Page 18 of Hartley

“Keep it,” I told her.

Her eyes widened before she spun to face me. Quickly, she unraveled the scarf from her neck and held it out to me. “I couldn’t. I’d ruin it. It’s too nice.”

“Ava, it’s meant to be worn. It’s okay if it gets a little beat up along the way. Every one of those flaws in the fabric will tell a story, part ofyourstory.” Lifting the scarf, I put it on her, letting it drape in the front. “It was made to be yours.”

“Didn’t you design it for someone else?”

“Sometimes I just make things with no one in mind. I’ll see fabric I just have to buy. I might not know what I’ll do with it at the time, but an idea will come to me. Like this scarf. It’s not what I usually make. Once I did, I found I wanted to makemore accessories. I didn’t know what to do with this one. It was waiting for you.”

Facing the mirror again, Ava traced her fingers lightly over the fabric. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Anything I could do to make her smile was well worth it. “Would you like to help me make another one, so you’ll have two? You can pick the fabric and the thread. We’ll add any flairs you’d like and the color stitching of your choice. It will be an Ava original.”

“You’d do that?”

“Of course. Let your creativity out.”

Ava and I walked into the back, looking at the silk and other fabric I had on hand. She ended up selecting black silk that had the tiniest white stars on it. I couldn’t even tell what they were until I was close to the material. She was instantly drawn in.

We took it out front and I sat her down at the sewing machine to teach her. Instead of doing the stitching the same as on the one I’d done previously, she wanted to fold the edge of the fabric and sew that instead. With a black thread, I helped her do it. There were a couple of missteps where she apologized profusely.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said to her. “Do you know how many times I messed up when I was starting out? Oh, the stories I could tell you.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Not everyone falls into a job and immediately thrives. Mistakes have to be made in order to grow.” It was the same with most things in life. There wasn’t a guidebook or a manual to walk me through every day of every year. I wasn’t perfect. But there were people who taught and encouragedme. Who didn’t see my flaws but urged me to try again. I wanted to do that for Ava.

Ava’s eyes drifted toward the front of the studio where Rory stood outside, daring anyone to fuck with Ava and me. “Does he care that he’s out there?”

“Rory? Nah, he’s fine. I’d worry if there was snow on the ground or if the sun baked the city, but it’s nice out today. Believe me, I’d drag him in if I thought he was suffering.”

She nodded and focused on the scarf again. When she was done, I offered to help her put her initials on it, but she insisted I do it. She could ask me just about anything and I’d do it for her.

“There,” I said when I was done. I held up the scarf. It really came out nice. “What do you think?”

Her bottom lip trembled as her eyes filled with tears. “Mama would have loved it. She tried to teach me to sew, but I couldn’t do it like she did.”

“She’d be very proud of you. I am.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

I wanted to wrap her in my arms but held back. The only one Ava hugged was Vail. She was getting used to Jordan and me, spending time with us, and talking more. It was moments like this I cherished. Not her being upset, never that, but sharing a special moment with her.

“Do you want to make something else?”

“Like what?”

“Hmmm…” I tapped my chin to delay this a bit because I wanted to make her smile but didn’t think this through.

“Leggings?”

“Those would be easy to make, but I’d need the right material. What do you say to a quick shopping trip to pick out what you’d like?”

She nodded and smiled.

Pulling my phone out, I sent a quick text to Vail and Jordan, letting them know Ava and I were going to run an errand. Jordan shot a quick message back, telling me to buy Ava whatever she wanted. I didn’t bother texting if I left when it was just me. Rory was always accessible, and I didn’t go anywhere without him or one of the other guards. Today I had Julia here too. She was content to keep watch inside, near the back.

I texted Julia and Rory next instead of going outside. They met us and together we left to get into one of the many SUVs Jordan had. Since this was for Ava, I took her to a store where there was a decent selection, especially for what she wanted. A lot of what she wore were dark colors. That didn’t mean she’d want to wear that all the time. At least with this store, she could pick out what she liked.

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