Finding the Love Back Read Online Free Page A

after stopping to sniff the neighbor’s sandaled feet.
     
    “Good to see you too, Ms. Stanton.”
     
    “Guess you are home to see about your father. That’s wonderful.” Ms. Stanton spoke her comment so that all of her words rolled together in one breath.
     
    “I am,” Ava said as she closed the car door. She saw Ms. Stanton staring at it on the sly.
     
    “Looks like you been doing well for yourself up there in Atlanta. And you colored your hair. But you still have the prettiest blue green eyes like your mother did. Lord and with the freckles and dimples, you are looking more and more like Marie.” Ms. Stanton finally took a breath and sighed at the end of her statement. She stared at Ava.
     
    “Like I said, it’s wonderful to see you, Ava Marie. I know your daddy’s going to be happy to see you. I’ve been getting the mail for him and looking after the house. Let me know if there is anything you need me to help you with.” Ms. Stanton turned to start walking away. Ava wondered how old her neighbor was. Ms. Stanton walked with a bit of stiffness in her step. She stood there with a flowered pair of capri pants, sandals and a pink shirt with matching pink visor. She was always older than Ava’s  parents. Marie and Reginald had Ava when they were in their late thirties after years of miscarriages. Ms. Stanton had always been motherly towards Ava’s mother Marie and when Marie had died of cancer, Ms. Stanton had taken it hard like she had lost a daughter of her own.
     
    “Oh, and it’s so interesting how you kids return to town. I guess you’d been interested to know that Christian Carter had come home recently as well.” When Ms. Stanton spoke, she still had her back turned to Ava and she had gone back to watering her lawn. She spoke as though she was uninterested in what she was saying herself. When she finished her statement, she simply threw her hand in the air and waved again to Ava, who knew that it meant that the old lady was done speaking and the conversation was over.
     
     Ava waved again and walked in the house, her mind going over the information that her neighbor had just shared. Christian was back in town. Now why had Ms. Stanton shared that with her? That was a bit of info that she didn’t need to know right now. Dolce followed Ava in the house. Her phone rang just as she was sitting down her bags at the front door.
     
    Looking at the screen, she could see that it was Bobby.
     
    “Good morning, Ava. I was able to get us some reservations this week for dinner. I hope your schedule is open.”
     
    “Oh gosh, Bobby. I’m not even in town.” Ava rubbed her forehead .
     
    Bobby paused. “Wow, okay. Last minute trip?” She could hear the frustration in his voice.
     
    “Something like that. My dad is in the hospital. I had to come home to see about him.”
     
    “Is there anything that I can do to help you? Wait a minute. Where is home? I don’t think I realized that you weren’t from Atlanta. I guess I just assumed.” Bobby sounded a bit hurt.
     
    “I don’t think I ever mentioned it or anything,” Ava replied. “Look, I have a lot to take care of here and I just arrived. Can I call you back?” Ava tried to sound as pleasant as possible. Truth was that she wasn’t in the mood to talk with Bobby right now. She had a lot on her mind.
     
    “Sure. I know you probably have a lot to do. Call me if you need anything.”
     
    “I will. Thanks, Bobby.” Ava ended the call. She felt so bad that things weren’t on a romantic level with Bobby because he was such a nice guy. She had actually felt more of a spark just thinking about the past with Christian than she felt in the present with Bobby.
     
    Ava took a deep breath trying to change her focus. As she walked around the house, she saw that not much had changed. The only thing that changed was that her father had turned the guest room into a sort of workshop. He had all of his model planes and ships on display and there were