Page 40 of Ava
Justin wassurprised at the blue Jeep that beeped at him, and it took him several seconds to realize that Ava was behind the wheel. He so wanted to chase her down and demand where she was going, but knew that idea would go over as well as a lead balloon, so he shook his head, and continued over to the new house. It didn’t take him long to grab his things, and go inside. Before settling into work, he grinned as he went over to the counter, and had to open the box holding the coffee pot. Luckily he’d stopped in at the ranch house and asked for some filters and coffee. He made a pot, and waited for it to brew before he filled a mug, and settled down at the dining-room table to work. It didn’t take him long to get lost in his drawings.
The next time he reached for his cup of coffee to take a sip, he winced when he took a mouthful of ice-cold brew. Shoving his chair back, Justin stood and went over to the microwave to heat it up. As he pulled the hot cup out, he heard a noise and looked up in shock, spilling some of the coffee over his hand.
“Holy shit, Uncle Chip what are you doing here?”
“You didn’t hear me come in?” Chip frowned as he looked at his oldest nephew. “I rode the Harley.”
“No,” Justin said, then grinned. “The walls are reinforced like you suggested. I didn’t hear a thing. Are there dump trucks outside?”
“Several of them. What can you tell me about the house?”
“It’s done, we passed the final inspection yesterday. Ava will be moving in tonight.”
“Where is everyone?”
Justin frowned, but began rattling off details. “Last time I checked, Ava took one of the Jeeps out to check out the area.” He sat at the kitchen island while his uncle rooted through the cupboards until he found a cup, and filled it from the almost-full pot. When he continued to open them all, and saw only one of them had dishes, he shook his head.
“Go on.” Chip encouraged him.
“Alfie had something to do in town with his leatherwork. Alan was working in his small shop behind the bunkhouse. He’s making a larger dining-room table for here.” Justin pointed to the one he’d been working at, the one where his papers, rulers, and pencils were spread out on. “Morgan was in her office. The little red building on the side of the property. I’ve been drawing up plans for her new one, she wants a reinforced basement with a war room. Then, John, Josh, and Chuck should be out working on the lawn. They were going to lay patio blocks and get a firepit going.”
“And Alex?”
“He’s over at the ranch working with Wyatt.” Justin frowned, then shook his head. “Oh, wait, if no one’s outside, then they’re all over to the ranch helping the boys, DJ and Lucas clean out the equipment shed. I probably should head over there, that’s where we’ve stored our bikes.”
They looked up as the door opened, and Justin grinned when his Aunt Peggy entered. She stopped in her tracks and looked around in wide-eyed wonder. “Wow. This is beautiful.”
“Thank you,” Justin grinned as he hurried over and hugged her, then he shook his uncle’s hand with a grin. “I only designed the layout, it was Chuck that did the rest. Morgan and Ava did pick out the colors for the paint and tile though.”
“Show us,” Chip barked out, and then frowned. “Peg, look at this, and there’s supposed to be six women living here. Plus, once the A’s and Chuck are read into the situation, they’ll be staying in the basement, as well as the J’s.” He opened the cupboards and then both older people winced when the only thing in the refrigerator was a case of Cola.
“Do you have a pad of paper and pen?” Peggy asked as she removed her leather jacket, and hung it over the back of one of the dining-room chairs. Justin handed her what she requested, and took them on the tour of the house. By the time they stood in the basement, Peggy had at least three pages full of items that Chip told her to purchase.
“Do you know if Morg still had the black credit card?”
“No, I have it.” Justin pulled his wallet and handed it over, but Chip just shook his head. “Keep it, you can drive Peg into town, and pick up all the things listed. When are the beds for you and the others going to be delivered?”
“Next week.”
“Might as well call and see if they can come today or tomorrow. I’m going to start reading everyone in tomorrow.”
“But, I thought Dillon wanted to wait until after the party.”
“Yeah, I thought that was a good idea too, but then I got to thinking, what if some of the people we’re looking for areatthe party. This way, we’ll have four more sets of eyes on what we’re looking for. Has Hanson had any luck finding anything yet?”
“If you mean Ava, then no, she only went out for the first time today. She’s been doing some reading and background work first. Said she wanted it straight in her mind before she went out.”
“Good. Do you know if anyone else is coming?”
“Someone by the name of Rizzo should be here by the end of next week, but you’ll have to talk to Morg...” Justin paused, then sighed. “I know this is a silly question, but do you know if Mom and Dad are coming out?”
“It’s not a silly question, and they are. Your Dad couldn’t get away until tomorrow. We left two days ago. We’ve yet to stop and get a hotel room. Oh, and they’re caging it, trailering the bike.”
“Why?” Justin asked in shock.
“Something about bringing some of your stuff with them that you left at the house. More clothes and things.”
“Ah.” Justin nodded. “We only brought about eight days’ worth of clothes with us when we came out. With packing all the equipment, the ATVs and the bikes, we really didn’t have that much more room.”
