Echoes in the Bayou (38 page)

 
Her hair was no longer waist length, Sheila had cut
several inches off and thinned out the thick hair before setting it in curlers
and placing her under the heated hair dryer. The results left Ava extremely
happy, so happy that besides giving her a hefty tip she couldn’t help but hug
her too. "Thank you so much," she said once again before leaving the
shop.

"I'm
jealous," Kelly joked. "Why did I opt for an updo?" She whined.

"Because
you have the most gra
ceful and longest neck that
I've ever seen and Adrian happens to love your hair when it's up with the sexy
tendrils falling around your face that's why."

"Oh yeah,
I
almost forgot," she teased and both women started laughing.

Ava had thought she'd forgotten how to laugh but
during the past few days, she couldn’t help but notice that she was laughing
more and more. "I think I'm starting to enjoy life again," she told
Kelly as they made their way home.

"Life
really does go on af
ter a break-up or no-show or
no-contact," she said.

"Whateve
r you want to call it, life moves on and so should you
Ava and you can start tonight at the dinner."

"I
think you're right Kell and I will start tonight. Out with the old and in with
the new. Spring
will be here soon, not to
mention this little one and I've got an incredible group of friends that I love
like family, I need nothing else, nothing else."

 Steve
hadn’t managed to get her routine memorized yet; all the coke was causing him
to become quite forgetful. It was Saturday and he figured he'd get a fresh
start on Monday
. No sense in wasting the rest of
the weekend,
he thought to himself as he
made his way into Mulligan's Pub. He hoped that he'd get lucky and be able to
pick up a lady or two.
And, there's no
sense in spending the entire weekend alone either,
he grinned and ordered a drink.

 She'd
just gotten out of the shower when a feeling at the pit of her stomach made her
stop what she as doing. It wasn’t a labor pain nor was it Braxton hicks, it was
something else. The feeling was one she'd never felt before and she sat down
for a moment and tried to figure it out. It felt as if there were butterflies
tickling her insides, as if she was about to experience something good,
something extraordinarily wonderful.

The pains
of labor will not be that something good
,
she thought to herself. She knew that she wasn’t in labor but just to
be sure, she made a quick call to her doctor. When she reached the service and
described what she was feeling they told her that the doctor on call would get
back to her as soon as possible.

A moment
later her cell phone rang, she smiled when she heard her doctor's voice. And by
the time she got through explaining to him what she'd felt, he assured her that
it wasn’t contractions. He told her that if anything it was Braxton hicks and
since there was no discharge of any kind and no sudden onset of pain in
intervals, she could safely attend the dinner.  "You're not due for
another month Ava, and during your check up two days ago, everything was fine,
so go and enjoy yourself but don’t overdo it," he then said goodnight.

 
"Overdo? What the hell can I overdo at a dinner
party? A party where I can't drink; can't get too busy on the dance floor and
where I'll probably be the only one there without a date. Yeah it'll be really
hard for me to not overdo things tonight doc," she sighed. "I'm sure
this will turn out to be one hell of a night," she said sarcastically into
the mirror.

 
 The dress that she'd ordered online fit her
pregnant figure perfectly. She'd put on weight but lucky for her it went to all
the right places, her swollen belly had dropped, signaling that the time to
give birth was getting closer and she was glad that her breasts weren’t sore
yet and hoped that they wouldn’t be anytime soon. She didn't want to think of
sore nipples and breast pumps and had opted to use formula when it came time to
feed the baby.

She remembered telling her friends, "You all
are going to take an active part in my child's life so I expect you all to help
with the feedings and diaper changing," she teased.

"Feeding?
Absolutely, anytime," Sterling said. "Diaper changing? Honey you're
on your own there,
" he tried to sound
serious. But Ava knew that each and every one of them would be there for her
and she was grateful for that because without them, she would be lost.

Chapter
Twenty Seven

When his flight landed, Magnus was glad that it had
been on time. He smiled when he saw the large poster portraying a gorgeous view
of fall in Vermont and underneath it read,
Welcome
to Vermont.
He could see why the state
appealed to Ava. As he made his way over to the car rental area, he was pleased
to find that everything was in order and all he had to do was get in and drive.
In less than an hour, he'd being looking at his Ava.

"That dress looks stunning on you,"
Sterling said. And he was right; the lavender and black lace dinner dress had a
stretchy lace bodice with iridescent sequins. The deeply plunging neckline and
kimono shoulder sleeves enhanced all of her curves, including her shapely legs.
And the color of her dress made her green eyes sparkle even more. "You are
working that new hair style honey, you look amazing."

She
couldn’t help but smile. "You certainly know how to make a woman feel
beautiful Sterling," she said and kissed him on the cheek. "Now if
only you were singe and straight," she joked. "Watch it honey, he's
mine," Anthony teased while giving her a hug.

"You
two look quite handsome yourselves," she smiled and nodded her approval.
The black dinner suits they chose made each look as if they'd stepped out of a
magazine. Sterling wore his goatee p
erfectly
trimmed and looked as handsome as ever with his hair neatly slick back.

Ava and
Kelly told him that he reminded her of an actor but that Anthony looked like a
model, with his smoothly shaved skin and chiseled jawline. Both men were quite
attractive and Ava wasn’t afraid to tell them that she like being on either one
of their arms for the evening. "Hey what about me?" Adrian asked as
he stepped inside the door. "Don’t I get a chance to have you on my arm as
well?"

"I
don’t think Kelly would appreciate that," she joked.  "Damn you
look good enough to eat!" she said with a wink.  "Kell, you
don’t mind if I borrow him tonight do ya?"

"He's
always had this fantasy of two women," she joked
.

"Ha!
There's only one man that I want, but he doesn’t want me." Ava tried to
sound as if she were joking but when the words came out, she thought of Magnus
.

"Come
on hone
y none of that negative stuff tonight.
Honey your dance card is going to be full tonight so I hope you got your
rest," Sterling said as they headed out to the car.

The Inn
at Willow Pond was located in Manchester Vermont, not far from Dorset. The
beautiful Inn was warm and inviting as they made their way inside. The room where
the dinner was to be held was simply decorated with large hand painted vases
full of dried flowers. The matching garland intertwined with tiny white lights
weaved itself around the high ceiling and wooden beams. A large fireplace
dominated the middle of the room and round tables were set around it.

Sterling
gave Ava a nudge as he smiled and pointed to the dance floor that stood in the
corner of the room. "That's where we're going to spend most of our
time," he winked and offered her his arm. "You are going to have a
good time tonight no matter what," he said.

"I
hope so, I can't wait to dance, even if it is to slow music," she grinned
.

Almost
there
, Magnus thought to himself as he made his
way down Main St. He was getting nervous and turned down the heat in the car.
He didn’t want to arrive at her doorstep all hot and sweaty. "Shit!"
He said out loud, I can't show up empty handed. Better stop and get some
flowers. Right in front of him was a Gas and Go gas station. Not wanting to
waste time searching for a florist, he pulled up to the small gas station and
hoped that they sold flowers.
Most do
, he told himself as he got out. He couldn’t help but
notice that the station looked a bit out of place and old fashioned what with
its fully attended gas pumps.

"Good
evening, oh you don’t have to get out sir I'll fill it for you," the young
attendant said.

"Oh
I'm not here for gas,
I was hoping that you have
some fresh flowers" Magnus asked.

"We
don’t have a larg
e variety but you're welcome to
come inside and take a look at what we do have."

"Thanks.
"

When he
stepped inside the store he hadn’t noticed them at first but off to the side,
closest to the register stood several potted gardenia
plants.

 
"How in the world does a gardenia plant end up
here" he turned and looked at the young man.

He let
out a chuckle. "My wife's got a bit of a green thumb, okay so it's more
than a bit but she loves tending to flowers and things like that
. And we've got a greenhouse at home, she's been
growing these gardenias forever it seems like. She loves them, absolutely loves
them. But hardly anyone buys them," he said disappointed.

Magnus
was quite surprised. "Well I will, I'll take all you've got," he said
and picked up the six potted plants. As he handed him his credit card he asked a
question, "Hey I'm not from here but I'm visiting a friend. You wouldn’t
happen to know where Little Village Road is would you." Even though he was
like most men who refused to ask for directions, he was anxious to see Ava and
he didn’t want getting lost to prolong that.

 
The young men chuckled. "Little Village Road
isn't that far from here but it's a long street. I know most of the people who
live around here, mind if I ask who is it you're going to see."

Magnus
was not one to be so trustin
g towards strangers,
but there was something about the kid that made him blurt out Ava's name.
"Oh you mean the new lady? Just bought the big Victorian and runs Ava's
Antiques. That Ava?" He asked. His grin had grown broader now.

"She
would be the one," Magnus replied.

"Well
like I sai
d she lives in the big Victorian, it's
the fifth house in but its set way off the road so make sure you count the
houses as you go by. It'll be on your right sir. But if you're headed there now
you won't find her at home," he said.

Magnus shifted
his stance. "You know where she is?" He questioned the young man
.

"Why
yes sir, she's at the Inn at Willow Pond, it's about six miles from
here."

Now he
was beginning to get upset,
was she out on a date? An Inn? Of course she'd gotten
on with her life. The moment she arrived he was sure that the men had come
calling, practically drooling over her I bet.

"I
guess I'm too late," he muttered. Feeling defeated, he turned and started
heading towards the car. He'd been too late; Ava had found someone else and was
spending the evening with whomever it was at the Inn. The thought alone made
him envious.

"Ah
sir, you're free to go there and see her she's at the Chamber of Commerce
annual dinner. I saw them drive by about an hour ago. She's a new member of the
Chamber so of course she'd been invited but the event is open to all who live
here in Dorset, practically the whole town is there.

 
I'm sure Miss Ava would be very happy to see
you," he said with a smile.

"Magnus
was so relieved to learn that she was at a dinner and not out on a date that he
hadn’t bothered to pay attention to the young men calling her Miss Ava
.

"Did
I he
ar you say them?" Magnus asked his hope
of finding Ava single dwindling.

"Yes
sir, she and her friends.
"

"Here,"
said the young man.
  "Let me give you
directions."

"Thank
you for spending so much time with me this evening Sterling." They were
swaying on the dance floor and Sterling, ever the gentleman and friend had
never left her side.