Echoes in the Bayou (34 page)

 "I
feel funny leaving you alone," Kelly said. She was getting ready to go out
plowing with Adrian.

"Nonsense
Kelly there's nothing to feel funny ab
out, I'll
be fine I promise now go and have fun but be careful."

"I've
got my cell so call me if you need anything alright?" She said and kissed
her on the cheek
.

"Will
do." Ava waved at Adrian as he pulled into the driveway. The snow was
coming down hard
and it was causing blizzard
like conditions. It was a beautiful sight just as long as one didn’t have to
drive in it.

When she
was sure that they had gone, she let the tears flow. She missed Magnus so much
that it made her heart ache. Even though she was surrounded by people who cared
for her she had never felt so alone. "Stop feeling sorry for
yourself," she mumbled right before the lights went out. "That's just
great isn’t it?" She said out loud. The wind howled outside bringing
blankets of snow with it in every direction. She hoped that Adrian and Kelly
were alright.

After she
went around the house lighting kerosene lamps and candles, she got c
omfortable in front of the fire. "Just you and me
kid," she said.

 
Her cell phone vibrating startled her. "Hey
Sterling, you guys alright?"

"I
should be asking you that question and I will in about five seconds because
we're making our way down your driveway now," he said
.

"God
bless you," she said and went to the door
.

"We
couldn’t leave you two damsels in distress," Anthony joked. The two of
them stomped the snow from their feet and began taking off layers of clothing
.

"Where's
Kelly?
"

"Out
with Adrian. They'll be out all night if this storm keeps up.
"

Sterling
could se
e that she'd been crying. Ava, you're
falling apart."

 
"I know I am and thanks for noticing," she
punched him in his arm.

"Ava,
why in god's name didn’t you just tell the man that you wanted him to come live
with you," He asked her
.

"I
did! Bu
t I didn’t want it to feel like I was
forcing him. I didn’t want to be the kind of woman who stands in front of her
man's dream.  Taking this book tour was something that he wanted so very
badly and now that his book is such a success I'm afraid that I'll never see
him again."

 
"Well we can't do anything about Magnus at the
moment but we can certainly help get you back on your feet."

"I'm
so embarrassed," she said. "I didn’t want anyone to…
"

"To
care about you?" He asked. Sterling took her into
his embrace. "I think that Magnus made a huge mistake. And I
think, as a matter of fact I know that he is going to regret it."

"Sterling's
right you know?" Anthony said. "The man is an idiot if he thinks that
taking a book tour is more important than being with the one you love. I mean
does he even realize how many writers are based out of the northeast? Just how
smart did you say this guy was? Because it sounds to me like he's got no common
sense."

Ava
smiled; she loved her friends and was
so very
grateful to them for showing up when they did.
     

"I love you guys, thank you so much for
coming," she said and hugged them both.

"You're
welcome; now let's concentrate on getting you back on your feet. You've got a
bun in the oven and a
store to run and neither
one is going to get neglected, not on our watch," they said in unison.

 
Because of the storm, Kelly had called to say that
she'd be unable to make it back home and that she'd be out all night with
Adrian.  Once Ava reassured her that she was being well taken care of she
felt much better. "Ava, I am having a wonderful time," she giggled.

"I'm
gla
d, you so deserve it my friend," she
said before hanging up the phone. She wanted to be more excited for her friend
but she just couldn’t, not tonight anyway. Tonight she wanted to allow herself
to be miserable.

For the
rest of the night, Sterling and Anthony fed her, listened to her and shared
their experiences with her. She had their full attention when she told them all
about the goings on at the plantation. She hoped that by telling them the story
they would see a side of Magnus that they didn’t think existed.  "Now
I see why you love him," Sterling said. "If he's anything like the
man that you described Ava, then he'll come for you."

During
the next couple of days in the midst of the storm, she began to eat better;
sleep better and in the process grew closer to both Sterling and Anthony
.

Chapter Twenty Four

She was
forced to keep the store closed for two more days even after the storm cleared.
There isn’t much sense in opening up if people aren’t able to get out of their
own driveways," she said. "Almost three feet of snow and it's only
January," Sterling said as he took a sip of coffee. "I'm just glad
that the power came back on," she said and popped a slice of bacon in her
mouth.

She had a
ferociou
s appetite and she found herself unable
to stop eating. "I feel like pancakes, does anyone else feel like
pancakes?"

Sterling
and Anthony chuckled. "Looks like someone is feeling be
tter," they joked and kissed one another.

A week
after the storm, things began to return to normal, Sterling and Kelly had begun
work on the store's website and there were a couple of online items that Ava
wanted to bid on. She was having a fairly busy day when the telephone rang.

"Ava's
antiques, this is Ava
, how may I help you?"

"I
can't believe It's you," he said. His voice sounded far away but Ava knew
that
it was Magnus.

She
stepped away from the counter. "Magnus, is that you? Where are you? Magnus
I miss you so much, and there's something I have to tell you." She hoped
that she didn’t sound as if she were babbling
.

 
"Ava I can barely hear you, say something so I
can hear the beautiful sound of your voice."

"I
miss you," she said a bit louder. Sterling and Kelly rushed to her side
and strained to hear what he was saying
.

"Baby,
this connection is horrible I can't hear you, I'm going to hang up a
nd try again. God there's so much I need to say to you
but I don’t even know where to start or if you can hear me."

She knew
that it was now or never, there was so much static on the phone she wondered if
he'd heard anything. "Magnus, I need your new numbe
r. I'm pregnant!" She blurted out but it was too late, the line
had gone completely dead."

 
"Shit!" She cursed and slammed down the
phone. "Should have known the damn phone lines are always the last thing
to be repaired after a storm," Sterling told her. "I'm so sorry Ava."

"Excuse
me a minute please," she said and made her way to the back office where
she completely let go
. Magnus had finally
reached out to her and the phone lines went dead.
Someone is trying to tell me something
, she thought to herself.

 
A sharp pain shot through her belly, she took a couple
deep breaths and when the same pain shot through again, she began to panic.
"Please no," she cried and made her way to the front of the store.
Immediately Kelly and Sterling knew that something was wrong and they went to
her. "I think I need to go to the hospital," she cried out in pain.
The cramps were so intense that she hoped that she wouldn’t pass out.

 
"This can't be happening," she said out
loud. She knew that having pain this early on was not a good thing. 
"Don’t worry Ava, everything's going to be alright, we'll get you to the
hospital in a jiffy," Sterling said trying not to sound panicked.
"The truck is right out front," he said. He and Kelly carefully
helped her get into the truck.
God please
let my baby be alright
, she silently
prayed.

When Magnus was unable to get through to the store,
he got angry. "Shit! Goddamnit!" He cursed. He'd heard her voice for
a brief moment and it was like the sound of an angel. She sounded so upbeat and
was excited about something but then there was too much static and he couldn’t
hear her. He wanted to tell her that he was thinking of extending his book tour
because of the popularity of the new book. And that there was talk of a
television movie deal but that he wasn’t sure he wanted to go that route.

 
Steve had told him that "Secrets in the
Bayou" would make the perfect movie. He told him that his mostly female
audience would all tune in to watch his story come alive, especially this one.
"This could turn out to be the big time buddy; I have a feeling that after
the premiere of "Secrets in the Bayou," people are going to want to
see your other novels come to life. We're gonna be big Magnus, just wait and
see. And don’t forget, you have me to thank for getting you there," Steve
boosted. "We haven’t reached that point yet Steve," Magnus argued.
"So please, let's just cross that bridge when and if we come to it."

"Sure
thing buddy but I'm jus
t telling you now, so why
not be prepared for it? Because it's going to happen buddy, I've got a good
feeling about this."

Magnus
didn’t know what to think, things were beginning to spin out of control and he
wanted, hell he
needed
Ava. She had always made him feel like he was home;
being with Ava had kept him grounded. Now she was gone, off living her life in
the quaintness of Vermont while he was about to be thrust into a world of
complete and utter chaos,
again
. He still wasn’t sure that he wanted this, this life
of running here and there, deadline after deadline. But Steve had convinced him
that extending his tour was a good thing because this latest book was flying
off the shelves.

After all this is said and done, I'm coming to s
ee you Ava
; he thought to himself and finished packing his
bags.

"Miss
Montgomery, you and the baby are going to be fine, your blood pressure is a
little elevated so I am going to need to start seeing you more regularly. But I
do need to warn you that if you keep stressing yourself out, there could be
more complications. Now whatever it is that's got you so worried, you need to
forget about it for a while and think about your child Miss Montgomery. If it's
work related then maybe you should think about letting someone else run the
shop so that you can get some much needed rest," the doctor told her.

 
"It's not work related doctor, in fact if it
wasn’t for my work I'd have been in here more times than not," she
frowned. "No, it's definitely not work it's something far more
personal," she sighed.

"Well
Ava
, your friends are waiting to take you home
and might I suggest that for the time being you try to forget about him and concentrate
on you and the baby. He'll come around," the doctor said with a wink.

Ava sat
up a little straighter in the bed. "How did you
know?" She asked. "Have you been talking to Sterling?"
She wondered.

 
"Ava, I've been an obstetrician for more than 25
years and I know a broken hearted woman when I see one. Let me give you a piece
of advice, when whoever he is does decide to come to you, and I know he will,
don’t be too hard on him. When the time comes to take him back, just remember
he's only a man, and sometimes we men don’t always think with our hearts like
we should. But for right now you need to take care of yourself and the baby, I
cannot stress this enough," he winked again and left the room.

"He's
absolutely right you know." Kelly and Sterling nodded their heads in
agreement. They were on their way back home and she had just finished telling
them what her doctor had told her. "Ava, you've got only two things that
you need to think about right now and that's you and your baby.  Forget everything
and everyone else. You need to take care of the two of you and that’s
that," Kelly lightly scolded her.

 
"You're right guys, your all absolutely right,
what happened today scared me into wanting to follow the doc's advice. I've
wasted too much time and energy on Magnus DuPonte. It's time that I start
taking care of my baby and me, May is going to be here before we know it and I
want to be prepared," she smiled at them.