He was just finishing up a ham sandwich and chips when he heard a car pulling up at the house, and braced himself for another sibling at the door. Only when he went to answer the knock, he was surprised to see Ava. And in the blue jeans and white sweatshirt, she looked markedly different from the nurse in pink scrubs. Her dark hair was down, and longer than it had appeared clipped on top of her head, and her smile was an invitation to return it.

Ava didn’t know whether to be impressed by the rock-hard abs and Hunt’s bare chest, or horrified by the thin silver scars laid across it like a roadmap. But instead of commenting on either, she offered the pie she was holding.

“Hello, Hunt. I hope I’m not intruding. I brought you something.”

“Not at all,” he said, and then saw what she was holding. “Oh wow…pecan… It’s my favorite.”

“I know. It’s why I made it.”

“Come in,” he said.

“I think I know the way,” she said, and smiled as she sailed past him and carried it into the kitchen. She set it down on the counter, then turned around. “I spent half my life in this house. Some of the best times I ever had were here with your family.” Then she grinned. “I had the biggest crush on you when I was a kid.”

Hunt blinked. “Uh…I don’t guess I knew that. I hope I wasn’t a jerk around you.”

When Ava threw her head back and laughed, Hunt felt it all the way to his bones.

Ava shook her head. “Thank God. You weren’t supposed to know it. It was one of those little-girl crushes on someone’s older brother, and no, you weren’t a jerk. You were my hero.”

Hunt grinned. “Okay then. So, while we’re talking about how obtuse I was as a teen, how about we cut this pie? Would you eat a piece with me?”

“Sure!” Ava said.

“Give me a second and I’ll go put on a shirt,” he said.

“Don’t bother on my account,” Ava said. “I like the view.”

He shook his head and went to get the shirt anyway. When he came back, he got out plates and forks while Ava cut two pieces of pie, plated them, then carried them to the table.

She waited, watching as he took the first bite, and when his eyes went shut, she smiled.

“Mmmm, oh my lord, this is good,” Hunt said, and then chewed it slowly, savoring every taste and texture.

“Thanks,” Ava said, hoping the little-girl crush he’d just resurrected in her wasn’t as obvious as it felt.

Hunt ate the whole piece without saying another word, and then after he was finished, he pushed the plate aside.