relationship to peter out after a month or two, and earlier than that if the man of the moment happened to mention that he eventually wanted to settle down and have children. She wasn’t marriage material, and she knew it.
Ava shut her eyes for a moment and breathed deeply to try to resolve the ache in her heart . It didn’t quite do it—but then again it never did, though she knew from years of trying that at least it helped—then continued walking without looking over at the children again.
A commotion broke out up ahead, in the area where there was a break in the store fronts for mall exits on each side. A woman cried out something unintelligible, followed by “Stop!” Within seconds a brown-skinned child wearing a navy blue jacket and a dark baseball cap was making a beeline for the door.
Ava gasped . She only caught a glimpse of the boy—she was still about four or five stores away—but he was about Marcus’s size and complexion, and the dark waist-length jacket and baseball cap fit the profile, to say nothing of the activity. As the saying went, if it looked like a duck, walked like a duck and quacked like a duck, then it must be a duck.
She rushed to the bank of glass doors at the exit . There was no sign of Marcus anywhere. That was a pretty nervy stunt, Ava thought. Security was beefed up at the mall at this time of year. All it would take was one strong bystander to grab him and turn him over to the police.
H e’d certainly managed to disappear in a hurry, she thought as she took one last lingering look toward the left, the right, and finally straight ahead. Where had he gone?
*****
Ava walked through the mall in the same direction from which she had come, heading toward the exit where she had parked. The heartache that had brought her to the mall in the first place seemed frivolous next to her concern for Marcus. The thought of such a sweet-natured child turning into a career criminal made her feel ill.
While she managed not to bump into anyone as she walked through the crowd, lost in her thoughts, the other shoppers and the bustling mall activity faded into a big blur.
Had Ava not been so preoccupied with thoughts of Marcus she would have spotted Hilton coming out of the toy store, laden with packages.
Chapter 5
“ I can’t tell you how much Danny and I appreciate your organizing our wedding for us, Ava,” Vicky said. She, Kendall and Ava sat at Ava’s kitchen table early on Monday evening, feasting on take-out Chinese food, in what would be one of their last get-togethers before Vicky’s wedding. Vicky and her fiancé lived in North Carolina, but they were holding their wedding in her hometown of Nile Beach.
“ Don’t be silly. I do this all the time; there’s nothing to it. As the bride you shouldn’t have to worry about a thing. After all, you’re only going to do this—” Ava broke off, realizing her mistake.
“ It’s okay, you can say it. Twice,” Vicky replied good-naturedly. “It’s okay. Divorce is rough, but at least I got a beautiful daughter out of it.” Vicky gasped. “Oh, Ava, I’m sorry. What a tactless thing for me to say.”
“ What’s with you two? Can’t y’all keep your feet out of your mouths?” Kendall teased as Ava assured Vicky it was all right. “Besides,” Kendall added with a mischievous glint in her eye, “Ava might be doing the marriage thing twice herself.”
“ She might?” Vicky asked.
“ I might?” Ava repeated, wide-eyed.
Kendall scowled Ava’s way. “You know what I’m talkin’ about.”
Ava rolled her eyes.
Vicky put down her fork. “Well, will somebody please tell me what it’s about?”
“ Sure,” Ava said. “Here’s the deal. I met this man Friday night at a party at Catherine Moore’s house. He gave me a ride home when my car broke down and was thoughtful enough to come pick me up at the shop on Saturday because he knew my car wasn’t working. Kendall ran into us and invited us to come to the
Ava shut her eyes for a moment and breathed deeply to try to resolve the ache in her heart . It didn’t quite do it—but then again it never did, though she knew from years of trying that at least it helped—then continued walking without looking over at the children again.
A commotion broke out up ahead, in the area where there was a break in the store fronts for mall exits on each side. A woman cried out something unintelligible, followed by “Stop!” Within seconds a brown-skinned child wearing a navy blue jacket and a dark baseball cap was making a beeline for the door.
Ava gasped . She only caught a glimpse of the boy—she was still about four or five stores away—but he was about Marcus’s size and complexion, and the dark waist-length jacket and baseball cap fit the profile, to say nothing of the activity. As the saying went, if it looked like a duck, walked like a duck and quacked like a duck, then it must be a duck.
She rushed to the bank of glass doors at the exit . There was no sign of Marcus anywhere. That was a pretty nervy stunt, Ava thought. Security was beefed up at the mall at this time of year. All it would take was one strong bystander to grab him and turn him over to the police.
H e’d certainly managed to disappear in a hurry, she thought as she took one last lingering look toward the left, the right, and finally straight ahead. Where had he gone?
*****
Ava walked through the mall in the same direction from which she had come, heading toward the exit where she had parked. The heartache that had brought her to the mall in the first place seemed frivolous next to her concern for Marcus. The thought of such a sweet-natured child turning into a career criminal made her feel ill.
While she managed not to bump into anyone as she walked through the crowd, lost in her thoughts, the other shoppers and the bustling mall activity faded into a big blur.
Had Ava not been so preoccupied with thoughts of Marcus she would have spotted Hilton coming out of the toy store, laden with packages.
Chapter 5
“ I can’t tell you how much Danny and I appreciate your organizing our wedding for us, Ava,” Vicky said. She, Kendall and Ava sat at Ava’s kitchen table early on Monday evening, feasting on take-out Chinese food, in what would be one of their last get-togethers before Vicky’s wedding. Vicky and her fiancé lived in North Carolina, but they were holding their wedding in her hometown of Nile Beach.
“ Don’t be silly. I do this all the time; there’s nothing to it. As the bride you shouldn’t have to worry about a thing. After all, you’re only going to do this—” Ava broke off, realizing her mistake.
“ It’s okay, you can say it. Twice,” Vicky replied good-naturedly. “It’s okay. Divorce is rough, but at least I got a beautiful daughter out of it.” Vicky gasped. “Oh, Ava, I’m sorry. What a tactless thing for me to say.”
“ What’s with you two? Can’t y’all keep your feet out of your mouths?” Kendall teased as Ava assured Vicky it was all right. “Besides,” Kendall added with a mischievous glint in her eye, “Ava might be doing the marriage thing twice herself.”
“ She might?” Vicky asked.
“ I might?” Ava repeated, wide-eyed.
Kendall scowled Ava’s way. “You know what I’m talkin’ about.”
Ava rolled her eyes.
Vicky put down her fork. “Well, will somebody please tell me what it’s about?”
“ Sure,” Ava said. “Here’s the deal. I met this man Friday night at a party at Catherine Moore’s house. He gave me a ride home when my car broke down and was thoughtful enough to come pick me up at the shop on Saturday because he knew my car wasn’t working. Kendall ran into us and invited us to come to the
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