Page 85 of Left Behind

Wiley went back to clean up the kitchen, but then his phone rang. When he saw caller ID, he quickly answered.

“Hello, darlin’, and the answer is yes.”

Linette laughed. “You don’t even know why I’m calling.”

“Doesn’t matter. For you, the answer is always yes,” he said.

She sighed. “Wiley Pope, you make me crazy.”

“I’m not discussing what you do to me. What’s up?”

“I’m getting off work in about an hour. I have a little gift for Ava. If you’re going to be home, I’d like to drop it off.”

“What are you doing this evening?” Wiley asked.

“Just going home.”

“Stay and eat an early supper with us. I’m not cooking this evening. We’re having pizza, but she doesn’t know it.”

“I would love to,” she said. “But I think I’ll go home and get out of the nurse duds and into comfortable clothes before I come over, okay?”

“Yes.”

She laughed. “Is your answer always going to be yes?”

“Only for you,” he said.

“How are things going with Ava?”

“Better than expected, and still sifting through the shock of what comes out of her mouth.”

“What do you mean?” Linette asked.

“The revelations of her daily reality. She doesn’t even know how horrifying some of them are, or how neglected she was. What she knew was all she knew. I’m working on fixing what I can. Today, we got a swing set put up in the backyard. She wore herself out playing on it. I just peeled her off the slide and put her to bed. You know what she asked me before she closed her eyes? Will I be here when she wakes up?”

“Oh lord, Wiley…bless her heart. Bless her heart. Are you sure I won’t be an intrusion? I don’t want to mess up what you have going.”

“You can’t be an intrusion, darlin’. And you can’t mess up what’s going on in my life, because part of it is you.”

“You had me at darlin’,” she said, and disconnected.

Wiley groaned. He wanted her in his arms—lying beneath him in a bed. But right now there was a little-bit-of-nothin’ child who needed him more. And the upshot of that, which surprised him most, was how much he needed to be there for her.

***

Ava slept two hours, and the moment she woke up, she went to find Wiley. He was watching TV in the living room and smiled when he saw her. She crawled up in his lap and laid her head on his shoulder.

“Hey, sleepyhead. Did you and Pinky get a good rest?”

“Yes. Is it time for cartoons?”

“It’s always time for cartoons somewhere,” he said. “Let’s see if we can find some.”

She’d just settled in at the corner of the sofa when their doorbell rang.

“Do we have company?” she asked.

“Sounds like it,” Wiley said, and went to the door, knowing it was likely Linette.

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