Page 31 of Chance
Ava put an arm around Kelly and gave her a half hug, making her stiffen. She wasn’t used to people touching her. Ava noticed the discomfort and said, “Sorry. I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable. I just wanted to say welcome to the family. Because now we’re in this together.”
“Oh, it’s fine,” Kelly said quickly. She used to be hugged all the time. Grandma had been known to be extra huggy. “I just hope we can find something. This sounds like it’s been horrible for your family.”
Ava rolled her eyes. “We are all ready for this to be over, but it is what it is.”
Kelly felt some trepidation as they walked through the family room and then out to the pool, where several people were playing and relaxing. She turned to Ava. “The place is beautiful, by the way.”
Ava smiled at her. “I love it. This year, we made a decision to not host as many families at once. Now we’re only taking on one or two families at a time. I really get to know them, and it makes it feel less chaotic. Trey keeps talking about not hosting people anymore. He gets weary of all of the security, and this whole gold thing has taken a toll on him.”
Kelly could see Trey and Trent up ahead on a speedboat. “That makes sense. I haven’t gone through anything like that, but I can see myself getting really worn out if my family was in constant danger. Not that I have a family.” She said it too quickly, and she felt stupid. “I mean, I don’t know how much you know about me, but my parents passed away when I was young, and I was raised by my grandparents in Cross Creek.” She glanced at Chance, but he wasn’t looking at her. “My grandma passed away a couple months ago, and I ended up selling the ranch. So I guess what I meant is that I don’t really have a family at all.”
Ava gave her a soft smile and then said, “You never know how family becomes what it is. I never thought I would be part of this huge Stone family, but things worked out that way, and life and God had much more in store for me than I ever thought. My mom died when I was young, and I was raised by my father. He’s gone now, so I remember feeling pretty alone. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I got divorced when Micah was sixteen. I remember feeling very afraid and not knowing my way forward. And then Trey came back in my life, and now …” She trailed off, her eyes misting with tears.
Chance walked over to them.
Ava turned to Chance. “Sorry. I don’t mean to get emotional. But … Chance, will you go ahead and let me talk to Kelly for just a second?”
Chance seemed surprised, and he looked to Kelly in question. When she nodded, he left to join Trey and Trent.
“What’s up?” Kelly asked.
Ava grinned at her. “Trey and I have Trey Junior together. He’s just over three years now. I just found out the other day that I’m pregnant. I think that’s partly why I am emotional too. And that’s also why I didn’t want to come out to Bird Island. I’m not feeling too great.”
It felt serendipitous that Ava was admitting this to her. Kelly didn’t know what to say. “Well, that makes sense. I hope you feel better.” Her heart raced, and she felt a bit sick.
Ava seemed to sense it. “Are you okay?”
Kelly couldn’t deal with talking about someone being pregnant. She couldn’t deal with thinking about how she wasn’t sure what to do. As Ava had spoken about being alone and then finding the Stone family, Kelly’s thoughts had kept coming back to Chance. But she did want a distraction. “I’m good. I’ll talk to you later.”
Chance was headed back to her, a look of concern on his face. “Hey. What’s going on?”
Chapter 17
Chance didn’t like how much he already worried about Kelly. “Are you sure you want to come with us?” he whispered.
She gave him a determined look. “That’s why I came today. To be of service to my friend.”
Raine Birch approached them just then. “Hold up. Can I talk to you, Chance?”
Chance hesitated.
Ava nodded at him. “Kelly, you come with me. Let’s go talk to Trent while he gets loaded and let these two chat.”
Kelly looked uncertain but went with Ava.
Chance turned and found himself face to face with Raine.
“Hey,” Raine said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “Sorry to catch you right before you’re leaving, but I was just talking with Hunter about everything, and he told me you guys were going out to Bird Island. I just …”
“Yes?”
Raine shrugged. “Look, I don’t know. This could be something, or it could be nothing. As you know, Truman is my foster brother.”
“I’m well aware,” Chance said. Raine was the one who’d told Truman about the gold and pointed him toward Wyoming in the first place.
“Listen, I’m sorry about that, but I keep having this nagging feeling that something is going to happen. I mean, I’m always worried about Truman, but lately I’ve had dreams where he’s talking to me, telling me he’s close. Telling me no one is safe.”
Chance didn’t like people trying to warn him of something if they didn’t have any evidence. “Thank you, but we’re safe.”