Joseph cleared his throat. “Thanks for the pizza.”
She nodded as he got up and carried his plate to the sink.
“I should, uh―” He looked around the room―everywhere but at her. “I should get going. Princess probably needs to go out, and . . .”
“Yeah.” Why did the thought of him leaving make her feel so deflated?
But she got up to walk him to the door.
He called for Tasha, who looked up from her spot next to Griffin on the couch, clearly asking already?
Ava had to agree with her. Did they really have to go already?
She considered asking if he wanted to watch a movie. But she knew that would be a bad idea. She’d be too tempted to slide close and snuggle into his arms, the way she used to.
“Tasha, come!” His voice was more urgent now. It couldn’t be more obvious that he couldn’t get out of here fast enough.
Ava stepped onto the porch with him, letting the cool evening air wash over her.
“Thank you again for today.” Joseph turned to her, his gaze holding her captive.
Oh my stars. Why did he again look like he was going to kiss her? Had she misunderstood his hesitation earlier? And more importantly, did she want him to kiss her for real this time?
The seconds passed between them, and neither moved. Joseph’s arm twitched, and Ava’s breath hitched. Was he going to wrap it around her?
But instead he lifted his hand to shield his eyes as a bright light swung over his face and tires crunched on the driveway.
Ava let out a breath. “Lori’s home.”
Joseph took a step back, rubbing his hand over the top of his head. “Yeah.”
They both turned toward the driveway as Lori’s car door slammed. But instead of her customary speedy pace, Lori dragged her feet toward the porch.
Ava thought at first it was because she didn’t want to interrupt whatever she thought was going on between her and Joseph. But as Aunt Lori stepped closer, Ava caught a glimmer on her cheeks.
Tears?
Ava had only ever seen Aunt Lori cry once―when she’d told Ava about her parents’ deaths―but she’d never forgotten it.
“Lori?” she stepped toward her aunt.
Lori jumped and swiped a quick hand over her cheeks. “Sorry. I didn’t see you two out here. I’ll get out of your way.”
She sped up, but Ava grabbed her arm. “Are you okay?”
Lori nodded, but an abrupt sob burst out of her. “Sorry.” She shook off Ava’s hand. “I’m fine.” She ran up the steps and into the house.
“What in the world?” Ava looked helplessly from the door to Joseph.
He gave her a sympathetic look. “Guess I’d better let you deal with that.” He touched a hand to her arm. “Goodnight, Ava.” He gave her a long look, then jogged to his car.
“Goodnight,” she whispered into the empty darkness as his car disappeared down the driveway. She longed to sink onto the porch steps and contemplate what had just passed between them. But that would have to wait for later.
Right now, she had to find out what was wrong with Aunt Lori.
Chapter 24
“Lori?” Ava called tentatively as she closed the door softly behind her.
“In the kitchen.” Lori’s voice sounded completely normal, and Ava frowned. There was no way she’d imagined the tears on her aunt’s face.
She shrugged at Griffin, and the two of them made their way to the kitchen. Lori was bustling around, putting away the leftover pizza and wiping the table. Her lips were creased into a frown, but there was no trace of tears on her face.
“I was going to do that when I came back in.” Ava stepped closer and held out a hand for the rag.
But Lori only scrubbed harder. “I don’t mind.”
“Okay.” Ava leaned against the counter, watching her aunt scrub at a spot that was already spotless. “You want to talk about it?”
“Nothing to talk about.”
Ava rolled her eyes. “You may be the parental figure here, Aunt Lori, but that doesn’t mean I can’t tell when something is wrong.”
Lori kept her head down, but Ava saw the drop of water that plopped onto the table.
“What is it? Did something happen to a patient?”
Lori shook her head but remained silent, still looking down. “Michael was offered a job,” she said quietly. “In Omaha.”
“Nebraska?” The state name popped out of Ava’s mouth, even as she pictured Joseph in the sixth-grade geography bee, proudly announcing that Omaha was in Minnesota. He had been the first one out.
She pushed the memory away. Now was not the time to be thinking of Joseph―even if it seemed like every moment was a moment to be thinking of him lately.
Lori nodded miserably. “His mom lives there, and she’s getting older and . . . He applied months ago. Before we were . . .”
Ava set a hand on top of Lori’s to stop the scrubbing. “Is he going to take it?”
Lori sniffed. “How can he not? It’s the perfect job for him. He would be so good at it, and― He asked what I thought, which was totally unfair. What was I supposed to say?”
“Well, you clearly don’t want him to go.”
Lori pulled her hand out from under Ava’s and started scrubbing again. “That shouldn’t matter. It’s not like we’ve made each other any promises. We’ve only been dating for a month and a half. And the job doesn’t start until next school year. I can’t assume that we’ll still be― That it will matter what I― I’m not going to be the one to stop him from having the life he should have.”
Ava sighed. That felt painfully familiar.
And yet―
What if Aunt Lori was wrong? What if Ava had been wrong?
She thought again of the way Joseph had looked at her tonight. Thought of the eight years she’d gone without him. Thought of how it felt every time she was with him now.
“You have to tell him how you feel,” Ava said finally.
“What if he goes anyway?” Lori clutched at the dishrag.
Ava sighed. “Then at least you’ll know.”
Chapter 25
The workday on Monday was agonizingly long, even though Joseph had a constant stream of patients.
But all day, all he wanted to do was close the clinic, march down the street to Ava’s studio, burst through the doors, and give her the longest, deepest kiss he’d ever given her.
The kiss he was still kicking himself for not giving her Saturday night.
But the same thing that had stopped him then stopped him now.
What if she didn’t want that?
Even so, he had to see her again.
He’d had to go to Beautiful Savior’s early service yesterday because he’d promised Asher he’d help with a fishing clinic, so he hadn’t gotten to see her then, and it was driving him crazy.
Fortunately, around ten this morning, he’d come up with another brilliant plan: He’d called and asked Ava if she could take a new set of headshots for his business cards.
He’d been sure she’d say no―but she’d surprised him with a yes. And with the idea to include Tasha and Princess in them.
As the clock finally turned to five, he forwarded the phones to his emergency answering service, clipped a leash on each dog, and stepped outside.
He’d always thought mid-September was the perfect time of year in Tennessee, and today was no exception―warm but not too hot, sunny with a few wisps of clouds, birds singing, river gurgling, and people smiling. And his smile was probably biggest of all as he got closer to Ava’s studio.
He pulled in a quick breath and opened the door.
Princess darted through instantly, yanking her leash right out of his hand. Tasha gave him a dignified look and walked through at his side.
“Oh lighten up.” Joseph laughed at the Samoyed. “You were young once too.”
He heard the skitter of puppy toenails on the floor in the next room, followed by a crash.
“Then again, m
aybe you were right.” He tugged Tasha into the studio, an apology ready on his lips for whatever disaster Princess had caused. She still wasn’t the most stable on her feet, though she was adjusting nicely to the slight twist in her back leg.
But he found Ava laughing as she picked up a metal washtub that had tipped over on top of Princess.
“Guess she wanted a bath.” The smile Ava gave him made him wish he were the photographer. It was the same smile he’d fallen in love with all those years ago. The same smile he had wanted to kiss so badly Saturday night.
“That’s not how she felt the other night when I tried to give her a bath,” Joseph said. “I didn’t know she could run that fast.”
Ava laughed, scooping up the troublemaking puppy and nuzzling the dog’s nose with her own.
After a moment, she stepped toward him and held out Princess. “If you want to hold her, I think that will work best.”
Joseph took the dog, letting his fingers brush against Ava’s for the merest fraction of a second.
But that was a mistake. Because it only made him want to take her hand and pull her close.
Ava pointed to a spot in front of the camera, all business now. “Right there. If you maybe kneel on one leg, with the other one up, we can put Tasha in front of you.”
Joseph moved to where she’d indicated, then knelt as she’d described.
The moment he was in position, he froze. How many times had he dreamed of getting down on one knee in front of Ava? Only, in his dreams he was always holding a ring, not a puppy.
Ava turned from where she’d been adjusting a light. As soon as her eyes fell on Joseph, her mouth opened, and pink bled through the makeup on her cheeks.
“Oh. Um―” She turned to adjust the light again. “Let’s try with you standing and Tasha at your feet.”
Obediently, he stood, not taking his eyes from her, though she didn’t look at him again until he’d gotten up off the ground.
“Okay. Um. Let’s try― Uh―” She was adorable when she was flustered, and Joseph had to work to keep his grin hidden.
“What?” she demanded.
Apparently he hadn’t kept it as hidden as he’d thought.
“Nothing. You’re just cute when you work.”
She rolled her eyes, but Joseph was pretty sure that now she was the one trying to hide a grin.
“Tasha, sit.” Ava sounded more certain now, and Tasha obeyed instantly. “And Joseph, can you hold Princess in one arm and rest your other hand on Tasha’s head?”
He tried diligently, but Princess was more than a little wiggly.
Ava snapped a few pictures but lowered the camera almost instantly. “This isn’t working.” She chewed her lip, looking around the room. “Let’s try something else.”
She grabbed a stool from behind her and plunked it next to him. “Sit.”
Both he and Tasha obeyed.
“All right, now set Princess on your lap.”
The puppy was much less wiggly like this, and Ava snapped pictures for a couple of minutes, having Joseph move his hands or his head slightly, changing where she stood, calling for the dogs’ attention.
“That was better.” She lowered the camera and looked at a few of the pictures. “But I really do think on your knee was best. Has more energy. Let’s try it again.”
She pulled the stool out of the way as Joseph carefully got down onto one knee again. This time, Ava didn’t even seem to recognize the significance of the stance. She matter-of-factly placed Tasha in front of him and adjusted Princess on his knee, then started clicking away again.
“That should do it,” she said way too soon.
“That’s it?” He wasn’t ready to say goodbye again.
“Yep.” She gave him a strange look. “Unless―” She seemed to second-guess herself but then shrugged. “Unless you want some pictures of just the dogs. Might make a good replacement for those dressed-up cat pictures at the clinic.”
“Yes.” Joseph’s reply may have been a little too enthusiastic for pet photos, but he didn’t care. Anything that meant he could spend more time with Ava was a good thing.
“All right.”
Was it him, or did she look pleased he’d said yes?
“Let’s start with Tasha. I have a feeling Princess is going to be the more challenging one.”
She wasn’t wrong about that. Tasha sat perfectly for her pictures, but when they moved on to Princess, they couldn’t get the puppy to stay in place long enough to get a single good shot.
“I give up,” Joseph finally said, after retrieving her from under the table for the twelfth time.
“Here, how about I try?” Ava stepped toward the puppy, pulling her camera strap over her head.
“And who’s going to take the picture?”
She held the camera out to him, but he shook his head. “I don’t know the first thing about how to use that.”
“I have everything set up for you. All you have to do is push this button.” She indicated a silver circle on top of the camera. “Just make sure not to get me in the picture.”
Joseph took the camera, which was much heavier than he’d expected, and lifted it tentatively to his eyes, bringing the focus to rest on the spot where Ava had managed to get Princess to sit still.
“Now,” Ava called, letting go of the dog.
Joseph pressed the button―just in time for Princess to scamper off.
Ava chased after her and returned her to the spot on the floor. “Get ready.” She patted Princess, holding her in place. “Set.” She lifted one hand. “Go.”
Joseph snapped the picture as Ava removed her other hand. The puppy sat long enough for him to get one shot, then scampered toward Ava.
“Keep shooting,” Ava called. “This might be the best we can do.”
Joseph kept pressing the button as the puppy licked the hand Ava had reached out to push her back into position. The dog instantly scampered toward Ava again, climbing onto her knee.
Ava’s laugh was so perfect that Joseph couldn’t resist.
He lifted the camera so that the focus rested on her face. And he pressed the button. Once and then again.
When Ava looked up, he pulled the camera away from his face.
“Think you got something we can use?” She was still smiling that smile.
“Yeah. I think I did.” He passed the camera into her outstretched hands. “Thanks for letting me use this. It was pretty fun.”
“Yeah? Let’s take a look.” She set the camera down on the table and picked up a tablet. “They’ll be easier to see on here.”
“Maybe I should get a camera. If you’ll teach me how to use it.” He didn’t care if she could see through his blatant attempt to spend more time with her.
“Sure.” But she was already focused on the pictures that had popped onto her tablet screen. “This is a good one.” She angled the tablet so he could see it better―and he took the opportunity to step closer and bend his head over her shoulder.
It was one of the pictures of him on one knee with the dogs.
She kept clicking through the pictures, her finger deftly hitting the delete button on any that didn’t meet her approval.
When she got to the pictures of Princess, she must have deleted at least two dozen before she came to the ones he’d taken.
“These aren’t bad.” She turned her head to smile at him over her shoulder, and his breath caught.
She was close enough that all he’d have to do was lower his head a little more and his lips could brush hers.
She turned back to the tablet, and he focused on pulling in a steadying breath. As much as his desire to kiss her had only grown since Saturday night, she hadn’t indicated that anything had changed since then. Which meant he needed to stay on this side of the friendship line. The side where they didn’t kiss.
Ava laughed as she got to the pictures of Princess licking her hand and then climbing her knee. But her laugh cut off abruptly as she clicked to the next picture―the on
e of her face.
Considering that Joseph hadn’t had a clue what he was doing, the picture had turned out perfectly, capturing that smile he had wanted to hold onto forever.
Before he could say anything, her finger darted to the delete button.
“Ava!”
The second picture flashed onto the screen―and then was gone too.
“Why would you do that?” Joseph grabbed her elbow and spun her toward him.
But she jerked out of his grasp and took a step backwards. “I told you not to take a picture of me.”
The tablet shook in her hands, and he could see the tears gathering behind her eyelids.
Oh man. Had he messed everything up?
He took a slow step toward her and eased the tablet from her, setting it on the table.
She covered her face with her hands, but gently, he pulled them away and wrapped his own hands around them.
She refused to look at him, but that was okay.
“I don’t think you realize how beautiful you are, Ava. You’re strong, you’re caring, you’re compassionate, you’re funny, you’re―”
“Yeah,” she cut him off. “I get it. Beauty is more than skin deep. But, Joseph, I used to be―” She gave him a helpless look. “I was supposed to be a model.”
Joseph tightened his hands around hers. “Beauty is more than skin deep, Ava. Your beauty is so deep. But when I say you’re beautiful, I mean everything. Including this.” He touched a hand to her face, letting his fingers graze the scars.
“Don’t say that.” A tear splattered onto her cheek, right above his hand, and he slid his thumb to wipe it away.
“Why not?” Gently, he rubbed his fingers across her scars.
She shook her head, two more tears falling.
He wiped them away too.
“I’m not that girl anymore, Joseph. I’m not beautiful. Look at me.”
“I am looking at you.” He brought his other hand to her other cheek. “And you are beautiful.”
“Joseph, please―”
“I’ll keep saying it until you believe it, Ava. You’re beautiful.” He let his head tilt closer to hers. “You’re beautiful.”
Her long exhale breezed over his lips.
Pieces of Forever: A Christian Romance (River Falls Book 1) Page 13
