hostess said. She grabbed a menu and a booster from a stack by the door and led the way through the dining area.

Wylie knew Linette had seen them, but she was obviously giving them space and he purposefully didn’t look her way. When Ava came close to getting stepped on, he swooped her up into his arms and carried her the rest of the way across the floor, then settled her into the booster seat.

“How’s that, sugar?”

She smiled. “Good.”

He pulled his own chair as close to hers as he could, just in case, and then opened the menu.

“Let’s see what’s on the menu, okay?”

“I like mac and cheese in the blue box,” she reminded him.

He nodded. “I remember. We’ll make that at home, okay? They cook other things here. Okay, here’s chicken nuggets and french fries, and they won’t be cold. Wanna try those?”

“Yes.”

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