Ava - Introduction
Halliday Family
Ava’s story…
Ava’s hungry eyes watched as the tall, handsome man walked over to the rusted truck. He had new tools today and she assumed that the bag in his hand carried replacement parts for the engine.
“Go talk to him,” Jenna urged as she came out of the laundry room with a giant ball of sheets in her arms. They smelled fresh and clean and Jenna sighed as she dumped the load into one of the new plastic baskets.
“He’s too old for me,” Ava replied, leaning a hip against the counter. She was supposed to be waiting for customers to their small, roadside hotel, but her mind was completely occupied by the man who’d bought their grandfather’s old truck hidden behind the shed.
Jenna hefted the basket of sheets onto the counter and started folding one of them. “You’re eighteen, Ava,” Jenna argued.
Ava pulled out one of the sheets as well and folded that one, but she didn’t fold it as precisely as her older sister.
“He’s in his late twenties,” Ava argued.
Jenna snorted and peered through the window at the man in question. “Nah, he’s not that old.” She tilted her head to get a better look. “I’d say he’s in his mid-twenties. Maybe a bit younger.” A flick of the sheet snapped through the air. “Definitely in your age range.”
Ava patted the sheet onto the stack that Jenna had already folded, then took another. She was careful to grab a flat sheet. Jenna was the only person in the world who could neatly fold a fitted sheet. Those things were evil.
“He’s too complicated.” This time, Ava turned away from the view. The man was too enticing! His worn jeans hugged his lean hips and powerful thighs. The rough tee-shirt he’d donned that morning showed off the sinewy muscles that flexed and shifted in a fascinating way as he worked on the engine of the ancient truck.
Jenna laughed at Ava’s newest argument. “You’re just scared.”
Her older sister was right. The man terrified her. And fascinated her. The guy was just…perfect! She turned and looked through the window again and, in that moment, he pulled away from whatever he was doing with the engine. The sunshine glinted off of his beautiful, dark hair as he wiped sweat from his forehead.
“He needs some ice water,” Jenna asserted, then thrust a chilly glass into Ava’s hand.
Ava looked down at the glass of ice water. Obviously, she’d been staring at the man long enough for Jenna to have walked into the back room to get the glass of ice water.
She lifted her eyes and watched as the man struggled with…something. Ava wasn’t a mechanic so she had no idea what odd object he pulled out and tossed into the bag. A moment later, he pulled something out of the bag, most likely a replacement for the worn object.
“Go!” Jenna urged.
With a sigh, Ava turned and, with trembling knees, walked out to offer the man some refreshment.
Grant’s story…
The truck was a mess. But if he could just…Grant struggled to pull out the timing belt that was frayed and too loose to do anything other than get trapped in some other moving part.
He didn’t really care about the truck, although it would be a good investment. His main goal in fixing the truck was to speak with the woman with dark hair and beautiful, blue eyes. He’d seen her in the hotel’s front lobby when he’d driven up. But he hadn’t seen her since.
Was she still watching him?
Yesterday, he’d tried going inside to speak with her, but she’d gone into some back room, letting her sister answer his inane question. So now, he was trying a different approach.
Patience, he told himself. Eventually, the beautiful brunette would come out.
Suddenly, the door to the hotel lobby opened and…he watched as the beautiful woman with cut-off jeans and a loose tee-shirt came through the door. She paused and he watched as she bit her soft, full lip, looked around as if debating something, then took a deep breath. Finally, she walked forward and Grant watched with fascination as the woman that had invaded his dreams too many times over the past few nights walked towards him.
His patience was rewarded!
