Wild Dream Read Free Page B

“Your desire to protect her. That could get her – and you – killed.”
    “Not going to happen.”
    “Focus on her once Kane is in the cage. Until then, do us all a favor and forget her.”
    If only it were that easy.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER THREE
     
     
    Ava was so lost in her memories of the night her father left and never returned that she didn’t realize they had reached their destination until Maria patted her on the shoulder.
    “Come inside, sha,” she said and exited out of the back passenger door.
    Ava got out of the truck and grabbed her bag. She closed the door and sighed before she turned and faced Olivia. “If I’d have known it was the Chiassons you were involved with, I wouldn’t have come.”
    “Then it’s a good thing it never got brought up before today.” Olivia smiled softly. “You have every right to your anger, but I don’t believe you’re mad at Vincent or any of the other Chiassons.”
    “I’m angry at what they did that lured my father away. I’m furious that he got involved with the hunting, and I’m sad that his half-brother was killed by something so awful. But you’re right. It’s my father I’m really irate at. He left us.”
    “You don’t know that for sure,” Olivia pointed out. “You heard the guys. Your father was always talking about you and your mother. The hunting he did was to keep you safe. A man like that doesn’t walk out on his family.”
    “Then where has he been the last fourteen years?” Ava was so tired of wondering that.  
    Olivia took Ava’s bag and wrapped an arm around her shoulders while leading her to the house. “Hopefully we’ll find out. It’s why you really came, isn’t it?”
    Ava nodded and looked at the white house. They walked around to the side where she spotted a long dock that went all the way out to the bayou. Like most other houses in the area, it had a screened in porch that overlooked the water.
    They climbed the steps, walked through the porch, and into the quaint house. Maria made use of every inch of space, but the house had a relaxed feel.
    Ava felt right at home instantly. It also helped that Olivia and Maria took care of her. Olivia put her bag in a back room, and Maria motioned her to one of the plush chairs in what was obviously the living room.
    The house, built almost a hundred years earlier, had an open living area to optimize air flow and keep the rooms cool. Ava had no sooner taken a seat than Maria put a mug in her hands.
    “It’s coffee milk. It always made Olivia feel better,” she said with a wink.
    Ava smiled and drank the coffee that was more milk than anything, but it did exactly what Maria wanted it to do – made her relax.
    When Olivia joined them, Maria handed her a cup. All three sipped for a while before Olivia lowered her mug. “You said you and your mother remained for a year before y’all left.   What happened?”  
    Ava remembered that night as if it happened yesterday. “It was the day after Christmas. Mom got a job anywhere she could. At one point, she worked three jobs just to pay the bills and put food on the table. Every morning I woke thinking that I would see my father. I knew the week of Christmas that something was going to happen. Mom kept counting money she had put away and boxing things up.”
    “She was getting ready to take you away,” Maria said.
    “Yes.” Ava hadn’t realized that at the time though. “It wasn’t until the morning after Christmas that I saw the resignation on her face mixed with determination. She told me to get my stuff. She had stayed up all night packing everything away. In six hours, everything was in boxes, and we were on our way to Texas. I cried the whole way. The last bit of hope I had that my father might return disappeared somewhere on I-10 when we crossed into Texas.”
    “Your mother must have had her reasons for leaving. She needed a fresh start is my guess,” Maria said.
    Olivia lifted one shoulder. “I