And Ava was going to be learning from her in less than six weeks.
She swallowed the mouthful of spaghetti and sat still, letting that sink in.
Holy shit.
She slept fitfully because her mind wouldn’t stop racing, and when she opened her eyes at seven thirty—a full two and a half hours earlier than normal—that was it. There was no more sleeping. She reached for her phone and texted her mom.
You up?
Of course she was up. She’d likely been up for a few hours now, and Ava could picture her on the little screen porch of her modest modular home in the retirement community in Florida where she lived for half the year, sipping her tea and watching the birds flit around her feeders. She spent as much money on bird food as she did on food for herself, but it made her happy, so Ava tried not to give her too much of a hard time about it.
The phone rang in her hand, and Ava grinned. “Hey, Mom.”
“Am I up? What a stupid question. I’m always up.”
“Listen, my mama raised me to have manners. I needed to check first.” Ava pushed out of bed and headed to the kitchen counter to turn on her coffee maker. “How are the birds this morning?”
“Lots of warblers today,” her mom said. “I think the two from last year told their friends. And the cardinal couple is back.”
Ava smiled as she put a tea bag into her mug and waited for the water to boil. “Warblers. They have yellow tummies?”
“Yup. And I think I finally have bluebirds in the birdhouse.”
Ava let her mom go on about the birds, simply reveling in the sound of her voice, her excitement clear, the way it always was when she talked about her birds. They hadn’t seen each other since before the holidays, and listening to her talk helped Ava not miss her quite so much.
“And what’s new with you, my girl?” her mom asked after an explanation of what was in the new suet she bought. “You don’t usually text this early. Everything okay?”
“I have news.” And with those three words, Ava’s heart rate kicked up again. Her elation built again. Her disbelief surged in again. “Remember the Bennett-Schmidt retreat I was telling you about just after you left for Florida?”
“Of course I do. You said the application was going to take you hours to fill out, but you were practically coming out of your skin with excitement.”
“I got in.” Three more simple words. And maybe it was because it was daylight now rather than the wee hours. Maybe it was because several hours had passed since she’d read the acceptance letter. Ava didn’t know, but somehow, it felt even bigger, even more important. So she said it again. “I got in, Mom.”
The shriek of delight that came out of her mother right then made Ava pull the phone away from her ear. “Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Uh-oh, Connie’s looking out her window. Probably thinks I fell in my driveway again. I’m fine, Connie! I’m waving to her now. My daughter just gave me some great news! I’m okay!”
Ava couldn’t help laughing and shaking her head at the two separate conversations happening at once, both from her mother.
“Oh, baby, I amso, soproud of you! This is amazing. Give me all the details.”
“Well, I don’t know a ton,” Ava said, pulling out the package she’d received and looking it over for what felt like the hundredth time. “It starts in May and runs through mid-July. It’s on the grounds of Liza Bennett-Schmidt’s home upstate. There are five other attendees besides me. And we’re gonna learn directly from her.” She took a breath. “I’m going to learn from somebody who’s not only a master at what she does—at what I do—but I’m going to learn from somebody I’veidolizedfor my entire career. Mom.” She swallowed a lump as unexpected tears welled up in her eyes. “I can’t even believe it. This is a dream.”
“Nobody deserves it more, my girl. Nobody.”
Once she hung up from her mom, she called up Courtney’s number and shot her a text.
Let me know when you’re up. Have some news.
She set her phone down and busied herself doctoring her cup of coffee. Tonight’s shift was gonna be rough because she was too wired to go back to sleep. Might as well start with the caffeine now. She was going to need it.
Her phone pinged and she turned to regard it with surprise, which only increased when she saw it was Courtney. As the head bartender at Pomp, her hours were nearly the same as Ava’s.
I’m up, the text said.
OMG, why?Ava sent back.
Courtney’s response was to send a GIF that featured a womandressed in club attire, carrying her high heels and tiptoeing out of a room.
“Oh my God,” Ava said aloud, then sent a laughing emoji and typed,ARE YOU DOING A WALK OF SHAME?It was not at all unusual for Courtney to go home with—or take home—a customer she met at the bar during her shift. It always made Ava a little nervous, but Courtney was a badass and could take care of herself—which she’d mentioned to Ava more than once.