Family Bonds- Ava and Seth (Amore Island Book 5) by Natalie Ann (ebook reader screen .TXT) 📗

“I remember that feeling well,” he said and then wished he didn’t.

18

Moving Fast

Ava put her phone on the nightstand next to Seth’s bed and then held her hand out. “I’m sure you do.”

“I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Why?” she asked. “You don’t have to hide Ellen from me. You can talk about her if you want. Tell me what she was like.”

“Why do you want to know?” he asked.

“Because I want to know more about you and she was such a big part of your life,” she said simply. If he didn’t want to talk about Ellen she wouldn’t be hurt. Many might think it was weird that she was asking, but she didn’t want this wall that could never be breached between them.

“Let me call Adele and tell her goodnight first. I said I would before she went to bed. She stays up later at my mother’s.”

“Go on,” she said, climbing back in the bed. If he wanted privacy he could have asked her to leave or left the room, but she’d be quiet while he talked to his daughter.

“Hi, Mom,” Seth said into the phone. “Is Adele there for me to say goodnight to her?” Ava could only hear Seth’s side of the conversation and she didn’t want to be nosy. “Hey, Adele. Are you being good for Grandma and watching your movie?”

She could hear the excited girl’s voice as just a sound but not the words and it was pretty rapid, causing her to smile.

Seth looked over to her. “I went to dinner tonight with Ava.” She was shocked to hear him say that and then the phone moving away from his ear fast. “Yes, I’m still with her. Hang on and I’ll put you on speakerphone.” He dropped the phone down and hit a button. “Okay, Ava can hear you.”

“Hi, Ava,” Adele yelled. “I didn’t know Daddy was with you tonight. I wouldn’t have come to Grandma’s if I knew that.”

She smiled since Seth had said that would happen. “Hello to you too. It sounds to me like you are having a lot of fun watching a movie. What movie is it?”

“It’s Frozen. I love it. I’ve watched it like twenty times.”

“More like fifty,” Seth said.

“Will you be there tomorrow so that I can see you too?” Adele asked.

She looked over at Seth and shrugged her shoulders. That wasn’t going to be a question she was answering even if she had planned on spending the night.

“I was going to get you around noon,” Seth said. “Maybe if Ava doesn’t have plans tomorrow we can see if she wants to do something with us.”

That was a good way to answer without actually giving an answer. “I would love to spend time with you tomorrow, but I might get called into work.”

“I hope not,” Adele said. “I want to see you again. I had fun at your house last week.”

“I had fun having you at my house last week,” she said.

“Grandma says I have to go now, Daddy. I love you.”

“I love you too, Adele. Behave for Grandma and go to bed when she tells you to.”

“I will. Night, Ava. Night, Daddy.”

“Goodnight, Adele,” she said and Seth disconnected his call and put his phone on the bed.

“Sorry for putting you on the spot. She asked me what I did tonight and I don’t really like to lie to her. I don’t lie in general as it’s too hard to get tripped up that way.”

“I agree. And you didn’t put me on the spot. Not until she asked if I’d still be here. Saying I was spending the night to your daughter is out of the question even though she mentioned about staying at my house.”

“I guess that might work in our favor in the future,” he said, smiling.

“When the timing works for you on things, I’ll be fine. You get to call the shots here.”

“I don’t think I do,” he said. “In a relationship it’s between two people. Even if I’m ready, maybe you aren’t.”

She thought of that for a minute and realized he could be right. Hadn’t she already said that it wasn’t easy being in the woman’s shoes? “If I wasn’t ready to be with someone with a child I would have never come to your house the first time to teach you how to braid when your daughter asked me. Did it occur to you that she needs that figure in her life?”

“It has. And I don’t want you to think that is all I’m looking for. It’s not. Though my mother said I’m not hardwired to be single the rest of my life, I’m definitely not the type to be with someone just to make my daughter happy.”

“That makes me happy to hear you say that. Putting your kids first is great, but not at the expense of your own happiness.”

“No,” he said. “It’s not. And you wanted me to tell you about Ellen.”

“Only if you want to.”

“I find that I kind of do. I know that it might seem we are moving fast.”

She laughed. “We’ve been dating in my book for well over a month and we are finally getting to this point. Many would think that isn’t fast at all. And I’m sorry for that. That it seemed my job or living situation is what played a part in this.”

“I think it’s both of our living situations. And don’t be sorry. Maybe learning about each other so much before we got to this helped. It also makes it easier to talk to you about Ellen. I’m not sure where to start.”

“Anywhere. The more I’m around Adele, the more she is going to talk about her mother. I want her to. I don’t want you to feel awkward if she does, nor do I want to feel that way. In your daughter’s eyes we are friends. I’d like to be able to understand more if I can.”

He leaned over and gave her a kiss. “You’re