“Welcome to the family, sugar!”

Hunt smiled. “Thank you, ma’am.”

Karen frowned and poked him in the chest.

“You can’t start calling me ‘ma’am.’ You’re gonna make me feel old now. Call me Karen, or whatever feels right to you, but save the ‘ma’am’ for strangers.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Hunt said.

They laughed, and Ava sighed. This was the best.

* * *

Hunt and Ava stayed later at her parents’ house than she’d intended. By the time Hunt was walking her up the steps at her house, it was close to eleven. He went inside with her to make sure everything was okay, then hugged her.

“You know I want to stay with you again, but you need to rest. What you need to know is that this was one of the best evenings I’ve spent in a long time…except the times I spend with you.”

Ava leaned back in his arms. “They love you. I love you. You can do no wrong.”

Hunt grinned. “If only the rest of my life was this easy.”

“Sometimes easy gets boring,” Ava said.

“I don’t know about that. Loving you is the easiest thing I’ve ever done, and you’re too ornery to ever be boring,” Hunt said.

She sighed. “I have a couple of days off coming up. I’ll make it up to you then.”

Hunt cupped her cheeks. “Honey…there are going to be times when I’ll be just as tied up with my job as you’ll be with yours. But as long as I have you to come home to, it will be worth it.”

Then he settled his lips on hers and kissed her—slowly, then harder—until they both groaned.

“I give,” Hunt said. “Night, sweetheart. Love you.”

“Love you, too,” Ava said, and watched him leave before she locked up and went to bed.

* * *

Hunt was up by daylight and ready when the roofing crew pulled up. His brother Ray wasn’t sure how to approach a relationship that was no longer there.

“You climbing today, too?” Ray asked.

Hunt shook his head. “Obviously, I’m fine with heights, but only when I’m flying. I’ll leave all this to the experts.”

Ray nodded, then began helping unload their equipment while Hunt went back inside to wait for Billy.

The carpenter pulled up about an hour later, and soon he and Hunt were pulling up the old flooring in the kitchen. Once the tiles were removed, the sag in the subfloor below was more obvious.

Hunt stood with his hands on his hips, surveying what looked like the beginnings of mold and rot.

“Birdie said this house didn’t flood inside during the hurricane, but there was water under the house.”