Page 69 of Left Behind

Wiley knew she was still in starvation mode, so when he gave her the plate, he cautioned her, too.

“Take your time. We don’t have to hurry. And quit when you’re full. There will always be more.”

Ava nodded.

“Want butter and jelly on your toast?” he asked.

Her eyes widened again. “I can have…?” She stopped, then took a breath. “Yes, please.”

She’s catching on, he thought, as he buttered the toast and then lightly layered some strawberry preserves.

He ate with her and, when she wasn’t looking, watched. She was still alternating between cramming everything good into her mouth at once, and then remembering and slacking off, chewing one thing at a time until the meal was over.

“I’m full,” Ava said, wistfully eyeing part of her jelly toast that she couldn’t eat.

“Me too,” Wiley said as he untied the dishcloth from around her neck. “You go wash your face and hands while I clean up the table, and then we’ll go see Dani, okay?”

“Will Aaron be there?” Ava asked.

“I doubt it. He’s already at work, but it won’t matter. You’ll see him another time. Dani is a schoolteacher. You will go to school where she teaches.”

“Will she be my teacher?” Ava asked.

“No, she teaches first grade.”

“I’ll be in second grade,” Ava said.

“Right. We’ll get you enrolled when it’s time. Right now, this is your summer vacation time. Time to do fun things.”

She frowned.

“What?” Wiley asked.

“Corina hates summer vacation. That’s when she has to put up with me.”

“Well, she’s gone and I’m not, and we don’t care what Corina thinks, right?”

Ava nodded. “We don’t care.”

“Right. Now go wash the jelly off yourself. We have things to do and people to see. This is gonna be a good day! And see if Pinky wants to go, too.”

She beamed. “I’ll ask her,” and ran out of the room.

“Corina is still an ass,” Wiley muttered as he cleared the table and loaded the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.

By the time he was finished, Ava was back with Pinky.

“She wants to go!” she announced.

“Awesome,” Wiley said. “Let’s do this!”

***

Dani didn’t know when Wiley and Ava would arrive, but she was ready for them when they did. She’d dug through her office for crayons and paper, used her copy machine to print out some pages to color, and laid out some books from her personal children’s library.

She and Aaron had moved things around in their spare bedroom to make it little-girl friendly so that when Ava was here, she would feel comfortable and welcome. Ava’s transition wouldn’t be easy for her, but every child rescued was a child who’d been given a second chance, and Wiley was dedicated to this. The text he’d sent her last night was proof. Now, it was up to all of the family to back him up one hundred percent. Ava was Aaron’s sister, and Sean’s sister, and B.J.’s sister, too. And after talking to Shirley, she knew it was a done deal.

Ava Dalton was on a fast track to happiness. She just didn’t know it yet, so when Dani saw them pulling up into her driveway, she went out on the porch to meet them.

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