August, Chapters 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 Summary

Renovations on the house project are progressing well, and Ava and Eddie find themselves alone there in a rare moment of quiet. The love they share is so overwhelming that neither one can speak, until finally Eddie breaks the silence and asks Ava to marry him. A marriage proposal is something Ava never expected to hear, and she runs from the house through the woods as fast as her legs will carry her. Ava's thoughts race too, and she rehearses in her mind how she can decline the proposal; being HIV positive doesn't leave many options for planning a future, and the thought of Eddie's pity or the need for him to become a nurse to her, are things that Ava just can't abide.

Ava's emotional turmoil is sidelined temporarily by the arrival of Imani's mother, Mattie, at Joyce's...