by Lois Richer
Jon looked her over, sending a ripple of pleasure through her. “Or I could roust you out at six in the morning to run with me.”
“Six a.m.? No, thanks. I’ll come up with some other way to work off the calories.”
“Don’t say I didn’t offer to help. I thought we could eat first. I ordered a hot sub. Then we can discuss the case.”
Autumn cringed hearing Jamie referred to as a case. But she wasn’t going to let semantics get their collaboration off on the wrong foot. “Kitchen or patio for eating?”
“Kitchen. I wouldn’t put it past Nana to be ‘supervising’ us on the patio from the yard while she worked on the flower beds.”
“She does watch out for you. Are you her only grandchild? I was for a long time, and it is quite a responsibility.”
Rather than the laugh Autumn expected, Jon’s expression went dead serious. “No, there are—were—five of us. My cousin Angie died almost seven years ago. And one great-grandchild. Angie had a little boy.”
“How sad. How old is he?”
“He’s six. When I was downstate, I tried to see him as often as I could and take him to Nana’s house. Angie and I spent a lot of time there when we were growing up.”
“Me, too, about spending a lot of time at my grandparents’. Dad and I lived with them until I went to college.”
“I thought you went to the community college.”
Jon remembered what kind of pizza she liked and where she’d gone to college? She shifted the weight of the tarts. “A friend and I had an apartment in Ticonderoga.”
His stomach growled. “Enough talk. Time to eat.”
They went into the kitchen and had their subs. Autumn crumpled her wrapper when she’d finished. “I’m stuffed. Would you mind having the tarts after we talk? I could make coffee or tea.”
“Fine with me.”
“My iPad is in the living room.”
Jon pulled out his notebook and sat in the center of the couch. Autumn mentally measured the distance between the chair and where he sat on the couch. If she was going to share Jamie’s records with him, she’d have to sit on the couch next to him. Had Jon sat there on purpose or was she being silly? Autumn decided the last choice was correct. She picked up her iPad and sat next to Jon.
“What did Kelly tell you about Jamie’s pregnancy?”
“Not much. She said Jamie was your patient and you’d fill me in. I got the feeling that she didn’t agree one hundred percent with your assessment that Jamie’s risk factors required a doctor’s care.”
“Kelly thinks I’m being overly cautious. I had a mother last year who developed complications during the birth that could have been avoided if we’d been more cautious earlier in the pregnancy.”
He agreed.
“But I haven’t even gone over the details.”
“My... I had an experience where earlier intervention and proper care would have made the difference between life and death.”
“I’m so sorry. Did you lose the mother or the baby?”
“The mother died.” His voice was flat. “It helped me decide to change my specialty from surgery to obstetrics.”
“You weren’t doing the delivery, then?” She spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.
“No.” He cut the thread short with a shake of his head. “It’s history. Tell me about Jamie.”
Autumn’s heart went out to Jon for sharing a part of himself with her. To cover the show of sympathy she didn’t think Jon would want, she tapped Jamie’s records open on the iPad and explained the situation.
“Unless I misunderstood, I thought you weren’t doing deliveries.”
“I’m not. Jamie is more than a coworker. She’s a close friend. When she and Eli found out they were pregnant, they asked me to do her prenatal care. I’ve known her since I was in high school. Her first husband, who was killed in Afghanistan, was a friend of Dad’s. I want her to have the best care, not that I don’t try to give all of my mothers the best care I can.” She stopped. “As my grandmother would say, I’m running at the mouth. It’s a problem I’ve had since kindergarten when I... No, you don’t need to know that.”
“I might like to.” Jon’s eyes were soft. “I imagine you were quite a lot like your sister, Sophie.”
Autumn dropped her head and let her hair fall forward. She’d decided to leave it down. “Too much like Sophie. It must be Dad’s influence. Now, as Gram would say, back on topic.”
“I certainly will take Jamie on.”
“I’d hoped you would, but there’s more. Jamie is insisting that I continue to see her.”
“You’ve lost me. I thought Jamie had agreed to the referral.”
“She has. She wants us to work together.”
Jon wrote in his notebook. “I see. You’d be working under my supervision.”
“No, more of a collaboration.”
“Even better.” He moved to the edge of the couch and leaned toward her.
A rush of relief and gladness ran through her. Jon didn’t have to say yes, but he was more than agreeable. He wanted to work together.
“We can learn from each other. The more experiences you have, the better prepared you are for any complications that might arise.”
She wasn’t looking for complications. That was the purpose behind referring Jamie to Jon, to avoid complications.
“I’d like to take a closer look at Jamie’s records and your notes before I see her.”
“I had her sign the release before she and Eli left on vacation.”
“Great. Have her call or stop in to make an appointment.” He closed his notebook. “We can celebrate our collaboration with Nana’s tarts, or go out for soft-serve ice cream.”
Autumn sat up straighter. “Let’s save the ice cream celebration until after you talk with Jamie. She and Eli have a definite birth plan they’ll expect you to stick to. Eli is a retired air force lieutenant colonel, used to giving orders. And I have to warn you that Jamie knows too much about pregnancy and obstetrics. She’s not an easy patient, and that’s coming from a close friend.”
“I’ve talked with Eli at church. Good guy. And with you collaborating, I’m sure Jamie and I will get along fine.” Jon’s lips curled up in the famous Hanlon smile.
If he used that smile on Jamie enough times, they probably would. It was almost starting to get to her.
Chapter Eleven
“Welcome back from vacation,” Autumn greeted Jamie when she ran into her at the grocery store in Schroon Lake.
“It’s good to be back, if only to get a little rest and relief from the heat. Do you know what Washington in late July is like? No wonder we got such a good deal on the vacation package. Then the kids each wanted to do different things first, Eli included.”
Jamie paid for her groceries and Autumn pushed her cart up to the register and started unloading. “You didn’t have a good time?”
“No, we had a lot of fun. Eli got everyone in line, and I took it easy.” Jamie made a face. “Eli threatened to rent me one of those scooters if I didn’t. I watched what I ate, got in my recommended exercise in the morning and lounged around in the afternoons, letting the others do their own thing. I haven’t been this caught up on my reading in years. I made everyone do their own unpacking and laundry when we got home.”
“Good work.”
Jamie rested her hand on her baby bump. “Do you have some time to go talk somewhere?” Her gaze flickered to the teenage cashier and the woman behind Autumn.
“Sure. I’m free until two. The singles group changed our movie viewing to this afternoon since Tessa has someone to cover the Saturday matinee this weekend but not the Sunday one.”
“How’s the Bible study going? Any new members?” Jamie asked.
“Pretty well, and
not really. Josh is working on a couple of the guys who were in youth group with him back when.” Autumn helped the bagger pack the last of her things. “How does the soft-serve stand sound, one of the outside tables?”
“Fine. What are we celebrating?”
Autumn groaned. Her father must have shared the family tradition with Jamie, or maybe she had.
“We’re celebrating your return from vacation. Kelly has been particularly difficult the past couple of weeks. I think Stephanie’s going away to college is bothering her.”
They pushed their carts out into the parking lot.
“You’re too kind. Some days I wonder why you stay with her. You’ve got the credentials, the experience, you could go somewhere else.”
“I could ask you the same.”
“Do that when we get to the soft-serve stand.”
They went their separate ways to their cars. After they got their orders, Autumn and Jamie sat at a shaded picnic table away from the other patrons.
“Mmm.” Jamie relished a spoonful of chocolate ice cream. “See how good I am? I got the small size and no cone.”
“A paragon of pregnant mothers, for sure.” Autumn looked at her large-size cone and thought about all of the baked goods Mrs. Hanlon had brought her the past weeks.
“Now, ask me again,” Jamie said.
“Ask you what?”
“Why I stay with Kelly.”
“Okay, why?”
“I’m waiting to see what you do when your contract with Kelly is up in the fall.”
Her contract. It was always in the back of her mind. As a midwife who didn’t deliver babies, she didn’t have many options open to her within commuting distance of Paradox Lake, unless she took a delivery nurse job at Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake. Gratitude toward her friend filled her. “You can’t know how much that means to me, but you should do whatever’s best for you and your family.”
“I hear one of the birthing center staff nurses may be leaving,” Jamie said.
“Signing on with the center would mean working with Dr. Hanlon.” Autumn wasn’t sure why she’d said that as if she were warning Jamie. So far, she hadn’t had any problem working with him.
“The scenery would be nice,” Jamie said.
It looked like Jon had added Jamie to his list of admirers. “Speaking of Dr. Hanlon, be prepared to redo the glucose test and have another ultrasound. The orders are in your records.”
“What’s with that?” As if to challenge the orders, Jamie jammed her spoon into the last bit of ice cream left in the dish. “My blood sugar counts since your last test have been within the acceptable range. Why redo them?”
“Give Jon some slack. It’s his way. He likes to have his own tests and his own notes. He was concerned about a birth he covered for Maureen while she was on vacation. He felt he didn’t have enough background on the pregnancy. I’m not surprised he wants to get as much as he can get on you.”
“That doesn’t bother you? It’s like he’s questioning what you’ve already done.”
Autumn stopped midlick. Surprisingly, it didn’t bother her. “No. We’re not in a competition. We’re collaborating. If Jon feels he needs additional tests, that’s his call.”
“Very interesting. I’ve seen you make far less than this into a competition.”
Autumn looked over her cone at her friend, choosing to ignore that comment. “The additional tests. They’re not a problem with your insurer, are they?”
“No, Eli has good coverage through the school. Now, back to your noncompetition pact with Dr. Hanlon. Does that mean you’re softening toward him?”
“I didn’t realize I was hardened against him.”
“Come on, you weren’t thrilled when you found out he was the new center director.”
“We had some history I needed to get past.”
“And you have?”
She had. “I’ll admit that if I’d first met Jon this summer, we’d get along fine.” For whatever reason, his grandmother’s words came back to her. What he really needs is some happy normal births so he can see the real joy of new life. Birth isn’t an enemy that has to be conquered. “We are getting along fine, for that matter.”
“Do I detect a maybe better than fine?”
Autumn shifted on the hard picnic table bench to get more comfortable. “No, you detect two colleagues, friends, getting along fine.”
“Fine enough to join him?”
“Aren’t you full of questions today? Is that what we get for letting you take vacation? If by joining him, you mean dating him, no, not that fine. Not that he’s asked.” Since we were at Samaritan, that is. “And don’t ask if that’s a possibility.”
“I won’t, not today. What I mean is join him at the center. The scuttlebutt is that Adirondack Medical Center is shopping the birthing center as a comprehensive women’s health center, based on your gynecological care and Dr. Craven’s satellite office here.”
“That’s a stretch.” Autumn snapped a bite of the cone off.
“Agreed. But you might want to stretch it to your advantage by talking to Dr. Hanlon about your joining the staff as a woman’s clinician, if you’re serious about not doing births anymore. Except mine.” Jamie smirked.
Adirondack Medical Center was shopping the birthing center? Jon just happened to be chosen director. His grandmother shows up for an extended visit. The sugar cone tasted dry in her mouth. In Autumn’s head, it was all adding up to one thing. JMH Health Care, Jon’s grandfather’s company, taking over. She’d heard and read enough about his takeovers to know that a post-takeover birthing center wouldn’t be somewhere she’d want to work.
“Yoo-hoo, you still with me?”
Autumn wrapped what was left of her cone in a napkin to toss it in the garbage. “Yes. I’ll think about what you’ve said.” After she asked her friend Jon a few questions.
* * *
The attendance at the viewing of the final episode of the Bible series buoyed Jon’s spirits about the singles group. All of the regulars had come, along with several guests who seemed interested in continuing with the group. Autumn’s arriving early and asking if she could talk with him afterward had added to the buoyant feeling.
He finished walking Josh and Lexi, the last of the group members, to the door. “Bye. See you at church tomorrow.” Jon pushed the screen door shut and joined Autumn. “Alone at last.” He waited for her to respond to his tease with an exasperated smile and got a frown instead.
She perched on the edge of the chair. “I’ll get right to the point. Did you take the position as director of the birthing center to help your grandfather take it over?”
“Never.” He pushed himself from the seat he’d just taken and paced the length of the couch. “Who told you that?”
“No one in particular. I’m just connecting the dots. I heard that the medical center might be putting the birthing center on the market. It hasn’t met financial expectations.”
Jon knew it hadn’t. That had been part of the challenge of taking the job. “I haven’t heard anything official about selling the center.” It didn’t sit well with him to have the center staff speculating.
“Let me finish. You take over the birthing center. Your grandmother appears for an apparently unending stay. Today, Tessa said your grandmother had contacted her friend’s real estate firm to view some high-end vacation properties, preferably ones that have been winterized.”
“Nana did what?” He banged the back of the couch with the palm of his hand.
“She contacted a local Realtor—”
He cut her off with a slice of his hand. “I heard that. I’m working on deciphering it.” He dropped back into the chair. “Let me set you and the rest of Paradox Lake and Ticonderoga straight. I have nothing to do with my grandfather’s bu
siness. I try to have nothing to do with him at all.”
“Your grandfather owns JMH. Your father sits on the board. You’re telling me that you have no interest at all in the family corporation?” Autumn’s eyes flashed her challenge.
Jon’s heart pounded with anger. “I’m telling you exactly that. According to what I’ve been told repeatedly since I chose not to follow the family footprints and practice surgery, I’ve essentially been disinherited by both my grandfather and father.”
Autumn knitted her brow and tilted her head. “Seriously?”
He threw his hands up. “Who knows? That’s what they both told me when I chose an obstetrics residency and made it clear I wasn’t choosing it for the surgical opportunities. They could have almost accepted my choice if I’d gone into it for surgery.”
Autumn pushed back into the chair and crossed her legs at the ankles. She cocked her head and one side of her mouth twisted up.
“If you’re trying to figure out my crazy family, give up. I did a long time ago.”
“I had to ask.” Autumn’s voice was barely above a whisper. “The birthing center is my and a lot of other people’s livelihood. I’ve read what JMH does when it buys a facility, and a couple of the nurses at Samaritan had come from small upstate hospitals that your grandfather had taken over. I couldn’t, wouldn’t, work in those conditions.”
But if that happened, Autumn’s family would be behind her, help her. Unlike his. He swallowed the bitter taste in his mouth. “Yes, I know what my illustrious grandfather does. He guts the heart of a facility and turns a profit on the backs of the staff and patients.”
He shouldn’t have, but he took satisfaction in Autumn’s stunned silence. His grandfather had better not have plans to acquire the Ticonderoga Birthing Center. That could interfere with his plans to bolster his vitae by saving the center himself. Disgust filled him. That sounded like something his father would say. It had to be his anger. He never put business and his own gain ahead of giving the people he served the best medical care he could. He’d taken the director position to improve his ability to provide care. So he’d have the administrative know-how he’d need to follow his calling to Haiti next year.
