Page 72 of Left Behind

Ava’s voice was trembling. “A party for me?”

“It’s a welcome-to-the-family party.”

“What do I do?” she asked.

“You don’t have to do anything but be Ava. You can show them your new room, and they will talk to you, and you will talk to them, and you’ll know just how many people want you.”

Ava went silent and tightened her hold on Pinky as they drove through Jubilee.

Wiley glanced at her in the rearview mirror and thought he saw tears in her eyes. “Are you okay, Ava?”

She nodded.

“Are you sad?” he asked.

“No.”

“But you’re crying,” he said.

“I never had a party. Will there be cake?”

Shock rolled through him.

“What about your birthday?” he asked.

She shrugged.

“Do you know your birthday?” Wiley asked.

“June fourth,” she said.

He was absorbing her truth all over again. A child without comfort or clothes, or toys, or even a real place to call home. Acknowledged only as “a mistake.”

“And nobody ever made you a cake or gave you gifts?”

She thought a few moments then shrugged again. “Miss Mattie gave me chewing gum sometimes if she had any in her purse. And pudding cups. We had pudding cups.”

“I’m sorry that happened, but you’ll never be ignored again. I promise.”

“Okay,” she said.

He sighed. Words meant nothing to her. It would be actions that would change her world, so he shifted the conversation as he pulled up to the curb in front of the bakery.

“We’re here, sugar. Let’s go pick out some yummy stuff for the party, okay?”

Ava nodded. She liked Bubba’s idea of yummy stuff, and she was excited about having a party. She latched onto Bubba’s hand as they walked into the bakery, and then stopped, stunned by scents of sweets and baking bread.

“What do I smell?” she whispered.

Wiley grinned. “Yummy stuff, sister. Yummy stuff. See that lady at the counter with the pretty white hair? That’s our aunt Annie. She owns the bakery and makes all this good stuff to eat.” They moved to the display case so Ava could see, but when he realized she was too small, he picked her up for a better view. “Now you can see better. Do we want a cake, or do we want cupcakes and cookies?”

“Cake,” Ava said.

“Done,” Wiley said. “Now, do we want chocolate or vanilla cake?”

“What is vanilla?” Ava asked.

“The white kind.”

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