Sara Orwig - Lone Star Legacy

“I suppose Mom will be there,” Zach said.

“I can’t imagine her missing this. I’ll call her, but she’s on the same list we are.”

“She’ll fly in, hear what she already knows, take us to lunch and go. Heaven knows when we’ll see her again.”

“Think she’ll come see Caroline?” Ava asked.

“She’s not the doting grandmother. I seriously doubt it. The plans now are to read the will at his office.”

“Will, I can’t imagine,” Ava said. “Is Caroline going to miss her when she doesn’t see her?”

“No. They aren’t close—surprise, surprise,” Zach said with a cynical note in his voice. “My brother may not have told you, but marriages in this family have not worked out well.”

“I don’t think Lauren will show. I think our ex-sister-in-law will send her attorney,” Will said with a cold tone in his voice that chilled Ava. “Dad told me he left her the token one dollar so she can’t declare she was forgotten. She won’t come and she won’t want to see Caroline.”

“I still can’t imagine. Such a precious child,” Ava said.

Zach glanced at his watch, finished his coffee and stood. “I have to go. Both of you, stay where you are. Ava, it was great to meet you. Endless thanks to you,” he said, shaking hands once again with her.

As Will left to walk out with Zach, all Ava could think about was the Delaney family—and how glad she was that Caroline had wonderful uncles who cared deeply about her.

Ava had another productive day with Caroline. After lessons ended for the afternoon, she had business to take care of, and when Rosalyn arrived to replace her, she summoned a limo and left the mansion.

It was past six o’clock when she returned, but it wasn’t until after Caroline went to bed that Ava saw her opportunity to talk to Will. She found him in the downstairs family room.

He had changed to jeans and a T-shirt, his legs stretched out comfortably on the sofa.

“You said you wanted to talk. I’ve been curious all evening what this concerns. Come sit here by me. I don’t bite hard,” he added with a faint smile.

She moved to the far end of the sofa and he gave her a mocking look.

“Will, I plan to work with Caroline all summer as we agreed.”

“So where is this going?” he asked, sipping his cold beer.

“That means I will work every weekday with Caroline until six. Then Rosalyn will take over or you’ll be here. Today I leased a condo near here for the rest of the summer.”

His expression didn’t change as he looked at her intently. “Why?”

“I think you can figure why. I’ve told you from the start, I can’t handle an affair. I also have found that I can’t say no to you, so I’m moving where temptation will not be as great. It won’t affect my work with Caroline at all.”

“I don’t want you to go,” he stated, and the words twisted her heart. She wanted to scream at him that she didn’t want to leave, either, but she had to, or else see her heart broken far worse later. “This place is big enough—move into the other wing and we’ll never see each other after six if you want. I’ll take care of your lease.”

“No,” she said, trying to hang on to patience. “I’m not moving to a different part of your house.”

“This will set Caroline back.”

“No, it won’t. I’ll talk to her about it tomorrow, and if it seems in any way to upset her, then I’ll rethink my plans. I think I can put it to her so she won’t mind and she’ll never notice. I’ll stay for dinner sometimes if I’m invited, and into early evenings with the two of you, but I’ll have my own place to go to and we will not have a repeat of last night.”

“And that was so terrible?”

“You know it was not,” she said. “That’s the problem. It was wonderful.”

“Ava, damnit,” he said, moving beside her and slipping his hand behind her hair. “You can’t tell me our loving was wonderful and you’re moving to get away from me in the same breath.”

“You’ll break my heart. I can’t deal with a casual affair. Or even a serious one. I’d want marriage. There isn’t a future for us.”

“I’m not asking for a future. Just a day at a time in the here and now.”

“That’s the problem, Will. Can’t you see? I’m not a ‘day at a time’ person. I want it all. I want commitment. I want your love for all time. I can’t give you a day at a time, and I’ve told you as much from the first.” She stood. “Now, in the interest of keeping this a professional relationship from here on, I’ll say good-night.”

He came to his feet to wrap his arms around her.

“Will—”

He kissed away the rest of her words. His hands were everywhere, caressing her back, her bottom, unfastening her slacks and pushing them away.

She pressed lightly against his chest. Continuing to kiss her, his hands went beneath her blouse to cup her breasts and he played over her nipples, stroking her, destroying her rising protests. She couldn’t say no. In seconds, her hands moved over him while she caressed him and he picked her up to carry her to a bedroom, closing the door.

Later, when she lay against him, held tightly in his arms, she ran her fingers through the mat of curls on his chest. “This is exactly why I have the condo.”

“It won’t change things except be more inconvenient sometimes for you,” he predicted. “You’ll see.”

“Will, you’re not listening to what I’m saying.”

“Of course, I am. It’s just ridiculous when this is what you want.”

“Don’t push.”

“This is the best, Ava. The very best,” Will said in husky tones. He pulled her closer and kissed her lightly. Her heart sank. It would be so difficult to move, and in spite of her cheerful front with Will, she hated having to tell Caroline that she was moving.

“I can’t do this, Will. I really can’t.”

“I think you do it supremely well,” he said, nuzzling her neck and she gave up talking to him about it, turning to kiss him instead.

She was still moving, though.

The next afternoon after she was finished with teaching, Ava was stretched on the floor with Caroline as she worked on a puzzle.

“Caroline, I love being here with you and your uncle Will, but I’m going to move into my place nearby.”

Caroline looked up and worry clouded her brown eyes while her brow furrowed. “You’re moving away?”

“I’m moving very close by. I will still be here when you get up in the morning, and I’ll stay until dinner time when Rosalyn comes. Sometimes I’ll spend the evening until you go to bed. I don’t think you’ll notice much difference.”

“I won’t?” she asked.

“No. And then you’ll have a place you can come visit and stay with me all night,” Ava said, the words popping out before she had even thought them over.

“I can stay all night with you?”

“Yes.”

Tears welled up in Caroline’s eyes and she stood, running the few feet to Ava. She threw her arms around Ava and clung tightly. “Don’t go.”

“I’m really not going except late at night and very early in the morning before you’re awake,” Ava said, holding the frail little girl. “Don’t cry, because you won’t notice the difference, and if you do, I promise, I’ll move right back in here.”

“You promise?” Caroline asked, leaning back to look into Ava’s eyes.

Ava pulled out a clean tissue to wipe away Caroline’s tears. Her heart was in knots and she had a lump in her throat. “Absolutely. If you don’t like it, I do promise to move right back here, so don’t cry. If you’re not happy with where I’ve moved, I’ll come back. It will be up to you. You know I’ll be leaving when the summer is over, but if I have this condo, you’ll be able to come visit when you want and I can come visit you every day if you want.”