*****
That night Hilton stopped for Chinese food for the three of them when he brought Marcus home. They ate informally in the living room in front of the TV, which was turned to the news.
“Are you working tomorrow?” Hilton asked.
“Yes. I’ve been working on inventory all week. I’m going to close at three, though.”
“What’s inventory?” Marcus asked in between bites of his shrimp roll.
“It’s when you count all the merchandise you have in stock,” Ava replied.
“We’re working, too, at least for half a day,” Hilton said.
“Half a day!” Marcus exclaimed. “Hey, man, do I still get my twenty-five dollars even though we’re shuttin’ down early?”
“Yes. I promised you twenty-five dollars, and that’s what you’re going to get.”
“That’s really quite generous of you, Hilton, considering you’re stopping work early tomorrow and the day after that is a holiday,” Ava remarked.
“That’s me; generous to a fault.”
Marcus didn’t comment, but the amused look in his eyes suggested he thought Hilton was being a sap. Ava and Hilton looked first at him, then at each other, at which time they burst into hearty laughter.
“What?” Marcus asked.
“It’s the look on your face, like you think you’re getting away with something,” Ava explained. “Hilton’s just being generous. Trust me, it would be a mistake to think he’s a fool.”
“Oh, I don’t think that,” Marcus said quickly.
“Okay, Sport, you’re off the hook,” Hilton said. His eyes darted to the television. “Make that louder,” he commanded.
Without asking any questions, Ava immediately reached for the remote control and pressed the volume button three times in rapid succession.
“This film was shot as the suspect was brought to jail to be booked,” the anchor was saying.
“Hey, that’s Goodyear!” Marcus exclaimed.
“He is identified as Darnell ‘Goodyear’ Johnson, twenty-seven years old, with a criminal record dating back nearly a decade. Police received an anonymous tip and sought Johnson out for questioning. Once again, there has been an arrest in the murder of…”
The remainder of the news anchor’s statement was lost as the three of them rejoiced, rising to their feet for a group hug.
“I can’t breathe,” Marcus complained. Ava and Hilton immediately hoisted him up between them. Ava couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so happy, and she’d had a lot of happiness lately.
“I guess that anonymous tip did the trick. This calls for a celebration,” Hilton said after they had sat back down.
Marcus, who had been laying sideways on a floor pillow, his plate resting on a rattan tray on the floor, immediately sat up. “Disney World?” he asked hopefully.
“Actually, I had something closer to home in mind, like the bowling alley.”
“Let’s go!” Marcus said, undaunted.
Ava smiled at his enthusiasm.
They went to the cosmic bowling session, and Marcus, who had never bowled before, loved the added touch of the loud music, darkness and strobe lights. Ava, who at one time had bowled regularly in a league but now did so only occasionally for recreation, could do without the youth-oriented hip-hop music playing at top volume, but Marcus’s happiness made the inconvenience worth it.
She was able to keep up with Hilton and raised her hands in triumph when she finished seven pins ahead of him in the second of the two games they played, prompting Hilton to say in mock sternness, “Uh-oh. Time to go.”
The mood in the truck was festive as they drove through town and admired the beautifully decorated homes, but Ava soon realized the gaiety was confined to her and Hilton.
She turned around to face an unusually quiet Marcus, alone in the back seat. “You okay back there?”
His reply was a listless shrug.
Ava promptly undid her seat belt and knelt on her seat facing the back. “Marcus, what’s wrong?”
“I was thinking…are you going to send me home now that Goodyear’s in jail?”
“Of course not! You’re going to spend your vacation with me. That was the deal. I’d hoped the trouble would be over by the time school starts on Monday, but I never said I’d send you home early if it ended beforehand, now, did I?”
“That’s right, you didn’t.”
“Besides, Sport, you’ve got work to do,” Hilton added. “Remember our project?”
“I remember.” The crooked incisors came into view with his grin.
“What project is that?” Ava asked as she settled back into her seat.
“The rainy day project,” Hilton replied, hoping Marcus would remember that Ava’s shelves were supposed to be a surprise. “We’re doing some organizational stuff now that it’s getting slow.”
“This is a slow time for you, too, huh?”
“I anticipated it would be. The weeks before the holiday season is when everyone wants to give their kitchen cabinets a facelift or to hang new drapes so their houses look nice when they have company. This week I’ve been mostly working for people who’ve received electronic gifts they don’t know how to hook up or things that need assembly. We’ll be doing mostly organizing the rest of the week.”
“What happens after that?” Ava asked. “I mean, what if it doesn’t pick up? Will you be all right?”
“Sure. I get a pension from the police department, remember?”
“Oh, that’s right.”
Once again he was touched by her caring nature. He suspected that if he made up a story about being in trouble himself, she would have taken him in as easily as she had Marcus.
Three things he was fairly certain of. One, with his holdings and investments he would never be in a position to find himself without a roof over his head. Second, Ava cared about him. It was clear from the way she talked to him…and from the way she kissed him.
His third certainty was his own undeniable feelings for her. Funny how they’d progressed since their first meeting. The night they met she’d been embarrassed after learning he was the self-employed blue-collar worker she said was so unlikely ever be invited to Catherine Moore’s home, and later she expressed gratitude to him for getting her home safely after her car broke down. On their first date they had exchanged banter typical of new acquaintances, but now everything was on a different keel. Their relationship had not only become warmer, but also more attuned, like the instinctive way she increased the volume on the TV without asking questions. She clearly trusted him.
Perhaps it all started with his urge to protect her when she told him that killers might be after Marcus. Sharing dinner with her, and with Marcus, too, had stirred long-dormant memories of mealtimes with his parents and brother before his mother became ill. It was the way he’d always envisioned his family life would be when he became an adult, and being with Ava and Marcus made him believe it was still possible. One day he’d eventually marry and try to convince Janelle to let him have custody of Max. He already knew what the hook would be—he’d simply offer to continue the child support, except she’d have no child to support and could use it at her discretion. Five tax-free hundred-dollar bills coming in each month to spend on herself would surely be enough to make her accept.
During and immediately after her pregnancy he had thought they could avoid bringing the courts into it by giving her a generous allowance. He’d thought it was going fine, but when Max was six months old he was ordered to appear in family court. Janelle refused to see him or take his calls when he tried to contact her to ask what it was all about, and he was stunned when she told the judge she’d never received funds from him for their son’s support since the time of his birth. When given a chance to speak, Hilton explained he had given her money regularly for Maxwell’s expenses. To his astonishment, Janelle told the judge that the money he’d given her was for her, not Max, because they were still having a romantic relationship. The judge ordered Hi
lton to pay back support and that an order for payroll deductions be sent to his employer immediately. Any additional payments, he instructed Hilton, would have to be made through the court to eliminate any confusion about what they were intended for.
An enraged Hilton had written a check for the full amount of the back support at the court clerk’s office. When he saw Janelle driving a new car a few weeks later he had the answer to why she had done it. Their relationship had gone downhill since then.
He figured the only way she’d consider trading places with him as the custodial parent would be if there was something in it financially for her. Janelle wasn’t the type to ever offer to share custody of Max with him merely out of the goodness of her heart. For her, everything had a price tag.
Hilton chuckled. He’d certainly had rotten luck with women. Too bad he hadn’t gone out of town where no one knew his family history and met a future wife at college, like his brother had. But the important thing was that he’d gotten away from the city where all the women seemed to know who he was, thanks to the network that existed of middle-aged mothers, aunts and even grandmothers, all of whom knew who among their contemporaries had married whom, along with the number and gender of any offspring from each union. Men, on the other hand, were different. It was years before anyone on the force had found out his grandfather’s identity…and even then, the information came from a female officer.
But he was determined that one day he would find a special woman who genuinely loved him and who wouldn’t be influenced by learning about his net worth.
His mouth curled into a smile as it occurred to him that he might already have found her.
*****
Even as she approached the platform where Kendall and Spencer’s table was surrounded by reserved seating for their friends and family members, with her hand resting comfortably in the secure grip of Hilton’s, Ava was straining to see the seating arrangements. She knew they had pushed tables together to make two large tables to accommodate the group, and she didn’t know who was sitting where. There were certain people in their crowd she would rather keep more distance from. Once she saw who was sitting where it would avoid any awkwardness.
Hilton glanced at her curiously. Her hand seemed to stiffen in his, and he wondered why. Was she feeling guilty at sending Marcus to her sister’s overnight so they could have an evening out together and bring in the new year? But then her hand relaxed just as quickly as it had tightened up.
At the table for ten they slipped into seats between their hosts and Zena and Barry Lucas, and across from Cliff and Connie Duke. Ava would have preferred to have sat across from Vanessa and Brian Brown, who hadn’t arrived yet; but she could manage with this current setup without too much discomfort. She introduced Hilton to the Dukes and to the Lucases, both of whom said they remembered him from the tree trimming.
Within minutes the vacant chairs closest to them were filled by Spencer’s nephew Todd Barnes and his date. Ava was so pleased with the way the seating worked out she didn’t object to putting on one of those silly pointed hats Kendall insist everyone wear. Todd was not one of her favorite people, and she knew he wasn’t one of Kendall’s either. He behaved like he believed himself to be every woman’s dream, flirting with every female he came in contact with. He had come on to Kendall at their first meeting, even after Spencer made it clear she was spoken for. Ava herself had encountered him at a social event a few years back, long before Kendall had met Spencer, and when he insisted on getting her telephone number she deliberately changed a digit just to get rid of him. He had been frosty toward her ever since and probably was as anxious not to sit near her as she was to him.
She leaned back in her chair, reached over Hilton’s back and tapped Zena. “How is it you and Barry are sitting way at the end of the table? There was still room in the middle.”
“I figured you and Kendall would want to sit together. Besides…” instead of finishing her statement Zena simply flashed Ava a knowing look, and Ava realized she and Barry had deliberately taken those seats to prevent an uncomfortable situation from developing. Good old Zena, she was sharp as a potato peeler. It meant a lot to Ava to know that people looked out for her. She relaxed and prepared to have a good time with her friends…even those with whom she wasn’t so friendly.
*****
“…three…two…one…Happy New Year!”
The band burst into the chorus of “Old Lang Syne” as the club’s clientele cheered and celebrated the arrival of the New Year. Hilton leaned in to plant a lingering kiss on Ava’s mouth, and for those brief seconds all the background noise diminished and she felt there was no one else in the room but the two of them.
“Happy New Year, Ava,” he whispered. “I can’t tell you how glad I am to be spending it with you.” Then he rubbed her back before leaning back in his seat, not giving her a chance to reply.
“And happy anniversary to us,” Connie Duke said.
“That’s right, I forgot you two got married on New Year’s Day,” Kendall said.
“Are you doing anything special to celebrate?” Spencer asked.
“We’re going to Savannah for the weekend,” Cliff replied.
“Is it a special anniversary?” Hilton asked.
“No, just the eighth. But we generally go away every year.”
“I think the only reason he asked me to marry him on New Year’s was so that we could get great rates for travel. No one likes to go away right after the holidays,” Connie said.
Cliff shrugged. “That, and because you were pregnant,” he said with a laugh.
Ava abruptly stood up. “Excuse me a moment,” she said.
“I’ll go with you,” Kendall said quickly. “Be right back, folks.”
Hilton noticed Connie Duke give her husband a jab in the ribs as well as a stern look, while Cliff responded with a guilty expression. He wondered what it was all about. Could it possibly have anything to do with Ava’s choosing that precise moment to go to the powder room?
That really didn’t make sense, and when Ava and Kendall returned less than five minutes later, the lighthearted party atmosphere continued without a trace of awkwardness or resentment, so he told himself Connie was just annoyed with Cliff for bringing up the fact that she had been pregnant at the time of their marriage, which certainly wasn’t anyone’s business but their own.
*****
“Alone at last.”
Hilton moved to stand close behind Ava and nuzzle her neck as she unlocked her front door. She jerked her neck to look at him, a question burning in her brain. “It doesn’t bother you that Marcus has been staying with me, does it?”
“Of course not. He’s a great kid. Children’s development is important, Ava. I was willing to stay home with him and see in the new year quietly, remember?”
She nodded. “That’s right, you were.” He’d made the offer before Goodyear’s arrest, no doubt aware that she still worried about leaving Marcus in anyone else’s care. After Goodyear was jailed they decided it was safe to do so.
“It’s just that even your own kids can maybe cramp your style,” Hilton said. “You’ll find that out when you have your own.”
“Oh.” She gulped, and it sounded so loud to her ears she was certain he’d heard it. Tell him, that inner voice in her brain urged.
Shut up! a voice from her heart yelled back. Do you want to ruin a romantic moment? How often do you get to have these? How many times have you even gotten to be alone with Hilton in the last week?
“Yes,” he was saying as he followed her inside, “old Mom and Dad need some private time together, just the two of them, so they don’t forget why they got together in the first place.”
Her breathing quickened as she turned to face him. He’d pushed the door shut and was moving closer…simultaneously, her lips parted and her eyes closed.
Gathering her into his arms, he held her snugly. He first kissed her forehead, then the tip of her nose and finally her mouth. She stood on tiptoe to wra
p her arms around his neck and breathed lightly through parted lips, savoring the magic of kissing him.
Afterward he buried his face in her hair and planted burning kisses on her jaw and throat. “I can’t think of a better way to start the year than to take you to bed,” he whispered.
Ava’s eyes remained closed. She would like nothing better herself than to make love to Hilton, right up until the sun rose. They had arrived at the crossroads. She’d known it was coming, but this time it was different. In the past there had only been her desires to consider, but now her emotions were involved as well. She had no second thoughts about how her previous relationships would end, nor were there any regrets about anything she had done while they were ongoing. The notion that this was as good as it would get for her was ingrained too deeply in her psyche. But since meeting Hilton she had dared to hope it could be different. She did desire him, but her feelings went much deeper than that. Moving to the level of intimacy would break the wonderful spell of a loving relationship…one which could probably go no further than this.
She didn’t know if she could handle it.
“It’s all right,” Hilton said, presuming her silence meant refusal. He continued to hold her, savoring the feel of her sweetness and femininity so close to him. Considering the fervor with which she’d kissed him, those little whimpering noises she made, the way her tongue mated with his, the way her body trembled in his arms, and the way her hands traveled all over his back, he felt a little taken aback by her reluctance to take that next step. He’d allowed his thoughts to get ahead of him and imagined the two of them naked in bed, kissing and touching and tasting each other as they rolled about, their limbs intertwined. Her silence at his suggestion was as big a shock as if she’d just thrown a bucket of cold water at him.
He knew from her response to his kiss that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. Something was obviously holding her back. Maybe she felt it was too soon, despite their easy camaraderie and their shared interest in the welfare of a child. They’d hadn’t even known each other for two weeks. A woman like Ava had to be in love, or very close to it, to sleep with a man.
A Love of Her Own Page 13
