“Your church must have really done some major fund-raising for this trip.”
His gaze skirted hers. “The church remains committed to our missionary work. But with the upcoming renovations to the building planned…well, money is tight. I funded it myself.”
“You…” Ava gaped at him. “You don’t have any money.” The child support he sent her was modest. His salary as assistant pastor in a small church was less than what she made, and cops weren’t exactly featured on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. “Where would you get…” Her stomach plummeted. “Oh, Danny. Tell me you didn’t.”
He folded his hands on his knees and leaned forward, his choirboy face earnest. “These people are among the poorest in the world, Ava. They live in mud huts. Some of the children walk ten miles a day to school. Try to put things in perspective. If some personal sacrifice means we can help hundreds of less fortunate…”
The last thing she needed right now was another lecture on sacrifice. She came upright and out of the chair in one smooth motion, her fists balled at her sides. “The sacrifice is hardly personal when it’s your son paying the price. Did you tell Alex you financed this trip by selling the bonds you were saving for his college costs?”
His chin squared. He’d never once raised his voice in all the years she’d known him, but she recognized that expression. It meant he wouldn’t budge from his position. “You still have your savings for him, right? And he doesn’t have to go to MIT. There’s a perfectly adequate college right here in Metro City.”
Ava closed her eyes, gritting her teeth against the hot words that trembled on her tongue. “He’s talked of nothing else for three years. He got a two thousand on the SAT as a freshman, Danny. He’s not going to the local college.” Her son’s proficiency in academics, especially in math and science, had been noticed early in elementary school. She’d been saving what she could for his future since then. They both had. At least until now.
“MIT gives need-based scholarships anyway. And if he has to borrow some money, he’ll appreciate his education more.” Danny’s voice turned indulgent. “The Lord will provide, Ava. You just have to believe.”
She stared at him, her breathing strangled. Which of them had changed more since they’d first met at seventeen and twenty? No real puzzle there. Danny was still the dreamy-eyed idealist, with the biggest heart she’d ever met. So big sometimes that it blinded him to the needs of his own family. While she…after eleven years on the force, she’d learned that all people weren’t inherently good. That evil was more than a concept. And if you didn’t take care of your own, no one else would.
Turning her back on him, she fought to keep her voice steady. “You need to go.”
“Ava—”
“Now.” She could feel the temper heating her from the inside out. The tightness in her chest heralded an impending explosion. Alex didn’t need to hear his parents arguing. He’d heard plenty of that before they’d split.
There was nothing to argue about at any rate. The bonds were gone. And nothing she could say would convince Danny he’d violated a trust by using them.
A thought struck her there, comprehension piercing anger. She whirled to see Danny halfway through the door. “Wait.” He halted. “That’s not what had Alex so excited. What’d you tell him?”
His sheepish look was its own answer. “I meant to run it by you first. Really. But we got to talking, and seeing how interested he was, it just came out. But I warned him that you were going to have the final say, Ava. I swear I did.”
“No.”
“It would be a wonderful experience for him.” Her ex let go of the doorknob and moved closer to her. “He’ll learn compassion for others…”
“My son doesn’t need to travel ten thousand miles to learn compassion.” Her voice shook with the effort it took to keep it steady. Odd how she could face down an armed robber. Take out a target at a thousand yards. But this…this had panic sprinting down her spine. Ice bumping through her veins. “And if you think I’m sending a fifteen-year-old boy halfway around the world with you this summer, you are seriously deranged.”
“Pizza delivery.”
Ava stood in her son’s open doorway and waved the pizza box in front of her. Alex turned around in his desk chair and grinned in delight. “Meat lover’s with mushrooms and green olives?”
“Yes, O Gluttonous One.” When she entered his room, her son’s eyes widened. “I get to eat in my room?” The practice had been banned after Ava had discovered why the house had such an ant infestation. Alex tended to forget the leftovers he shoved under his bed, but the ants never did.
“It’s a onetime offer, and mealtime rules apply. Put a shirt on.” He must have showered, because his hair was damp and he was clad only in baggy basketball shorts. He got up and pulled a T-shirt over his head, and she was struck anew by the definition in his back and shoulders. He already stood eye-to-eye with her at five nine. He’d surpass her by his next birthday. Girls had been calling the house for three years, but in the last twelve months or so Alex had been doing some calling of his own. Sometimes the years seemed to meld into nanoseconds. Another few blinks and he’d be off to college and she’d be alone for the first time in her life.
Shrugging off the bolt of emotion that twisted at the thought, she sat on his bed, cross-legged, with the box on her lap. She handed him a plate as he reached for the first slice of pizza, knowing he wasn’t one to bother with such niceties on his own.
“This looks great. What are you going to eat?”
“Funny.” But Ava withdrew two pieces just in case. Alex could work his way through the rest without a pause. His metabolism should rank as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
They ate for a few minutes in companionable silence. After breaking all speed limits to wolf down three slices, he finally slowed enough to say, “Guess you’re pretty pissed that Dad talked to me about going to Africa, huh?”
At her sharp glance he rolled his eyes and amended, “I mean ‘mad.’”
She put her half-eaten slice down and reached for a napkin. “It’s a big decision, Alex. And it’s one we should have talked over before he mentioned it to you. So yeah, I’m not crazy about the idea.”
“But you’ll think about it, right? I mean, how cool would that be? I’ve never even been out of the country before.”
“You’ve been to Mexico.”
He waved off her correction. “Okay, I haven’t been off the continent. When would I ever get a chance like this again?”
She wiped her fingers carefully, trying to hide her dismay. “It wouldn’t be a pleasure trip. You’d be working. Living without indoor plumbing and electricity. No TV. No video games.”
“I know that.” He took another slice out of the box. “But I’d be doing some good, right? And think how that would look on my college application. You’re always saying I need to list community service.”
“I was thinking more like mentoring middle schoolers. Teaching Sunday school. And what about baseball?”
“Dad said I could
