Her stomach suddenly knotted. “Do you think he’s—”
“No. Oh, I don’t know. He told me to leave him alone and that he wasn’t out there to hurt himself because he’s too big a coward. I’m freakin’ out. What if he goes and tells Hunt?”
Emma dropped onto the sofa. Ray sat in a chair beside her. They stared at each other in silence—each waiting for the other one to answer that question. What if?
Finally, it was Ray who broke the silence.
“What do we do?”
Emma shrugged. “Nothing. Whatever happens happens. If I could do it over, I wouldn’t make the same choice. But nobody can change history. Go home to Susie. Live your life. It’s all we can do.”
Ray sighed, his shoulders slumping. “I feel kinda like Junior. I don’t like myself, either.”
Emma’s eyes narrowed. “Life isn’t a popularity contest. Go home.”
Ray got up and walked out.
Emma rolled over onto her side, curling up on the sofa and staring dry-eyed at the wall.
But Ray still wasn’t satisfied with leaving Junior out at the lake like that. Emma hadn’t heard the hopelessness in Junior’s voice, but she knew why he was the way he was. It was Ray’s opinion that she should be more sympathetic. After all, she was a part of it, too.
They’d just buried their mother, and he didn’t want to have to bury his brother because he’d ignored what felt like a cry for help. But the only other person he could call was Birdie, and he didn’t know how she was going to react. She was pretty upset with all of them and, with the fire at her work and Arnold dying, likely more upset.
But she was still their baby sister, and Junior loved her a lot. Maybe she could convince him to come home. So Ray got in his car and then gave her a call.
Chapter 14
Unaware of the family drama, Hunt was getting ready to go pick up Ava. He had the ring in his pocket and was going to play the rest of the evening by ear.
Blessings was limited in choices of places to eat out, but not in food. Granny’s menu was varied enough to suit most every palate, and the barbecue joint and Broyles Dairy Freeze took care of everything else. But the way he felt, he could put ketchup on cardboard and make it work if making love to Ava was on the menu for dessert.
He gave himself the once-over in the bathroom mirror and frowned. He still needed a haircut. Maybe another day, he thought, then put on his leather jacket, got the car keys, and left the house. The roofers would be back tomorrow, and so would the carpenter. They had the floor joists fixed and the subfloor patched in the kitchen, but there was still a place in the bathroom floor to repair as well. But that was tomorrow. Tonight was for the woman who’d put the light back in his life.
When he pulled up in her drive, the anticipation of just seeing her face made his heart skip. God. He was so far gone.
He got out and was on his way to the front porch when Ava came bouncing out of the house, waving.
He laughed. “I’m glad to see you, too,” he said, then walked her to the truck, helped her in, and kissed her square on the mouth. “You look beautiful.”
Ava sighed. “Drive, or take me back in the house.”
“One thing at a time, love,” he said, and got in. “Talk to me about your day,” he added as he started the truck and drove away to Granny’s.
“Well, you won’t guess who showed up in the ER.”
“Who?” Hunt asked.
“Vince Lewis and his wife, who was eight months pregnant. Supposedly, they were on their way home to Atlanta when she went into labor. I don’t know exactly what route they were on, but he detoured and came straight to Blessings Hospital.”
“Was she okay?” Hunt asked.
Ava nodded. “The baby was in distress, so they took his wife to surgery. One C-section later, they are the proud parents of a baby girl. He apologized for coming back, but it was the closest place he knew to bring her. Anyway, she’s here for a while until she and the baby are able to travel, or until they’re stable enough to Medi-Flight them back to Atlanta. Either way, his fleeting interest in me has shifted to more important things in his life.”
Hunt heard the satisfaction in her voice and knew that whatever had transpired, she was good with it, and that’s all that mattered to him. Then he turned off Main and into the parking lot at Granny’s and parked.
Ava suddenly pointed. “Oh look! There are Peanut and Ruby.”
Hunt frowned. “Ruby as in Ruby Dye…who owns the hair salon?”
Ava nodded. “She and Peanut got married a while back. They had quite a story making it happen, too. Her ex-husband showed up, kidnapped her, and there was quite a race to run him down and rescue her.”
Hunt’s eyes widened. “In Blessings? In my head, bad things like that never happen here.”
“There have been all kinds of family dramas happening in Blessings through the years. Some of them tragic, like what happened today to Mr. Hollis, and some of them heroic, like Johnny Pine rescuing Lovey during the hurricane. Even when we mess up, somehow we find a way to come together in the end.”
“Good to know. I like happy endings,” Hunt said. “Are you ready to go inside?”
She leaned across the seat and kissed him.
“Yes, please.”
Hunt felt the kiss all the way to his bones, then got out of the truck and helped her down. They went in hand in hand, and from the look on Hunt Knox’s face, the diners were no longer in doubt about where Hunt and Ava’s relationship was going.
Lovey greeted them, grabbed a couple of menus, and was leading them to an empty booth when Hunt saw Birdie sitting in a booth by herself. She looked so lost and forlorn.
“There’s Birdie,” Hunt said.
Lovey stopped. “She’s eating alone. You two want to sit with her?”
“Of course,” Ava said.
Lovey led them over. “Hey, Birdie, want some company?”
Birdie looked up. “Yes! Please! After everything that happened today, I didn’t want to spend the evening alone.”
They sat down, and then Ava reached for Birdie’s hand.
“I heard about the fire. I’m so sorry about Arnold,” she said.
Birdie’s shoulders slumped. “I was so scared. All of the power went out inside the building, and my office is down a hallway with no windows. It was pitch-dark and the smoke was so thick I was choking. I couldn’t find my phone and didn’t want to take time searching for it. I finally found my way out of the building, and then dropped.” Then she looked across the table at Hunt, and there were tears in her eyes. “The next thing I know, my big brother is picking me up and carrying me to one of the ambulances. I was never so glad to see anyone in my life.”