Page 82 of Left Behind

She looked up at him and smiled. “It’s yummy, Bubba.”

***

Long after the food had been eaten, the puzzle played with a half-dozen times, the books read, the new necklace replaced in her jewelry box, and she’d tried every color of crayon in the box, Wiley had her tucked in bed and she was sound asleep, with Pinky shoved beneath her chin.

He stood in the doorway to her room, looking into the shadows at the tiny child curled up in a ball beneath the covers, and saw his future. It was about as perfect as a man could want. The only thing missing was the woman who would lie with him and grow old with him. He sighed before turning around and retreating to his bedroom. He was tired but restless, so he picked up his phone and texted Linette.

We had a welcome-to-the-family party for Ava tonight. It was a success. Please don’t feel abandoned. I miss you. But this child was wrecked, and we’re still pulling her out of the debris.

He hit Send, then put the phone on the charger and went to bed.

***

Linette saw the text the next morning and sighed. All was well with her and Wiley, and he had his priorities in the right place. For now, it was enough.

Don’t forget I love kids, too. Next date we have, it will be me and you and little sister make three. We don’t leave her out of anything but our bed. She’s right where she belongs.

***

Wiley read the text at breakfast and nearly choked on his coffee.

Ava looked up, frowning. “You okay, Bubba?”

“Yes, yes, I’m okay, sugar. My drink just went down the wrong way.”

“Miss Mattie always says, ‘Slow down, girlie. You ain’t goin’ nowhere.’”

Wiley laughed. “I’m sorry I never got to meet Miss Mattie. She sounds like a smart lady.”

Ava frowned. “Miss Mattie didn’t like Corina, and Corina got mad at Miss Mattie for droppin’ dead.”

“Why didn’t Miss Mattie like Corina?” Wiley asked.

Ava thought about it, took another bite of toast, and chewed. “Miss Mattie said Corina wasn’t a nice woman. Miss Mattie said Corina was a witch. After that, I was afraid she would turn me into a toad.”

Wiley sat there in shock again, listening to the matter-of-fact rendition of a day in the life of Ava and kept thinking, I will never know all the shit she’s seen and heard, which means I will never be able to completely disinfect the poison that was Corina Dalton.

“Being called a witch doesn’t mean you are one. Sometimes it means the same thing as being mean and sneaky,” he said.

Ava nodded. “Like Corina,” she said, and licked jelly off her thumb. “What are we gonna do today, Bubba?”

He pushed his plate back and grinned. “Well, I have a friend in Bowling Green who sells playground equipment, and he’s coming over here today to put up a swing set in our backyard for you to play on.”

Ava gasped. “Do you think it might have a slide?”

“Oh, it not only has a swing and a slide, but it has a little playhouse on top of it, and stairs to climb to the playhouse.”

Ava squealed!

Wiley flinched and then grinned. He’d just gotten his first real kid reaction, and at a pitch high enough to shatter crystal. Life was good.

***

The crew arrived with the playground setup just before 10:00 a.m., and after a few words with Wiley, they began carrying everything into the backyard to assemble.

Ava was beside herself to the point that there was nothing for them to do but go to the back porch, crawl up in the porch swing together, and watch the progress. Ava went from sitting beside him, to crawling in his lap, to abandoning him altogether and sitting on the back steps, just to be closer to the action.

“Ava, honey, you’re gonna sunburn and I didn’t put any sunblock on you. Let’s go inside a minute and do that. And while we’re there, we’ll get a cold pop to bring back out with us.”

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