In Pursuit of the Past by Carolyn LaRoche

Author:Carolyn LaRoche
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781922679451
Publisher: Hot Tree Publishing

EIGHT

"Ava? Wake up. We're here."

She opened one eye slowly, followed by the other. Forgetting for a moment where she was or what she'd been doing, the inside of Hudson's truck caught her off guard. Eli slept soundly in her arms where she was huddled in the corner of the seat near the door. At the opposite end of the bench seat, Hudson stood in the open door. Closing her eyes once more, she squeezed them tightly, then opened them once more. "I guess it wasn't all a dream."

"No." He shook his head. "Do you want to hand me the baby so you can get out and stretch a little? You've been curled up like that for over an hour."

"Yeah. Okay." She leaned over and handed Eli to him. The baby woke up and let out a little cry but immediately snuggled up against Hudson's shoulder. The sweet image made her briefly grieve for the future she used to think she'd have—with that man in particular.

She'd had so many dreams in those days. After Quinn disappeared, she'd stopped dreaming. The longer Hudson stayed away from her, the more hope she'd lost, until one day she'd simply accepted that there would be no fairy-tale ending for them.

Opening the door, she then stepped down from the truck into the darkness. What should have been complete silence instead held the sounds of hundreds of frogs and cicadas. Above it all, she made out the occasional hoot of an owl. Something buzzed her head as it flew by. The high-pitched sounds told her it was a bat. Waving her arms wildly to keep it away, she ran around the truck. As she made it to where Hudson stood, the area was suddenly drowned in the harshness of several floodlights. Ava raised an arm to cover her eyes.

"Who's out there?" a man called out.

"Logan! It's me, Pierce. Can you cut some of the lights off, please?"

The massive brightness disappeared, replaced only by a single light beside a large door. Someone stepped outside. "Hudson Pierce? What you doin' all the way out here in the middle of the night, man?"

Hudson exchanged a quick man hug with his friend as Ava stayed behind him. He still held Eli. She itched to take the baby back.

"I—we—need your help. You and Angie were the only ones I could think of."

"Of course! Come inside. I'll have Angie put on some coffee." He motioned them inside, stopping to lock the massive heavy door behind them with a series of dead bolts and latches. Ava followed Hudson down a hall to a huge open space.

"Hudson!" a petite woman with a pile of dark curls greeted them from the kitchen on the far side of the room.

"Hey, Angie. I'm sorry to drop in on you and Logan so late. I really had nowhere else to go."

"You know you're welcome here anytime. How are you?" She noticed Ava and the baby and stopped, smiling widely. "I see some things have changed since I saw you last.

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