Page 35 of Ava
“They decided to go into town and eat pizza with Chuck,” Justin told her as he picked up the huge bowl of sauce and carried it to the table. He went back for the second one, then the other boys carried in the salad, and garlic bread, as well as the bowl of spaghetti. As soon as they settled, Dolly said she was done, took off her apron, and Ava was shocked when Justin and the A’s rose to their feet, then kissed her cheek, thanking her for the meal. She waved them off, but Ava saw her cheeks turn bright pink, then she was gone.
“She doesn’t always eat with us?”
“No, only when we have BBQ,” Wyatt said as he took a good-sized helping of salad, and passed the bowl. After everyone had some, he then dug into the pasta noodles, and then ladled the sauce over it. He pushed it away, and began eating his salad. Ava saw the others do the same thing, but she and Morgan only rolled their eyes at them. By the time they were ready for their pasta, the men had devoured most of their first plate.
“How did today go?” Morgan asked at one point.
“Great, you won’t believe what we paid. I’ll show you the receipts after dinner, and after we clean up.”
“Just one question, did you max out the credit card?”
Ava and Justin grinned at each other and shook their heads. “Nope, the furniture store we went to was going out of business, and their half-off sale started today. They didn’t even advertise until after we left.”
“Really?” Morgan asked in shock, the ladle for the sauce hovered over her plate. She put it over her noodles, then returned the spoon to the bowl. “Wow, and you were able to get everything?”
“Almost,” Justin said from across the table.
“No, we got everything.”
“Except for the throw rugs. Remember, there’s paper over the hardwood floors.”
“Crap, I forgot about that.”
“Don’t worry about it, we can always go back to pick them up. What about the kitchen items?”
“Got them, and the towels, the dishes, silverware, glasses, mugs... crap.” She looked at Justin in wide-eyed shock.
“What?”
“We forgot the pillows.”
“Oops.” He grinned at her expression.
“You’ll just have to run back into town tomorrow.” Morgan laughed at Ava’s expression. “When will the furniture arrive?”
“Thursday.”
“Can I help unload it?” Lucas asked. “I’m done with school tomorrow.”
“Really?” Dillon asked, then stared at both his sons. “Christ, does that mean graduation is Saturday?”
“Yep.” DJ grinned around a mouthful of cheesy garlic bread. “I have one final tomorrow, then I’m done. If it’s okay with you and April, I’d like to drive us to school. We’ll be done by ten. I really don’t want to stay there until two if I can come home.”
“I’ll have to see,” Dillon said, and looked at April.
“My car is done at the shop. Why don’t you drive me to the shop tomorrow on your way to school? I can pick it up, go to work, and you can take the truck.” She looked at Dillon. “It’ll save you from driving me in.” She smiled when he hesitated. “I think the morning sickness is almost over. I wasn’t sick this morning, and its seems my appetite has returned.” She grinned as she looked down at her plate, and most of what she’d piled on earlier was gone.
“Okay for now, but things might change in the morning. I don’t want you driving if you’re sick.”
Ava sighed in wonder at the loving way Dillon looked at April, then caught Justin’s expression. He had a sappy look on it, and for about fifteen seconds, she wondered what it would be like to have Justin look at her like that, but she shook her head to get rid of the image. They discussed DJ’s upcoming high-school graduation, and what type of party he would be having. It turned out that it was planned for the following weekend, something that everyone referred to as the big Erwin BBQ.
“You’ll see,” Morgan said to Ava and her brothers. “It’ll be the first once since Dillon returned home from the Marines two years ago.”
“The one that you didn’t have your memory at,” Wyatt spoke quietly as he took her hand in his.
“And the one where Dillon and I hooked up.” April giggled when Dillon’s cheeks turned red, but he took her hand and brought it to his mouth to kiss the back of it. Ava shook her head and ignored them. They continued to eat, and discuss their day, and after everything was done, everyone helped with the dishes, and it was Alex who shooed everyone out when it came to wash, dry, and put away what didn’t fit in the dishwasher.
“I got this,” he said. Everyone knew when not to argue with him. When the others went in different directions, Dillon and his family left, while Wyatt said he needed to work in his office, and Morgan said she’d join him. Alfie and Alan went out to their camper.
