“I’m not going back to Chicago. I’m going to stay here. In Hope Falls.”
“What are you talking about?” Grace was clearly the most confused of the trio. “Stay here for what? For how long? What are you going to do here?”
Ava took a deep breath as a wave of clarity washed over her. “For the summer. I’m going to work at the camp.”
Her youngest sister’s jaw dropped. Viv’s mouth was open, but no words were coming out. Ava’s announcement had done the impossible, it rendered Vivien speechless.
Audrey smiled supportively but her brow was creased in deep concern.
Grace narrowed her eyes as she held Ava’s gaze, no doubt assessing her mental state. Ava must have passed her sister’s silent appraisal because after several beats she stood. “I’ll go cancel the flights.”
Ava took another bite of her French toast and this bite tasted even better than the first. It was the taste of possibility. Of freedom. Of a fresh start.
* * *
“I think Kelly likes you,”Blake deadpanned as she stared down at the large bi-fold menu in her hands.
“What?” Asher lifted his gaze from his own menu to look up at his daughter.
“The waitress. Kelly. She only said her name three times.” Blake sat up straighter in her chair and mimicked the chirpy voice of the waitress who had just seated them. “Hi, Welcome to Sue Ann’s, I’m Kelly. If you need anything, just ask for Kelly. I’ll be right back with those drinks, it’s Kelly, by the way.”
Now that his daughter mentioned it, he guessed Kelly had made a point of repeating her name, but he hadn’t paid much attention to it. He’d been reading a message he’d gotten from Lauren, the realtor that he was meeting later to give him the keys to the cabin he was leasing. The one with a pool and hot tub, which had been a selling point for Blake.
“It’s called good customer service,” Asher explained.
Blake leaned forward and narrowed her eyes. “It’s called her nametag being on her boob and her wanting to draw your attention to that area.” His daughter pointed to her chest like Kelly had each time she’d said her name.
Asher shook his head, not wanting to talk to his daughter about women that might or might not be attracted to him.
“For a detective you sure miss a lot.” She leaned back in her chair. “Mom said you’ve always been clueless to women coming on to you.”
“Really?”
He turned his attention back to the menu. He wasn’t clueless. When he’d been with Jenna, he’d only had eyes for her. She was the love of his life. So, when women would flirt with him, he’d ignore it. Jenna had trust issues with him because his job caused him to be gone so much, so he’d found the easier route to take was to pretend he was oblivious to other women’s advances.
The irony was not lost on him that although she was the one who was always accusing him of having something on the side, ultimately, she had been the one who had seen someone else during their marriage. Although, in fairness, it hadn’t been much of a marriage. His undercover work caused him to be completely out of reach for weeks, sometimes months at a time.
“Oh look, there’s that cool lady from the camp place.” Blake pointed across the restaurant.
Asher glanced over his shoulder. Sure enough, the redhead, Vivien, was seated on the other side of the small café with two women. An attractive dark-haired brunette was beside her and across from them there was a woman with long, thick, light brown hair pulled up in a ponytail whose face he couldn’t see.
“Which one do you think was supposed to get married today?” Blake asked.
Asher turned back toward his daughter. “The one with her back to us.”
Blake’s brow creased in suspicion. “How do you know?”
“The concerned expression on the brunette’s face and the engagement ring on ponytail’s left hand.”
Blake’s eyes shot back to the table where the “cool lady” was and Asher watched as his daughter verified the evidence he’d just given her.
“I guess I don’t miss that much, do I?” he teased referring back to the crack she’d made about him being a detective. “Maybe I can keep my day job.”
“Okay, calm down Shawn Spencer.” Blake smiled referring to the main character of Psych a TV show they’d binged a few summers back when she’d come to stay with him. He could see that she was actually impressed by his skills as she picked her menu back up.
A totally unearned sense of pride flooded Asher’s chest. He recognized that it was completely ridiculous that he felt that way just because he’d gotten a glimpse of approval from his thirteen-year-old. But, the reality of the situation was that she didn’t impress easily. In most cases, nothing he did was right. So, yeah, he’d take anything he could get.
“Are y’all ready to order?” Kelly was back at the side of his table setting down Blake’s apple juice and his coffee.