Free Arizona Cowboy by Jennifer Collins Johnson

left her mouth.
    Irene snorted. “Don’t even tease, Ava. What I wouldn’t give to have a little one running around the house.”
    Tears welled in Ava’s eyes, and she turned toward the shelves. She picked up several cans of unsalted black beans and placed them in the cart. “The recipe said you need cumin powder. I’ll go get it.”
    She didn’t have to look at her aunt. She could feel Aunt Irene’s compassion and pity. Ava dabbed the corners of her eyes and forbade her mind to wander.

Chapter 9
    H olden pushed the food around with his fork. Irene was a good cook, but he didn’t like peppers, and he didn’t know what to think about the seedy looking things inside them. He was glad she wanted to help his dad keep his blood pressure down, but some of the recipes she came up with were not his favorites.
    He looked around the table. Six people from his family. Five from Irene’s. All sitting at their humongous table celebrating his dad’s birthday. But Holden didn’t feel celebratory.
    His dad and Irene sat side by side, quietly sharing snippets about their day and laughing intermittently. His sister Sara and brother-in-law Daryl sat next to them, then his other sister, Traci, and her husband, Carl. Mitch and Ellie sat next to them. Their ooey-gooey expressions toward each other made Holden’s stomach churn. Next around the table was Ava, himself, then Matt. Somehow, he’d ended up seated between the woman he couldn’t stop thinking about, and her cousin.
    Holden picked through the pepper and speared a couple black beans. Ava looked awfully pretty tonight, wearing a blue flowered dress that made her eyes look amazing, and she smelled so good. Like sunshine and flowers.
    He wished she would talk to him. Everyone he knew seemed to be finding love. Jess and Nate. Jake and Megan. Dad and Irene. Even Mitch. Mitch was the last person in Surprise Holden would expect to find a girlfriend, and yet here he was, sitting next to a spunky redhead who looked at him as if he hung the moon.
    Holden wasn’t accomplishing anything just sitting and stewing about his lack of a love life. Today was his dad’s birthday, so he might as well try and make the best of it. He turned toward Matt. “So, how are things going?”
    Matt wiped his mouth. “Really well. We just finished making repairs on a few homes in the downtown area. Getting ready for our Easter pageant.”
    “That’s great.”
    “Yes. We’re hoping to have a thousand people attend. The kids have been passing out flyers.”
    His phone beeped, and Matt pulled it out of his pocket. He smiled as he opened a text from someone named Barb. Holden leaned back in his chair. Even Matt seemed to have found himself a girl.
    This is crazy. Ava might have decided to avoid him, but Holden was not going to be part of it. They’d made a mistake when they were barely adults. God had forgiven them, and even if she wanted nothing to do with him, he planned to talk to her and treat her as he would anyone else.
    He looked her way. She gazed into his eyes, her expression timid and vulnerable. The only problem with treating her like anyone else was he could never think of her that way. She would always mean much more to him. He blew out a quick breath, determined not to drown in the beauty of those eyes. “How is work going?”
    She swallowed, and Holden had to look away from her mouth and neck. “Great. How ’bout you?”
    “Same as always.”
    He twirled the fork between his thumb and fingers. What else could he say to her? She wouldn’t appreciate him sharing that he thought of her constantly and that he was pretty sure he loved her as much as he had eight years ago. No. Those were not sentiments Ava would want to hear.
    Irene tapped her fork against a glass of water, and everyone looked toward her and Dad. “Before the cake and ice cream, Jerry and I have a little announcement to make.”
    Surely they’re not going to say they’re getting married. Holden wanted his dad to be