She gave her cousin a hug. “Thanks, Mac. One mystery solved.”
They left and went back to get Adele at her parents’ house. In the car, Seth said, “I’m not sure I can apologize enough for this.”
Ava started to laugh and he didn’t know what to make of it. “I never thought my life would be this exciting when I decided to move to the island.”
“How can you laugh at this?” he asked.
“How can I not?” she said. “I’m relieved. You have no idea the weight off my shoulders that that is what this was all about. That it was not someone who wanted to rob me or hurt me.”
He let out a breath. “I suppose you’re right.”
“I am. Now you need to figure out what and how much you are telling Adele. I vote for saying nothing at all. Make something up. Parents lie all the time to their kids.”
This time he laughed. “I don’t normally. Not even sure what the heck to say.”
“Tell her I won a bunch of money at the casino and as the president of the bank you had to help me carry it to my safe deposit box. She’s six, she’ll believe it.”
He shook his head. “She probably will.”
34
Moment of Awkwardness
Six weeks later, Seth and Ava were walking into The Bond Retreat once again. This time for Drew and Amanda’s Friday night wedding. Adele was at his mother’s and he and Ava got a room to stay. Why not, he figured? They could have a few drinks and relax and not worry about driving the couple miles back to her place.
They’d gotten through their vacation together and only had one moment of awkwardness on the ferry ride home.
“I had the best time ever,” Adele had said. They were on the railing overlooking the water, Boston harbor a faint view in the distance. They’d only planned on staying a few nights at Ava’s parents but had so much fun with day trips and sightseeing that they stayed from Saturday until the following Saturday morning.
Not once did Adele ask where her father was sleeping and he and Ava had managed to get up before Adele each morning. He supposed it wasn’t a big deal at this point as they’d been dating for months and Ava was always staying at his house, but it was best to not have a conversation like that either.
“I’m so glad you had fun,” Ava had said. “I did too. I haven’t been on a vacation in a long time.”
“Why not?” Adele asked. “I thought adults could go anytime they wanted.”
Ava had smiled at his daughter. “It doesn’t always work out that way. I’ve spent a lot of time in school and was itching to get to work. When I took time off it was normally long weekends and a few days here and there. Besides, I haven’t had anyone to spend a nice vacation with other than family.”
He hadn’t been sure what to make of that statement but knew it wasn’t the time to comment. He wasn’t one to talk, as his only real vacation in the past several years had been the week trip to Ohio to visit with Ellen’s family.
“Well, now we can go on vacation together all the time,” Adele said. “And if you lived with us we could have fun every day.”
He looked over at Ava to see her reaction to that statement. Neither one of them had talked much about the future more than they knew they loved each other. He found it funny that his daughter was the one that pushed them on their first date and now it was almost like she was innocently pushing them toward another step.
Their relationship was still somewhat new. He liked what they had, but he’d be lying if he didn’t say or think he’d like more of it too.
There was no reason to put pressure on either of their shoulders right now though.
Ava had laughed. “I just got my place.”
“But it’s so far away,” Adele said.
“Nothing on the island is that far, Adele,” Ava had said.
Adele had dropped it after that and the topic hadn’t come up again.
The rest of the summer flew by; it was only a few weeks anyway. Adele started school and the before-and-after care program, letting his mother have her life back. It seemed to be working for everyone.
And on the first day of school, Ava had suggested she cook dinner and had a special batch of chocolate chip cookies for Adele, saying her mother always made the first day fun like the last day of school.
Another thing he never thought much of before and was glad to have a woman’s influence on his daughter. Even to the point when they were on vacation, Ava took Adele shopping alone for clothes. He was both nervous and thankful at the same time.
Not nervous that Ava would say or do anything inappropriate by any means, but that his daughter was getting so used to it and would want only Ava every time.
This was where he wondered if they should slow down but found his heart wouldn’t let him if he tried.
“Here we are again,” Ava said when they walked into the room the ceremony would be held in. “Hopefully the next day won’t bring us another surprise.”
He laughed, remembering the last time they had dinner here and a night out, they’d found out who had broken into her house.
Since then Michaela had apologized. She’d come into the bank to do it personally and asked if she could apologize to Ava too. He’d said that would be up to Ava, but in the end it never happened.
Instead he’d heard that Michaela had left the island and found a job elsewhere. It was best in his mind, and his mother had been upset when she found out that what she’d said might have led to what happened by talking about his new relationship with her friends.
He’d assured his mother that,
