Pure Redemption (Tainted Legacy) (5 page)

***

She had driven home in a blind fury. She had desperately hoped that Rafe had left town after Gabe’s disappearance. It would’ve given her peace of mind to know he was gone. She had to wonder if the shadow she’d seen outside of her cabin had been him. She was furious with herself for losing her head. She should have asked if it was him.
She wished she would have demanded to know why he was interested in finding Gabe. Although, she was sure he wouldn’t have answered any of her questions, had she asked them.

Just knowing that Rafe was looking for Gabe
brought her an inexplicable level of comfort. If Rafe thought Gabe could come back, maybe he could. Maybe he
had
. She hated to think she was putting any level of blind faith in someone as deplorable as him. Yet, his knowledge of supernatural possibilities far exceeded her own.

For the first time in weeks, she felt her hope soaring and her sorrow being lifted.

“I can’t believe I’m feeling this way because of Rafe,” she muttered to herself
in annoyance
.

She was rolling a peanut butter concoction into perfectly shaped little globes so that they could be dipped in white chocolate. It was a mindless task and one that she’d found oddly relaxing in the past. But not today. She had three dozen little balls resting on the parchment paper and only another dozen or so to go.

She’d already decorated several trays of truffles, baked a few dozen cookies for dipping into a chocolate glaze and now this mindless task of rolling the peanut butter balls. She was ready to move on to something new.

Typically Becky did the candy making but today, she decided she wanted to spend some time at the front of the store to get some ideas for rearranging before an order of new merchandise came in.

“Ava!” Becky called as she popped her head into the kitchen. “There’s someone here to see you. If you’d like, you can take your break now.” Her slightly wrinkled face broke into a sweet smile. “It’s that handsome gentleman that used to stop by.”

She disappeared as she darted back into the shop, leaving Ava alone with her somersaulting heart.

She whipped off the food prep gloves she’d been wearing and nearly tripped over her own feet as she dashed toward the door. Gabe had stopped by frequently but it couldn’t be him. Or could it?

She had to dart around a display rack of specialty kitchen gadgets that blocked the kitchen door from the sight of the customers. Her eyes scanned the small shop, not seeing any familiar faces until she rounded the neatly arranged display of cookbooks.

Then, the disappointment hit her so hard she may as well have run head first into a wall.

“Expecting someone else?” Dawson asked with a smirk.

Ava’s hand flew up to cover her mouth. She hoped that she could hide at least a little of her frustration. She took a breath and forced a smile. “No. Not at all,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting anyone. I was just…Um, what are you doing here?”

“Molly sent us,” Oliver said as he stepped around the case of gourmet coffee. “She’s at work but she’s craving one of these.” He held up a jumbo-sized chocolate covered pretzel. “And since I offered to get it, she sent the two of us over here on a mission.”

Ava groaned.

“Well, this is off to a good start,” Dawson said with a good-natured smile.

Ava had dated Dawson her junior year and they still remained friends. And while she didn’t want to hurt his feelings, she had a hunch she wasn’t going to like whatever it was that Molly was scheming.

She felt her face scrunch in suspicion. “What?”

Dawson started to laugh. “Yeah, definitely not going well.”

Ava shook her head, feeling a bit contrite. It wasn’t Dawson’s fault that Molly was planning something. “Sorry. What’s going on?”

“Molly sent us to tell you that Tammy’s having a party tomorrow night. I’m supposed to stress that there will be a bonfire because we all know how much you like those. So that means you have to go,” Dawson explained.

“Oh, I do, huh?” Ava asked, a smile twitching her lips.

“You do,” Dawson said as he pulled her into a sideways hug. “Because no one’s seen you since graduation and this fall, everyone will be going their separate ways. So, say you’ll come?”

“I don’t think so,” Ava said, shaking her head.

“Well Molly
does
think so,” Oliver said, not backing down.

“We’re also supposed to tell you Julia will be there,” Dawson threw out, sounding hopeful.

“And we’re supposed to tell you to save us all some time and agree right now because one way or another, you’re going,” Oliver said in a tone that was obviously meant to cut off any argument she may come up with.

Ava couldn’t help but smile. She might be stubborn but Molly was more so. If she didn’t agree right now, Molly would just bombard her until she did.

“Come on, Ava,” Oliver cajoled. “You’re not going to make me face Molly and tell her that we couldn’t convince you, are you?”

“Fine,” she said with a little sigh
. Maybe a distraction was exactly what she needed.
“Tell her I’ll go.”

“Good,” Dawson said with a smile. Then his expression turned a little more serious, almost worried. “No one’s seen you around this summer. What’ve you been doing?”

“I’ve been keeping busy. I’ve been fixing up the cabin and working a lot,” she said somewhat defensively.

“Well that’s just plain wrong,” Oliver announced. “It’s summer! You’re supposed to be having some fun!”

Ava laughed. “That’s pretty much what Molly said.”

“Of course she did. She’s a smart girl,” he said with a smirk. “But she’s also really feisty so I better go pay for this so I can get it back to her. See you tomorrow Ava!”

He walked away, leaving Ava with Dawson. He had released his grip on her but Ava felt he was still standing awfully close.

“You know, I wouldn’t mind picking you up tomorrow night,” he offered and she immediately flinched. “Not like a date or anything,” he hurriedly added. “It’s just that I’ve wanted to talk to you about something for a while now
. But never mind.
I’m sure you’ll probably want to ride with Julia or something. Do that girl thing where you always get ready together.”

“Yeah, probably,” Ava said. T
hough she knew she would be driving herself. That way at least she’d be able to leave when she felt like it.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” she asked.

He hesitated.

She gave him a questioning look and he glanced around t
he shop. It was fairly empty except for Becky who was sneaking surreptitious glances at them. It was clear from the little smile on her face that she was thinking there might be something going on between the two.
“I really don’t want to talk about it he
re. I’d rather wait until we have
some privacy.”

“I’m technically on my break. We could go outside, take a walk or something,” she offered. Dawson had started to look nervous and now she was curious as to why.

He shook his head. “As long as you’ll be at Tammy’s, it can wait. If you do change your mind about a ride, just let me know.”

“You ready?” Oliver asked. “I better get this
over
to Molly.”
He w
aved the pretzel bag in the air.

“Yeah,” Dawson said. Then he turned to Ava. “See you tomorrow.”

“Yup,” Ava said.
“See you.”

Chapter 4

She knew her parents were concerned about her. It was the reason her mom had been begging her to come to dinner. She’d been invited multiple times over the past few weeks, ever since she’d moved out. She had always managed to find a reason not to attend. Today, however, Leah had been insistent. So insistent, in fact, that she threatened to bring the family dinner to Ava if she didn’t agre
e to show up promptly at six.

So Ava had shown up and she was attempting to put on a cheery face for her parents’ benefit. She’d answered their questions about how she was enjoying the cabin or if she needed help fixing anything up. They asked her about her job and Leah insisted she was working too much but Ava just scoffed.

Her mom had already filled her in on the latest shenanigans at the vet hospital where she worked. Now she was attempting to look interested as her dad filled her in on his latest passion, a local organization called Helping Hands. He’d already told Ava all about it but in his excitement, he either seemed to have forgotten or deemed it to be so exciting that it was all worth repeating.

The organization volunteered around the community. They primarily helped the elderly, but really, anyone who was in need. For the most part, they did home repair and now that Daniel had gotten his parish involved, he couldn’t stop talking about it. He listed off people that were part of the team, people he thought Ava might know, as well as people who had been helped. Ava knew it was all in an effort to hold her interest.

She managed a well placed smile at the appropriate times and spent the rest of the time scooting her beans around on her plate. Her steak had long since gotten cold and her baked potato looked completely unappetizing by now.

Leah scowled at her
daughter’s uneaten food
but didn’t push Ava by saying anything. She was glad that she had come to dinner, getting her to actually eat something might have to wait until next time.

“You must have some free time coming up. Wouldn’t you love to help?” he asked.
His voice
emanated excitement. “It might take your mind off of things. You might meet some new people and we always need extra hands. We’ve gotten off to a good start but our list just keeps growing. Every time we cross a project off, seems two or three more are added on.”

Ava shrugged noncommittally. She wasn’t particularly in the mood to spend time with old friends, let alone meet new people. “I’ve been putting in a lot of extra hours a
t The Sugar Shack, Dad. Becky just ordered a new product line
and
she’s
trying to get inventory done
. S
he’s had me in the kitchen a lot
, working some extra shifts
. Maybe later in the summer, though, when things slow down. It sounds like important work.”

Daniel beamed at her, thoroughly pleased that she appeared to be considering it.

Leah cleared her throat, noting Ava’s persistent sullen mood even if her husband didn’t. It was a mood that Ava was trying to hide but not necessarily succeeding in doing so.

“How was shopping the other day?” she asked. “Did you girls have fun? Did you make a day of it?”

Ava smiled, relieved that it wasn’t nearly as forced as every other smile had been lately. “Yes, thank you for that. Molly went a little crazy picking things out for me but we had a good time. Lots of bright colors,” she admitted as she made a face. “We spent the entire day in Granville,” she told her mom, hoping to show enough enthusiasm to erase the worry lines that were far too evident. “We went out to lunch before we went shopping. Then we hung around the boardwalk all afternoon. It was nice.” There was no way she would admit why they did that.

“Good,” her mom replied with a relieved smile. “I’d like to see what you bought. Maybe I could stop out one night this week so you could show me?”
Ava nodded and Leah motioned to
the outfit she had on. “Is that new?”

She glanced down and nodded at her denim shorts—not the yellow pair that Julia had picked out—and her new fuchsia top that Molly had insisted upon. “Yes,” she said. “I’m actually going out with my friends tonight so I thought it would be a good time to wear it.”

“You are?” Daniel asked, unable to hide his relief.

Ava nodded. “I don’t think you know Tammy Foster but we were all invited over to her house. I’m meeting Molly and Julia there in a little bit.”

“What time?” Leah asked. “Can you stay for dessert? Or I could send it with.”

“I should probably get going pretty soon. You don’t need to send any with.”

Leah scoffed. “It’s apple pie. I made it because I know how you love apple pie so I am definitely sending it with. Just make sure you eat it,” she sternly ordered. “I’d hate to see it go to waste.”