"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 perfectly 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 honey 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 large 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 trusting 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 said 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 hear you say them?" Magnus as
ked 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.
"You don’t have to thank me honey, that's what friends are for and besides, Anthony isn’t much of a dancer anyway," he said and the two glanced over at him. He was in deep conversation with his next door neighbors. The Anderson's were an older couple who were having computer problems. That was all it took, one mention of the words computer, and problem and Anthony became intrigued, he liked to think of himself as the computer whisperer.
"See, I knew the minute they mentioned computer, it'd be all over," Sterling frowned. "But it's good for business anyway," he said and whisked her carefully around the dance floor.
They were dancing to Sarah Vaughn's rendition of "Moonlight In Vermont" and it sounded wonderful. Kelly hadn't seen such a content look on Ava's face in quite a while and she was glad to see it.
The young man at the service station had given Magnus directions to the Inn and they were to a tee. He took several deep breaths as he pulled into the parking lot and turned off the engine. One glance around told him that the dinner party was a sizable one and that the gas station attendant had been right; it looked as if the entire town was there. He was glad that he'd worn a suit jacket with his jeans and button down shirt. I hope they let me in looking like this, he thought to himself. It would be another ten minutes before he'd gather up the courage to get out of the car and head into the Inn.
A sign outside the banquet room read: Welcome to the Chamber of Commerce 26th annual inductee dinner. The doors to the banquet room were open and he stood a moment before walking all the way in. He couldn’t help but notice that the room was full as he scanned the tables in search of his Ava. Please let her be here, he thought to himself. And more importantly, please let her be here alone. Even though the attendant had said that he saw Ava in a car with her friends, he hoped that her friends were female. He hadn’t thought about what he'd do if they weren't. He'd soon get the chance to find out.
"Ava is having a great time out there," Kelly smiled and wrapped her arms around Adrian. "I'm so glad that she's doing better, for a while I was very worried about her."
"Ava is the reason we are together, I owe her a lot," Adrian smiled and kissed her.
"We both owe her a lot; in fact I think we should… Holy Shit!" Kelly cursed. While she'd been talking to Adrian, she found herself glancing around the large room and it took only a moment to recognize Magnus.
"What is it?" Adrian asked. He had followed her stare and was now looking at Magnus.
"That's him isn’t it?" He asked.
Kelly could only nod her head. She had to get to Sterling and Ava before Magnus spotted them.
"Kelly, you better go and get him because if Ava sees him she might go into labor right here and now. She doesn’t need this kind of shock, not right here in front of everybody. I'll go get Sterling and you go get Magnus. Take him into one of the empty rooms, there's a smaller banquet room on the other side, take him there and we'll bring in Ava," he said and made his way over to Sterling.
"This better be good," Sterling said when Adrian pulled him off to the side. Ava smiled and headed back to the table. She was starting to get tired anyway, and she needed to sit down for a bit. She quickly glanced around in search of Kelly. She must have gone into the restroom, she thought as she sat in the chair and lightly fanned herself.
"Kelly? What the hell are you doing here? Steve said that you'd left him and moved back to New York."
Magnus was surprised to see Kelly there of course, but not that surprised. Especially given what she'd been through with Steve. Of course she would want to be near her close friend. Kelly gets a divorce and comes to visit Ava; I tell her that I love her but that I cannot move to Vermont with her because I'd rather go on a book tour. Smart Magnus, real smart, he scolded himself.
"Magnus, they'll be plenty of time to talk about why I'm here. But what I want to know is what the hell are you doing here?" She was trying to be blasé in guiding him out of the large room; she needed a ruse to get him alone.
"I'm here because I need to see Ava; I need to talk to her. Too much time has passed without either of us communicating with one another. Look Kelly I canceled the book tour, I'm done with all of it; I want to live my life here with Ava, if she'll have me."
Kelly thought it not her place to tell him that Ava wanted nothing more than to have him. Nor was it her place to tell him about the baby. She knew that his whole world was going to change in a matter of minutes but she couldn’t think about him right now, her main concern was Ava and how she was going to react. Yes she would be surprised and hopefully ecstatic but she was also nearing her due date and Kelly worried that the shock might drive her friend into early labor.
Please don’t let the sight of him be too shocking, she silently prayed.
"Magnus, she'll be here any minute but please, please tread easy. Try not to make this into a bigger thing than it is. She's very emotional right now; she's got a lot on her plate and seeing you is just going to add to it."
"What is it that you aren’t telling me Kelly? Is she alright? Is she seeing someone? Is that what you're trying to tell me?"
"No Magnus, she isn’t seeing anyone." Not unless you count her obgyn, Kelly silently made the sarcastic joke.
"Magnus she's fine, all I'm asking you to do is be gentle with her, and honest she deserves that."
"What's up?" Ava asked. Once Adrian filled him in on who had arrived, Sterling went into protective mode. He didn't want to prolong the meeting of the two but he did want Ava to brace herself.
"Honey, I need you to come with me for a minute, there's something you need to see," he said and held his arm out for her.
"See what?" She asked her intuition was at its peak. There was something going on and she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Adrian was scanning the room like he was desperately searching for an escape and Sterling; well Sterling kept reassuring her that she was fine and that everything was going to be okay.
"Alright guys what the hell is going on? Why the hell are you two acting so strange? And where are we going? They haven’t served dessert yet and I'm starving." She tried hard to get an answer from them.
"All will be revealed in a moment," Sterling said and held onto her as if his life depended on it.
"Okay now you're starting to freak me out," she said as they guided her into the small banquet room. "Guys, come on what's …" the sight of him was enough to make her want to run into his arms but then she remembered the baby, he hadn’t known.
The surprise on his face turned into one of shock and disbelief as he went to her. Sterling put his hands on her shoulders and held her steady. She had never been so glad to have him by her side than she was at that moment. Feelings that she had tried so desperately to bury came flooding back and if Sterling hadn’t been holding her, she would have fallen onto the floor.
"Magnus," was all that she could muster.
"Ava?" He said the words and knew that it was her but was it his Ava? This Ava was glowing and looked even more beautiful than usual and this Ava was obviously pregnant. The guy at the gas station left that part out, he smirked to himself.
"Yes she's pregnant with your child, do the math," Sterling blurted out.
All eyes turned and looked at Sterling. "What? I'm just saying what you're all thinking. Come on you guys, I think she'll be alright."
Then, while turning and taking her hands in his he said, "Ava, we'll be right outside that door so if you need us holler. And you," he said returning his glare towards Magnus. "She comes out of here upset, you'll be leaving in a garbage bag and Adrian here knows just where to bury you. And believe me when I tell you, no one will ever find you."
Chapter Twenty Eight
Magnus went to her and held her in a warm embrace. "Ava, I've just one question for you," he said, his eyes tearing up.
She didn’t need to wait for him to ask. "No Magnus, I had no idea when I left that I was pregnant with your child," she said.
"If I had, I can guarantee you that I would have shared it with you." She looked away for a moment. "I would have thought you knew me better than that," she said.
And he did know her better than that. Before he even thought to ask, he knew the answer. But he'd asked it anyway, he needed to know that her love was still just as strong, he'd gotten his answer.
"Oh Ava," he said as he took possession of her mouth. His hands were running up and down her back; then he gently placed them on her swollen belly. "We're going to have a baby," he beamed.
"Yes we are," she smiled up at him.
"Ava, how come you didn’t tell me, I would have…"
"Magnus I tried, I sent emails, and I tried calling you but your number was disconnected and then when Steve told me that you were going abroad I thought that I'd lost you forever. But then you called and it was right after the storm, and I didn’t know when I'd be hearing from you again so I blurted it out but I was too late. The phone lines went down and well, I tried so hard Magnus," she cried.
He held her at arm's length. "Wait, what? What do you mean Steve told you I went abroad? Ava I never left the country," he said. He could feel the anger rising inside of him, if Steve was in front of him, he would have broken his neck.
Now Ava was the one who looked confused. "Magnus I don’t understand. I called and when Steve picked up he said that you couldn’t come to the phone and that you were going to Europe to continue your book tour. He also said that after that you were planning on staying so that you could do some research for your new book. Magnus are you telling me that after all this time; Steve has been the one keeping us apart?" She asked. Her head was spinning now and she needed to sit down, it was all starting to get a little too overwhelming.
Echoes in the Bayou Page 26
