gaze and watched as two huge guys climbed out of his pick-up. One was older with a leathery, weather beaten face and a wild grey beard. The other was younger but with a day’s worth of scruff on his face and colorful tattoos covering both forearms. Both of them wore plaid shirts and beaten up old jeans.
‘That’s Judd and Hank,’ Killian nodded. ‘They helped us to clear the road; you shouldn’t have any trouble passing now.’
‘Thanks,’ Ava offered them a smile.
‘Ma’am,’ they both nodded in turn.
‘Well we’re just gonna head back now,’ Killian climbed into his pickup as Judd and Hank hauled themselves into the back.
‘Well now just you hold on there a hot second,’ Ivy smiled with siren red lips as she fluffed her platinum hair. ‘If you would be so kind, could I trouble you for a ride?’
‘Ivy May Harding,’ Barbara chided, ‘her hand involuntarily toying with the gold cross at her throat.
‘Oh, hush up, you always sit up front with Bunty. I am not squeezing into the back seat of that pint-sized car with Betty, Ester and Norma again. Why she near on punctured one of my lungs with those knitting needles. I keep telling Bunty she needs a bigger car before one of us gets skewered by Norma. Well, it’s not going to be me, no siree. Boys?’
‘Miz Harding,’ Killian replied, ‘of course you’re welcome to ride with us. I can drop you home on my way back to my office.’
‘Thank you kindly. You boys must be so thirsty after all that manual work. You must come in for some of my home-made lemonade,’ she beamed widely as she swept past Kelley, pinching his butt with a saucy wink. ‘I insist.’
He shot Ava a look of sheer panic as he stepped closer to her.
‘What’s the matter Kelley?’ she chuckled, ‘allergic to lemons?’
‘More like allergic to Miz Harding,’ he growled under his breath. ‘If you have a moment Ava,’ he took her arm and drew her gently away, missing the narrowed glare Ivy shot his way.
‘What is it Kelley?’
‘I’d have preferred not to do this with an audience,’ he glanced over his shoulder at the three men and six older ladies watching him raptly. For a second, he almost expected them to break out the popcorn.
‘Do what?’
‘Ask you out,’ his mouth curved into the most adorable smile and once again her belly clenched.
‘Ask me…?’ her mouth fell open, at a loss as to what to say. ‘Kelley I’ve barely been on the island forty-eight hours; I’m not looking to date anyone. I don’t even know if I’ll stay once the house is completed. I may sell up and move on.’
‘It’s just dinner Ava,’ he smiled, ‘not a proposal. I’d really like the chance to get to know you, no expectations, but what can I say? We’ve already spent the night together.’
There was a sharp hiss of air and Ava glanced across to see Betty’s eyes widen.
‘Nothing happened,’ Ava replied loudly. ‘We fell asleep with my dog planted between us like the Great Wall of China.’
‘So? What do you say?’ Kelley asked hopefully as she turned her attention back to him. ‘I mean, you cooked last night, so I owe you a meal. This is the perfect opportunity for you to try our local lobster.’
‘I don’t know,’ she frowned.
‘Just think about it, okay?’ he grinned as he walked backward toward his brother’s truck.
‘Fine,’ she took in a deep breath, ‘I’ll think about it.’
Resisting the urge to fist pump the air in triumph, Kelley turned and practically skipped to his brother’s pick up, deliberately skirting past the cab where Ivy sat expectantly beside his twin, looking like she’d swallowed something sour. Kelley vaulted easily over the side and planted himself in the bed of the truck alongside Hank and Judd.
‘What?’ Kelley asked.
Hank took a long drag on his cigarette and stared at him.
‘You got it bad boy,’ he shook his head.
Ava watched as the truck pulled away, ruthlessly ignoring the little flutter in her belly when Kelley smiled her way.
A few moments later the ladies departed, with hugs and air kisses, as a firm, ‘no refusal’ invitation was issued to their next luncheon.
Finally, Ava was once again alone with her thoughts. Although her mind was filled with all the things, she’d learned about the Lynchs, a seriously dysfunctional family to say the least, she found her thoughts kept returning to the question of who had been playing fetch with her dog earlier.
Something tugged insistently at the corners of her