Page 44 of Where Are You Now
“What do you fancy?” Ava asked, handing her bouquet to her mother. “I’ll get our drinks if you get us a spot to sit.”
“Surprise me.”
Her mother sat at a corner table while Ava put in their orders. As Ava waited for their coffees, she gazed out the large picture window. Even on this side street, people still passed by at a clip, busy with their day, as she stood there with no idea of what she wanted to do beyond this minute. Less than a month ago, she’d been one of those people—hurried, driven, focused. Who was she now?
She returned with two mugs and set them on the table. “I got us each a salted caramel apple butter latte.”
Her mother’s eyes rounded. “Oh, my.”
“Go big or go home.”
Martha laughed, taking a sip and closing her eyes as if to appreciate it.
As they sat together in the buzz of the shop, Ava didn’t want their time to end. The beauty of fall in Nashville was irrefutable, but it was the time she spent with her mother—just the two of them—that she savored most.
Chapter Fourteen
Once they were back at the cabin, Ava filled a mason jar with water and arranged her bouquet. She moved the flowers her boss had sent and set the new ones in the center of the kitchen table. When she did, the memory of her mother gazing out the window this morning came to mind. Ava could have sworn her mom had been crying, but maybe she hadn’t. If she had been upset about something, it hadn’t shown during their outing. Perhaps Ava had been mistaken.
“Oh, those look so pretty, Ava,” her mom said, coming into the room.
Her cheerful response solidified the idea that maybe she hadn’t been upset at all.
“They look even better here, where the sunlight filters through the window.” Ava turned the vase until the flowers were at the perfect angle for admiring and then took the old bouquet over to the trash can.
There was a knock at the door.
Eagerness slithered through Ava. “I’ll get it.”
She opened the door to find Lucas in a pair of jeans and a pullover.
“It’s good to see you,” she said. Seeing him was like coming home to a big slice of steaming apple pie.
“Good to see you too,” he replied with the usual hesitancy lurking behind his gaze.
“Come on in.”
She led Lucas down the hallway and into the kitchen.
“Hi, Lucas,” her mother said on her way through the room with her bag of sewing.
“Hello, Mrs. Barnes. It’s great to see you. Sorry I ran off last time.”
She brushed it off good-naturedly. “Y’all have fun fishing. And I’ve still got the s’mores bagged up and another bottle of wine if you want to stay longer this time.”
“Thank you.”
Ava turned to Lucas and pursed her lips.
He eyed her with a curious expression. “What?”
“I think it was you who caught the biggest fish last time, wasn’t it?”
Lucas laughed. “I have no idea. How do you even remember?”
“Because the competition eats me alive.” She winked at him, widening his smile.
When she linked arms with him, he flinched just slightly, but then he relaxed and let her.
