Family Bonds- Ava and Seth (Amore Island Book 5), Natalie Ann [world of reading TXT] 📗

meet the woman making time with her son rather than Seth going to get Adele at noon as was the original plan.

“Thanks,” Seth said when he walked back into the kitchen. “You didn’t need to clean up.”

“You cooked so it was the least I could do.”

“My mother will be here any minute. When she says ten that means nine fifty. Easily.”

“It’s fine. I’m always early too. I believe she probably wants to meet me.”

“She does. And just so you know, she’d never met the other women I’ve dated since Ellen’s passing.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Really. She knew I was seeing people. She knew the last one because her mother and my mother were friends, but she’d never seen us together if that makes sense. I’d never keep that from her, but Adele didn’t know and, well, as I said last night, it didn’t work out with them.”

“We don’t know how things will work out with us either,” she said.

“We don’t, but this is different. At least it is for me.”

She turned and wrapped her arms around Seth’s waist and gave him a hug. “It is for me too. Maybe starting so slow was a good thing though neither of us planned it that way.”

“There are a lot of things in my life that weren’t planned for. You could say the same.”

She wasn’t sure if that was a bad memory for him or not but didn’t have time to ask before there was a knock at the door and it opened. She supposed it was nice Mary knocked and assumed she didn’t normally.

“Daddy,” Adele said, running in the door and toward him first for a hug, then she turned and came over to her and hugged her legs too. “I’m so glad you came back to see me.”

She returned the embrace, her hands on the little girls’ shoulders and looked over at Seth to see him flush, then Mary wink at her.

“Adele, why don’t you go put your clothes in your hamper and your toys away while Grandma meets Daddy’s new friend,” Mary said.

“You’ll like Ava,” Adele said. “She’s great.”

Adele took off fast and Ava was at least thrilled to have that vote of confidence sent her way. She moved forward and put her hand out. “It’s so nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot of wonderful things about you.”

“You have?” Mary asked.

Seth had said that his mother had short hair and she did. The back was resting at the nape of her neck, the top longer and straight, parted to the side. This was a stylish woman in her retirement wearing leather sandals that Ava wouldn’t mind owning and a pair of tan shorts with a plain red T-shirt.

“I’ve told Ava what a great strong mother you were raising two boys,” Seth said.

“You’re going to make my head swell. But I can say I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about you from my granddaughter,” Mary said. “And by the tired look in my son’s eyes and the smile on his face, I’d say he probably has plenty of nice things to say about you too. Just maybe not to his mother.”

This time she was pretty sure she was matching the flush that Seth had.

20

Excited And Giddy

After dinner, Ava said her goodbyes to Adele and Seth. She was glad he’d brought her bag to her car before Adele arrived so there wouldn’t be any questions from the little girl who seemed to see more than she should.

That also meant no kiss goodbye either, but considering how much she and Seth had their hands and mouths all over each other the past twenty-four hours, she wasn’t feeling deprived.

But she was feeling excited and giddy and she needed to talk to someone. Since she’d been honest about not having a lot of friends, at least on the island or ones she could call last minute like this, she decided to see if her parents were home.

When she pulled in, she hadn’t expected to see Hudson’s car there and wondered if both her brothers were at the house or not. One of them was bad enough, but both might require more energy than she had.

She wouldn’t turn around and leave though because that would be cowardly.

She shut her car off and got out, then went in the front door. Yep, both her brothers were there. “Don’t you guys ever work?”

“I’m off today,” Hudson said.

“I’m on call,” Carson said. “Mom was cooking dinner and asked us over.”

“How come I wasn’t invited?” she asked, crossing her arms.

“Because you said you had plans yesterday and I wasn’t sure if that bled over to today. But there is plenty, so join us.”

“No, thanks,” she said. “I ate at Seth’s.”

“So I was right,” her mother said. “And you came here to talk so come in and tell us everything.”

There was no way she was saying everything with her father and brothers looking at her. She walked into the kitchen and got a diet soda and then came back. “There isn’t much to say. You know we are dating.”

“So it’s going well?” Hudson asked.

“Considering we spent a month apart and most of it spent talking on the phone, yes.”

“But you’ve been on the island for over two weeks now,” Carson said.

“Working,” she said. “I’ve been busy and then on call. I’m still on call, but we went out anyway last night and Adele spent the night at her grandmother’s.”

She shouldn’t have said that when her father lifted his eyebrow at her. Yeah, they all knew what that meant but she was a grown woman.

“And you just left there now? So Adele has been gone the whole time?” her mother asked.

“No. Adele was aware Seth and I were together last night. She didn’t know I spent the night but asked if I would come back today to see her.”

She figured why hide the fact where she was. Her brothers scowled at her and she just stuck her tongue out at them.

“Real classy, Ava,” Hudson said.

“Just because you’re the oldest