Sara Orwig - Lone Star Legacy

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. The barriers she had kept around her heart were melting away faster than she would have thought possible, and in truth, she wasn’t altogether sorry to see them go.

She thought of each of his features, the wavy black hair, his thick eyelashes framing lively midnight eyes, his broad shoulders, muscled body and long legs. He was wickedly attractive and sinfully wealthy, a devastating combination. On top of that, he cared deeply about Caroline, going above and beyond his duty to try to help her thrive.

The two weeks he was gone passed quickly, but by Friday, Ava had a subject she wanted to discuss with Will. She felt Caroline became even more distant when Will was not around. It was so slight, she wondered if she was imagining it, yet Caroline became a silent, unresponsive child during the time.

Though he called Ava every night after getting in from dinners and appointments, by the time he tried to get Caroline on Skype, she had already fallen asleep. Ava intended to change that. When he was home, Will gave his time and attention to Caroline, but when he was away, he had little contact with her. Ava felt at this time in Caroline’s life, she needed Will’s presence more.

She wondered how he’d react to that.

Saturday afternoon Ava swam with Caroline, as she had every day. They played water games and swam for over an hour. Finally Ava climbed out and sat on a chaise longue until she was dry. She watched Caroline continue to swim. At four, Ava let Rosalyn take her place while she went to bathe for the evening. Will had called to say he was running late getting home and she should go ahead and have dinner without him.

She was surprised to find herself disappointed. She ate with Rosalyn and Caroline and then left to dress. Will called once more to say he was turning in the drive and he would spend the time left with Caroline until he had to dress to go to the opera.

As she bathed and dressed, Ava thought about what she would say to him when they were together. She wanted him to make some changes, and she intended to get her way on this one.

She slipped into a dark blue dress with simple lines and a deep V neckline. Her hair was piled on her head with locks falling in the back.

By the time seven o’clock rolled around, she went to tell Caroline good-night. Gazing solemnly at Ava, Caroline held the brown teddy bear. Her dark eyes roamed over Ava, and Ava wondered what ran through Caroline’s thoughts. “Your Uncle Will and I are going to the opera. He’ll come see you before we go. Later, when we get home, we’ll check on you.”

The girl just stared her, so Ava smiled, told Rosalyn goodbye and left, going down to the front room to wait for Will. She looked at the leather-bound collection of books on the shelves and wondered whether Will had them for show or actually read them.

“I’ve looked forward to this all day,” he said, sauntering into the room.

Her heart missed a beat when she heard his voice. She turned, and the impact of the sight of him was even stronger than it had been before. Her pulse raced while she smiled at him. In his dark tux, he looked more handsome than ever—or did he seem that way because she hadn’t seen him for a while?

“You look gorgeous,” he said. “I missed you the past two weeks and I’m glad to be home. I spent about thirty minutes with Caroline and told her we would spend tomorrow together.”

“That’s good. I’m sure she likes having you here.”

“I don’t suppose anything changed with her while I was away?”