Page 84 of Nothing But It All
“Hey,” he says, his cheeks splitting into a grin. “What are you doing here?”
Ava’s smile couldn’t be bigger if she tried. “I was looking for you.”
“I went and got us sandwiches.” He holds his arms out, with bags dangling from them. “I thought we could take the boat out and have lunch.”
“Where’s Snaps?” I ask.
Michael grins. “You’re starting to like him, aren’t you?”
I give him a look, making him chuckle.
“I let him out to go to the bathroom and then took him to Pops,” he says. “He likes to lie in the window and look at the birds that gather in the backyard.”
Ava gets to her feet. “You are so sweet, Mike.”
He blushes.
“You two be careful,” I say.
“We will, Mama.”
“Thanks for talking with me, Mrs. Reed,” Ava says. “I’ll tell my parents to come over and say hello.”
“You do that.”
Michael steps to the side so Ava can get to the door.
“Ava?” I say.
“Yes?”
“You are welcome here for dinner, too, you know,” I say.
She grins. “Thank you.”
Michael tosses me a quick wave before they disappear through the door.
The cabin is quiet once again, and I enjoy the silence while I finish my tea. I need a shower to rinse the sweat off me, but I’ll just get gross again, so why bother?
I bet Ava would take a shower if Michael was coming by and she was sweaty.
My brain scoots through my relationship with Jack as I grab my computer from our bedroom. It’s entertaining to think about our relationship mirroring Michael and Ava’s.Did it ever resemble Maddie and Daniel’s?
We’ve had the sexy honeymoon phase.Romance.The exhausted new-parent phase.Adjustment.The struggle of dealing with a thousand things.Distress.
What comes next?
I sit at the table and open my social media accounts. “Maybe it’s reality,” I say out loud. “Maybe the next stage of life is accepting reality and ... commitment.”
My brows pull together.
If we go forward together now, the commitment will be different. We won’t be promising to take care of each other during new love and lust. It’ll be us promising things, knowing every bump, bruise, and failure the other has to offer.
I smile softly.
My likes and follows have continued to increase despite my not being online for the last few days. As I sort through a few mentions, I stop in my tracks—and burst out laughing.
Almost every post, one after another, has some variation of the same comment.
