Beautiful Innocence (3 page)

“No, she doesn’t. She’s running scared. I gave her a job and the little place upstairs over the bar to hang her hat in for the time being.”

“I need more than an old picture and a typed letter.” There’s no way this is going to happen if I don’t get more information out of her or her niece. I’m pretty good at my job of finding people, but I’m no magician.

“She won’t tell me anything. I know they were up in Annapolis when my sister took off. She was living with a man who wasn’t very nice to her, and then apparently when Lori got her chance—she took it and left Ava behind.”

“Shit!” I pause to think for a few minutes. “Does she know you’re looking for her mama?”

“No. Should I tell her?”

“Yeah. I’m gonna need to speak to her. I can’t find Lori based on a picture of her cheerleading twenty some odd years ago and one of her with Ava over at least, what maybe fifteen years ago?”

“Yeah, that’s about right. She’s twenty-one now.” She pauses to take a breath. “Okay. Give me until tomorrow and I’ll bring her in.”

I shake my head. “Let me come to her. She might offer up information without knowing who I am. Keep it between us until next week. I’ll be in touch.”

“I can do that. Just ask Sam which one she is. You really can’t miss her.”

Angie walks out, so I take that time to stare down at the picture of her sister. If she looks anything like her mama, I look forward to helping her out.

~~~

It’s Tuesday, just after five, and instead of walking into the gym for a workout, I find myself sitting out front of Shooters, staring down at the photo of Lori Scott. The deep breath I pull in doesn’t help much or steady my nerves about helping Angie. “Here we go,” I mumble. It’s relatively dead except for a few locals holding up cards and spending their paychecks in the corner table.

I saunter up to the bar to Sam. “Hey, Josh,” he acknowledges me. “It’s Tuesday right?”

I can see him thinking. I only come in here on Thursdays and the weekends, so it’s rare to see me in here this early in the week.

“Yeah, pour me a draft, will ya?”

“Bad day?” He slides a frosty mug in front of me.

“Nah.” I turn on my stool, glancing all around, but don’t see anyone who resembles the picture. In fact, there’s only one woman in here and she’s squished between two men at one of the tables in the back.

Sam studies me for a second. “You waiting on someone?”

“Nope,” I turn back around and leisurely sip my beer. Out of the corner of my eye I see the office door open and a small petite frame creep out. My neck strains so I can get a look around the wooden beam that’s blocking my view.

“Leave her alone, man. She’s too sweet for the likes of you.”

I laugh. “Man, I’m just looking. Who is she?” I already know, but I keep up the pretense.

“Her name’s Ava. She’s Angie’s niece.” He wipes down the bar, but keeps his eye on her before quickly flashing his gaze back to me.

Got it, he’s into her.
I like Sam, but I like getting laid better, but first I got a job to do.

“Hi, Sam,” she squeaks out. She lifts her chin just enough that I get a good glimpse of her face. Shit! She’s even prettier than her mama. She smiles shyly to both of us and does a small wave with her delicate hand to me. Sam stands in front of her, blocking my view. That’s all right. I’ve seen enough, not to mention I recognize those eyes from last week. A few seconds later she’s wiping tables down and filling the baskets with peanuts still in the shell. I down my beer and ask for a refill. Sam obliges, but I can tell by his behavior he’s expecting me to pounce. I do. “Thanks for the beer, Sammy.” I step down and make my way to one of the tables she hasn’t gotten to yet.

“I’m Josh,” I tell her, holding out my hand. She’s quite possibly the cutest damn thing I ever laid my eyes on. She has this beautiful innocence about her that I haven’t seen in a lot of years. I’m used to girls with teased hair, fake tits, fake personalities, and every single one of them bold enough to make sure I know they’re interested in a one-night stand. Not this one, she screams delicate flower and uncertainty. She’s tiny, with long, wavy blonde hair that touches her waist, those crazy blue eyes that her Aunt has and a knock out body to go along with it all. A perfect little package. She smiles but it’s not a full one. Her lips press together, and I notice a dimple appear on her left cheek only, mesmerizing me.

“It’s nice to meet you, Joshua. I’m Ava.”

“Its just Josh, Ava.” I laugh at her calling me by full name. No one calls me that but my mama when she’s mad and it’s been a long time since I heard it. Mama stayed on the farm with all of us for a few years, but finally starting dating Jep Fowler, a widower in town, and next thing you know she was moving out and getting remarried. At first none of us were thrilled with the idea, but not one of us wanted her to be alone anymore, so we welcomed him and the idea with open arms. Now Dane and Ashton are raising their kids there.

“Oh, but Joshua sounds good, don’t you think? It has a nice ring to it.” She fills up the empty basket on the table with peanuts.

The way she says it makes my dick rise to attention. “You can call me whatever you want, darlin’.” I smile and wink as I start to put on the charm.

“I better get back to work. It was really nice to meet you.”

I grab the opportunity. “Well, there’s no one else here. Sit down and talk to me for a minute.”

She looks all around, and then her eyes stop on Sam behind the bar for a full beat before swinging back to me. “Just a minute.”

She sits, so I do, too. “Where you from?”

“I was born in Ohio, but I just moved here from Maryland.”

“So, you’re working here now, living here in Charleston?”

“Well, yeah, my Aunt owns this place. She gave me a job and a place to stay.”

“So you’re a Scott?”

“My last name is Barry, but yeah, I guess technically I’m a Scott. Or, at least my mother is.”

“Where is your mom?”

She shifts a few times in her seat, like she’s uncomfortable or like she has an itch she can’t scratch. “I don’t know. I’m sure she’ll find me soon, though.”

My head snaps back. “What do you mean?”

“Well, no one else knows that I’d come here. It was just between us.” She looks all around. “This place. Angela. When she realizes I left town, she’ll know where to look.”

“You running from something?”

Her eyes grow as big as saucers, and her mouth drops open. Those angel eyes look everywhere but at me. Bingo. “I should get back to work. It was nice to meet you, Joshua.”

I grab her arm, and for some crazy ass reason when she looks back up into my eyes for that brief second, I feel way more than I should. I actually feel a twinge inside my chest, one I haven’t felt in years. Something about the one sweet look is all it takes for me to want her. “Can I buy you a beer later?”

She shakes her head. “No, I can’t. But thanks, Joshua.”

She jogs off into the direction of the bar, leaving me with that damn twinge as my name rolls off her tongue. Sam is smiling at me with a shit eating grin from the bar, knowing my usual charm didn’t work on one little lady. Most of the time it takes just a smile and a wink to make them putty in my hands, but Sam might just be right about her. She’s seems too darn sweet and way too skittish to fulfill the shit I need to feel something. So, I head out and make my way home.

The next morning Angie walks into my office, bright and early. “Whatcha find out?”

“She’s running from something, but that’s all I got.”

She sinks into my one free chair. “She told you that?”

“No. I picked up on it. Did you get anything else?”

“It’s been almost a week, Josh. I know nothing but the name of my sister’s last boyfriend, Roger. He wasn’t nice to her, but according to Ava, he didn’t touch her. The rest of the stuff is easy to see. She’s adorably sweet, a hard worker and she’s surprisingly trusting, considering.”

“Yeah, I got that, too. Alright, well, I guess I’m heading on a road trip up North.”

“You are?”

“I’ll do some digging. I just need one thing from you.”

“What’s that?”

I lean my arms on my desk and stare her down. “I need you to get me the last address of this Roger guy or his last name so I can tap into the system.”

“I’ll try. She’s real quiet when I ask her about Maryland.”

“Snoop through her shit. Wait! She’s staying upstairs in the bar?”

“Yeah,” she answers slowly.

“Get her out for lunch today. I’ll dig in her bags and see what I can find.”

She fishes out a key and places it beside my hand. “She only came with a small backpack and the letter I showed you. I’m not sure if you’re gonna find anything worth while.”

I nod. “I’ll let you know if I do.”

Three hours later I find myself in a ridiculously small apartment, if that’s what one can even call it. I’m on my knees going through a beat up old Jansen backpack rummaging through her meager belongings when I hear the distinct crinkle of paper. I rock back, leaning my ass on the heel of my boots and pull out an envelope. Shit! Even better, it’s an envelope with an address. I jump up and jot it down in my little notebook and stuff it back where I found it.
Well, that’s easy enough. Almost too easy.
Now I just need the rest to go as smoothly.

AVA

“It’s really nice of you to take me out to lunch, Aunt Angela.”

She waves her hands and smiles. “It’s nothing. You’ve been here almost a week and we’ve barely said boo to each other. Order whatever you like. It’s on me.”

“Oh, no, I can’t. I have some money from tips. Let me pay today. You’ve been so nice to me. I owe you.”

“Sugar,” she takes my hand in hers. “You don’t owe me anything. My treat and that’s final.”

“Well, okay, but let me get next time?” As grateful as I am to have found her, its moments like this that makes me miss my mom.

She smiles widely. “Sure, Ava.” She starts to study the menu, so I follow her lead and decide on a sandwich.

The waitress comes over and Angie introduces us to each other. A small smile creeps across my face at how warm I feel inside and how nice and genuine it all feels to be here, like there’s a chance for me to be splat in the middle of a fairytale that hasn’t finished getting written yet. My excitement fades almost instantly, not allowing me to dream that big. Not one of my stories that I dreamt about have ever come true, why would this one?

“So, Ava, do you like working at the bar?”

“Mmm, hmm,” I answer. “The people are real nice, especially Sam.”

One side of her mouth quirks up in a smile. “Sam is good people. He comes from a real good family. He’s been back from college for a year and hasn’t found a real job yet.”

“Bartending isn’t a real job?”

She chuckles. “Not for him. He knows he has a job with me until he figures it all out. You two are practically the same age.”

I glance down at her remark, trying to hide my lie. I’ve never been good at it, but so far these people don’t know me from Adam, so I’ve been able to pull it off.

“So, can I ask about my baby sister?”

I really don’t want to go there since it hurts to think about her, but it’s hard to say no to a woman who is not only sheltering me but who is helping me feel like I’m not alone. “Sure.” I knew the time would come when she’d start wondering, I just hoped I had some more time to come up with the answers. “What do you want to know?”

“Well, where did she work?”

“An office supply store outside Annapolis. She liked it.”

“How did she end up with this Roger and why so many boyfriends? What about your daddy?”

“Well, my dad was boyfriend number two. She followed Michael Fischer to Ohio when she was seventeen, but you know that. Anyway, he left and then she met my dad, Christopher Barry, who walked out about two years after giving me his name. Mom said once they got married and I came along, he made it a year and took off. I don’t remember him at all. No pictures or anything.” I sigh. “Anyway, she was real pretty and men, they kind of just flocked to her, I think. She did like her drink.” I swallow back the bitter bile. “Sometimes I think that might have been the cause for a few of them to come home with her. Number four was a real catch. He had money, a big house, a boat, you name it. I thought she was going to finally settle down and we’d get our happily ever after.”

“What happened to him?”

“Henry wasn’t fond of her drinking habit, and sometimes her harsh southern attitude came out, as he would say. He took her to a big business event and apparently she embarrassed the hell out of him. He had enough and stopped seeing her. He kept in contact with me for a few months after. We had a nice bond, but she moved us again, so we lost contact.”

“Was she an alcoholic?”

I cringe, thinking of seeing her passed out on the sofa night after night in order to avoid sleeping with Roger. “I’m not sure. But she talked about you and home all the time to me. We never told anyone, since a few of the guys were a little shady, especially Roger and his son.”

“He has a son?”

I stop for too long, thinking about him.

“Ava, honey?”

I plaster on a small fake smile, trying to hide my pain from the world. “It’s all in the past.”

When she sighs I see the compassion in her eyes as she smiles softly at me. “Sure, sugar. Oh, here’s the food. Dig in.”

It’s the following Thursday, and I’m working, and I’m glad, since it helps me not only pass the time, but it prevents me from thinking too much. It’s just past six when the crowd starts to pick up. Sam is tending bar and Aunt Angie is home for the evening already. It seems she only likes to work the day shift when it’s relatively empty so she can work her books. The bar is teeming with several groups of people, all sectioned off into their own little corners.

I head straight to the first group. “Hey, guys, what can I get for you tonight?” I ask and stop dead in my tracks when I happen to look up from my pencil and paper. Just as quickly, I note the wedding bands on both of their hands. “Do I know you?”

“Shouldn’t that be my line?” He smiles and I recognize the grin. “Just kidding. You must be Ava. We heard all about you from Angie.”