Page 74 of Savage Ends

“No, not yet.You can’t, not yet.”

She didn’t ask why, but she had a feeling it was to do with the shoot-out, as well as the burning of the animal shelter.

He kissed her, and it made her toes curl for all the right reasons.“All I want to do is stay here, but I’ve got to get some errands done.I’m taking you to your mom’s fabric shop, and then I’ll be back to take you to work.”

“Okay.”

She removed his leather cut, grabbed her sweater, picked up Bernice, and followed him out to the elevator.She locked her door, paying close attention that every single lock was bolted into place.

Ava noticed he was tense as they left the building, and she didn’t say anything.Once inside his car, he pulled out and reached for her hand, holding it as he drove her to the fabric store.

It was official.She was one hundred percent in love with this man, and there was no one else she wanted to be with.

From the moment she had met Pat, served him coffee and cake, she had been infatuated with him.As she was getting to know him, the more she liked him, and she didn’t want to stop.

She also knew declaring her love was a dangerous thing to do.Pat was part of a club, not exactly known for long-term relationships.At least, not in the past.Bull and Grant were defying those odds.

Pat pulled into the fabric store parking lot and kissed her before allowing her to leave.He didn’t leave until she had stepped inside the fabric store.

It still wasn’t opening time yet, and her mother and sister were getting the store ready.The door had been open, and she leaned against it.

“Okay, that looks scary,” Violet said.

“I love him,” Ava said.

She looked at her sister, and then toward her mother.

“Are you angry?”

“No, I know that feeling.I had it after the first date with your father, and it was a feeling that never went away.”

“His dad’s awesome,” Violet said.

“Yes, I have heard all about Doc.He is a good man.A nice man,” Hazel said.

“You knew him?”Violet asked.

“Yes, of course.There was a time he was always around town with his wife.”Hazel looked between them.“They were the couple everyone aspired to be part of.”Hazel sighed.“So sad to hear about her passing.Doc ...after her funeral, I rarely saw him.I still do from time to time, at the grocery store, but he doesn’t talk to anyone, and he always looks so sad.”

“Yeah, he is,” Violet said.

The phone rang, and that distracted Hazel.Ava took Bernice through the store, and without a word, she watched as her dog grabbed her favorite toy and got settled into her bed.Ava crouched down and placed the blanket over her.Pat must have taken her for a run or something this morning.

“You’re a good girl, you know that, and I am so pleased you wanted to be with me.”She kissed the top of the dog’s head.“I love you.”

With that, she got to her feet and headed out to find Violet at the main cutting table.There was a stack of online orders.

“Did we have another sale?”Ava asked.

“No.Trust me, this is good for business.A couple of months ago, we had a slow month but it is picking up again.”

“This is good.”

“Yeah.”

Ava took the first order from the pile, grabbed a cart, and started to make her way around the store, collecting everything she was going to need, ticking it off the order as she did so.Even though it took longer to do an order at a time, she would rather do this than risk mixing up orders.She hated when she received an order in the mail and there was something missing, or something wrong.This was what she tried to avoid.

Returning to the table, she glanced over at Violet.“So, are you and Doc, like, a thing?”