Ava felt every nuance of the steel-blue gaze upon her, but had to make herself look up and face it.

“You’re a nurse. And you bake like a pro. What else cool do you do?” he asked.

She leaned forward, her elbows on the table, instantly at ease with him.

“Not much. Just work, take care of myself, and work some more.”

He frowned. “No significant other?”

“One while I was in nursing school. But that was such a bust I kind of lost faith in the opposite sex…present company excluded,” she added.

“Sorry that happened,” Hunt said.

She shrugged. “Life lesson. What about you? Are you married…or taken, as my mother would say?”

“Not now. Not ever. I don’t have a job that lends itself to relationships.”

“What do you do? Where do you live?” Ava asked.

“I live in a house in a suburb of Houston. I’m a chopper pilot.”

Ava’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding! Whatever led you to do that?”

“The army. It’s where I went when I left Blessings,” he said.

The scars. Ava was stunned. All he’d ever talked about was going to college. “You were in the army?”

He nodded. “Want something to drink? I have water and Coke.”

“Water is fine,” she said, and watched as he got up. She didn’t say anything else until he sat back down. “Did you serve active duty…like in Iraq?”

He nodded again. “I flew Apaches for Uncle Sam.”

She took a small sip of water, but her mind was racing.

“Aren’t those the ones that were…that, uh…that carried missiles?”

“Hellfire missiles, among other weaponry, and aptly named. Those choppers have one gunner and one pilot, which was me.”

Ava waited until he finally looked up at her.

“I’m not going to pry,” she said. “But I will say I’m glad you made it home.”

He was surprised by her sensitivity to his reluctance to talk about it.

“Thanks. I’m glad I did, too,” he said.

“And on that note, I think I need to go home and let you get some rest. Will you all sell the house, or are you planning to stay?”

“I promised Mom I’d fix it up to sell,” he said.

“Then you have a big job ahead of you.”

When she stood up, he stood with her, then walked her to the door.

“Thank you for the pie…and the visit,” he said. “It was really nice to see you again.”

“Even if you didn’t recognize me,” she teased.

He grinned. “You were a kid when I left, and I come back to find a very pretty nurse standing beside my mom’s bed. I should get a pass on that.”