Now it’s Ava’s turn to make a joke. “Which one? They’re all weird.”
“If he looks like he’s got a tiny dick, I’m not going to be anything but civil. I just want that out there now.”
Once again, she throws me a dirty look. “Language, please. Little ears.”
“That don’t understand anything.”
“I swear you and Marius are so bad. I had to reprimand him about his language too this morning, and I swear the two of you have winkies on the mind.”
Cringing at the sound of that word, I shake my head. “You can trust me. I do not have winkies on the mind.”
Big hanging men? Sure. Winkies? That word is the surest way of making me dry. I don’t bother to explain that to Ava, though.
We stop in the jewelry department and look at necklaces, even though I don’t think I’ve ever seen Eleanor wearing a necklace in all the times I’ve been to the King estate. When Ava doesn’t find anything she likes, we continue to the case with pins.
Ava points at one that looks like a peacock. “What about this? She might like it and wear it on her coat. I know she has other pins. I’ve seen them on her winter coats before.”
A worker comes over to offer help, so while he and Ava talk about what the stones are made of in the peacock’s feathers, I crouch down to check on Matty. I swear I still smell something when I’m close to him, but it’s not as bad now. Maybe it is residual stink like Ava claimed.
He is an adorable little guy. Smiling at me, he kicks his legs excitedly. I tickle his belly and then play with his chubby little feet.
“You’re not too bad, little man. I could have one of you. That might be nice, right? Your mommy and I could raise you guys like cousins, best friends like us. What do you think?”
That makes him grab at my hair, so I quickly stand up to avoid that. Ava’s finally decided on a gift for Eleanor with that peacock pin, so now all we have to do is wait for the salesperson to box it up.
“I bet she’ll like that,” I say, sensing my friend is still upset with me from my comment a few minutes ago.
When she doesn’t respond, I give in and promise her what she wants. “Okay, if Bill Nye the Science Guy isn’t awful, I’ll talk to him. No promises after that, though.”
That makes her smile, and she turns to face me, looking very excited. “Great! He’s obviously smart. I mean, he’s the head ofthe IT department. Matthias says he’s a nice guy. I met him at the King Industries Christmas party, and he seemed very sweet.”
Great. Just what I need. A sweet and nice geek.
Maybe he’ll be hiding something good in his pants. A girl can hope, right?
Gift in hand, Ava begins pushing the stroller through the store again as she talks about what she’s planning to serve everyone at the party. I’m more concerned about what my potential date looks like than the food since I can always count on whatever Eleanor makes to be top shelf.
Ava’s phone rings, so I take over pushing Matty out of the store. Still kicking his little legs, he’s pleased as punch to be in this thing. My youngest brother was like that. He loved his playpen so much that my parents kept him in it all the time. My father used to joke they’d be lucky if he didn’t become a criminal after getting used to being confined all the time.
“What happened?” Ava asks the person who called, so I stop and listen to what’s going on.
“Oh, no. Is she okay? Where is she now? Okay. We’ll be right home.”
Ava stuffs her phone into her purse and grabs a hold of the stroller. “We have to go now. Something’s happened to Eleanor. That was Ronan. He sounded like he was going to cry. It must be bad. Oh, God! I don’t know what I’ll do if she isn’t okay, Eden. Eleanor is like a mother to me. Hurry! We have to go!”
Tears fill her eyes as she rushes through the mall to get to the car. After losing her own mother, all Ava’s had for a mother figure in her life is Eleanor. The same can be said for Matthias and his brothers.
God, I hope she’s going to be okay.
CHAPTER SIX
Marius
The kitchen door opens,and in bust Ava, Eden, and Matty in his stroller. Looking around, Ava asks, “Where is she? Where is Eleanor?”
She looks like she’s about to cry, so I quickly explain, “She’s resting in her room. Ronan’s sitting with her. Matthias is in his office making some calls to see what can be done. And I’m here.”
That last part seems unnecessarily obvious, but after finding Eleanor collapsed on the kitchen floor, I’m a little frazzled. It’s not every day the only woman you’ve been able to rely on for most of your life scares the hell out of you.
