At the pool Ava shed the oversize T-shirt she had worn and her flip-flops while she watched Caroline go in cautiously.
Wondering whether Will would show up, Ava was acutely conscious of her new swimsuit—a conservative navy one-piece. The water was just cool enough to be enticing, and the circular pool was beautiful with a waterfall and a fountain.
She relaxed when Will did not show, nor did she see any sign of him.
Caroline splashed in the shallow end and then when Ava asked, Caroline showed her how she could swim, tread water and float.
Eventually, they lay on inflatable mattresses, looking at billowing thunderheads against a deep blue sky.
Will kept his word and disappeared for the day. By the time Caroline stretched out for quiet time in her room, she had a stack of books beside her.
Ava lay next to her.
“All right, which one do you want me to read to you first?”
Caroline handed her a book.
“Teddy’s New House,” she read. “You turn pages, Caroline.”
Halfway through the book, Ava stopped reading before the last word on the page. “Do you know that word?” she asked.
Caroline looked a long time at the word and nodded.
“Will you read it to me? I would like that so much,” Ava said quietly, holding her breath and wondering if she had alienated Caroline further.
There was a long silence and Ava waited, finally turning the page and reading the next one. Just before she reached the end, she paused and waited, finally reading the word. She did the same on the next pages. She was on the next to the last page when she paused again before reading the last word.
Caroline whispered, “Shoe.”
“Thank you, Caroline.” Ava’s heart skipped a beat when she heard Caroline’s faint voice. “Some things are just hard for us to do, but we can do them.”
As far as she was concerned, Ava saw the slight response as a tiny victory, one she didn’t care to push, so she didn’t ask Caroline to read anything else aloud.
The day passed with Ava learning a little about Caroline’s typical day and her responses. Ava suspected Caroline’s behavior wasn’t very different with Rosalyn or Will. Ava couldn’t feel much closer to the child because of the wall Caroline kept around herself. Will had been good to leave them alone—another surprise with him, because she had expected him to hang around and continue flirting. It was better he hadn’t, but she missed seeing him.
It wasn’t until almost dinner that he joined them in the pool. Ava didn’t see him coming until he was at the edge of the deep end. Her pulse jumped when she saw him. He was deeply tanned. His broad, sculpted chest tapered to a small waist, tight muscles on his flat stomach. He wore black-and-white patterned swim trunks. He made a flying leap and landed in the water with a loud splash, causing Caroline to smile.
He bobbed up by her, lifting her and then letting her splash down, but he held her the whole time.
“Want to do that again?” he asked her, holding her up again, and she smiled, nodding.
With a surprised expression he glanced over her head at Ava and then lifted Caroline higher to let her splash into the water again.
They played and he gave his full attention to Caroline, glancing once at Ava to say hello.
Later as Caroline splashed nearby, he swam close to Ava. When he bobbed up almost touching her, Ava’s heartbeat sped, a reaction she couldn’t control and one that happened too often with him. “Hi.”
She smiled at him. “Hi.”
“You know why I’ve been giving her all my attention.”
“Of course, and you should.”
“Caroline smiling at me like that—I think you brought that on. She hasn’t done that before with me. I was right about you. You are good with her.”
“Thank you. You may give me too much credit,” she said. “I did get her to read one word aloud today.”
Something flickered in the depths of his dark eyes. “I’m going to do some arm twisting and see if you’ll stay this coming week. We’ll talk about it later.”
“Will, the people I’m recommending will be better than I am in working with her.”
Smiling, he swam away to join Caroline, and she guessed she was in for a struggle with a man totally accustomed to getting his way.
After the swim, they ate dinner with Caroline and then played games until Will took Caroline upstairs to get her ready for bed. After half an hour he reappeared. “I came down to get you. She wants you to read a story to her if you will. I volunteered you, and she nodded.”
“Sure, I’d be happy to,” Ava said, going with him, gratified that Caroline wanted her to read.
“Rosalyn called and she’ll be here in about an hour. Ava, you’ve gotten closer than anyone else except my brothers and me. Actually, you’re getting more response out of her than my brothers do. Even Rosalyn doesn’t get as much response as you’d think. Rosalyn gets more than my brothers, but not a lot.”
“It’s so slight. Don’t read much into it.”
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s a breakthrough. Her teachers have gotten no responses.”
“I think you’re grasping at straws, Will,” Ava said gently.
“We’ll see.”
They had reached Caroline’s suite to find her sitting on the floor playing with miniature dolls and the small brown teddy bear beside a doll house.
“Time for a story and bed,” Will said. “Get your book for Miss Ava and climb into bed. She’ll read it to you and I’ll be back to tuck you in.”
In minutes Ava lay beside Caroline, reading while Caroline turned the pages again. She noticed that Caroline leaned close this time, pressing against Ava’s side, something she had not done before. As she read, Ava put her arm lightly around Caroline.
They finished. “Do you want another story until your Uncle Will comes back?”
Caroline shook her head no, so Ava stood beside the bed, tucking Caroline with the sheet beneath her chin. “It’s been a fun day, Caroline. I’ll be here one more day. We’ll probably do about the same thing tomorrow. Maybe we can get your uncle to take us to a bookstore and you can get a new book. If you want to.”
Big brown eyes looked up at her as Caroline stared without any response. “Do you hurt?” Caroline whispered.
Caroline asked the question so softly, Ava almost did not hear her. Startled, she guessed the question was not about physical pain at the moment, but about the loss of her husband. “Yes. It comes and it goes, but he’s always there in my heart.”
Caroline looked down at the sheet and twisted it in her small fingers. “I don’t have a mommy and daddy. I used to have Daddy.”
“I know,” Ava said. “It hurts, but there are other people you can love and they love you. Your Uncle Will loves you so, so much.”
Big brown eyes met her gaze again and Ava’s heart lurched over the silent world into which Caroline had locked herself. Ava tried to avoid intruding on Caroline, but at the sight of Caroline’s solemn expression, Ava could not resist leaning down to hug her lightly. “You are so loved, Caroline.”
Caroline slipped an arm around Ava’s neck and held on for a moment. When her arm slipped away, Ava released her. “You’re a brave little girl,” she said.
Caroline looked away and Ava felt the closeness vanish, suspecting Caroline was withdrawing back into her shell.
“Nighty-night