Nowhere for Christmas by Heather Gray

Author:Heather Gray [Gray, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Astraea Press, LLC
Published: 2013-12-23T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Memphis, TX

December 24, 6:30 p.m.

As Gavin, who was driving, crumbled up the wrapper from his burger and stuffed into the empty bag between their seats, he said to Avery, “So tell me about your parents. You know a fair amount about my family. Tell me about yours.”

“Grandma and Grandpa are cool,” Eli said. “They got me my first cellphone!”

Avery rolled her eyes. “Can you believe it? They bought him a smart phone and put him on their plan way back before I could even afford to have one of my own. Talk about power going to a kid’s head.” She waggled her fingers at Eli in the rearview mirror.

Gavin studied her, an expectant look on his face. “You want the whole kit and caboodle, huh?”

“Yeah. Give me the background. Where you grew up. What they did for a living. The works.”

“I grew up in Rio Rancho, north of Albuquerque. My folks still live there today in the same home where they raised me. Good, God-fearing folks. Hard-working. Best parents a girl could ask for.”

“So,” Gavin said, “basically the American dream?”

She laughed self-consciously. “More or less, yeah.”

“What’d they do for a living?”

“My dad’s a pulmonologist. My mom stayed home with me when I was growing up, but when I got older, she got a part-time job as a receptionist in a dental office.”

Gavin sounded surprised when he asked, “They’re still working?”

Avery nodded. “They’re in their fifties. Dad still works full-time, and Mom has kept her part-time job all these years.”

From her vantage point, Avery saw his eyebrows lift then relax back into place. He started tapping one of his fingers on the steering wheel. She knew he wanted to ask. What went wrong? How’d you end up pregnant and unmarried? The question was there on his face, but she figured he wasn’t going to ask it with her son right there in the car. He’d probably say it a lot more tactfully, too.

Eli also picked up on it. With a shake of his head, the teen said, “I’ve asked him all kinds of personal questions. I’m pretty sure you can tell him where babies come from. Seems a trustworthy sort.”

Gavin sputtered, and Avery gulped down the drink of water she’d just taken. “Eli, really.”

He grinned unrepentantly and put his earbuds back into place.

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