“It’s Granny’s fried chicken,” he said.

“Yum! Follow me. I have the table set in the kitchen.”

He set the sack on the table, then began pulling out boxes and cartons, while Ava went behind him opening them up and putting in serving spoons as Hunt turned around and took off his jacket.

“Everything looks amazing,” Ava said.

Hunt looked up, then grinned. She wasn’t looking at the food. She was looking at him.

He leaned over and kissed her.

“And ‘everything’ tastes as good as it looks, too,” he added.

“Sit here,” she said, patting the chair at the head of the table. “I’m getting butter for the biscuits.”

Hunt sat, then waited as she got butter from the counter and honey from the pantry and carried them to the table. Then she sat down in the chair to his right.

“What’s your favorite piece of chicken?” Hunt asked.

“Um, anything dark meat, but I like it all,” she said.

“There are thighs and drumsticks,” he said. “Help yourself. I’m going for white meat.”

After adding mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, hot biscuits, and coleslaw to their plates, they began to eat.

“What went on in the ER today?” Hunt asked.

Ava rolled her eyes. “Fender benders, a rollover, all weather related. No serious injuries. I think the worst was Wilson Turner’s broken nose.”

“Who’s Wilson Turner?” Hunt asked.

“He’s the manager at the Crown,” Ava said. “His eyes were already turning black when they took him home. He’ll look like a raccoon before he’s healed. With such a rainy day, were you able to work on the house?”

“Not with repairs. I was up in the attic all day going through stuff.”

She paused and laid down her fork, suddenly serious. “I’ll bet that brought back a lot of memories.”

“Yeah, it did, but they weren’t all bad. It’s weird, though. That was my bedroom for the last four years I was home, and now there’s not even a hint that it was ever my room.”

Ava frowned. “I don’t understand that.”

Hunt reached for a biscuit and buttered it. “I do. After I left and didn’t come back, they got rid of my stuff so they wouldn’t be reminded I still existed.”

Ava just nodded and began forking off bits of her chicken, talking as they ate.

“After you mentioned you all had a falling-out before you left, I’ve been tempted to ask Emma what happened. But I haven’t. Even though I felt like part of your family when I was growing up, I wasn’t, and it’s not my business to cross that line.”

“Finish your meal. We’ll talk afterward,” Hunt said.

Ava nodded, and the tension of the moment passed as they moved into old memories and laughter.

Finally, Hunt wiped his hands on a napkin and pushed his plate back.