Page 80 of Where Are You Now
When they arrived at church, the congregation was greeting one another outside the way they had last time.
“Oh, there’s Dorothy.” Ava pointed to the old woman as she hobbled around with her cane, saying hello and giving hugs. “That’s the person I’d like to introduce you to, Mom. She’s great at cross-stitch and might be able to help with the intricate stitching on some of your bags.”
“She looks sweet,” Martha said from the backseat as Lucas parked.
They got out of the vehicle.
“Dorothy’s got a thing for Lucas,” Ava teased. “Watch her when he gets near her.” She offered Lucas a conspiratorial grin.
Right on cue, Dorothy waved a gloved hand at Lucas, her weathered face lifting in happiness. “Hello!” She got that cane to work and double-timed it over in tiny steps. “Lovely to see you here.” She grabbed Lucas’s arm and assumed the position as if he’d already offered to walk her in.
“How are you, young lady?” the old woman asked Ava.
“I’m doing well, thank you,” Ava replied. “This is my mother, Martha.”
Dorothy tugged on Lucas’s arm to ask him to stop walking. “So nice to meet you.” She held out a hand to Ava’s mother.
“My mother sews like you do. You cross-stitched all those lovely framed pieces in the sanctuary, right?”
“Oh, yes,” Dorothy said, her pearl-buttoned chest puffing out in pride. “I do all kinds of sewing.”
“I live down the road,” Martha said. “Do you live nearby?”
“I live in the next town over. The church sends a bus to pick us all up.”
“Hi, Pastor Thomas,” Ava said, waving him down. “I brought my mother with me today. Let me introduce you.”
He held out his hand in greeting as he neared them.
After, Dorothy had fallen into conversation with Ava’s mother about their sewing projects. She kept pulling on Lucas’s arm to get him to stop walking whenever she needed to lean in to hear Martha better. Lucas took the laborious process of getting the woman up to the church in stride, which Ava adored.
She was left wondering what would happen to this wonderful connection she had with Lucas and her mother when she went back to New York the next day. But right now, she’d focus on the sunshine and the happiness she felt being with them.
Ava was still thinkingabout her future when they pulled up outside the cabin after church. Martha invited Lucas to join them for lunch later.
“I’d love to,” he replied, his gaze fluttering to Ava. “I’ll run home and change out of my suit first and then come over.”
“Perfect,” Martha said, unbuckling her seatbelt and opening the door. “Just come in when you get here. Ava and I will probably be on the deck.”
“All right,” he said.
Ava got out of the SUV and waved bye to Lucas. Then she locked arms with her mom, and they went inside.
In her room, Ava slipped off her heels and padded over to her folded clothes to dig out a comfy sweater and jeans. She changed and pulled her hair into a ponytail. Then, she sat down on the edge of the bed and stared at her suitcase. When she’d packed it back in her apartment, she’d been a very different person from the one sitting here now. Nothing was the same. The accident she’d thought might ruin her life had actually given her a brand-new one.
“Ava?”
Martha peeked inside.
“I just wanted to let you know that I invited Dorothy over.”
“Really?” Ava asked with a chuckle.
“She already called to talk more about sewing, and I could hardly get her off the phone. She seemed lonely, so I asked if she’d like to join us.”
“That’s nice of you.”
“I’m going to go pick her up. I’ll be right back.”
