“No, but I’m glad he’s gone. His wife seemed really sweet and totally oblivious to what a jerk he is. I hope he straightens up and treats her right, but I sure wouldn’t bet my life on that happening.” Then she picked up a cookie and gave Hunt a bite. “I would, however, bet my life on you.”

That vow was so touching, and so unexpected, that it was all Hunt could do to chew and swallow, and then he reached for her hand.

“I would never betray you.”

Ava started to smile and then saw the expression on his face.

“Oh, honey.” She got up and plopped down in his lap and put her arms around his neck. “I know that. I know you. Remember? I’ve been in your corner for as long as I can remember knowing you existed. I love you. So much. I know how hard it was for you to come back. To face the rejection of your family. To bury your mother. To keep a promise that was hard to make. You are, to me, what being a man is all about. And you’re mine. Okay?”

She made him want to cry. Instead, he kissed the length of her neck, from the hollow at the base of her throat to her chin. Then he cupped her face with his hands and leaned forward until their foreheads were touching.

He could feel the warmth of her breath and the flutter of her eyelashes against his cheeks.

“Lord, woman. I thought flying was the closest I would ever be to God, but loving you tops it all,” Hunt said, and then he kissed her.

* * *

Hunt and Ava spent a quiet evening at home. Without the pressure of wanting to be in two places at once, he was at peace. Ava was watching TV and reading the local paper while Hunt was in the shower, and when he came back to the living room minus a shirt and wearing his old sweatpants, she looked up and smiled.

“Squeaky clean and sexy as hell. If you could bottle that, you’d be rich,” she said.

Hunt grinned. “It’s a thought. So what’s in the paper?” he asked.

“Um, for starters, it appears there’s going to be a dance and a silent auction at the country club to raise money for Arnold Hollis’s widow. She wants to go home to West Virginia. That’s where the rest of her family lives.”