by Lois Richer
“Sure, I’ll talk to Pastor Joel with you.”
“Hey, how was your movie?” Mrs. Hanlon breezed into the room from outside.
While Lexi and Josh answered her, Jon leaned down, scooped up the remaining brochures and stuffed them into the back pocket of his jeans, pulling his T-shirt down over them.
He didn’t want his grandmother to see the brochures? That was strange and futile. The rest of them had copies in their hands. Whatever was between him and his grandmother was none of Autumn’s business. With her employment contract up soon and her still not feeling confident about birthing babies, she had enough problems of her own. She didn’t need to take on anyone else’s. Autumn dropped her hand holding the brochure between her leg and the chair’s armrest, where Mrs. Hanlon wouldn’t see it.
“I’ll leave you kids to finish up your meeting.” The older woman headed upstairs.
“I think we’re done, unless anyone has anything else,” Autumn said.
Lexi and Josh shook their heads.
“Thanks for the cookies and tea,” Lexi said. She and Josh stood to leave.
Autumn rose, too.
“Can you stay a minute?” Jon asked.
Lexi shot her a grin.
Autumn knew Lexi was well-meaning, but she irritated her anyway. Jon probably wanted to go over how they’d present the mission project to Pastor Joel or, maybe, share why he was so resistant to the idea of a male-female fund-raising competition.
Once the other couple was outside and out of earshot, Jon picked up a postcard from the table where the mission flyers had been earlier. “I wanted to wait until after the movie. Did you get one of these?” He handed her the card.
Autumn didn’t have to look at it. She’d received a similar one from her former roommate. A save-the-date announcement for Kate’s October wedding in St. Croix. “Yes.”
Jon snorted. “I can tell by your expression you can’t figure out why I got one, either.”
“You two didn’t part on good terms.” She handed the card back.
He slapped it against the side of his leg. “You’ve only heard Kate’s version of our breakup. Sit. Please.” He motioned her to the couch and joined her there.
Autumn twisted the Haiti mission flyer in her lap. “Kate told me she loved you and thought you loved her. She was making plans.”
“I never told her I loved her. That’s not something I’d toss out lightly.”
That wasn’t the impression Autumn had gotten at Samaritan, but knowing Jon better now, she believed him.
“And I heard about the plans Kate was making through the Samaritan gossip mill, not from her. That’s why I broke things off with her. Because she hadn’t been straight with me. When we started dating, she said she wasn’t looking for anything serious.”
“She could have changed her mind as she got to know you better.” Autumn knew she had. “Fell in love with you.”
“No, believe me, the only thing Kate was in love with was my family name and money.”
“Then why didn’t you stop all of the nasty things people said about you?” She had to ask, although knowing Kate, what he’d said had a ring of truth to it. Kate was into drama in real life.
“People will say what they want to say, and I knew my friends, the people who counted, wouldn’t believe her lies.”
Autumn untwisted the flyer and smoothed it on her lap. When Jon hadn’t corrected the gossip, she’d believed it, at least in part.
“You don’t have to say anything. When I got the postcard, I thought that if we’re going to be working together at the center and with the singles group, I should give you my side, put us at a fresh start.” Jon leaned forward with a look of yearning in his eyes. “I like you. I’d like to be friends.”
A wave of regret washed over her. She should have known better than to take the Samaritan gossip at face value and to leap to the conclusion he was living up to his player reputation dating Becca and Tessa here. She hadn’t seen or heard anything to actually support that conclusion. “Thanks for sharing.”
His eyes brightened, confirming her perception that she didn’t have to say she believed him. “And we’re already friends.”
He grinned and flicked his forefinger against the postcard. “Friend to friend, my take on the postcard is that Kate sent it to say she’d done as well—better—without me.”
Autumn nodded in agreement. “I know it’s not nice, but I thought Kate sent the card to brag, too. She has to know there’s no way I could swing attending her wedding in St. Croix.”
Jon placed his hand over hers, sending a jolt of awareness—of his maleness, his nearness, his sincerity—through her. “Don’t feel bad. Kate is Kate.”
He was right. She slipped her hand out from under his. “I should get going.”
“Right.” He stared at his hand on her leg for a moment before jerking it back.
She rose and Jon followed her to the door. “See you at work.”
Autumn hurried across the slate walkway to her side of the house. As if her expiring work contract and fear of delivering babies weren’t enough, she had another problem now. She was running out of reasons to distance herself from Jon.
Chapter Ten
“All right. Why are you two double-teaming me?” Jamie asked when she arrived for the meeting Autumn had called. “If it’s about last week, Kristen was more than happy to take that birth for me so I could fill in for the camp nurse at Sonrise. I’m not complaining, but I miss having summers free to be with the kids at the camp.”
“That was fine,” Kelly assured her.
Jamie paled. “If it’s not about work, it’s the baby, and it can’t be good, not with both of you here.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions,” Kelly said.
Autumn lifted her gaze to the ceiling. This was Jamie’s fourth pregnancy and she was their primary delivery nurse. Kelly should have realized Jamie would be suspicious about this meeting, made on short notice, with Kelly joining them.
“You know your blood sugar has been running high,” Autumn started.
“It’s been more normal this week. I’ve been checking it myself.” Jamie’s eyes widened. “You’re not going to put me on insulin, are you? With the other three, I controlled it with diet. I’ll be more careful, assign Eli as my food guard. He’s well-trained at giving orders.”
Autumn raised her hand palm out to stop her. “I’m concerned. I don’t know why diet isn’t working this time.” She hesitated. “I’m going to order more tests, but to me it looks like insulin might be necessary.”
Autumn caught Kelly’s frown. What did she expect? At Jamie’s insistence, Autumn was still Jamie’s midwife. And Jamie understood what was going on. She wouldn’t have asked about insulin if she hadn’t thought that was where the conversation was headed. Why wouldn’t she be straightforward with Jamie, who was a friend and knew nearly as much about pregnancy and birth as Autumn and Kelly? She’d be straightforward with any of her mothers.
“I see.” Jamie was quiet for a moment. “You know I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize this baby.” She touched her rounded belly.
“I know, and neither would I...we.” Autumn had to include Kelly, even though Kelly had indicated she’d wait awhile longer before referring Jamie out of the practice.
“Autumn asked me to talk with Jon about transferring you to his care for the rest of your pregnancy,” Kelly said.
That wasn’t exactly right. She’d convinced Kelly that Jamie’s pregnancy needed to be supervised by a doctor. Kelly had taken it on herself to talk with Jon before Autumn had had a chance to.
“I have an appointment,” Kelly said. “I’ll leave you to make the arrangements with Jon’s office.”
The door closed behind Kelly. “I have to switch, don’t I? I can’t convince you th
at I’ll be more careful?” Jamie sighed. “What if the new tests don’t show that I need insulin?”
“I think you need to be followed by a doctor. It doesn’t have to be Jon. Is there someone at the medical center in Saranac who you’d rather use?”
“If it’s my choice, I’d rather continue to see you. I figured by the time this one is ready to make an appearance, I’d have you convinced to do the delivery.”
Her heart heavy, Autumn shook her head. She wished she had the confidence in herself that Jamie had in her.
“Be straight with me,” Jamie said.
“I always am.”
“Is this about Suzy Hill? Are you being overly cautious because of what happened?”
“Kelly thinks I am being overly cautious. She advised that I wait another month and see. I disagree. And if I’d caught any problems with Suzy’s pregnancy earlier, she and Jack would be busy planning that houseful of kids they wanted.” Her throat clogged. “Rather than telling everyone they’re happy with having only one child.”
“They’re already at work on that.”
“What do you mean? Suzy can’t have any more children.”
“Jack’s mother told me at church last week that he and Suzy have applied to become foster parents.”
“They’d be very good. But you’re avoiding the main topic here. Your and your baby’s health.”
“Yes, I’ll see Jon, only I want to see you, too. Can you do that?”
“I have no objections. It’s not my decision, though. It’s Jon’s. I’ll talk with him.” Jamie was a good friend. She wished she could assure her that it would be no problem. She and Jon had worked well together when Lisa and Greg’s baby was born. But Lisa was one of her and Kelly’s mothers. Jon had been covering for Kelly. It could be a different story if Jamie became Jon’s patient. He might see Autumn as interfering with his practice.
“Do you want Eli and me to talk with Jon before we leave on vacation this weekend? Tell him what we want? Eli will back me.”
“I know he will.” The retired air force captain would go to the ends of the earth for Jamie and her kids. He’d be a good matchup against Jon. What was she thinking? Jon wasn’t the enemy. “I’ll take care of it.” And she hoped she could.
* * *
Jon saw the message light on his desk phone flashing as he said goodbye to his last patient of the day, a nervous first-time mother who, in his opinion, had too many family members giving her pregnancy advice.
He picked up the phone and played the message. “Jon, Autumn. Do you have time today to talk about Jamie? Let me know. I’m in the office now and will be home after two.” Autumn followed with her home phone number, which he jotted on his desk pad, even though he had it in his cell phone contacts.
He disconnected the call and punched in Autumn’s number, tapping his pen on the desk to count the rings.... Five, six, seven, eight. He finally got a breathless “Hello.”
“Autumn, Jon.”
“Hi, let me catch my breath. I was out back when I heard the phone.”
“You wanted to talk about Jamie?”
“Yes, what’s your schedule look like for tomorrow?”
“Jammed. I have an induction scheduled, unless the mother goes into labor tonight on her own, and a home visit, along with a couple of appointments.”
“A home visit, eh?”
The smile in her voice warmed him. “Yes, I’ve given my patients that option and most of them have been receptive to adding that to their birth plans.”
“What about the day after tomorrow?”
“That would be okay, but if you want, I’m free now. I could stop by when I get home.” As he said the words, he remembered his grandmother’s insinuation that he was a workaholic. “Unless you’d rather meet day after tomorrow at the birthing center.”
“No, here is fine. I can access Jamie’s records on my iPad.”
“Fine.” He hesitated. “Do you have dinner plans?”
“Nooo.” She drew out the word.
“Then I’ll pick up a couple of subs at the Paradox Lake General Store on my way home.” When she didn’t respond right away, he added, “It’s a business expense.”
“I’d double-check with your accountant about that,” she teased.
“What kind do you want?”
“I really like their veggie sub.”
“I should have known. The veggie pizza.”
The phone went quiet.
“At the camp, with your family.” How or why had he remembered that?
“Oh, yeah.”
He brushed away the prick of disappointment. So what if she wasn’t impressed that he’d remembered? They were talking about a business appointment, not a date. “I’ll be there in about a half hour.”
* * *
Autumn hung up the phone and touched her hair. She’d tied it on top of her head to get it out of the way and could feel countless strands straying from the knot. She splayed her fingers in front of her. They were covered with green weed stains. Her gaze dropped to the dirt on her knees. She must look a mess. Not at all professional. That’s what this meeting was, she reminded herself, a professional meeting, even though it was at her house and Jon was bringing dinner.
She raced around the living room, picking up her breakfast coffee cup from the end table and stashing the novel she was reading in the bookcase. She eyed the faux Oriental area rug and the clock. There might be time to give it a quick sweep before Jon arrived. Or not. He was a guy. He wouldn’t notice whether her rug was vacuumed. But she did need to change out of her grimy shorts and T-shirt and clean up herself.
A knock sounded at the door as she finished touching up her makeup. Jon was here sooner than she’d expected him. She glanced in the mirror at the sleeveless cotton top and tan linen slacks she had chosen. The right touch of business and casual.
She came down the stairs and saw Mrs. Hanlon at the door. “Hi.” She let the older woman in.
“I’ll only stay a minute. I know Jon is on his way. He called. Since I’d already baked these blackberry tarts for us, I thought I’d bring a couple of them over for your dinner. You haven’t already made a dessert, have you?”
“No.”
“Good.” Mrs. Hanlon handed Autumn two tarts. She tilted her head and sniffed. “What are you making, not that it matters. Jon isn’t picky about food.”
“Jon is picking up subs. This is a business meeting. I need to discuss a mother who we’re transitioning to his care.”
“Oh.” The older woman’s disappointment was clear.
She must have thought I’d invited Jon for dinner.
“I think you’re good for Jon, whether as a friend, a colleague or more. Your family, too. The exposure to healthier family dynamics than our dysfunctional ones. I was once a social worker. You’d think I could have done a better job with my family.”
Autumn cleared her throat. She didn’t really need to hear the Hanlon family history right now, but she didn’t want to be rude to Mrs. Hanlon. She liked her. “The tarts look—” she bent her head “—and smell delicious.”
Mrs. Hanlon waved her off. “Baking is something I do when I’m thinking, frustrated or angry. Over the years, I’ve gotten very good at it. Today, I was thinking.”
“Too bad you won’t be around for the Fall Festival at church. Mrs. Stowe would certainly appreciate your contributions to the bake sale.”
“Well, I may be around. Tell me, is the woman you’re referring to Jon having a lot of difficulties? Is there a danger he could lose her or the baby?”
“Mrs. Hanlon, you know I can’t answer that.”
“It was worth trying. I’m going to tell you something about Jon. He likes the challenges of high-risk pregnancies, or thinks he does. What he really needs is some happy norm
al births so he can see the real joy of new life. Birth isn’t an enemy that has to be conquered.”
Autumn didn’t know how to respond. From what she’d seen, she couldn’t disagree. Jon did like the challenge of high-risk pregnancies and births and took joy in making the births successful. There had to be something behind Mrs. Hanlon’s words. Whatever that something was, she’d leave it to Jon to share if he chose to. Maybe once they’d worked together longer.
“I like that you took Jon with you on a home visit. That opened his eyes some.”
“I don’t know about that, but he did say that he has a home follow-up with one of his mothers tomorrow.”
“Yes!” Mrs. Hanlon made a fisted pull-down motion that Autumn would more expect from her eight-year-old brother than a woman of Mrs. Hanlon’s age and position.
The rumble of Jon’s bike approaching the house caused both of the women to look out the door.
“I’ll slip out the back,” Mrs. Hanlon said. “Enjoy your dinner. If you’re looking for something to do after your meeting, that Sherlock Holmes program Jon likes is on tonight.”
She liked the program, too. Maybe... No. As she’d told his grandmother, Jon was coming over to talk business. She’d wait for him to make the first move if he wanted more.
“Thanks. I’ll bring the tart pans back tomorrow,” Autumn said.
“Anytime.” Mrs. Hanlon disappeared into the kitchen.
“The door’s open,” Autumn said when Jon jogged up the steps.
He walked in and his gaze went directly to the tarts that filled Autumn’s hands. “Nana?”
“Yes, she thought they’d go perfectly with our dinner, whatever I was making.”
“I should have been clearer when I called. You’ll like the tarts. They’re my favorite dessert.”
“Mine’s chocolate-vanilla swirl soft-serve ice cream. My family celebrates everything with a trip to the soft-serve stand.” One of those healthier family dynamics Mrs. Hanlon wanted Jon exposed to? “I’m sure I’ll love the tarts as much as I did the cookies. If your grandmother stays much longer, I’ll have to buy an all-new wardrobe in a larger size.”
