Every Kind of Heaven (10 page)

And it kept him riveted now. She made him take this risky step toward another relationship. It was hard opening himself up. But he took the risk. “Ava, it's your turn to tell the real story behind your no-man policy.”

“What? Oh, you so don't want to hear about that.” Ava averted her eyes, dismissing his question. Then, as she cut a small bite off her steak, she
appeared to reconsider. “Maybe it is a good idea. Then you can see what I mean and you'll understand how important being just friends is to me.”

“Tell me.”

“Where to start?” She looked to Aubrey for help.

Aubrey took a sip of strawberry milk. “The high-school boyfriend. It's classic Ava.”

“True.” Ava set down her fork, looking even more adorable with the way her hair was drying in a flyaway tangle. “Okay, here's the scoop. Lloyd was in my earth sciences class. Now, I'm totally not a science whiz but I had to take some kind of science credit, and it was like the easiest science class in our high school. So there I was, trying to figure out some weird earth crust layer experiment, I don't know, I never did figure it out. Lloyd was cute, he saw me struggling and came over to help me. I need a lot of help.”

“I'm beginning to see that.” Big time. She clearly could take care of herself, but it didn't hurt to have, say, someone like him to look out for her. Help her find her keys, watch over her, make her happy. He was interested in that job. “Poor Lloyd. I bet he fell for you.”

“Poor Lloyd,” Aubrey agreed with a nod.

Just what he'd thought. Brice could picture it. The teenage boy probably had such an incredible crush on Ava to begin with, he'd been all vulnerable heart. “What did poor Lloyd do that made you dump him?”

“Oh, it wasn't me,” Ava insisted. “I liked him. I mean, he was cute.”

“Cute,” Aubrey agreed, a mirror of Ava. “But clueless.”

“He was like a big dopey puppy, sorry, Rex.” Ava flashed him a smile and the big adoring dog tilted his head to one side, quirked his brows and gave a sappy grin. Totally besotted.

Yeah, Brice knew just how he felt.

“A girl wants a boyfriend with a clue. Aubrey, what was the first really nutso thing Lloyd did?”

“The utility pole.”

“That's right, our first date. We were on our way for hamburgers at the drive-in, and he drove smack into a big light pole going twenty-five miles an hour. Not looking where he was going.” Ava lifted both hands in a helpless gesture. “He wouldn't stop looking at me while he was driving. I kept telling him to keep his eyes on the road. I mean, even I know better than that. But his gaze just kept coming back to me and I said to him, ‘Lloyd, turn. There's a utility pole.' But he just said, ‘yeah, uh-huh' and didn't listen and didn't look. I was too smitten to notice that he didn't have a lick of common sense.”

“He was nice, though. Unlike a few of your boyfriends.” Aubrey began cutting her steak.

It was interesting, sitting with a view of both sisters. They were identical but the more he got to know Ava, the more different the two of them looked. Similar, but different. Aubrey was more
composed and sensible, clearly the more responsible of the two, always there to watch over Ava. The way she studied him, as if he'd met with her approval, made him think she wouldn't mind handing over the caretaking of Ava to him. Good to know. It was nice feeling to have her sister's positive opinion.

“I didn't date for a while,” Ava continued. “Until I was out of high school.”

“That's because I had my accident,” Aubrey added, setting down her steak knife. “I jump horses, and one day in the middle of a competition, my mare went down. On top of me. She broke her leg and I cracked my hip and back. It took us both a long time to recover. Ava was there helping me faithfully without complaint.”

“It was my privilege to be there with you,” Ava said.

There was no mistaking the affection between the sisters as their gazes met.

“Then there was Brett,” Aubrey began.

Ava pealed with laughter. “Oh, Brett. He was the worst. He was like a stalker. But did I figure that out right away? No. We'd dated two years and he'd proposed. That's when he went really strange.”

“Plus, he was mean to you.”

“Yeah, but I was going to cooking school and working full-time at the bookstore. That was before Dad and Dorrie retired to Arizona, so I had to help out at home, I never had a spare minute to just sit
down and think. Or I
might
have noticed it. It started out subtle at first.”

“He was sarcastic right up front.” Aubrey corrected. “Then it snowballed from there, especially after the proposal.”

“Exactly.” Ava rolled her eyes, adorable and sweet and as wholesome as the sunshine glittering on the spray of the fountain, a bright sparkle that he would never tired of watching.

Show me the way, Lord.
He felt the conviction deep in his soul.
Do I have a chance here?

“Well, he would get sharp or distracted or gruff, but he'd be tired. He was going to school full-time, too. But it kept getting worse and there's no excuse for that. So I gave him his ring back, and then he started turning up wherever I went. Apparently, he thought I had another boyfriend on the side. Like I'd want another one. So it sounds like I've had boyfriend after disastrous boyfriend, but it hasn't been that many.”

“Just that disastrous, but serious. Lloyd had proposed too,” Aubrey commented. “This is why I don't date. Ava's experiences have scared me.”

He watched the way the sisters laughed together, seeming amused and not traumatized by their experiences. “So you both have a no-man no-dating policy?”

“Well, mine is more habit,” Aubrey said.

“Mine is a philosophy. I date guys that
seem
great.”

“You have a talent for it—” Aubrey started.

“—But then when I really get to know them, it's not the truth,” Ava finished. “They're marginally moral at best. Or so-so, or have secret habits like gambling. What's a girl to do? The Mr. Yucks look nice on the outside. It isn't until you get to know them that you see them for who they are, and see the things they are trying to keep hidden. It's that fault-blindness, not a good trait to have in the dating world.”

Ava shrugged, and there it was, the hint of sadness at the corners of her eyes, dimming the wattage of her smile. There was a lot of pain there. More than she was going to talk about.

“I'm not like that,” he said. “I don't run off, I don't leave, and I don't have destructive habits. Just so you know. I'm respectful toward women, I'm not mean and I try as hard as I can to be one of the good guys.”

Ava sighed. Yeah, she was noticing that about him, and his words made her soul ache with longing. He could capture her heart, if she let him.

And wasn't that the problem? Brice Donovan could be her downfall. The one thing she could never do was amend her policy, because if she dated him and fell in love with him, he could hurt her most of all.

He was like a dream man and too good to be true.

 

A few hours later, the sun was sinking into the amethyst peaks of the Rockies as Ava guided the SUV out of Brice's winding subdivision. Talk about
gorgeous homes. She tried to focus her thoughts on the road, on how Rex had hopped into the driver's seat of the SUV when they went to leave, wanting to go with her.

She tried
not
to think of the man who'd grabbed his stubborn dog by the collar, kindly helping him down. He was a dream man. So where did that leave her? In more trouble than she'd been when she'd agreed to dinner. Now what? How was she going to resist him now?

“He's a great cook.” Aubrey yawned. “I haven't had that good a dinner since Gran was up from Arizona.”

One more thing to add to the growing list of the great things about Brice Donovan. Ava negotiated a corner, slowed to a stop and checked for traffic on the main road. “I know where you're going with this.”

“He likes you, you like him. Why won't you go out with him? I wouldn't be surprised if he's asked you out and you turned him down.”

“I never said I liked him.”

“You don't have to. Do you know what your problem is?”

Ava stared extra hard at the road. “I don't need you to tell me.”

“Yes, you do. That's why God assigned me to you. I'm telling you this for your own good.”

“Please don't.” Ava pulled to a stop at another stop sign, staring in frustration at the city laid out
like glitter in the twilight valley. “I know you mean well, but I've got things under control.”

“You never have
anything
under control. You like Brice so much, you're afraid of it.”

“Not that I'll admit.”

“Ha! See? You're in the denial stage. Remember? Katherine was there after she met Jack, and she wouldn't admit it either, but she was.”

“Denial is a very effective coping method. Except for the fact that I'm totally
not
in denial. I have a policy, remember? I'm dedicating my life to making the world a sweeter place. I'm on a mission. I will not be distracted by anything.”

Even she could hear how those words were hollow—they were no longer the whole truth. No matter how hard she willed them to be, they fell short of what she now knew to be honest.

How had that happened? It was like sand shifting beneath the rock of her foundation and now she had to readjust everything.

Aubrey was only being caring, kind and gentle in that way of hers; and she was always right. Ava knew it, but she wasn't ready to admit this to herself. Because as long as she was in denial, then she wouldn't have to make a decision. She wouldn't have to acknowledge that caring about Brice was no longer her choice. Her heart was just doing it.

“Ava, do you know how great this guy is? He's wonderful. He really cares about you. He invited me to come along tonight, and none of the other
guys you've dated ever welcomed me and included me the way Brice has. The way he looks at you and the way he talks to you, it says one thing. He likes you. He didn't care that you drained half his pool of water with all your cannonballs.”

“Hey, you helped with that.”

“Yes, but I don't make as big of a splash. I lack your finesse and skill.”

“True.”

They smiled together.

“And what about the beautiful woodwork he's doing for you? Ava, he's working over the weekend. I don't think he has to work overtime to keep his personal budget in the black.”

“Probably not.” Did she tell Aubrey that Brice had wanted to give her this dream? And that was really starting to affect her?

“Ava, he had worked up two different scrollwork patterns for you to choose from. That's a big deal.”

“Not if I don't think about it.”

They had reached the outskirts of town, and the traffic was light. She concentrated on driving, which was a lot easier than concentrating on how Brice had brought her two two-foot lengths of wood, carefully detailed, from his home workshop. One had rosebuds and leaves, and the other had cabbage roses. He'd made no big deal about it, but she knew it was more. That was scaring her, too.

Aubrey hit her second wind when they turned into their apartment complex. “Okay, I have one
more thing to say, and then I'm done. You've finally found a good guy. A man of substance who sees how special you are. He's not like the others.”

“You mean, after I get to know him I won't see that he's not right for me, before my heart is broken?”

“At least you see the pattern.”

“It isn't just me. We've all had such a hard time getting attached, I mean, Katherine's in her thirties and she's finally getting married. Spence? Well, look at him, he drives every nice woman away before she can say ‘hi.' Do you think it's because Mom left us like that? We already know love ends.”

“
Some
love ends. Mom wasn't happy. Don't you remember?”

Remember? Painfully.
You make a mess of everything. You ruin everything. I can't take it anymore.
Her mother's last words to her. Haunting her after all these years.

Ava maneuvered into their reserved covered spot and cut the engine. She even remembered to take the keys out of the ignition.

Aubrey didn't move to unbuckle her seat belt. “Not all love ends. Look at Dad. He stayed. He never left. He loved us enough to stick it out, even when things were devastating for him. After Mom left, he was so lost and overwhelmed with responsibility. Remember?”

It had been a tough time for all of them. Dad trying to hold it together, lost doing housework and
cooking. His sadness was suffocating and Ava had felt the responsibility for their mom's leaving. Although what Aubrey said
was
true. Dad had stayed. He'd never let them down.

It hurt too much to dwell on that, too. She climbed outside into the stifling heat, the chlorine scent of the water from Brice's pool clung to her skin and clothes, reminding her. Of him. Of what her heart wanted. That Aubrey was right.

That still didn't mean it was the smartest thing to disregard common sense and believe in one man—to put all her heart and soul, and all the love she had, on the line. For some reason she felt that seven-year-old girl inside her, feeling small and alone and wishing she could be different, so that
everything
could be different.

The sun was setting through bright magenta and orange clouds, casting a mauve light that glowed on the ordinary asphalt shingle rooftops and changed them to shining satin. Rose-pink glinted along the white siding of the two-storey buildings and reflected in windows.

The light cast over her too, and she felt hope lift though her like grace.

T
he bookstore's after-hours' quiet made her little sigh sound like a hundred-mile-per-hour gust of wind, which wasn't her intention. Now everyone was going to stop their inventory work and come hunt her down and ask, “What's wrong, Ava?”

She could hear the question already—mostly because it's what they always asked. She was the kind of girl who had one kind of problem after another, and her family was slightly enmeshed in her affairs.

She crept forward a few inches on her rug-burned knees, ignoring the rough rasp from the industrial carpet. Did she remember her knee pads? No. She'd forgotten for the past four nights in a row straight. She'd been on the run, from sun up and well into the dark of night, working, trying to figure out the malicious concept of bookkeeping—to no
avail—and baking. Running errands. Picking up as many hours here at the bookstore as she could, which was why she was helping with inventory. She hated inventory, but the sad truth was, she needed the money. Big time.

She may have borrowed a chunk from Gran, but she'd only borrowed what was absolutely necessary for start-up, not for her wages or anything else.
A shoestring start-up,
that's what Gran called it and while she'd offered more of a loan, Ava had refused. She'd appreciate the funds, but she wasn't out to take advantage of her grandmother, whom she loved very much. So, she was on a shoestring. She would just work harder to make ends meet, that's all.

The problem was, she wasn't as efficient as she could have been, and why? Who was to blame?

Brice Donovan. Thoughts of him were distracting her in a big way. Not that she'd seen him since they'd had dinner at his house. She'd run out of any hopes of actually seeing him. For four straight workdays she'd been by the bakery early every morning to drop off goodies. And every evening, except for today, she'd checked the work after the construction dudes had left. She'd been excited by the renovation's progress, but there'd been no sight of Brice. Sure, he'd left messages on her cell. And she'd left messages on his. But did they actually speak? No.

She'd even received a chocolate cake order from
Brice's secretary for delivery to the office on Friday afternoon. Why hadn't he called with that? Or at least left a message? He'd given her the full court press with his charm and his cooking and now when she was considering softening her policy, was he available to hear it? No-oo.

Ava halted in mid-row and stared helplessly at the titles on the shelf and the clipboard on the floor beside her. Oops. Now she'd lost her place on the shelf, again. She stared down at the print out, and it started to blur. Probably because she'd been up since 4:45 a.m. that morning. It was now nearly nine—at night. She was totally beat.

“Ava?” Katherine rounded the corner of the history section, concern on her face. “What's wrong? You look exhausted. Why don't you take a break?”

Spence's voice sounded muffled coming from the other side of the row. “It's not time for her break. And she came in late.
Again.
”

Katherine planted her hands on her slender hips and shook her head. She looked calm and classic, as always, even casually dressed for their late night work session in a simple butter-yellow knit top and black boot-cut jeans.

How did Katherine do it? She carried as much of the responsibility of the bookstore as Spence did, but with such serene, easy grace. No sharp words of frustration, ever. She looked gorgeous and totally put together and never missed her Bible study groups, had started a weekly woman's read
ing group program and found time to date, fall in love with Jack, get engaged and teach the teenager to drive.

“I don't need a break,” Ava confessed, feeling so totally like a frumpy failure right then. She knew her hair was falling out of the comb holder thingy for the billionth time. Aubrey had talked her into wearing it this morning. She stood up to stretch and noticed that her linen blouse had wrinkled so much, it looked as if she'd been sleeping in it. “I need junk food.”

“Pizza?” asked the teenager—more commonly known as Hayden, Jack's kid. “Or how about French fries?”

“Nachos,” Aubrey hollered from four stacks over. “With the works.”

“No food near the books!” Spence sounded particularly annoyed. “And no breaks. I want this done before midnight.”

Before midnight. Ava didn't want to think about how little sleep that meant she was going to get. But the good news was that she'd be able to make her next month's car payment.

“You look like a mess.” Aubrey appeared and went straight to the comb clip thingy. “You didn't put this in right.”

“I don't know how to put it in right.” Ava rolled her eyes. “I'm so glad this is the last night we have to do this. Tomorrow night, I'm going to crash in front of the TV. The only time I plan on moving will
be to answer the door for the pizza delivery guy. You too, Aubrey?”

“No. I have plans, I know you forgot. I'm going to that singles church function in the valley.” Aubrey ran her fingers through Ava's hair and gathered it up in a neat coil. “And you were going to babysit for Danielle, so she can go on a date with her husband? Remember?” Even the thought of those fried tater tots made her feel perky.

“I'm too exhausted and hungry to remember anything. I think mexifries will help.”

“There there's only one solution. We need junk food if we're going to last until midnight.” Aubrey repositioned the Venus-flytrap-looking comb. “Spence, we're going to take another break.”

“No breaks.” He sounded angry, and there was a thud, like a few books tumbling from a shelf. He made an even angrier sound.

Aubrey took a step back to consider the comb's positioning. “He's extra crabby tonight.”

“You distract him, and I'll slip out the back. Maybe he won't notice I'm gone.”

“I'll notice,” Spence barked, closer than they thought.

“Go.” Katherine took Ava's clipboard. “I'll finish for you. Hayden, what do you want to order?”

“Uh…” The teenager poked her head around the corner. “I dunno.”

“Hey, you come with me,” Ava decided. “I'll
need help carrying all that food. Katherine, I'm going to need money.”

“I
knew
you were going to say that. Help yourself to a couple of twenties from my purse. Our late-night snack will be my treat.”

Super-duper. It might not be the answer to her frustration about Brice, but there was nothing like a fast-food fix, right? If you order enough fried food, you could forget a lot of problems. Distraction, that was the key to coping.

After finding cash in Katherine's purse, she grabbed her own. The first thing she checked was her cell, already knowing what she'd see. One missed call. A voice mail message.

She hit the button and waited to connect as she went in search of her keys.

“Are these them?” Hayden asked standing in front of the open refrigerator. There they were, on the shelf next to the soda cans.

“Hey, you're pretty useful for a teenager,” Ava winked at the girl while she listened to her one message.

Brice's deep baritone was a welcome sound. “Tag, you're it. Try me back when you're off work at the bookstore. I'll be up late.”

Okay, at least there was hope. She dialed his number, pushed open the back door and held it for the teenager. Hayden bopped through with coltish energy and waited while Ava made sure the door locked after them. She didn't want the backdoor
burglar to try to rob the place. Poor Spence had enough pressure without that.

She got Brice's voice mail. Big surprise. “It's your turn to call me,” she said and turned her ringer to the loudest setting. For added measure, so the phone didn't get muffled by all the junk in her bag, she slipped it into an outside pocket. There. She was all set. “Kid, do you still have my keys?”

“Yep. I was kinda hopin' that you'd let me drive. You know, cuz I gotta practice so I can ace my driver's test.”

“Deal.” She opened the passenger's side door and hopped onto the seat. She was pretty exhausted and look, she had a chauffeur. Cool. “When Katherine marries your dad, I won't mind too much that you're my new niece. I mean, I could probably endure it.”

“Like I guess I could, too.” Hayden looked happy as she took control behind the wheel. “So, what taco place is it? And how do I get there?”

“You have much to learn. Lucky for you, you have me to teach you. We always go to Mr. Paco's Tacos. They have the best nachos and mexifries. If you turn left out of the driveway, we can go past my shop on the way there. I want to see how the final coat of paint looks.”

“You'll hire me when you open up, right?”

“Are you kidding? I thought you were going to work for free. I
could
pay you, I guess.” Ava winked.

Hayden's smile was pure happiness. “You gotta teach me how to make monster muffins.”

“In good time. Just drive, kid.” Ava pulled out her phone just to check it.

No call. She knew that because she would have heard it ringing, but she had to check. Thinking of Brice at least made her feel a little closer to him when he felt so far away. Not that she wanted to admit it, but she missed him.

Big time.

 

In the quiet of Ava's shop, Brice swiped the sweat from his forehead and uncapped a bottle of water. He downed half of it in one swig. He was hot, tired and hungry. But he didn't want to break until he'd installed the last of the ceiling moldings. He'd have to bust his hump tomorrow, put in a long day, to get this finished before the cleaning crew pulled up tomorrow—Friday—afternoon.

The week had gone by in a blur, too fast, and without Ava. He'd heard about the morning baked goods that she'd provided faithfully every morning. He'd heard about the free certificates she'd handed out to all the workers this morning along with the colorfully decorated little coffee cakes. He'd been busy in his shop, finishing the last of the intricate scrollwork.

He missed her. He knew she was working late shifts at the bookstore—she'd left a message on his voice mail telling him about it. They had been playing
phone tag all week. The lack of contact frustrated him, but he had to get this right for her. It was her dream, which was important to him. Important for her.

The soft yellow walls had warmed like sunshine during the day and now, with the honey glow of the varnished woodwork, the place was better than any picture. He couldn't wait for her to see it, but he wanted everything done first. He wanted it perfect for her.

Which meant only one thing. Time to get back to work. He recapped the bottle, set it on the sawhorse next to his cell and noticed a green light was flashing. A missed call.

No.
He'd missed her again. He'd either been hammering or running the saw—he hadn't heard it ring. He snatched it up, ready to hit the speed dial, but before he could, he glanced up and there she was. She stood on the passenger side of her SUV, closing the door, looking through the windows directly at him. There was surprise on her face and disbelief in her eyes as she remained frozen in place.

He crossed to the door in three strides and threw the bolt. The night air was balmy as he moved toward her.

“Oh, I can't believe this. Brice, this is wonderful. What are you doing here, working so late?”

His heart rolled over. She looked so dreamy, so precious. It was hard to believe that she was real and that he hadn't imagined her here.

“I didn't expect you to show up here like this.” He studied her dear face. She looked tired, but happy. That's why he'd worked long endless hours in his shop. He wanted her to be happy. With the woodwork. With the shop. With him. “It was supposed to be a surprise for you. I wanted it finished before you came by in the early morning.”

“But—” Her fingers caught tightly around his. “It's nine-thirty at night and you're still working. Were you going to work all night?”

“However long it takes.”

“But that's so much work.”

“It's my pleasure, Ava.”

“But—” Her lovely eyes shone, as if she understood, finally. “This is my dream. It's like you could look right into my heart and know.”

“Amazing, don't you think?”

Ava was starting to believe it. She could feel it in the marrow of her bones. Aubrey was right, okay, she was
always
right.
What about the beautiful woodwork he's doing for you? I don't think he has to work overtime to keep his personal budget in the black.

This had to be so much work. This was such a big deal. This was more than business. More than friendship. This was everything that totally scared her.

“Want to go inside and see?” His hand was so strong as he guided her toward the door. He felt as invincible as titanium, like a man a woman could believe in.

She'd been fooled before, but those times faded like shadows to light. Looking at him—being with him—filled her with true hope. He awakened a part of her that had been never been wholly alive before—an optimistic part of her spirit. That positive force seemed to fill her senses, overwhelming all common sense, so that she couldn't think of anything else but Brice, standing so tall and good.

It would be easy to lose perspective. She had to move slow, be smart, think things through and not rush into anything too fast. “Let's go inside so I can see everything a little better.”

“Sure.” His hand moved to the middle of her back, guiding her.

She turned at the door and gestured to the teenager still behind the wheel. “Like I'm going to leave you out here? C'mon.”

“Who are you talking to?” he asked.

“My personal chauffeur. Brice, meet Hayden Munroe, my future niece, she's driving tonight.”

“Good to meet you,” Brice said politely, but Hayden only stared at him in shock. “Munroe. Your dad wouldn't be Jack Munroe, would he?”