Heart in mouth

Not long after their lengthy man-to-man conversation, Derek and Mr Jones went back into the house because Derek had to prepare to leave.

Emily looked at him inquiringly when he came back inside, and he smiled at her to assure her that all was well. He said goodbye to everybody, and finally, Ava got up to see him off to his car.

"Do you mind if we take a little walk down the street, Ava?" He asked her.

"Of course not. I don't mind. In fact, a walk will be just great after all that tension." She replied.

"You thought that there was tension in the house today? In my opinion, it was much better than yesterday."

"I guess you're right about that. I hope my dad wasn’t too harsh on you when you guys went to discuss."

"No, he wasn't. In fact, he bestowed the privilege of being part of the family upon me, and I feel very honored because your family seems to be really interesting, at least compared to mine, or rather the one I used to have."

"That's a good sign then."

"He did tell me that he pre