Chapter 7 The Inspection
The Inspection
Owen drummed his fingers on the counter, his attention split between Tori and her merry band of followers inspecting the Agatha Building and Ava sitting on the patio. Both sights spiked his blood pressure.
He wasn’t sure why he was so nervous about the Historical Society’s inspection across the street.
It wasn’t really an inspection since that was completed when he bought the building, but they were moving faster with his grant application than he expected, considering he submitted it the previous night. Maybe they had nothing better to do.
In any case, they’d been in and out of the building all day, and it put Owen on edge.
Owen had yet to determine if Tori would be professional about their working relationship or if their brief entanglement would influence how she treated the process. He hoped she wouldn’t make things awkward. He had enough awkwardness to wade through with Ava’s continued presence in Cedar Falls.
A flash of blonde hair in his periphery pulled his attention back to Ava.
Unlike the past two times he’d seen her, she wore her hair down and around her shoulders.
The subtle waves framed her heart-shaped face, the blonde strands catching the afternoon light.
The coffee he delivered was long since drunk and pushed aside as she worked steadily on her laptop through the lunch rush and well into the slow afternoon.
He’d always admired how her brain worked, how easily she could switch her focus and ignore distractions.
Every so often, she’d bite down on her lip as she stared at the screen, deep in concentration. When he caught the movement, he couldn’t help but stare at her red-painted lips. Ava dressed in red used to be his Kryptonite.
The jingle of the bell above the door brought him back to staring at the Historical Society tittering with their clipboards across the street.
Would Ava leave before they finished? She undoubtedly saw the activity happening at the building and he wasn’t ready to reveal what he’d done—what he was doing.
He’d never thought he’d have to when he bought it.
“Hey, Dad,” a cheerful voice said. Owen’s attention snapped in front of him where Avery and Maddy stood.
“Hey there, bud,” Owen said. He smiled at his son and reached across the counter to ruffle his hair. Avery huffed and pulled away, but his small smile negated his annoyance.
“Thought we’d grab a couple of lemonades and snacks before we left for Farmington. I’m going to sneak them into the movie theater in my bag.” Maddy held up her canvas bag for Owen to see.
“You know you can get that stuff at the movies,” Owen said.
“We could, but it’s more fun to be sneaky. Right, kid?” Maddy winked at Avery, and he beamed in response.
Owen’s chest tightened, almost painfully, at his son’s excitement.
Avery loved when his mom visited, but Owen knew the disappointment that would come when she left again at the end of the week.
But there was nothing he could do but support them both, even if that meant managing bedtime tantrums in the aftermath of a visit or sending them to the movies hyped up on sugar.
“Fair enough. I’ll grab a few things. Including a salad. You two need a vegetable now and then,” Owen said with a pointed look at Maddy. She was an enabler of bad eating habits. She had that luxury as the fun parent.
“I’ll eat it if it has ranch dressing,” Avery said.
“Deal,” Owen agreed.
He backed away from the counter, his gaze shifting once more to Ava, who was taking her headphones off. Maddy, who missed nothing, caught him. She whipped her head over her shoulder and spotted Ava at her table. A wide smile split her face.
“You didn’t say Ava was here. I’m gonna say hi.”
“Me too,” Avery said, willing to follow his mom wherever she went.
Maddy made a beeline for the patio door and straight to Ava’s table, Avery hot on her heels, before Owen could stop them. What could he say, anyway? As far as Avery knew, Ava was his aunt’s friend. He had no reason to stop them, at least no reason Maddy wouldn’t call bullshit on.
The urge to expel his nervous energy by drumming his fingers on the countertop came back.
Ava’s eyes grew comically wide when Maddy and Avery walked up to her table unannounced.
The definition of a deer caught in headlights.
He’d laugh if he didn’t feel so anxious about the interaction.
Ava closed her laptop and turned to give them her full attention, her surprise morphing into an indulgent smile as Avery spoke animatedly with his hands, and Maddy laughed.
Some of the tension in his shoulders loosened. He stopped staring and put together the promised contraband for Avery and Maddy. When they still hadn’t left Ava’s table by the time he finished, Owen intervened. He grabbed the bag and drink carrier and joined them on the patio.
“You guys are all set for the movies,” Owen interrupted.
“Thanks, Dad,” Avery said. Avery bounced on the balls of his feet and took the drink carrier out of his hand.
Maddy grabbed the paper bag and stuffed it into her canvas tote. “We’ll let you get back to work, Ava. Good luck with your project. We got a movie to catch.” Maddy waved at Ava and settled a hand on Avery’s shoulder to steer him away.
“Bye, Ava. Bye, Dad,” Avery said.
“Thanks, O. We’ll see you at home later,” Maddy said as the two of them took off.
Owen watched them go, then turned back to Ava when they were out of sight. She raised an eyebrow at him.
“O?”
He tried and failed to not stare at the way her red lips formed the syllable. He blinked and shook his head. “What?”
“I didn’t realize you went by ‘O’. Thought you hated that nickname,” Ava clarified.
“Right. Just Mads calls me that. It’s better than when she used to call me ‘baby daddy’ un-ironically.”
Ava’s mouth gaped before pinching shut like she didn’t know how to respond to that. Probably because she didn’t, because he didn’t think before he spoke.
What the hell is wrong with me? Baby daddy? Really?
He hiked a thumb over his shoulder, cringing internally at himself. “I’m sure you have work to do. Sorry we all disturbed you. I should get back.”
Owen turned on his heel and hurried back to the safety of the counter, not wanting to humiliate himself further.
He avoided looking in her direction and glanced out the front window at the Agatha Building once more, where the Historical Society members seemed to cast a vote.
People raised their hands in the air while Tori scribbled on her clipboard.
All too soon, the members disbanded, and Tori swept through the entrance of the café.
Owen drummed his fingers once more, eager to dispel the adrenaline riding him.
Tori approached, her clipboard held close to her chest as if to guard the secrets they had discussed.
Her painted red nails tapped lightly on the wood of the clipboard.
Red might be his favorite color, but the color on Tori incited zero attraction for him.
“Owen, have a moment to discuss your application? We’ve come to a decision,” Tori said.
“Sure, let’s go back to my office for some privacy.” He chanced a glance at the patio, hoping to usher Tori in and out before Ava could see.
No such luck.
Ava’s hazel eyes met his, a furrow between her brows.
He quickly broke their eye contact and led Tori to his small office behind the counter.
Her nose twitched with distaste at the small space, but she said nothing as he directed her to the chair in front of the desk.
He crossed to sit down in the creaky leather office chair, resisting the compulsion to reach up and tighten the hair in his bun out of restlessness.
“We’re expediting your application. We have our annual fundraiser coming up in August and decided showcasing the renovated Agatha Building would be the perfect inspiration to have attendees open their wallets.”
“Okay,” Owen trailed off, unsure of what to say.
That seemed sufficient as she nodded and continued, “Because of that, the vote was unanimous to grant you the Cedar Falls Historical Society renovation funds, so you can begin renovations right away. Congratulations.”
Tori removed a piece of paper from the clipboard and slid it across the desk to him. The form had Tori’s signature at the bottom alongside a black approved stamp.
When did she have time to stamp this thing?
“We let it slide you didn’t provide a name for the bed-and-breakfast yet, but we need that. The sooner, the better,” she said.
Owen scanned the piece of paper, making a mental note to stop by Matt’s office to drop off the original for him to make copies.
“Thank you. I’ll get you the name as soon as I can.” More like as soon as I can come up with one.
“You are most welcome. We’re excited at the prospect of working with you to revitalize our town. The economic impact of your bed-and-breakfast will be substantial. We’re going to be spending a lot of quality time together to get this project off the ground.”
Owen winced inwardly at the implication.
“Now, because we’re dealing with a historical building, there are some stipulations to the vendors, and we will need to approve any construction before it takes place. Can you stop by our office at City Hall tomorrow at three to go over the logistics and next steps?”
Owen had a feeling the question was rhetorical, and he was expected to be at the meeting. Luckily, Maddy was in town for another day and could be with Avery.
“I’ll be there. And thank you. Without this grant, I doubt the renovations would be possible. I appreciate the efforts of the Historical Society,” Owen told Tori. Despite the discomfort of working with a former one-night stand, he was grateful the town supported his new venture.
“Of course. Now I need to file some paperwork with the county to kick things off. I’ll see myself out.”