“Okay, so I turned the corner and ran straight into someone. When I looked up, it was him. It was tall, dark, and dangerous. At first I thought I was imagining things like the other night at JT’s when I thought I saw him.”
Viv pointed at her sister. “You did! I remember you pointing and saying tall, dark, and dangerous. I just thought you were tipsy and it was the alcohol talking.”
“Thinking I saw him was the last thing I remembered of that night. But I figured I was just drunk,” Ava explained. “And when I saw him just now, I figured I might be having some kind of nervous breakdown or something. Oh no, I think I asked him if he was real.” Ava cringed as she tried to remember exactly what she’d said.
The entire encounter was sort of a blur, actually. She had so much adrenaline rushing through her.
The bell dinged as two customers entered and Viv let out a frustrated growl. “I’ll be right back. Do not forget where you were.”
Ava watched her sister rush to the counter and speed through the order. She was professional and friendly but not her usual chatty self. Within a few minutes she was back. While she was gone Ava was still trying to wrap her mind around the events that had just transpired.
Asher Ford was a real person. He wasn’t just some hero that she’d built up in her mind.
“Okay, so you crashed into him and what is the first thing you said?”
“I said—”
“Wait!” Viv lifted her hand as she pulled out her phone.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“Audrey needs to be here. If you were telling her this and you guys didn’t call me, I would kill you both,” Viv explained as she texted their sister.
Viv lowered her phone and looked up at her sister.
“So, when—”
“No!” Viv lifted her hand.
“I wasn’t going to say anything about—”
Viv held up her hand and shook her head. “Zip a dee doo dah, zip a dee ay, zip it, lock it, and throw it away.” Viv mimed zipping her lips, turning a lock, and then tossing it over her shoulder.
Ava impatiently tapped her heel on the wood flooring as she waited. She didn’t have that much time because she was due at Mountain Ridge in less than thirty minutes. Thankfully, she didn’t have to wait long. Within just a few minutes Audrey came rushing in from the back door, her hair was damp around her shoulders and she was looking around frantically.
“What’s wrong?!” she asked, taking in short breaths. “What’s the emergency?”
Ava turned to Viv. “What did you text her?”
Viv looked completely unfazed by their sister’s accusatory tone. “Just to come down here.”
Audrey turned her phone so Ava could see the screen.
Viv: Come quick! Emergency! 911!!!
“I’m sorry, Auds,” Ava apologized. “It’s not an emergency.”
“What’s going on?” Audrey was still looking around the coffee shop as if she was going to see a fire she needed to put out.
“There’s been a development that you are going to thank me for including you in. The floor is yours,” Viv said dramatically as she fanned her arm out to Ava.
Ava filled both her sisters in on what had happened and neither Viv nor Audrey interrupted her once. “And then, I was walking away and he called my name. I thought...I don’t know what I thought but I turned around and he handed me this.” Ava lifted the book.
Audrey narrowed her eyes and leaned forward. She’d obviously rushed out of her house and hadn’t put in her contacts. She squinted and read, “His Wildest Desire.”
“More like her wildest desire.” Viv teased. “Get it, her wildest desire.”
“A joke is always funnier when you have to explain it,” Audrey teased her sister.
