Right Where We Belong (Silver Springs #4)(58)

Eli crossed his ankles. “He won’t listen even if we do. But we could show him another possibility.”

“What does that mean?”

“Gavin never misses Sunday dinner, right?”

Aiyana invited her sons for a meal nearly every Sunday, and those who lived close usually came. They felt comfortable bringing a friend or a date, too. Aiyana liked touching base with her boys, liked providing a big meal where they could talk and laugh and reconnect. She thought it was healthy for her youngest son to have that time with his older brothers, and for her college-age son to return when he felt like making the long drive from San Diego.

She remembered when Eli had brought Cora for the first time, how much she’d liked Cora and what their relationship had turned out to be since... “Of course not. It’s the only time he gets home-cooking.”

“So we can be reasonably confident he’ll be there this Sunday.”

“Not this Sunday. Cal’s got something going in Idaho, a cattle purchase. He’s asked me to fly up with him.”

“Then next weekend.”

“What does this have to do with anything?” she asked.

“Remember Savanna, that pretty neighbor I told you about? I say we make Sunday dinner a week after next a barbecue and swim party and invite her and her two children.”

Aiyana wasn’t convinced Eli had hit on the high-powered solution they needed. “Roger Nowitzke’s coming that weekend. I’ve already invited him for dinner.” She often included various alumni from the school, if they were in town, and she was anxious to see Roger again. He hadn’t been back since he graduated twelve years earlier. Even the boys she hadn’t adopted were sort of like her sons.

“He can be there, too. There’s no reason he can’t.”

“But I’ve never even met Savanna. How can I invite her over?”

Eli jabbed a thumb into his chest. “I’ll do it. Let’s put the two of them together for a few hours of fun, see what happens. I’m telling you, there’s something between them. I could feel it when I was around them.”

“What about Heather and the baby?”

“If he doesn’t love Heather, marrying her won’t change anything. She may think she wants him, that she’ll somehow make him love her. But odds are it’ll end in divorce. That’s what’s troubling you, isn’t it? The fact that it wouldn’t be wise, or even healthy, to enter a marriage the way he feels? She deserves more, and so does he. For that matter, so does the baby.”

Aiyana shook her head. “He’ll never see it that way. He won’t want to give up control over his child’s life. He’s taking his job as that baby’s protector very seriously. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to the child, either—his or anyone else’s—and that ties my hands.”

“Not completely. Even if he doesn’t marry Heather, if the baby’s his, we’ll all stay involved.”

“Providing Heather will let us!”

“She will.”

“Gavin won’t take that on faith.”

“Then he’d better be good at resisting temptation,” Eli said, and stood. “He came to work late today, right?”

“Around noon. Why?”

“He’ll probably be staying late to finish up. You go talk to him, delay him if you have to, and I’ll drive out to invite Savanna to the barbecue.”

“I feel guilty for meddling,” Aiyana admitted.

Eli turned back at the door. “We’re not meddling. We’re welcoming someone new into the community. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

He had a point. They were only having a barbecue.

Aiyana straightened the blotter on her desk. “How do we make sure he doesn’t bring Heather?”

“We’ll let him know we’ve invited Savanna. If he brings Heather knowing Savanna will be there, it’ll mean he’s completely committed and doesn’t like Savanna as much as I thought. There’s nothing we can do to save him at that point. But if he doesn’t bring Heather...”

She lifted the bottle of water on her desk as if she was making a toast. “Here’s hoping.”

*

Once again, Savanna made dinner in her Crock-Pot. Sweet pork burritos were a family favorite. And she had plenty to share. But she wasn’t sure whether or not to invite Gavin back. She’d been deliberating on that while breaking down the last of the boxes and finishing the cleaning. She didn’t want to make him feel cornered or pressured, as though she was constantly approaching him, but she did want to provide a hot meal if that was something he’d enjoy.

When she heard a knock, she thought it could be him and decided to go ahead and invite him if it was. But when she swung the door wide, she saw Eli and not Gavin on her stoop. “Hi,” she said in surprise.

Gavin’s brother smiled. “Sorry to bother you...”

“No problem. It’s not like I get many visitors. You and Gavin are the only two people I know so far.” She glanced behind him but didn’t see a vehicle—his or Gavin’s.

“Gavin’s not back from the ranch yet,” Eli said, accurately reading the question in her mind. “He should be home soon. While I was waiting for him, I thought I’d walk over and invite you and the kids to a barbecue and swim party a week from this Sunday at New Horizons. My mother and I both live on the ranch, but my mother’s place is larger, and she generally does the cooking for our family get-togethers, so we all go there.”