Echoes in the Bayou

by Dukes, Ursula

  "Thanks for nothing Steve," Magnus said and ended the call.

  After sending her another email, he then located the number to the shop. It would be closed today but he hoped that there would be an answering machine. If not, he'd keep calling until he got through.

  "Where you able to get through to Magnus?" Kelly asked. She and Adrian had come into the kitchen. They had just finished exchanging gifts. Adrian told her that even though he just met her, it didn’t seem right not to exchange gifts and she agreed. He'd gotten her a hat, scarf, gloves and bag made by a local designer. "It's the most thoughtful gift that anyone has ever given me," she'd told him. And she meant it, it was a gift that he'd taken the time to think about and she appreciated that.

  She'd gotten him several flannel shirts, a pair of timberland boots and several other novelty gifts. "I promise I'll do better next time," she winked.

  "You did perfect," he told her and boldly gave her a kiss.

  Seeing them kiss brought an ache to her heart, she was trying very hard to remain upbeat but it was becoming more and more difficult because she couldn’t get in touch with Magnus. She'd thought that today of all days would be when he would contact her but so far there was nothing. "He's changed his number or something," she told them. "When I tried calling it says the number is no longer in service. Well that's that then." She took a deep breath.

  Kelly went over to her friend. "Ava, I am sure there's a reasonable explanation for all of this, but for now you've got to stop worrying about him and try to enjoy the day. This is your favorite holiday remember? So let's try to enjoy it."

  "You're right; come on you two, let's go open the rest of the presents. And when Sterling and Anthony get here maybe they'll bring the snow," she joked.

  Ava left her cell phone in the kitchen; she didn’t want to have to carry it around checking it every second to see if Magnus had called. This day in particular she found herself talking to the baby that was growing inside of her. She talked about Christmas being her favorite holiday and how this time next year, she would be even more excited because she would be spending the holiday with the new addition to the family. "You and I are going to make a great team kid. No matter what," she laughed and caressed her belly.

  December didn’t bring snow but January certainly did and the small town came together as it braced itself for the first major storm of the new year. Neighbors began checking on one another making sure that they had everything they needed to weather the storm. Ava had been advised to close the shop and cancel all deliveries so she did just that, and while she and Kelly stocked up on all the necessities, Magnus tried calling the store once again. He was in New Mexico and had gotten wind of the major snow storm that was headed for the northeast.

  "God I hope she's alright," he whispered as he listened to the phone ring and ring. Even though she had opened the shop the very next day after moving in, she had inadvertently forgotten to set up the voicemail account on the store telephone. And she hadn’t bothered with setting up phone service for the house; she'd been so use to using the cell. "I'll get to it eventually," she told herself. It wasn’t a priority.

  "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 about, 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 comfortable 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 see 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! But 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 glad, 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 ferocious appetite and she found herself unable to stop eating. "I feel like pancakes, does anyone else feel like pancakes?"

  Sterling and Anthony chuckled. "Looks li
ke someone is feeling better," 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 and 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 number. 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 just 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 see 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.

  Steve was alone while he did a line of cocaine; they had just arrived in Arizona and were due at a major book store that was located in downtown Phoenix the following day. Magnus had gone into his room and immediately placed the Do Not Disturb sign outside his door. Fine by me, Steve thought to himself. He needed to relax anyway. He knew that Magnus was still unsure whether or not he wanted to extend his tour but when Steve told him that he could fix it so that they could go up North and that he'd get a chance to stop by and see Ava, Magnus changed his tune.

  He got excited then and told Steve that he had been unable to reach her. "Don’t worry buddy, we won't be able to get up there until the end of the year anyway. There are a hell of a lot more states between here and New England and it would be in your best interest if we hit every single one."

  Magnus frowned at the thought.

  "Magnus, you’re a writer and a damn good one. Now the way I see it, if folks are coming out in droves to buy your books online and in person, the least you can do is thank them for it by making an appearance and signing a few autographs. I mean without your fans where would you be?"'

  He had a point, Magnus knew that he had to show his appreciation to his fans because fans were fickle, one disappointment such as a no show at a book signing and they would drop him just like that. No best seller list, no more book signings, and no more sales.

  "Fine, but once we get to New England; I'm spending time with Ava."

  Steve smiled slyly. "Sure thing buddy, sure thing. I can't wait to pay her a visit, i
t'll be long overdue."

  He wanted to share the good news about the book tour with his wife but he remembered that he no longer had one. The divorce had gone through and he had not put up a fight. He still loved her and had hoped that they could work things out. He'd even told her that once the book tour was over, they'd go together and get some therapy but then he struck her and that was all it took. She'd gone to a lawyer the very next day and filed for divorce. It was all the stress he told her. It was the first time that he'd struck her so hard and he was sorry.

  But then she'd gone and told that bitch Ava what I did and she told her to leave, to leave and move to Vermont with her. That fucking bitch!" He shouted out. "Don’t know when to mind your own fucking business you nosy little bitch. But I fixed you didn’t I? You took my wife away and I took part of your life away from you. Magnus will be rising to the top and he'll take me right along with him. Then I'll get my Kelly back, I'll be so rich that she'll beg me to take her back and when I do, I'll make sure that you Miss Ava are left all alone, you miserable, meddling bitch.

  With Magnus being so trusting, it was easy for Steve to manipulate him into giving him control over his social media accounts.

  He was his agent after all and he should be in charge of those things, he told him. So when he changed all of his accounts, Magnus thought nothing of it. Steve told him that it was good to change his accounts, because the more famous he became the more fans would to try and get in touch with him and that was something that he didn’t want Magnus to have to worry about. "You just concentrate on your writing and let me worry about everything else," he told him.

  And Magnus did, he let Steve control it all. So all of Ava's emails, tweets and messages went unanswered as they were all sent to accounts that no longer existed.

  But it did not stop her from checking her personal email each and every day. And just like Magnus, Ava had someone else controlling her business email, but she was sure that either Kelly or Sterling would tell her if she'd gotten an email from Magnus and since they did not, she assumed that he never took the time to write one.