This evening was about going to dinner at Larry and Karen’s house with Ava, and Hunt hurried to get ready. Even though he’d known them all his life, he was going to have to look at Larry and Karen with new eyes, too. They were no longer just people he knew. There were the parents of the woman he was going to marry. He wasn’t expecting problems, but thoughts of the dinner made him a little anxious just the same.

He locked up the house before leaving, and then drove a few blocks over to get Ava. She answered the door in black slacks, red flats, and a cherry-red sweater. But the light in her eyes and the way she looked at him were what stole his heart.

“You look beautiful,” Hunt said as he helped her on with her coat.

Ava paused, giving him a long, studied look from head to toe, and then sighed.

“So do you.”

Hunt grinned. “I need to look my best. I’ve never had a meet-the-parents dinner before.”

Ava rolled her eyes. “You have known my parents your entire life. Likely longer than I have.”

“Yeah, but then they were just Ava Ridley’s mom and dad. Not the parents of the woman I love.”

“But they’ve known you forever…and they’ve known all my life that I loved you madly. Even when it was just a childhood crush, so this won’t be a surprise. Just a relief that I won’t be pining needlessly anymore for the man who got away.”

He laughed. “Pining needlessly? Where do you get all your drama?”

She grinned. “Oh, definitely from Mom. But I’m also hard-core and focused like Dad when it comes to what I want to do. I can’t be bullied into doing something I don’t believe in, and I won’t be threatened by anyone and let them get away with it, either.”

“Might that be a reference to the old boyfriend?” he said.

“It might,” Ava said.

“Fair enough,” Hunt said. “But I can’t be blamed for missing what you think was obvious back then. You were only thirteen years old when I left Blessings. You were jailbait. Now get your cute little backside out the door or we’re going to be late,” Hunt said.

Ava sighed. He’d just told her she was beautiful and that her backside was cute. And they were going to break the news to her parents tonight that he loved her and wanted to marry her. This was a grand way to end a day.

* * *

Larry had the barbecue fired up on the back patio and steaks on the grill. Karen had baked potatoes in the warming oven and a big tossed salad in the fridge, waiting for dressing.

Karen had made her famous ginger carrots for a side, and Larry had picked up a chocolate cream pie from Granny’s for dessert.