Page 64 of Ava
“This is the first time I’ve been out here. When you were saying shed, I never expected something this big. Now I know that a lot of people can be in here. I thought everyone would have to stay outside, and I wondered what would happen if it rained.”
“Yeah, this is what Wyatt calls the equipment shed. They keep the tractors, mowers, rake, combines, and everything they’re not currently using in here.”
“Ah, all the farm equipment.”
“Yes, and we stored our bikes in here. You were able to store yours in their garage. That’s why you didn’t see this one.”
“Okay,” she said, and followed him around the side of the building, and saw an open pit with a pig spread out on wire. “That’s a big pig.”
“Thanks,” Justin said as he reached in and donned a pair of rubber gloves. She stood off to the side and watched as all the Stuarts did the same, and as they unwrapped the chicken wire from the pig, they then removed the aluminum foil, but left that at the bottom of the pig so none of the meat could fall through. At one point Chad had a silver tray full of meat, and as he put it over a mesh grate, he mixed several ingredients in a bowl, and began to use a small handheld mop to put it over the meat.
Justin watched her, reached in, took a piece, and brought it over to her. “Taste,” he said, and put the small piece of meat into her mouth.
“Oh, my god, that issogood.”
“Thanks,” Chad said. “My own secret recipe. We’ll have plain pig and BBQ.”
“Wow, I’m going to get me some of that BBQ, it’s delicious.” She watched as they continued stripping all the meat off the pig, and then she looked over and saw several people she assumed were the ranch hands begin taking large chunks of beef off the other smokers. She saw they were black, and from her former binge-watching food shows once while in the hospital recovering, she knew that was the bark. She couldn’t wait to get a taste of that. To keep her hands to herself, she looked at Justin, and grinned. “I’m going inside to see what I can do to help.”
“Okay.” He waved, then hurried over and planted a kiss on her lips, but he kept his grease-covered, gloved hands away from her. Shaking her head, she made her way inside, and saw that there were several people already there. She saw Tom and nodded when he saw her. Because she’d grabbed it when she got off the bike, she went over and found the card-holding box Alan had made for DJ, and put her card inside. She knew it wasn’t much, but she’d slipped a fifty in the card.
She walked up to the table with the food, and turned and looked out over the area. She saw DJ and Lucas over in the corner with a lot of high schoolers, and Dillon and April joined them. It looked like DJ was introducing everyone, and it was several minutes before they made it over to the table.
By the time the meat was brought in, it was closer to one, and with only two prompts, the kids converged on the food table. Ava hurried out of the way, and when a can of Cola was stuffed in her face, she looked at the person handing it to her, and laughed when it was Lucas.
“Thanks.”
“Welcome. Us Cola junkies gotta stick together.” He had a plate, and it was piled high with food. Lucas had no problem putting it all away. Ava went over to Morgan, and watched as the kids went through the line, and then all of a sudden, dishes started appearing on the two empty tables.
“What’s going on?” Ava whispered to Morgan.
“People besides DJ’s classmates are beginning to arrive, and they’ve brought dishes to pass. There will be food coming all afternoon, and well into the evening. Yes, we made a lot, but believe me, most of it will be gone by the end of the night.”
Ava stood back, and watched as everyone from babies to people who looked like they were in their nineties interacted with one another. She liked that the younger people showed their respect to the elders, and that there were no different areas for one age group. Everyone interacted with everyone else. Seeing it lifted Ava’s heart. She held off eating until closer to six at night, and by then, she couldn’t hold off any more. With a plate, she started going through the line, and took a little of almost everything. By the time she went to sit down, she had a plate almost as high as Lucas had earlier. As she sat down, she laughed when another can of Cola emerged, and she saw Lucas with yet another plate piled high. They exchanged grins, and before Ava could dig in, Justin, his parents, and aunt and uncle joined her.
They all ate in silence, and she loved every bite. When she finished, she looked around with a sigh.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, but I hope some of this wonderful food is left over, so I can have some for midnight snacks later.”
Justin held up a hand, and disappeared. Ava laughed as she watched him put twice as much as she had on two plates, and leave the shed. He was back in twenty minutes.
“Where did you go?”
“Back to the house to wrap those plates in plastic wrap, and then I put them in my truck. I’ll bring them home with me later.”
Ava grinned, reached up, grabbed each side of his head and kissed him. When they broke apart, she brought his head closer and whispered in his ear, and he only grinned at her. After he cleaned up everyone’s plates, he came back with a beer, and sat down close to Ava. Everyone watched the people gathered come and go, and at one point the kids went outside. Because it was such a warm day, the doors were wide open, and around eight, Ava frowned when several people entered, and the crowd spread to let them through.
She looked at Justin, and grinned. “There’s a band?”
“Yes, but I thought you didn’t dance.”
“Or, maybe I do.” She laughed at his expression, and placed a hand on his face, grinning. “We’ll have to wait and see.” They rose and decided to walk around and talk to their neighbors. By the time they’d taken the complete circuit of the shed, they’d met hundreds of people, and Justin even had several inquiries into his business. It was a good night for them.
Ava stood off in the corner, watching people interact, dance, and eat. Food was still brought, and eaten, and as much as she wanted to taste, she couldn’t get another bite in her mouth. She was that full.
When she went to get another Cola, she realized there wasn’t any more, and looked around. The first person she saw was Dolly. “Hey, where is the pop? I didn’t find any Cola in the tub. I’ll go get it if you tell me where it is?”
