Page 11 of Finding Romance
“Ava,” she whispers.
“Hi, Ava. I’m Piper,” I say with a smile.
She grins. “Do you like to play tic-tac-toe?”
I nod. But Carly rolls her eyes. “Ava, how about you let Piper talk to everyone first and she can play with you later, OK? I bet Unca Bray will play with you.”
“Set it up,” Bray says with a wink, and Ava giggles and scrolls out a game board on a napkin with a marker that Al hands her.
“So has everyone moved in since then?” I ask.
“Well, Bray was here,” Hutch says.
“I remember,” I state.
“And I probably just had moved in then,” Hutch says.
“Gray moved in two years ago and Roxy this past year. Cam and Drew moved in around the same time as Carly and Ava, so like three or so years ago,” Hutch continues. It’s odd getting to know people when my aunt has mentioned some of them in passing. Like Gray, I knew he was a composer because Aunt Cornelia said something about him, but I hadn’t met him before being here this visit.
“I moved in four years ago,” Kasen states.
“Al, how long have you owned the building?” I ask as I lean on the bar.
“Oh, gosh, I bought it around the time Edith and I got married which was nearly sixty years ago. My brother had a commercial real estate license and I thought it’d be a good investment. And it allowed Edith to have her antique store right here and it was close to my work. And now, I have all my friends living here with me, aside from a few guys I still play cards with on occasion. It’s the perfect place,” he says with a distant smile as if a million memories are playing in his mind like a movie.
“It does seem like a great location, especially with the dead-end street and park right here. It’s unusual for a city apartment,” I point out as I take a sip of wine.
“That it is. It’s what drew me to it, to begin with,” he explains.
“How many residents have you had over the years?” I ask.
Shrugging, he scratches his head, and I can see him mentally counting. “Oh, I reckon a few dozen. Most stay for at least five years, but a few have only stayed for a year or two.”
“We moved in almost eleven years ago,” my aunt pipes up from the walkie-talkie.
Al jumps and clutches his heart. “Oh my, Cornelia, you scared the daylights out of me.”
She cackles. “Kasen brought them. Aren’t they great? You should bring me down some wine,” she insists. I want to fight her on it, but she’s off her pain meds, so technically she can drink.
“Your wish is my command,” Al replies with a chuckle.
“I can bring it down, Al,” I offer.
He waves me off as he pours some into a stemless glass. “I got it. You enjoy yourself.”
I step back and twirl around as I take in the rooftop again.
“Are you a princess?” Ava asks.
I freeze and then slowly turn back to face her. “Me?” I confirm. She nods vigorously.
I smile warmly and shake my head. “Nope. Just a normal woman.”
“Oh,” Ava says, her smile falling a little. “’Cause your dress twirls like a princess.”
She points to the skirt of my dress. And I give it a little half twirl and her smile widens again.
“I can do that too,” she says as she squirms out of Hutch’s lap and takes my hand so I can twirl her. I spin her in a circle, and she giggles.
