Vitality (Vitality Series #1)

Chapter 8 Whispers

The sun shined bright through the bedroom window. Ava could hear laughter and familiar voices coming from downstairs. She sat up in bed for a minute, trying to figure out what it was, irritated that they'd woken her up. She was not a morning person if she could help it.

It was Danny and Shane — eight in the morning, and they were already there, doing God knows what.

She got up to throw some clothes on, first stopping in front of the long oval mirror. The enemy stood there.

Ava turned from the mirror before her fist broke it.

Downstairs, in the kitchen, she found the boys bantering as usual, making breakfast no less. Danny was cutting vegetables up on the island, and Shane turned to Danny from the stove, waving his dripping spatula around as he ran his mouth.

Danny glanced up at Shane with a double take. "You're dripping grease everywhere, dude! Put your hands down and watch the burner." Danny threw a piece of pepper at him.

"What?" Shane's lips folded, trying to contain an embarrassed smile. "Can't I talk and cook at the same time?"

"If you could do both at the same time, you wouldn't be flinging that mess around like the mess you're flinging out of your mouth."

"Speaking of both at the same time, was that Trish's voice I heard this morning when you called?"

"Shane."

"Fine," he mumbled and added something about a queen bee in the kitchen and Danny's mother."

"What?" Danny's head whipped up.

"I SAID — SOUR CREAM and chips... yogurt." He pushed around at the bacon in the pan, mumbling. "Dip... dogs, cats..." His voice went lower and lower until inaudible.

Danny looked at him, dumbfounded, shaking his head.

Shane grabbed the piece of pepper on the counter that Danny had thrown at him. "Wait. Why are you even slicing peppers? Dahlila said Ava don't like 'em — I already asked."

It was true; she had mentioned not being a fan when Dahlila presented her with three different kinds of small pizzas to choose from the other night.

"Who cares?" Danny's lip rose. "We like them. Put them in."

"No," Shane huffed, throwing it at him, and hit him right in the forehead; Danny's eyes blew wide open.

"Shane. I swear to God. I'm goin' to beat your head in," he spewed, stepping to go after him.

Shane raised the spatula, and the soft brown hair that was sticking up on the back of his head became prominent in the light as he moved into it.

"Peppers are fine," Ava declared calmly, trying to stop a fight from unfolding, and moved into the kitchen. "But I'm not hungry."

In the window a rose bush moved in the breeze, and their smell filled the kitchen momentarily over the eggs, bacon, toast, and potatoes. As she walked farther in, she saw Dahlila slumping at the end of the kitchen table with her chin in her hand. Her hair was a mess and eyes heavy, completely unamused by the other two. It wasn't a look Ava thought she'd ever see on her.

Ava couldn't help but to chuckle. "How do you deal with these two?"

Dahlila's eyes moved in their direction and then back. "What two?"

Ava's brows rose in amusement.

"That's how," Dahlila murmured with a hint of smile.

Right behind Dahlila, the kitchen opened up to a freshly updated sitting room. The walls were newly painted though the room smelled like the lake and trees and wood, and bright white furniture made it feel incredibly serene. So serene that Ava could picture the French doors to the outside wide open to beautiful weather and her and Dahlila relaxing in the sun.