“You should get better help, then.”
I smiled more broadly, surprised to be so happy to see her, and her grin slowly dropped. She blinked, then looked away. With an uplifted hand, she motioned to the man across from her.
“This is my father, Gary. Everyone, this is Benjamin. He's the guy that helped me find a place and he's the amazing Ava's father, as you know. This is my Mom and my brother,” she added quickly.
Gary held out a hand, and I returned his firm handshake. He eyed me but I didn't sense any wariness in him. Talmage looked at his plate but mumbled something I ignored. He was a surprisingly thick guy. Broad shoulders, rough face. Thick hands. He looked like the cowboys and farmhands that roamed through Pineville in the summer. A few of them had come to me for classes, interested in heavyweight fighting. Looking at Talmage, I couldn't believe Sera had escaped.
“Much appreciated for helping my daughter,” Gary said and pulled me from my thoughts.
“I'll always be here.” My gaze lingered on Talmage and I couldn't help the hard edge in my tone. “If she ever needs anything at all.”
Gary grinned at Ava when she tried to shoot the wrapper off a straw, no doubt ignoring the sudden tension in the booth. Talmage still hadn't met my gaze, but I spared him the humiliation and ruffled Ava's hair.
“We happen to really like Sera,” I added, but didn't know why the we in that phrase felt so important.
Serafina stiffened.
“Serafina's pretty awesome that way,” Gary said with a wink at Janeen. “Like her Mom. Natural skill with kids. Looks like the two of you are here for lunch? Pull up a chair and you can join us.”
Talmage tensed. The temptation to accept was almost too great to bear just to see him squirm a little bit more. Sera's eyes had widened with worry, however. Reading women wasn't my forte, but I could have sworn I saw a sense of pleading in there.
To spare her the stress of my antagonism toward her brother, I said, “No, thank you. That's a very kind offer but we don't want to interrupt any family time, and we're on a daddy-daughter date,” I added when I saw the building reply in Janeen’s kind eyes. “It was great to meet you. Ava, let's go.”
Serafina reluctantly let Ava go, but there was a wash of relief in her parting smile. “Thanks for letting me see her,” she said. “It was good to see you too. Good luck with that list.”
When I put my hands on Ava's shoulders and steered her to another booth, I felt the burn of Serafina's gaze on my back. Maybe her brother would feel mine.
13
Serafina
Once Benjamin retreated to his own corner of the restaurant, thankfully out of sight because of the tall booths, I let out a long breath. Mom reached down and put a hand on my knee. Dad was talking to Talmage about one of his friends from home after he had fallen quiet.
“Wow.” Mom's eyes were wide. She let out a low whistle. “Hello fighter, indeed. You didn't tell me he was such a hunk.”
A weak smile was my only response at first. Thoughts of the way my stomach curled and my heart raced the moment I saw him swamped my mind. Rarely did I get to see Benjamin with Ava. His affection for her was obvious. And that smile? That honest, true, wide smile? The first I'd ever seen it, and that warmth couldn't be denied. Had the bottom dropped out from under me the moment that smile appeared? Because my heart had fallen and it still flopped around down there.
“Made me a bit breathless,” Mom murmured. “Seems like a great father, too. Look how Ava has already gotten attached to you! They're both adorable.” Mom set her jaw in her hand. “You've done good.”
“Not helping,” I sang.
She laughed. “I know! It's so fun to be a Mom.”
Talmage, who remained mostly quiet during lunch, darted his gaze toward me again, then back to his plate. He tended to stare at the bruise, and I wondered if he remembered any of it. The brief thought that he didn’t bring Amber registered in my mind, then I almost laughed. Amber would never slink out of her hole to come here.
We'd already been here almost an hour. Our plates were picked clean, but Dad had insisted on pie and Mom agreed. Me? I'd rather go back home. But the loft wasn’t