Page 30 of Truth, Lies, and Second Dates
Ava tried not to gape at the child, whose eyes were the same deep brown as Tom’s. “Uh. I’m a commercial pilot for Northeastern Southwest.”
“You fly everywhere!” Abe said, delighted.
“Yeah, I sure do. The best money the airline ever spent was on those commercials. That jingle will haunt me to my grave.” Then, to the child, “My copilot learned to fly in the navy, if that helps.”
“Why would that help?”
“Uh. Good question.”
“We have to go now,” Tom said, abrupt even for him. “This is… we’re working.”
Abe, clearly familiar with Tom’s habits, nodded at the file folders. While Ava made with the chitchat, Tom had tucked away the horrifying pictures (good call). “I’ll bet. I was real sorry to hear about your friend getting killed. Tom’s been following the case—”
“Abe.”
“—and told me about it when he stopped in a few hours ago.”
“Abe.”
Ava ignored Tom’s obvious unease. Which was fine; so was everyone else. Including the dog. “You all live together?”
“Yes, since my daughter-in-law passed away a couple years ago.”
“That’s nice. I mean about living together. It’s aThree Men and a Little Ladything. If the dog was a man. And if this was a movie.”And if I could shut the hell up for five seconds and STOP BABBLING.
“If our lives were a movie, it would not be family friendly,” Tom pointed out. “At all.”
Ava almost laughed, because of course that was perfectly true.Seven,maybe.Silence of the Lambs,possibly. Nothing by Disney. Although Disneydidlike to kill the moms off pretty much immediately… and the kids were always cute and precocious…
“Uncle Tom is the best forensic pathologist in the Midwest,” Hannah announced the way most children announced their love for ice cream: presenting it as immutable fact. “He’ll catch the perpetrator. Well. He’ll ascertain the perpetrator’s identity and then the police will catch him. There’s precedent to back that.”
“Jesus, you’re amazing!” She instantly remembered Tom’s fake swearing and could feel herself getting red. “Sorry. I meant jeepers.”
The little girl beamed, peeking up at Ava through dark blond bangs that were slightly too long. “You don’t have to apologize for complimenting me. Or breaking the Third Commandment. Although if you’re a Christian, you should probably apologize to God.”
“Hannah.”
“What? Those are the rules. If she identifies as Catholic, she would have to go to confession and tell everything to a male designated by the church hierarchy—”
“Hannah.”
“I apologize for overstepping. I am not judging your spiritual belief system.”
“Oh my God, you’re awesome.”
A triumphant beam revealed one missing front tooth. “See, Grandpa? Captain Capp doesn’t mind.”
“Captain Capp doesn’t mind one bit and would love it if you called her Ava.” She looked around at the wiry older man, the genius child, the frolicking dog, the weirdly compelling pathologist. “This is all really cool.”Except for the part about Danielle dying. But that probably goes unsaid. Right? Right. Jesus, I’m a monster. I mean jeepers.
“We must leave,” Tom said, though he’d calmed down a bit.
“Yeah, I get it, time and place and this is neither.” Ava turned to say goodbye. “It was lovely meeting all of you. Even you,” she added, scratching behind Turq’s ears. “It’ll be tough to explain why there’s more dog hair than human hair on my clothes, that’s for sure.”
“Why? ‘A strange dog jumped on me.’ See? Easy.”
“Thank you, Hannah. You’re quite right.”
“Oh, would your husband wonder about dog fur?” Abe asked with blatantly transparent intentions. She could smell a matchmaker a mile off, and Abe was only three feet off.
