by Bonnie Dee
“You see any action?” Mason asked.
“No. Unless you mean on shore leave.” Nash chuckled as he set three plates under the heat light and rang the bell. “Order up!”
“I don’t think right now is the best time to sign up. It’s a little too busy out there.” Mason thought of some of the veterans whose pain he’d eased, and winced at the mere idea of being in an actual battle—not from fear for his life but at the waves of hurt and despair that would crash over him.
“Anyway, I’m a lover, not a fighter, Nash.”
The cook threw back his head and laughed. “I can see that. You been eyeing Ava since you been working here. When you going to make a move?”
Mason grinned. “Maybe I already did. Maybe I’m just waiting for her to make the next move.”
Nash tapped his temple. “Smart. Put the ball in her court, but don’t let her know it’s on a string, and you got it under control, like one a them paddle and ball games.”
Mason wiped onion tears from his eyes with the back of his hand. “Whew. Sounds like you’re the love guru and I should be sitting at your feet.”
“Wouldn’t think to see me now, but I was a ladies’ man in my day. A player, I think you kids say.” His bushy eyebrows puckered in a frown. “But don’t you be playin’ Ava. She’s a nice gal. She deserves to be treated right.”
“Yeah. I know that.” Mason pushed aside the pile of onions and reached for a tomato.
“Shoulda done the onions last,” Nash scolded. “Clean that knife and board before you cut any tomatoes. And fetch me another loaf of bread from the back room.”
Apparently sharing time was over, and he was back to being the cook’s lackey. Mason hurried to do as he was told. The breakfast rush waited for no one and would stampede over you if you got in the way. Literally. On his first day, he’d been sweeping the dining area when the earliest customers of the day showed up and had actually been knocked into by one hungry farmer heading for his usual booth.
As Mason came out of the storage room carrying a few loaves under one arm, he bumped into Ava, rushing past in the hallway, tying the strings of her apron. She stumbled, and instead of avoiding contact, Mason grasped her arm to steady her. For just a moment, his palm touched warm skin. A sizzle hotter than frying eggs on a skillet rippled through his synapses. He frowned and quickly let go. What was that?
“Good mornin’.” Ava’s Kentucky accent and tiny smile sweetened the words like syrup.
“Morning. You’re running late.”
“Yeah, I had trouble getting my kid brother moving and off to school.” She sounded breathless, and strands of pale blonde hair floated around her face as if charged by static. This morning, her eyes appeared more blue than gray, as if the storm clouds had moved on. Mason stepped aside to let her fly past. A whiff of shampoo trailed behind her, a sweet, feminine scent that gave him a little rise as he inhaled it.
Ava was a nice, steady, dependable woman, the anchor to a dysfunctional family, it sounded like. Not at all the kind of woman he should hook up with, if she was even interested in him. Ava was the sort who looked to the future. A wanderer like him couldn’t provide what she needed in her life. Besides, he was supposed to be taking a break from interacting with people. Getting closer and touching, both physically and emotionally, were not on his agenda.
Mason managed to hold on to that thought during the rest of his shift. He cleaned appliances and floors, toilets, and even drains at Nash’s whim, and he worked to keep his gaze away from Ava when she occasionally flashed past. By midafternoon, he’d entered an inner zone where everything was quiet, settled, and peaceful, with no unruly desires for someone he shouldn’t long for.
After emptying the garbage one last time in the bins out back, he said good-bye to Nash. A second shift awaited him—dinner through close—but in the meantime he had a few hours to himself. He didn’t mind the split schedule Deb Purdue, the Cozy’s owner, had assigned him. He needed the money, and it wasn’t as if he had anything better to do with his time.
After taking a power nap in his efficiency room at the cinderblock motel where the other tenants were high, drunk, or fighting most of the time, Mason decided to do a load of laundry and some shopping. Yesterday evening’s cooler temperatures were vanquished by air so sweltering and dense with moisture he felt he was walking underwater. He trudged down the hot asphalt road with a duffel bag of clothes on his back like some vagabond Santa Claus. This countryside was a world away from the arid climates he was used to, first growing up in Arizona and then traveling around the Southwest with Croyden’s show. Although the hills and valleys here were pretty, he wasn’t sure he trusted that much lush green.
He jammed as much in the washing machine as it would bear and set it going, then walked across the street to Clayton’s to pick up some socks. Across the room, he glimpsed wheat-blonde hair at the same time he heard the soft murmur of Ava’s voice. Small town. Not surprising they’d bump into each other outside of work sometimes.
Mason studied a bag of sport socks as if reading directions for use, while watching Ava and a boy who must be her brother, Bryan. The kid used crutches, the kind with bands around his forearms. He was string-bean skinny and his awkward movements were as much from adolescence as from whatever wasting disease he suffered from. Maybe cerebral palsy, Mason guessed.
The boy and his sister were arguing. Ava held a black T-shirt in one hand and gestured with the other. “I’m sorry, I can’t lend you the money. I have bills to pay. This is more expensive than I expected.”
“But I’ll pay you back,” he whined. “And I had the money. It’s not my fault it’s missing. We both know who took it. ”
Ava picked another T-shirt from the rack. “How about this one. It’s half price, and it’s pretty cool too.”
“No!” Bryan yelled, drawing the attention of the sales girl stocking shelves and a couple of other customers. “I need that one. It’s not fair. Why do we keep putting up with her bullshit? She’s supposed to be our mom!”
Ava glanced around the store. “Shh. You don’t have to announce our business to the world. And watch your mouth.”
“Forget it. I don’t want anything. I don’t even want to go to the stupid fair. It costs too much.” He turned and thumped toward the door, his body swinging between the crutches.
“Bryan, wait.” Ava easily outpaced him and stopped in front of him. She put a hand on his shoulder and lowered her voice, but Mason could still hear since he was straining to. “I’m sorry about what Mom did. There’s no excuse for it. But I don’t quite get what the deal is with this particular shirt. You’ve never cared much about your clothes before. Why is this so important?”
“You wouldn’t understand.” Bryan stared at the floor, refusing to meet her eyes.
He wants to impress some girl. What else would make a pubescent boy suddenly crazy about his appearance? Mason sent a thought message to Ava, but she apparently wasn’t on his wavelength.
Mason gripped the bag of socks and ordered himself to stay out of it. Get involved or mind his own business? The right choice was clear. Ava wouldn’t welcome him poking into their family shit anyway. Meddlesome. That’s what his mother used to call him, and she was right. But the desire to help, to smooth things over, to heal was almost beyond Mason’s power to control. His family had never really understood his nature. He took a step toward Ava and Bryan.
Ava sighed. “All right. I don’t get it, but I’ll loan you the money.”
Bryan’s face lit up with a smile that brought out the resemblance between him and his sister. “I swear I’ll pay you back before any of the bills come due. I have some E-bay money coming.”
She grinned back at him. “You and your ‘business.’ I’m not sure how I feel about that.”
“Hey. I’m not selling anything illegal, and my customers never complain.”
The siblings started toward the checkout counter. Mason stood right in their path. He smiled and raised a hand. “Hi.”
Ava’s smile evaporated. “Oh. Um. Hi. I thought you were working today.”
“I was, and I will be later, but right now I’m on break. What about you?”
“I’m off till tomorrow second shift.” She paused, and her tongue darted out to wet her lips. Nervous. “You’re working a lot of hours.”
“Yeah. But I don’t mind. This your brother?” Mason offered Bryan a friendly smile.
“Oh, right. Bryan, this is Mason. He’s new at the diner.” Ava introduced him.
“Hey.” The boy scanned him once, then lost interest, apparently filing Mason away under the label Sister’s boring work friend. He reached for the T-shirt Ava was still carrying. “I’ll go pay for this.”
She handed him the hanger and a few bills. Bryan put the hanger between his teeth, tucked the bills in his pocket, and made his way to the counter. The sales girl stopped stocking shelves and went to ring him up.
Ava blew a long breath. “You have any younger siblings?”
“No. Two older sisters.” He didn’t try to pretend he hadn’t overheard the family argument. “But I witnessed enough of their freak-outs with Mom when they were teenagers. It’s perfectly normal.”
“Bryan’s only twelve, for another couple of months at least. And until recently, he was the easiest kid in the world to get along with.”
“He just started middle school, right?”
Ava nodded, shifting her shopping basket from one hand to the other. “I thought of that. But we have a really small school system, and he’s with the same kids he’s gone to school with his whole life. He’s never been bullied before.”
“Not bullied.” Mason smiled. “I’m thinking there’s a girl.”
A lightbulb went on in her eyes. “Oh. Jeez. I didn’t even think of that. Of course that’s it.” She frowned. “And he’s having a fight with his friend Garrett so maybe they both like the same girl.”
“Probably. Friends usually do.” Mason grimaced. “Not just when they’re school kids either.”
“Sounds like you know from experience.”
He squeezed his package of socks. “Unfortunately. But that’s a story for another time. Hey, when are you going to take me on that hike we talked about, show me around the outback here? I have a little free time this weekend.”
Ava’s cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink he didn’t think was from the heat. “I have to work both Friday and Saturday. Sunday I promised to drive Bryan to the county fair in Brag’s Hollow. I’m not off again until Tuesday.”
“A fair? That sounds like fun.” Why was he trawling for an invitation? What happened to the keeping his distance like he’d told himself he would?
“If you want to, you could come along.” Ava’s quiet voice making that tentative offer gave him an unreasonable surge of happiness, much more than the prospect of a local fair should.
“I’d like that.” He smiled and resisted the crazy urge to smooth the strands of her unruly hair that floated like dandelion fluff. “It’s a date.”
Chapter Four
When the day they were going to the fair arrived, Ava picked through her clothes, mixing and matching different tops and shorts, trying on sundresses, and hating all her shoes and sandals. She had to keep reminding herself this wasn’t a date. She was merely giving Mason a ride to the fair since he had no car. No big deal.
She recalled how nervous she’d been around boys when she was younger, how bad she’d been at playing the flirting game, and how she’d longed for the boy she crushed on to simply notice her. Poor Bryan was going through that hell right in front of her, and she hadn’t realized. It took a stranger to point it out.
As a kid, Ava had imagined her adult self would know exactly what to do when it came to romance, what to say, how to win the guy, and she’d magically recognize the “right man” when she met him. That had been as naïve as thinking she could be a ballerina someday. Adults weren’t any wiser than kids when it came to dating. In fact, Ava had pretty much avoided it. A few men had asked her out now and then, but it was easier to fall into a routine that revolved around work and tending to Bryan’s needs.
Now, here she was getting excited and fussing over what she was going to wear to a county fair. She was making too big a deal of it. Mason was just bored living in Waller and desperate for any entertainment no matter how lame.
Finally dressed, Ava went to the bathroom, leaned against the doorframe, and watched Bryan try to tame his hair into submission. It was too fine and light, just like hers. “Can I help you with that?”
“I got it.” He added more gel. The fact that her brother was actually using hair product was shocking enough to nearly make her jaw drop. He really must be crushing hard. Her heart ached at the beating his heart was probably going to receive.
“All right, then.”
Ava passed through the living room where her mom sat on the couch, a glass of Coke—or more likely JB and Coke—in her hand as she stared blankly at the TV.
“Mom.” Ava waited a few seconds for some response. “Mom,” she repeated louder, and finally her mother looked up.
“What?” She sounded dazed.
“We’re going now.”
“Okay. Have a nice time.” The polite phrase was phoned in from another planet.
Ava searched for words that might reach through the permanent haze that shrouded the woman. “Listen, Mom. Bryan’s taken a lot of time getting ready. When you see him, you should tell him how good he looks.”
“Sure. Of course I will.”
Ava would’ve liked to revisit the subject of the money that had disappeared from Bryan’s room, but that horse had already been flogged to death. Her mom had denied, denied, denied, and there was no point in starting another bonfire of accusation, anger, and tears. Nothing positive would come of it. The money was gone.
She continued on to the front hall, where she checked her reflection in the mirror. Her fine hair, which tended to float off in random directions, was tamed into a smooth ponytail by the same gel Bryan was using. A touch of makeup highlighted her eyes, making them bigger, and colored her lips, making them fuller. Her yellow cotton dress was cute, not too churchy, even though that was the only place she ever wore it. Ava had to admit she looked presentable. Frannie would be proud.
Actually, Fran had had a lot to say over the past couple of days about this hookup. Ava hadn’t intended to mention it in front of her, but Mason had said something about going to the fair together, and Fran had jumped all over it.
As soon as Mason was out of earshot, she’d demanded, “You’re going out with him? When did this happen?”
“It’s not a big deal. I’m taking Bryan, and I offered Mason a ride.”
“Oh, so it’s Mason now, not creepy dishwasher guy.”
“I don’t know what makes you think he’s creepy. He walked me home the other night and was completely normal and nice. Besides, aren’t you the one who told me to go for it?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t think you actually would. You don’t know anything about this guy.”
“We’re going to be in a public place. Anyway, you’re paranoid. You’re the one acting weird, not him. He hasn’t done anything.”
“He gives off a strange vibe. I can’t explain it. But whatever. Don’t mind me. Have a good time.” Frannie threw up her hands as if washing them of the situation. “And use protection.”
But because of that throwaway line, meant as a joke, Ava had found herself buying just-in-case condoms at the pharmacy yesterday. Rhoda Greaves’s penciled-on eyebrows rose nearly to her hairline as she scanned the box at the checkout. Great. Word that Ava Wheaton was finally sexually active after a long dry spell would spread all over town. There was little privacy in a place as small as Waller.
With a last pat adjustment of her ponytail, Ava called, “About ready, Bry?”
“Coming.”
Ava listened to the thunk of his crutches as he made his way through the house. Would Mom even notice when he walked past?<
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But surprisingly, Ava heard her compliment Bryan’s appearance and tell him to have a nice time at the fair. Baby steps, too often followed by a backslide into apathetic negligence.
Ava held the door for her brother and inhaled the aroma of men’s cologne as he passed her. Probably he’d used magazine samples.
“Your hair looks nice.” She gave the crunchy mass a little tousle.
“Don’t!” He jerked his head away to protect the ’do he’d so carefully sculpted. “Does it really?”
“Yes.” A little overboard on the gel, but she wasn’t going to mention that.
She followed him to the car and hauled open the rusty door, scraping the backs of her bare legs as she slid across the cracked vinyl seat.
“Come on, baby.” She sent up her ritual car-starting prayer as she turned the key in the ignition. Luckily, today the Taurus decided to play nice and roared to life without a hitch. “Good girl.”
“Where’s this guy live, anyway?” Bryan asked.
“The Grove.” She named a local motel known for transients and amorous trysts.
He looked at her. “Are you, like, dating him or something?”
“No. I’m just being nice. He’s a stranger, doesn’t know anybody, and taking him to the fair is a nice thing to do.” She deflected the conversation to him. “So, are you meeting up with anybody in particular today?”
“No,” he answered quickly. “I just want to ride the rides.”
“Okay. But you’d probably have more fun with one of your friends than with me. What happened between you and Garrett anyway?”
“Nothing. But other kids I know will be there. He’s not my only friend, you know. I’m not a loser.”
“I didn’t say you were.” Ava fell silent. The creature who had taken over her little brother’s body was painfully thorny, and she was too nervous about her non-date with Mason to try to pry him open right now.
A little way out of town, she pulled into a gravel parking lot in front of a rectangular cinderblock building. A neon Vacancy sign flickered in and out of existence beneath the faded “The Grove” sign. Only a couple of cars were parked in front of the row of peeling blue doors. Built in the permanent shadow of a hill, the Grove was shady both literally and figuratively. Ava imagined the place would’ve been considered cheap even when it was newly built back in the fifties.
