Page 47 of The Thief

He lifted his own phone and started to tap away, then turned it to face Ava. “I’ll have you in my phone as ‘my girls’. Is that okay?”

Ava nodded enthusiastically.

My girls.

I don’t think my heart could take anymore.

“Good.” Tyler sat upright, slapping his hands on his thighs as he said, “Now that’s sorted, I think we need to have a picnic.” He turned to face Ava. “Do you have enough bears for all of us?”

“Yes,” she gasped excitedly.

He turned to look at me.

“Do you have cake, or do I need to order some to be delivered? There’s a dessert shop in town that does deliveries.”

“I have cake,” I told him, feeling overwhelmed by it all.

“Excellent. And it’s a nice day. Perfect for a picnic in theback garden.”

He stood up, grabbing the blanket that I always kept on the back of the sofa. “Come on then. Someone missed a picnic and we’re going to make up for that right now.”

Ava clapped her hands together, then raced off up the stairs to get her teddies from her room. I stood there dumbfounded, and Tyler turned and winked at me.

“Little steps,” he said. “All you need to take are little steps. We’ll get there. We’ll be fine.”

And there he was again, using that word, ‘we’. I couldn’t deny I liked it. I loved it, in fact. And I nodded and smiled.

“Thank you. I think that’s the happiest I’ve ever seen her.”

He grinned down at me and then cocked his head to the side.

“How did I never notice you have dimples? Back when we were kids, I never saw them.” He went to lift his hand, maybe to touch my cheek, but then he dropped it to his side again.

“I don’t think I ever smiled around you, back then,” I replied without thinking, and I inwardly cringed at how rude that had sounded.

Oh so slowly, he closed his eyes and shook his head. Then he whispered, “I didn’t give you anything to smile about. But I hope I can change that.”

“You already have,” I gasped.

Chapter Eighteen

TYLER

We sat in her little backyard, eating cake, and letting Ava be the princess she wanted to be. And I watched over both of them, feeling something I’d never felt before.

Pride maybe?

A sense of belonging?

Home?

I didn’t know exactly what it was, but I knew one thing. I liked it.

“Have the police been in contact with you, since they let you go?” Jess asked as we watched Ava sit her teddy on the swing and try to push it, even though it kept falling off.

“I gave them a statement. That’s it. That’s all they’re getting out of me. I won’t be speaking to them again.”

She hummed quietly.