24
Viv’s smilestayed perfectly in place as she spoke between clenched teeth. “Who invited the enemy?”
“The who?” Ava asked as she sipped her punch that she quickly realized was spiked. This was the first book club meeting Ava had ever been to and after being there for twenty minutes, she felt it was safe to say that no literary discussions were taking place. But she had read the book that was assigned just for good measure.
“Blonde. Three o’clock.”
Ava looked past her sister to the left and only saw a redhead and brunette. “I don’t see a—”
“Sorry. Nine o’clock,” Viv corrected.
When Ava turned her head toward nine o’clock, she saw a gorgeous, statuesque blonde. It was Jenna. Asher’s ex-wife.
“She’s not the enemy.” Ava had never spoken to her so at this point she was just giving her the benefit of the doubt.
Jenna had been in town for two weeks now and Asher still wasn’t sure when she was leaving. He wanted to wait to speak to Blake about Ava, about their past and their relationship until his ex went home. Which Ava understood, even if it was a little frustrating.
“I think she came with Emma,” Audrey offered.
That would make sense considering Logan was Asher’s friend and he, Jenna, and Blake had had dinner at their house a few days ago. Which, thankfully, Ava knew firsthand from Asher and she hadn’t had to hear it through the gossip grapevine.
Since Asher had shown up on her doorstep a week ago, she’d spoken to him on the phone every day. Not only that, he’d also texted Ava first thing in the morning, last thing at night and several times throughout the day. They weren’t officially together, since neither of them felt right about taking that step until Blake knew what was going on, but it felt like they were.
Blake had stopped by Ava’s office yesterday to talk to Ava about the secret she’d been keeping. She’d mentioned that she still hadn’t told Asher or her mom about the affair she’d witnessed between James and her Aunt Bree. Ava had talked to her for about twenty minutes, going deeper into why Blake was so scared to tell someone. Ava asked her questions that she hoped would take the teen down the path of self-discovery so she would come to a place where she would feel comfortable either keeping the information she had to herself or sharing it.
The entire visit, though, Ava had been tempted to work into the conversation a question about whether or not Blake knew when her mom planned to leave, but she hadn’t. That would be crossing over from a gray area to straight up black in the ethical shade chart.
“Do you know when she’s leaving?” Audrey asked the question Ava wished so badly she knew the answer to.
But she didn’t so she shook her head no.
“You know what? Screw this. Hold my drink.” Viv handed her cup to their youngest sister. “I’m gonna go in.”
“No.” Ava reached out and grabbed her sister’s arm and yanked her back toward them. “Don’t.”
Viv turned around with a mock-innocent expression on her face. “Don’t what? I’m just going to go introduce myself, welcome her to the book club, and ask her how long she plans on being in town shacking up with her ex.”
“No,” Ava stated firmly.
“You don’t let me have any fun,” Viv pouted as she took her drink back from Audrey.
“Fun?” Ava repeated.
“Yes, what’s the point in seeing a guy with a baby mama if there’s no baby mama drama?”
“I think your idea of fun and my idea of fun are two very different things.”
The sunroom they were all seated in began to fill with other book club attendees and the conversations soon turned to Amanda, who looked uncomfortably round.
“How long do you have left, Mand?” Nikki Maguire-Gowan who was the dog-mom of Scooby-Doo, the Great Dane who she’d seen strolling down Main Street on multiple occasions with his cousin and partner in crime, Scrappy-Doo.
Amanda rubbed her belly, and let out a long exhale. “Three weeks, but the doctors think it might happen sooner.”
“How’s Justin doing?” Shelby, the owner of JT’s Bar and Grill and The Meadow View B&B asked.
At the mention of her husband, Amanda’s face brightened. She went from looking exhausted and uncomfortable to looking like a schoolgirl with a crush. “He’s excited and I think a little nervous, but he’s not showing it. He’s acting cool as a cucumber but I think inside he’s freaking out a little bit.”
“I still can’t believe that you and Justin ended up together.” Nikki said. “Weren’t you engaged to someone else when he came back to town?”
