Page 43 of Maid in Heaven

“He does love me. And headoresthe kids. He’d never hurt them.”

“You sure about that?” Will muttered.

“Trust me,Will.I’m no saint. Ican be infuriating. My mama always said I could make a preacher swear.”

“Oh, come on,” he grabbed her hand, “no woman deserves that, Carla. I don’t care what the circumstances. There’s no excuse whatsoever.”

She pulled her hand away and stood, crossing her arms defensively. “When things are good, they’resogood. The bad times are much more rare. That’s what marriage is.Through the goodtimesandthe bad, that’s what our vows said.He’s made some mistakes. We all have. He’s just stressed out with work right now.”

Will didn’t believe that this abuse was some sort of recentdevelopment. In fact,she wore long sleeves in the summertime,too, which always struck him as odd.

Now, it all made sense.

“I get that this isn’t an easy decision for you, but please consider what I said. When you’reready, I’ll happily be the one to take you wherever you need to go.”

She smiled weakly. “Thank you.”

Will nodded and looked around, trying to figure out what part of the already clean bathroom to pretend to scrub next.

“You won’t tell any of the other ladies, will you? You know how they like to talk.”

“No.” Will shook his head.“That’s your business. I’d never gossip like that or betray someone’s confidence.”

He knew now was not the time to push her. Now was the time to let his offermarinate. All he could do was hope.

He walked over to the mirror and hosed it down with blue glass spray. He pulled off some paper towels and started wiping, changing the subject as his thighs flexed to reach the higherspots.He watched in the reflection as Carla’s eyes locked back onto his body.“How’s Laura?”

“Oh, that daughter of mine’s gonna put me into an early grave. I swear, she is nothing like I was when I was her age.”

“Well, thankfully, she has a strong female role model to help guide her.”

Will let the words sink in, not saying anything more.

In the silence was the realization that Carla was, in fact, an example for her daughter. In the right ways…

And thewrong.

At that moment, fully dressed, she suddenly felt far more exposed, naked, and vulnerable than the man in front of her, wearing little more than a bow tie.

13

“Okay, so what isthis date? Why was I supposed to bundle up?”Will asked, rubbing his chilled hands together through his thick fleece gloves.

The wind had finally settledfor once. The town was quiet. Smoke whirled its way up from chimneys, drifting and dissipating like wayward ghosts in the night air. The cloudy sky threatened to open up on them. Even in the moonlight, he was drawn to Ava’s beauty.

A pink hue had kissed her cheeks and her nose. Her hair was down in bouncy waves. Light makeup accentuated her features. Her lipstick drew his eyes to her enticing mouth.

“We are almost at the first stop.” She skippedahead, legs peeking outfrom beneath the hem of her coat, just above her completely impractical boots. She eyed him over her shoulder, driving him crazy with those glimmering eyes. Every time they landed on him,he felt himself melt beneath their warm gaze.

“Wait,firststop,” he asked.

“Just go with it.”

Will shrugged. “Alright. I’ll bite.”

Will followed her into the back door of an intimate bar with a few booths lining the walls. Rusticdarkwood walls flowed into a hardwood floor.Gray beams ran up the corners and along the elevated roof. Country music played softly,muffled by the mumble of the scarce patronswithin the establishment. Each table seemed isolated, contained in some invisible capsule that separated them from the outside world. Ava took a seat in an unoccupied booth, and Willslid across from her.

Ava shrugged off her jacket, revealing a black cowl-neck top with shoulder cutouts.The fabric gracefully draped along her arms and cinched again to the cuff of fabric at her wrists. Her dangling earrings hung low, just above her shoulders, glittering like her eyes in the overhead lights.

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