Page 86 of Left Behind

Ava’s interest in cartoons suddenly shifted when the dark-haired lady walked in. It was the almost wife—the woman who’d helped her in the bathroom, and she was carrying a little gift bag with a bow on it. She watched Wiley kiss her on the cheek, but Ava’s sudden silence reflected her concern as to whether the woman would like her, too.

Linette immediately caught on to Wiley’s intention.

“Ava! Hi, sweetheart! It’s so good to see you again. May I sit beside you?”

Ava nodded.

Linette sat and handed her the gift bag. “This is for you.”

Wiley sat down in a chair to watch Ava’s response to Linette entering their world.

Ava might not know what to think about an almost wife, but she knew what to do with presents. She pulled the tissue paper out of the top and then looked down into the bag and gasped.

“Bubba! It’s hair stuff!”

Wiley was expecting maybe shampoo, but when she dumped the contents into her lap and began sorting through them, he realized it was stuff of a different kind. Colorful hair bows with little clips attached. Barrettes of different shapes and colors, and a pretty hairbrush.

Ava’s baby blues were swimming in tears. “I never had hair stuff before.”

“And now you do,” Linette said. “I think you should pick one out now, and I’ll put it in your hair for you.”

“My hair is sleepy,” Ava said.

“Then we’ll fix that,” Wiley said, picked up her new hairbrush and tamed the flyaway curls, while she and Linette went through the barrettes and bows.

“I choose this one!” Ava said.

Linette removed the bow from the packaging, got down on her knees in front of Ava, and after a few moments, clipped it just off-center at the top of her head, where it settled within the mop of blond curls.

“You look beautiful!” Wiley said.

“I need to see,” Ava cried, and bailed off the sofa and ran.

Wiley reached down, pulled Linette up from the floor and into his arms, and kissed her hard and fast.

“Gotta take it when I can get it,” he said, and grinned when that made her laugh. “You’re the best, Linnie. Let’s go admire the new bow with her.”

Ava was staring at herself in the full-length mirror hanging on the door to the bathroom. But she wasn’t smiling or twirling around, like a little girl might do. She was too still and too solemn.

“Uh-oh,” Wiley muttered.

Linette didn’t know what was happening, but obviously Wiley did.

“Ava?”

“Can you still see me?” Ava asked.

“Yes, I still see you. Why are you so quiet?”

“I’m looking for me,” Ava said.

“That is you, little sister. This is how you look when you don’t have to be quiet anymore to disappear. This is the real Ava. Go say hi to her. Tell her she doesn’t have to hide or disappear ever again, and then tell her she’s gonna have pizza tonight with Bubba and Linette. And when you’re through talking to her, we’ll be in the kitchen ordering pizza, okay?”

“Yes! I like pizza.”

“Just about everybody in the whole world likes pizza.”

Ava patted her bow and gave Linette a shy glance. “I like my bow, too. Thank you for my present.”

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