One Tiny Lie – Jennifer Youngblood Page 0,15
smile tinged with so much affection that it caused him to lose all train of thought. “I have an idea.”
His brain rushed to catch up. “What’s that?”
“Why don’t we start at the beginning?”
He made a face. “The beginning? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“We could pretend that we’re meeting now, just getting to know each other.”
“Ava, I’ve known you since birth,” he said dryly, getting a little put-out by whatever game she was playing.
“I know that,” she snipped, “but there are still things you don’t know about me.” She gave him a steely look that dared him to disagree.
“Okay,” he conceded, “that’s probably true.” Especially now, when she was acting so strange. “How is this supposed to work?”
She pursed her lips together. “Well, we start by living in the moment.” She reached over and turned on the radio. “We’re going sailing,” she said gloriously. She pointed to the sky. “It’s a beautiful day.” She frowned. “Well, it was earlier. Those are some dark clouds.” Apprehension wrapped her voice. “Do you think we’ll be okay out on the water?”
A smile pulled at his lips. “Not trying to weasel out of going out on the boat, are you?” He wouldn’t put it past Ava to use the weather as an excuse.
“Nope. Not at all,” she said lightly. “A little rain never hurt anybody.”
He rolled his eyes. “Just remember that if it does start to rain.”
She laughed and began singing along softly to the song playing on the radio.
“See, you sound great. You really should consider performing at your dad’s party.”
The deep blush that crept over her cheeks made her look even more beautiful. She laughed. “Nah. I think I’ll just relegate my singing to the car and the shower.”
It was so interesting and refreshing to see this side of Ava. “Well, in that case, at least sing something decent.”
She giggled. “Oh, really?”
He switched the channel. “Ah, this one’s great.” He began singing the chorus.
Lonely moon.
Forever in my room.
Always there.
Always plays fair.
My lonely moon.
I won’t leave you so soon.
Ava joined in, the two harmonizing remarkably well, considering that Hudson had a mediocre singing voice.
“That was awesome,” Ava said when the song was over. “So, are you a Cash Romeo fan?”
“Of course. Who isn’t?”
“That’s a pretty good song, huh?”
“I think it’s one of his best.”
“Thank you,” she chimed with a burst of what he could only surmise as pride.
He frowned. “Huh?” He cast her a look, noticed that her cheeks were pink. “Thanks for what?”
“For today.”
“You bet. I’m excited to take The Windswept out.” He grinned. “Remember that time when my dad made me spend an entire week sanding the deck of the boat? I thought he was the meanest man on the planet for making me work like that.”
“A little work never hurt anybody.”
He chuckled. “You certainly didn’t feel that way when your dad made us spend the entire night picking grapes with the harvest crews. He felt like you were getting spoiled—taking things for granted. You were so hot around the collar I thought you would combust. You tried to get me to sneak back to the house, remember?”
She laughed. “I did?”
“Come on. You know you remember. We were halfway to the house when your dad caught up with us and made us go back.”
“I was a bit of a rebel, wasn’t I?”
“Yes, you were.”
“Well, you’ll be happy to know that I’m reformed now.”
“I hope not too reformed,” he uttered, giving her a meaningful look.
Her eyes widened as she caught his intent. She smiled demurely, her hand going up around her neck. The air felt electric.
She angled toward him. “Okay, I wanna hear all about this new wine label y’all are working on.”
His brows tugged together. “Really?”
“Really.”
“But you hate it when I talk about work.”
She held up a finger.
“What?”
“Remember, we’re not dwelling on how it used to be between us. Only the way it is now.”
“So, you’re telling me that you really want to know about the label?”
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
A smile spread over his lips. “Okay.” With that, he launched into conversation, eager to tell her about the winery. It was such a large part of Hudson’s life that it was cathartic to be able to share it with Ava. “We’re working on a Merlot. It has the normal notes of blue, black, and red fruit, but also an undertone of vanilla. It’s so good. I can’t wait for you to try it.”
It seemed to take no time at all for them to arrive at the marina. Hudson was a