Ava had errands to run, and after picking up some cleaning and a quick stop at the grocery store, she was pushing her shopping cart out to the car when a man in a red Porsche drove right in front of her and then slammed on the brakes.

Ava gasped. He was so close she’d almost hit him with her cart, and now he was blocking her. The fact that she didn’t recognize the car and the windows were tinted sent a dozen scenarios racing through her mind, ranging from an angry patient to human trafficking. Her fingers tightened around the handle on the shopping cart, even as she reminded herself there were dozens of people coming and going and she was fine.

Then the window came down. At first, all she could see was a silhouette, and then she heard a laugh, and the hair crawled on the back of her neck. It couldn’t be! But it was.

When she leaned down, she got a clearer look at his face and shivered. Vince Lewis! Her first thought was where the hell did he come from? And then, why was he here? She hadn’t seen him since nursing school.

“Hey, baby! Long time no see!” he said.

Ava backed up her cart and tried to go in front of him, but he drove forward, blocking her again. She shifted her direction, trying to push the cart behind him, and he backed up, laughing.

“Come on, baby. Get in! Let’s talk.”

She’d had enough. “I’m not your baby and you’re still a jerk, Vince Lewis. Move it now, or I’ll ram this cart right into the side of your fancy little car.”

He frowned. “Damn! You’re still the cold bitch you always were,” he said, and peeled out.

Ava was in shock and trembling by the time she got to her car. She unloaded her groceries and headed home, keeping an eye in the rearview mirror to make sure he wasn’t following her as she went.

Once she got her things inside, she immediately locked the door behind her and then started putting them up, while keeping an eye on the time to go meet Hunt.

But the whole time she was working, she was worrying about Vince’s sudden appearance in Blessings. Why was he here…and why now? He’d only been to Blessings once with her when they were dating, and she was still in nursing school when they broke up. She’d seen him from a distance a couple of times when she was still in Savannah, but the breakup was so volatile and ugly that they’d never spoken again.