They went out into the sun and warmth of a beautiful late May day. A fresh breeze ruffled the aspens that ringed the backyard, and while the sun was bright, the air itself was mild, not yet truly hot. Ava wanted to drink in that air, so refreshing, so different from the damp heat they’d left behind in New Orleans.
“That went better than I’d hoped,” Gabriel commented, then took a sip of his lemonade.
“I was worried, too,” Ava said. Of course, she hadn’t allowed him to know just how worried she actually had been, how much she’d feared that her mother would flat out refuse to offer them any kind of assistance. But as rigid as Sophia Castillo could be about some things, she was also fair and hated the idea of any kind of bias. Possibly that was what had made her listen to their plea; she was
