Trust In Love (A McCord Family Novel Book 2) by Amanda Siegrist Page A

Sophie?" Ava asked with a sly tone as she came up behind Austin, who was mucking out a pig stall.
    Austin turned to her, glaring a bit at the intrusion.
    How is Sophie?
    Good question. A very loaded question.
    Vigorously trying to work off the sexual frustration of not pulling Sophie into his arms and Ava has to ask about her. He certainly didn't want to talk about her when his sole purpose was trying to forget about her.
    Another long, insufferable week of seeing Sophie briefly here and there, but instead of that wondrous day when she had stood close to him, she had gone back to distancing herself. It made him mad.
    "What, no response? Did she get the stairs to the basement fixed and are the spiders gone?" Ava tried again.
    "Stairs are fixed. Spiders are gone. I'm busy, Ava," he said, turning back to his task.
    "That's it. You know when you get irritated, you are just like Zane. You ignore the issue and get all testy about it. Why can't you just ask her out and see where the relationship could go? Everyone knows you like her," she said with a hand on her hip.
    Austin abruptly turned around. "Ava, please kindly leave me alone. I don't want a relationship with anybody. Even if I did want one with Sophie, she sure in the hell doesn't want one with me. She hates men. I am a man."
    "Yes, you are. A very kind, loving, generous man who could show her what she deserves and what she's missing. Emmett stopped over the other day and told us about her. He said she's very beautiful and very timid. Perhaps abused at one time. Obviously you have to treat her gently to crack open her shell, but you can't do that if you're not trying."
    "I am trying!" he shouted, cringing as he realized what he admitted.
    Ava smiled widely. "I knew you liked her. Try a little harder. Invite her to the farm. It helped me heal, maybe it'll help her."
    "She'll never come to the farm. She won't even come into my house for a slice of pie that she bakes me," he said with impatience. "Ava, I know you mean the best, but I'm not looking for love. I'm just trying to be her friend. How many more times can I tell you guys that?"
    "Until I actually believe it. I see it in your eyes what she means to you and it isn't a simple friendship. I get it. You were burned before with love, but that doesn't mean if it suddenly comes back into your life you push it away because of one crazy bitch that probably didn't deserve your love."
    "What? You don't even know who she was or if she was a bitch," he replied.
    Ava scoffed at him. "I don't know when you started becoming this player persona you seem to have adopted and maybe you just fell into it right away. The examples I've seen you date are nothing to brag about. I have a good idea that this woman you supposedly loved probably falls into the same category as all these other ridiculous women. How old were you?"
    "Why?" he asked, hating this probing of his love life.
    "Because it matters. What happened with her?"
    Austin sighed. "I was nineteen. She wasn't like the other women. I don't want to talk about it."
    "Way too young to know what love is. Did you tell her and was she the same age?"
    "Ava, you're killing me here," Austin muttered as he rubbed a hand over his face in frustration. "Yes and yes. She didn't say it back. I know what I felt and it was love, even if I was nineteen."
    "Okay, mister smarty-pants. If it was love, then does it feel the same way you feel right now about Sophie? Is it as strong? And she was dumb. Any woman who hears the words 'I love you' from you should cry from happiness. You are a catch, Austin. The woman who finally wins your heart will be the luckiest woman in the world. She isn't worth the pain. Why are you hurting yourself like this? I know the kind of man you can be."
    Ava put her hand up to stop his interrupting arguments that would fall flat to her ears anyway. "Maybe you don't love Sophie yet, but you have feelings for her. You're constantly trying to make her happy by giving her things from