“He never married again?”
“No. I don’t think he wanted to commit. He was sour on marriage. There were women around, but no more marriages.”
“Will your brothers be here when the will is read?”
“Sure. Even Zach will come home. You’ll meet them all. They already know about you and that you’re going to work with Caroline. Do your sisters know you accepted my offer?”
“Oh, yes. So do my folks. Trinity and I have been together this past week.”
“So tell me about Trinity and Summer.” While she talked he took her hand, lacing his fingers through hers. He was still, and it would be ridiculous to protest the slight touch, so she talked about her sisters. Words came automatically while most of her attention was on the slight physical contact she had with him. Even though it was almost nothing, she tingled to her toes from it.
Conversation shifted and changed to a variety of topics until the moon was high. Ava stood. “It’s definitely time to turn in.”
He walked inside with her, talking about the coming week. At her door he slipped his arm around her waist to pull her close. This time she didn’t protest, but moved eagerly into his embrace, her arm encircling his neck.
Kisses grew heated, lengthening while he pulled her tightly against him, his hand exploring her back, slipping down over her bottom, up again over her back until she stepped out of his embrace.
“It’s later than ever. Good night, Will.”
Brushing a kiss on her lips, he smiled. “Until tomorrow.”
She closed the door to her suite, moving through the empty room quietly, wondering if she would get to sleep for the few hours left in the night. What had she gotten herself into?
He was quickly becoming irresistible to her.
By the time Ava finished breakfast the next morning, Will had left for his business trip. Ava sat on the playroom floor with Caroline and pulled a box from her tote bag. “I thought maybe you like to play games. I have one I hope you’ll like. We can try, and if you don’t like playing, we’ll stop,” Ava said, getting out a deck of cards. “See, they’re princess cards and each card has a letter on it. First let’s arrange them in the order of the alphabet and you can see the princesses.”
Ava began laying out the cards. “There are two identical cards that each have the same letter. Here are two cards with A and Princess Ann. Here are two B cards with Princess Brianna. Next, Princess Carolyn. And then Princess Dorothy. Now, what card comes next?” she said, spreading out five scrambled cards.
While Caroline sat quietly, Ava remained still, waiting to give Caroline a chance to participate. After five minutes had ticked past, Caroline pulled Princess Eileen and placed it in the row.
“Excellent,” Ava said. “I’ll do the next. Here’s Princess Fiona. We can mix these all up and play a matching game.”
She slowly went through the simple rules as they began to play. She had wondered whether Caroline would play or not, but the girl began to respond, her mind quick and her memory good.
From the game they went to books, and Ava read to Caroline, but once again, she let Caroline turn pages and knew that Caroline was reading along with her. They worked on letters and numbers through books and games until almost noon.
“Want to swim before lunch?”
Caroline was always slow to respond if she did at all. She gazed back at Ava with huge brown eyes and nodded her head.
“Great. I’m ready for a swim. Let’s put on our suits. Do you know where your swimsuit is?”
Caroline slid off the small chair where she sat and disappeared into the next room. Ava followed to see Caroline reaching into a dresser drawer and taking out a pink swim bottom and purple top.
“Great. Put yours on and then we’ll get mine,” Ava said.
Soon they were in the pool with Ava splashing and laughing. Caroline never laughed, talked or smiled, yet Ava had the feeling that she enjoyed the water immensely.
Rosalyn materialized for lunch and took Caroline to help her dress before they returned to eat.
The afternoon went as swiftly as the morning. Late in the afternoon, Ava swam again with Caroline. This time Rosalyn showed up and said she would watch Caroline while Ava swam.
Ava did laps, constantly checking on Caroline. She ate dinner with Rosalyn and Caroline in the kitchen alcove and spent a quiet evening getting ready for the next day. It wasn’t until after ten that she received a text from Will asking about the day. Shortly after her answer, her cell phone buzzed.
“Hi,” Will said in a husky voice. “How’s it going?”
“We had a good day. She’s a bright little girl.”
“So how are you doing in the new situation?”
“She’s delightful in her own quiet way and it’s a challenge. One I never dreamed I’d have.”
“Yeah, amen to that one. Adam and I talked about my being guardian, but I never expected the day would come when I really would be. I’m still at a loss.”
“You seem to be doing a lot for her,” she said, settling in a comfortable chair and kicking off her shoes.
“I wish I could do more. Ava, I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to be home this weekend to take you to dinner. I have a large sale pending and I need to be here part of the weekend, and then early Monday I have to be in Fort Lauderdale for a week, so I’ll just have to bypass coming home.”
Gone two weeks? “We’ll manage.”
“Don’t sound so cheerful to be rid of me,” he teased. “I have opera tickets for the next Saturday night. Some people don’t like opera, so if you’re one of those, I know the performance will not appeal. If you like opera, attend with me.”
“Will, that’s the Fourth of July. Caroline should see fireworks.”
“She doesn’t like them at all. The noise scares her. They have a great display at the country club, but she hated it last year and we left.”
“Well, I guess fireworks are out. I doubt if she’s changed in one year’s time.”
“The opera is The Marriage of Figaro.”
“Now you’re twisting my arm, because I do like opera and haven’t had a chance to go while I was in school.”
“Then it’s settled. Saturday we’ll go to the opera.”
“You get your way most of the time, don’t you?”
“When it’s important I try to. You’ll like this performance. I’ll try to make the evening enjoyable, maybe memorable.”
“You better stop while you’re ahead. We’re going out, which is what you wanted.”
“I can’t recall getting a pretty woman to go out with me being as difficult before.”
“I don’t imagine you do. I have an agenda to follow and I intend to stick to it, but I will go to the opera. Dinner here at your house before the opera.”
“Fine. I’m looking forward to it, and to being home.”
She rested her legs under her and sat talking to Will for the next hour before she said she would have to go.
Deciding Will was ruining her peaceful nights, she lay in the dark, remembering his kisses and missing him. She was doing all the things she had intended to avoid, yet it was becoming more difficult each day to resist Will’s charm.