Page 57 of Ava
“He did, and he’s from BCI. Tom brought him in for that permit for Justin.”
Morgan rubbed her forehead, and sighed. When Ava’s stomach grumbled, she frowned. “You didn’t stop to get anything to eat?”
“No, I think we were too keyed up, then we wanted to get the hell out of there after we were done.”
“Come on.”
“Before we go out there, who are the other two women? I think one is Dottie, but who’s the other one?”
“Tom’s wife, Bonnie. Tom’s on duty, so she brought her daughter and came over.”
“Where’s the baby?”
“Sleeping in the living room.” Morgan grinned and they went through the living room on the way to the kitchen.
“How old?” Ava whispered.
“Eight months.”
“She’s beautiful.”
“Yeah, maybe in another couple of years, Wyatt and I will start discussing having little ones.”
“Good for you.” Ava knew Morgan and Wyatt would make great parents.
“Morg?” The women turned at the sound of Justin’s voice, and they started toward the kitchen.
“What’s up?”
“I was wondering if Ava wanted a steak or a burger for dinner?”
“A steak sounds wonderful, medium.”
“Coming right up.” He grinned, then turned on his heel and left. The women exchanged looks and shook their heads. On the way into the kitchen, Ava asked what she could do to help, but she went to the refrigerator and pulled out a Cola, popped it open and downed half of it. She grinned when Dolly winked at her.
“Are all the men out with the cookers?”
“Yes,” Dolly said. “And with that steak, you can help yourself to some salads.” She pointed to the counter where they were all mixing different kinds.
“What do you need me to help you with?”
“Nothing right now, but after you eat, that might be another story.”
Ava laughed and stood off to the side and watched as the women worked like a well-oiled machine in mixing up the salads. Dolly looked over at her, and Ava frowned at her expression. “I hope you don’t mind, but I took over your refrigerator. I’m storing some food over there.”
“That’s fine, but won’t the J’s or A’s get into whatever it is during the night?”
“Aren’t they staying in their campers?” Dottie asked as she looked up from adding more potatoes to the potato salad.
“No,” Morgan said. “They’ve got beds set up in the basement of the house. Have you been over there yet?”
“No, Chip said that we can spend the night there tonight.”
“You can. It’s the barracks that I had the boys build.” She saw her mother’s expression and laughed. “But, Justin, and the boys made it into a house. It’s set really far back, and you can’t see it from the road. The walls are reinforced with steel, and we’ll be ready for anything.”
“Good God, Morgan, are you expecting a siege or something?”
“Or something.” Then, she told her mother what Ava had gone through when she was out looking at the area.
