A Love of Her Own Read Online Free PDF Page B

other small city, but it also had plenty of family-owned restaurants that had been around for years and remained popular.
    “ All riiiight!”
    But Marcus hedged when he saw the police car in the parking lot . “Cops are in there!” he exclaimed, pulling back.
    Ava looked at him sharply . “Are they looking for you?”
    “ Well…no, not really.” Marcus reached up and removed his hat, tucking it under his arm. His hair was neatly trimmed close to his head.
    Ava was curious, but she let the matter drop . They went in, took a table and looked at the laminated single-sheet menu. “Can I get the platter?” Marcus asked.
    “ If you think you can finish it, sure.”
    “ Are you kidding? I can eat two.”
    Her eyebrows arched. “When was the last time you ate, Marcus?”
    “ Grandma fixed breakfast for me this morning.”
    “ You live with your grandmother?”
    He scowled . “Why you as’ so many questions?”
    They talked about general topics as they ate . True to his word, Marcus demonstrated a healthy appetite, cleaning the bones of the ribs until they gleamed, unlike most children his age who tended to trash bones that still contained plenty of meat. He ate all his onion rings and the small container of cole slaw, but when Ava offered to get him more ribs he grinned and said he’d rather have dessert.
    Ava, full from her riblet sandwich and corn on the cob, merely watched him eat his chocolate cake. “How old are you, Marcus?” she asked, hoping he wouldn’t consider that too personal a query.
    “ Nine. Well, almost.”
    Ava frowned . Judging from his love of food, here was a typical eight-year-old boy, but instead of indulging in things like skateboarding and bike riding, he was busy stealing women’s purses. Why, she wondered.
    Her thoughts went to the bearded man who Marcus had spoken to on the street . She remembered the glimpse of panic she had caught in Marcus’s eyes after their brief exchange; and somehow she knew this man had a lot to do with making Marcus into a prime candidate to be a future resident of the city jail.
    She had never been much for community matters, but now she found herself pledging to do what she could to save this child ’s future.
    * ****
    “ So how old are you?” he asked as they walked back to the shop.
    Ava hedged . “Why do you want to know that?”
    “ Hey, you asked me and I told you. It’s only fair you tell me how old you are.”
    “ I’m thirty-five.”
    Marcus scrutinized her for a few moments . “You look pretty good. I wouldn’t have guessed you were that old.”
    “ Thanks…I think,” Ava replied with a chuckle.
    “ Do you dye your hair to cover up gray?”
    “ What makes you think I dye my hair?”
    “ It’s almost the same color as your skin. I never seen anybody like that, all reddish.”
    “ My brother and sister both happen to have this same complexion. It’s a family trait from our father. She didn’t add that she was the only one who had also inherited their father’s cinnamon-like hair color, or that she had hated it when she was growing up because it made her different from everyone else whose hair was either black or sandy brown. Too bad she couldn’t have known that years later the color would be duplicated by colorists and become a popular choice for those who sought to change their look or soften it as they grew older. She chuckled every time she saw boxes of hair dye graced by models whose hair matched her natural shade. “I do not dye my hair, and I certainly don’t have any gray!”
    “ Sorry,” he said with a shrug.
    “ Don’t worry about it,” she replied, suddenly ashamed of having spoken so harshly. She supposed the issue of gray hair was a touchy one for all women.
    Ava thought carefully before asking him another question; she didn ’t want to antagonize him by getting too personal. “So what are you doing the rest of the afternoon?”
    “ Oh, I don’t know. Just hang out, I guess.”
    “ There’s trouble on