Stay (Healing Springs, Book 2)

by Amanda Torrey

  “I fixed up the building, and she rents the space downstairs for her bakery/café. We built a little play area in the back for my niece. That way she can stay with her mom while she’s working, and Tiana doesn’t have to worry about childcare.”

  “I didn’t even know she was back in town. When did that happen?”

  “She had been talking about coming back for a bit. She was in a bad situation. I came up a few weekends here and there to get the place ready to open.”

  The thought of him being in the small town and her not knowing about it hurt.

  “You were here?”

  He nodded.

  “You were engaged.”

  She sat back in her seat and watched the scenery.

  “I wish I had known she opened a café. I heard it would be opening, but I hadn’t yet made time to go in.”

  Ava made a habit of avoiding downtown whenever possible. It was awkward running into parents when she wanted to get errands done, so she often drove out of town for her shopping.

  “I had no idea she was even back in town. I thought she went back to college.”

  “Yeah, she did for a while. Then some ass got her pregnant and left her to fend for herself. She dropped out of culinary school and started her own business. She’s doing really well, though.”

  “She’s lucky to have you.”

  “Nah. I’m never really around. I haven’t done much. Hope barely knows me. She acts so shy when she first sees me, but when it’s time for me to leave, she gets mad at me.” He smiled. “Can’t win with women. Even the preschool set.”

  “Very funny.”

  “Maybe when she’s older it will be easier to keep in touch with her. Right now she hands the phone back to Tiana when I call.”

  “That’s kids, though. When she grows up she’ll remember all the good times she had with you. And she’ll know how much you helped her mom out, and that will mean the world to her.”

  The shadow of his dimple appeared. Cole reached over and squeezed her knee. She grasped his hand with both of hers.

  “I hope you’re right. Then again, who knows kids better than you?”

  He glanced over at her, and she had never seen a look so genuine and honest before.

  Neither of them said anything for the rest of the short drive, but there was nothing awkward about the silence.

  Cole opened the door for Ava and led her into the homey café. Dozens of people—some she recognized, many she didn’t—clutched their mugs as they engaged in lively conversation. She smiled at a group of last year’s parents who were lounging on the cushiony couches by the bay window. Cole held her hand as they moved past the group of tourists propped against wooden beams in the center of the room.

  Ava paused to study the framed photographs on the walls. The photos depicted people of all ages, from all walks of life. Happy tears stung the back of her eyes as she studied one particular photo. Though she didn’t recognize the people, emotion jumped from the tender scene involving an elderly woman in a wheelchair bending over to accept a daisy from the outstretched hand of a young, dimpled toddler. The tale of deep familial love filled Ava with longing.

  Cole’s warm breath on her neck made her body tingle. He wrapped his arms around her waist and squeezed.

  “That’s Hope. Come with me and you’ll meet her in person.”

  “Do you think it will be weird for Tiana that I just showed up here? Tiana and I were really close in high school, and I didn’t even know she was back. I don’t know how we lost touch.”

  “Nah, it’ll be fine. Look, there she is.”

  By the time they made it to the counter, the teenager at the register told them Tiana was busy in the kitchen.

  Ava was almost certain Tiana had seen them approaching before she turned toward the kitchen. Maybe she was being paranoid, but maybe Tiana actually was avoiding them. Avoiding her.

  She didn’t mention her concerns to Cole. She allowed him to lead her to a little booth in the corner, where she could stare at him and imagine using the whipped cream for purposes far more satisfying than topping hot cocoa.

  “I know that bugger.”

  Cole’s head perked up and a smile spread across his face. Ava blushed as Quentin Elliot, one of her favorite dad’s from last year, approached.

  Cole stood to shake hands with Quentin. Quentin pulled him in for one of those awkward man hugs, then playfully gave Cole a noogie on his head.

  “So you come to town and you don’t even contact your friend? And after all the work I gave you last year.”

  “Figured you’d be too busy with that new wife of yours. By the way, I never received an invitation.”

  “No hard feelings, man. Savannah made me elope. She didn’t want a big family thing.”

  “Made you, huh? I’m sure you were looking forward to designing invitations and whatever the hell else goes into wedding planning.”

  “You found me out. I thought I could hide my secret desires, but you see right through me.”

  “I heard Miss Molly say you had a baseball team full of kids at your house now.”

  “Yeah, we have a few. We’re just borrowing most of them until they find permanent homes. We’re finalizing the adoption on a couple of ‘em, though. And who’s this you have with you?” Quentin smiled broadly when he looked at Ava, then gave Cole a look she wished she could decipher. “Ms. O’Connor. Lovely to see you.”

  “How’s Joey doing this year? I’ve seen him in the hall a few times—can’t believe how much he’s grown.”

  “Yeah, the kid is growing like a weed. He’s doing great, but he misses his favorite kindergarten teacher. I hear you’re really hard to get over.” He glanced at Cole again, giving him that same knowing look.

  Before Ava could respond, the young boy in question came bouncing down the aisle, crashing into his dad.

  A frenzied woman—whom Ava recognized as Quentin’s romantic partner, Savvy—came rushing behind Joey, struggling with a toddler on her hip and a handled brown bag in her free hand. Two other kids trailed close behind.

  “Uh oh.” Quentin grabbed the bag out of Savvy’s hand and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

  Savvy’s expression immediately went from annoyed to enamored, and Ava found herself wishing she had what this couple had. Family. Love. Commitment.

  But she had great sex and a hot guy who wanted her. When he was around. Which was almost never and would soon be even less often, but why waste time stressing about that?

  “Peaches, this is Joey’s kindergarten teacher. Ms. O’Connor, this is Savannah.”

  “I’ve heard all about you, Savannah. But nice to meet you in person. I did hear your beautiful speech last year at the graduation ceremony. You were an inspiration.”

  “You’re too kind. I was a mess. But thank you. And believe me, all I ever heard about was Joey’s beautiful teacher. He was so upset that you were already engaged.”

  Ava looked down at Joey, who had wrapped his arms around her waist in a hello. She knew Quentin was signaling to Savvy about the engagement business, and Ava didn’t want to be any part of that communication.

  “I’m sorry,” Savvy uttered, clearly uncomfortable.

  “Don’t be.” Ava smiled at Savvy. “Look at the curls on that little girl. She’s precious.”

  Savvy beamed. “She is, isn’t she? She’s a handful, but we love her.”

  “She messes up my Legos.” Joey tattled.

  “She doesn’t mean to. Besides, you’re supposed to keep them where she can’t get them and where I can’t step on them,” Savvy reminded Joey.

  “Mrs. O’Connor, I’m going into second grade soon. Can you be my teacher?”

  “Oh, I wish I could be, buddy! But my job is to teach all the kindergarteners. Know what, though? We might be able to arrange to have you be a big buddy to one of our little kids. You could come and read to them and stuff. If you want.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!” Joey bounced up and down, landing on Ava’s feet and remi
nding her of how energetic he had always been.

  “That’s enough, Joey.” Quentin pulled him away from Ava, then praised the two quiet kids—they looked to be about ten or eleven—for being so respectful in the café. “Sorry about your toes. Joey, time to head out. We’ll eat our bagels on the common.”

  “Can we feed the ducks?”

  “We’ll see.”

  “I’ll race you!” Joey issued the invitation to the other kids, then started to rush through the crowd, oblivious to the irritated glares he received from the other customers.

  “Slow down, Joey! You’d better stop at the sidewalk!”

  Quentin mumbled an apology as he rushed after Joey.

  Savvy smiled, said goodbye, and, kids in tow, followed close behind.

  Ava released a breath as she took her seat in the booth again.

  “You want that, don’t you?” Cole voice was low, his eyes knowing.

  She could lie. She could pretend she didn’t know what he was talking about.

  But she knew he noticed the way her eyes followed them out the door. How envious she was that they were so busy with children.

  Yeah, she wanted it.

  Not necessarily now, but not too far in the future, either. She wanted to be a young mom. She had always wanted that.

  “They’re a great family, aren’t they? I didn’t know you were friends.”

  “Yeah, Q and I go way back. He called in a favor when he was putting together the tree house. Needed an architect, so I volunteered.”

  “You’re amazing.”

  “You know what’s amazing?” He leaned forward, pulling her hands across the table and staring into her eyes.

  She was immediately rendered oblivious to the people surrounding them. The urge to whip their hot cocoa and coffee mugs off the table and climb over to him was overwhelming.

  The waitress delivering the food interrupted their bubble of excitement and anticipation. Ava sat back in her seat, unable to make eye contact with the woman. She was too busy flirting with Ava’s hot breakfast date, anyway.

  Ava smiled. She couldn’t muster up any jealousy—only pride.

  One bite of the French toast and Ava fell in love.

  “Mmm, you weren’t kidding about her skills.”

  “Tiana definitely got the cooking genes in the family.”

  “Is she available?”

  “You’d leave me for my sister?”

  “Well, technically, you’re leaving me. And, yeah, maybe.”

  Cole offered her a bite of his muffin, which he fed to her with his fingers. She thrilled in his shiver when she licked his finger clean, sucking the tip and giving a little nip when she was done.

  “Maybe you should take that to go.”

  Ava blushed when Tiana finally made it to their table.

  “Can we stay if we promise to behave? I love this place. I might move in.”

  Tiana’s face lit into a bright smile as she gestured for Ava to come for a hug.

  Ava did as directed. Her first impulse had been to hug Tiana, but Tiana was throwing off some sort of weird signal that made Ava uneasy.

  “I’ve been meaning to get in touch. I’ve just been so busy with this place. All I keep hearing about around town is Miss Teacher of the Year O’Connor. I’m so hoping you get Hope when she gets to school.”

  Whatever strange vibe Ava had been picking up from Tiana completely disappeared as they started chatting.

  “I love the pink hair.” Ava reached out to touch Tiana’s streaks.

  “I wanted purple, but Hope vetoed my decision.”

  “And I see you’ve added to your piercings—I like them.”

  “That’s the advantage of owning my own business. I don’t have to listen to some stick-in-the-ass manager about what they deem socially acceptable.”

  “Hey,” Cole interrupted. “Where’s my niece?”

  “She’s finishing up a show in the back room. She’ll be a nuisance in no time.”

  “That’s what I’m hoping for.”

  After a bit more small talk, Tiana excused herself to get back to work.

  “Promise to behave yourselves. This is a family business.” Tiana winked, reminding Ava of Cole.

  “We’ll do our best,” Cole said.

  As they finished their meal, Tiana occasionally roamed by the table to interject friendly comments to Ava and sarcastic jibes at Cole. Ava couldn’t remember a time when she had laughed so much. Her cheeks hurt from the merriment, and a laughter-induced cramp pinched her side.

  When the waitress brought the bill, Cole immediately snatched it up, acting insulted when Ava offered to pay. As he plopped down a generous tip, a little angel-faced sweetheart planted herself in Cole’s lap and shot a possessive glare at Ava. Trying to suppress a fresh round of laughter, Ava introduced herself to the reigning queen.

  “You can’t have Uncle Cole. He’s mine.”

  “I can tell that he is. And he’s lucky to have such a precious and beautiful girl in his arms.”

  Hope started to smile, but seemed to think twice about surrendering so quickly. She shifted her head so she could look into the bright eyes of her doting uncle.

  Cole rubbed Hope’s chubby shoulder as she played with his neck.

  “Uncle Cole, you can take me to the park today? Right now?”

  Cole shifted in his seat, and Ava could tell he had no idea how to tell the girl no. She almost felt sorry for him, being pulled between two demanding women.

  “Well, my little lovey, I’d be more than happy to take you to the park. After your afternoon nap. Right now I promised to spend time with Ava.”

  Tears welled up on cue, and Ava was struck by how similar Hope’s eyes were to Cole’s. He’d have beautiful children some day.

  Ava coughed gently, trying to get Cole’s attention. She caught his eye and shook her head vehemently, pointing and nodding toward Hope. He gave Ava a firm look in return, then went back to trying to comfort Hope.

  No way did Ava want to be the cause of a rift between Cole and Hope. She knew Cole wanted to spend time with his niece. And she certainly didn’t want to make enemies with the little girl.

  Rather than making a scene, Ava reached her hand over to the three-year-old, making her fingers walk up the chubby arm that crossed over her belly in defiance. Hope tried to swat Ava’s hand away, but Ava persevered with her best child-friendly, sing-song voice. Hope began to listen, her manipulative pout temporarily forgotten.

  “Can we make a deal?”

  Hope’s eyes narrowed. She might be a hard one to win over.

  “My dog loves the park, too. Can we all go together?”

  Uncertainty played across Hope’s innocent face. Ava took the moment of silence as a chance to sweeten the deal with a bribe.

  “I happen to know the ice cream truck swings by the park several times a day. And I have some dollar bills saved up in my pocket…” She let her voice drift off so Hope could absorb what she was saying.

  Cole remained silent, and when Ava chanced a glance at his face, his expression was unreadable. She hoped she hadn’t overstepped her bounds by inviting the girl along, but she couldn’t let the girl’s heart get trounced because of her—a temporary fixture in Cole’s life. If Cole had a problem with Ava trying to salvage Hope’s feelings and their time together, she’d have no problem with him saying an early goodbye to Ava.

  “Okay.” Hope finally answered. “But I want chocolate ice cream. On a stick. I no want a bowl.”

  “As long as Mommy and Uncle Cole say it’s okay, it’s fine with me.”

  Ava’s uterus ached. Throbbed. Begged to be filled.

  Argh.

  Hope smiled up at Cole, her watery eyes quickly drying.

  Cole kissed her head and sent her off to ask her mom if she could go with them.

  Hope, a bundle of excited energy, barreled toward her mom, who was giving a customer a smile and some change. Hope clung to her mom’s legs until Tiana was able to look down to ask what Hope
needed. Ava smiled at Tiana as the pair strolled hand-in-hand over to the cozy corner booth.

  “You invited her to the park?”

  Ava hoped Tiana wasn’t angry that she hadn’t run it by Tiana first.

  “We’d love to have the princess join us.” Cole grabbed Ava’s hand on the table. “Is she free?”

  “You know it.” Tiana smiled, gently pushing Hope toward her uncle. “Keep her out as long as you want. But aren’t you leaving to—”

  “Let’s get your bag, Princess.” Cole jumped up so fast, Ava wondered if a fire had been lit under his seat.

  Ava wasn’t a fool. She hadn’t wanted to know when he was leaving. And apparently it was tomorrow.

  She willed her undeserved tears away and focused on having the best day she could.

  Tomorrow her life would return to normal.

  Boring, but normal.

  “I wanna go to the tree house!”

  Hope made her demands as she pulled on Cole’s hand. When they reached the door, she turned around and held her arms up, asking to be carried.

  Cole obliged. He swung her Hello Kitty backpack over his shoulder and lifted her into his arms.

  Ava could only stare. She loved this side of him.

  And that scared the poopsies out of her.

  With one hand on Hope and one hand grasping Ava’s, Cole led them to his condo to collect Bear before heading to the park. Ava couldn’t decide who was more excited by the outing—Bear or Hope. Or her.

  The afternoon was child and dog-centric. Exactly the way Ava would have wanted it. Cole even turned his phone off when his business partner kept buzzing in.

  Ava nearly fainted from the shock.

  After a long afternoon in the sunshine—feeding ducks, running around in the tree house, playing fetch with Bear—Cole and Ava returned a sleeping Hope to her mom at her apartment. Since the café closed at two, Tiana had taken advantage of her time off to get some housework done and was thrilled to have a napping child delivered to her so she could continue sorting laundry. As Ava and Cole left, Tiana promised Ava that she’d be in touch so they could really catch up.

  Ava didn’t know why, but she had a strange feeling about Tiana and her avoidance. She didn’t feel it was accidental. If she had been in town for all this time, why hadn’t she contacted Ava? In fact, the last time Ava had seen Tiana was the summer of Cole. Four years ago.