Ever After (The Christmas Cottage - Book 2) (6 page)

Conversation continued to flow and Ava forced herself to relax.  Brian wasn’t doing anything wrong; if anything, his presence took some of the pressure off of her to give her family an answer on what she was going to do now that she had graduated.  She was sure that she would figure out exactly where it was that she wanted to be and what she wanted to do but right now Ava just couldn’t put her finger on it.

She wanted to move, but to where?  She wanted a job, but doing what?  She wanted to be in a relationship, but with whom?  Her eyes immediately strayed to Brian and she blushed when he caught her staring.  It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to have dinner with him sometime.  What were the odds that one little dinner would lead to anything more?  Maybe once he spent some time with her, Brian would realize that she wasn’t as good as he’d built her up to be. 

Just the thought of that made Ava frown.  No, going out with Brian would be safe; it would be like having dinner with an old friend while at the same time taking that leap back out into the dating world.  They’d go out once, settle her curiosity and then she’d be able to move on.

How could anything go wrong?

“So he never asked you out?”

“He never asked me out.”

“You’re sure?”

Ava glared at her friend.  “I think I would remember if sometime before he raced out of the restaurant if Brian had asked me out!”

“Well I’m stumped,” Lacey said as she leaned back on the sofa.  “Maybe you misunderstood the original invite?”

“How could I misunderstand ‘
Can I take you to dinner next week’? 
Ava growled.  It had been almost two weeks since her graduation lunch and not a word from Brian.  She had been certain when they had all walked out of the restaurant and said their goodbye’s that Brian would try to ask her out again. 

But he didn’t.  Standing in the parking lot he’d merely thanked her for letting him join the fe
stivities, congratulated her on her graduation and walked away.  The thought of it still made her mad!

“Maybe he’s just giving you a little time since you didn’t necessarily respond as he’d hoped when he first asked you out.”

Ava slouched down next to Lacey and felt miserable.  “Or maybe he’s just doing exactly what I asked for.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Sighing wearily, Ava turned to Lacey.  “When I agreed to let him come to the park I told him that once we were done there that we were through; no more chance meetings, no more inviting himself to family stuff.”

“You didn’t say no more asking you out,” Lacey supplied.

“It was implied, don’t you think?”

Unfortunately, Lacey couldn’t disagree.  “Well, it is what you wanted, right?”

“I don’t even know what I want anymore,” Ava admitted.  “I like having a plan of action and right now I have no idea what action or direction I want to take.”  She noticed a slight wince come from Lacey.  “I know, I’m pathetic, right?”

When Lacey didn’t answer right away, Ava sat up a little straighter.  “What’s going on?  Are you okay?  Do I need to call Ean?”

Closing her eyes, Lacey took a deep breath and then counted to ten.  “No, I’m fine.  I’ve had some Braxton Hicks contractions, but the doctor says they’re normal.  I just don’t like them.”

Ava wasn’t completely convinced that all was well but kept that opinion to herself. 
Maybe some distraction would be helpful.  “Anyway, I’ve got an interview next week out in Charlotte for a position with a new charter school.  They’re looking for a librarian; someone to actually create the library and then maintain it.”

Lacey let out another breath.  “Are you excited about it?”

“I’m not sure ‘excited’ is the right word, but it’s worth looking in to.”

“
Charlotte’s not that far away,” Lacey considered, her hand running over her rounded belly.  “We’d still get to see you on weekends, right?”

“Of course.  You’re going to get tired of seeing me once this baby comes.  I am going to be the absolute best aunt in the world!”

“I know you will be.”  Lacey went to stand and then doubled over.

“Oh my gosh!” Ava cried, standing up next to her.  “I knew something was up!  What do I need to do?  Call Ean?  The doctor?  The hospital?”  She began frantically looking around the room as if the answer was going to magically appear. 

“First,” Lacey said calmly, “you need to relax.  If anyone here gets to freak out, it’s me.  Next, let’s not panic yet.  It was just a bad contraction; it doesn’t mean anything really until my water breaks.”

“Water breaks?  That can’t be good!”

Lacey rolled her eyes.  “Ava, please, you’re not an idiot.  You know what water breaking means; now let’s just both take a deep breath and calm down.  The baby isn’t due for almost another three weeks.  I’m sure everything is fine.”  There was a knock at the front door.  “Could you answer that?  I think I need to sit back down.”

Ava looked at her nervously.  “I don’t want to leave you alone.”

“Oh for crying out loud, the door is twenty feet away!  Believe me, if anything happens, you’ll know.”

“Fine.  But I just want it noted that I did not want to leave you.”

“It’s noted, Ava.”  Another series of knocks sounded from the door.  “Now, could you please answer that?”

Ava headed to the door and opened it, her jaw nearly dropping to the floor.  “Brian?  What are you doing here?”  That seemed to be her standard greeting for him as of late and she grimaced at the realization.

“Hey, Ava,” he said and smiled.  “I’m meeting Ean here to go over the plans for the extension.”

“Oh, Ean’s not home yet and Lacey didn’t mention it.”  Ava wanted to smack herself in the head for being so blind.  Lacey never invited her over mid-day to just hang out.  This was
probably her way of getting Ava and Brian back in the same place.  Part of her wanted to go and yell at her friend while the other part wanted to hug and thank her.  “Come on in; I’m sure Ean will be home shortly if you had an appointment.”  Stepping aside, she held the door open as Brian entered and then they stood in the foyer simply looking at one another.

“So,” he began, taking off his sunglasses and looking around the entryway, “how’ve you been?”

“Good, good; can’t complain.”  And then realized that that was exactly what she wanted to do.  Complain.  Complain that he hadn’t asked her out again, complain that he hadn’t called and complain that it wasn’t right to tell someone that you loved them and then never do anything about it!  She was just about to say something to that affect when she heard Lacey cry out from the living room.

“Uh-oh…”

“What’s going on?” Brian asked, quickly following Ava to where Lacey was.

“Lace?” Ava cried, “What’s up?  Another contraction?”

“My water broke.”

“Her water broke?” Brian croaked.  “That’s not good, right?”

“No it’s not good!” Ava snapped.  “She’s in labor!  Tell me what to do, Lacey?  Where’s Ean?  Where’s your doctor’s phone number?”

“Do we need to call an ambulance?  Do I need to boil water or something?” Brian chimed in.

Lacey looked at the two of them and wanted to laugh but the contractions were pretty strong.  “If I could interrupt the two of you for a moment, you need to both be quiet and I’ll tell you exactly what I need.”  They instantly silenced.  “Ava, I need you to call Ean and tell him to call Dr. Williams and meet us at the hospital.”  She turned to Brian.  “As you can probably guess, we’ll need to reschedule.”  He nodded mutely.  “I have a bag by the stairs, Ava.  If you can grab that, Brian can help me out to your car and we’ll be on our way.”

The three of them moved as quickly as possible and once outside Ava saw that Brian’s truck was blocking her car in.
  He assessed the situation as well and took charge.  “Let’s help her into the truck and I’ll drive to the hospital.”

“That’s not necessary,” Ava began.  “I can drive her.”

“You’re trying to get Ean on the phone and you’re distracted.  Let me drive and this way you can make your calls and help keep Lacey calm while I do the driving.”

“Seriously, Brian, I have it under control…”

“She needs someone to just focus on the driving, Ava, and that’s not going to be you!”

“Who do you think you are coming in here and taking over and…
?”

“
ENOUGH
!” Lacey cried out.  “In case either of you haven’t noticed, I’m about to have a baby and I would prefer that to happen in a hospital and not in my driveway.”  She looked at Ava.  “Please let Brian drive and let’s get moving. Now!”

Quickly and quietly, they got Lacey settled in to Brian’s truck and were on their way.  Ava reached Ean and told him what was going on and then had to take turns between calming him down and letting Lacey squeeze her hand during the contractions.  Brian only spoke to ask very simple questions:  which hospital, which route and if Lacey was feeling all right. 

Luckily the hospital was only twenty minutes away and in no time, Ava could see Ean pacing outside the emergency room entrance.  The truck had barely come to a stop when he yanked the door open and nearly threw Ava to the ground in his haste to get to his wife.

“Oh, Ean, for the love of it, look what you’ve done to your sister,” Lacey sighed as she climbed out of the truck.  Ean barely spared his sister a glance and mumbled a very half-hearted apology as he helped Lacey sit in the wheelchair that Brian had run and secured. 

The next several hours seemed to drag.  Brian stayed and waited with Lacey and her parents, anxious for any news on Lacey and the baby.  He brought coffee and sandwiches to them all in the waiting area and as the night wore on, he urged Ava to relax and try and sleep a little while as they waited for Ean to come out with an update.

A quick glance at his watch showed it was going on ten o’clock and somehow while he had been engrossed in an evening news show, Ava had fallen asleep on his shoulder.  With a little maneuvering, he had her reclined on the sofa, using his legs as a pillow.  She looked so peaceful and beautiful and it was nice to have the opportunity to observe her without her noticing.  Returning his attention to the TV, he mindlessly stroked her hair away from her face, sometimes taking a moment to gently caress her cheek.  The Callahan’s were seated across the room and had both long since given up trying to stay awake. 

Some time near eleven, Ean came out.  Brian noticed him first and gently shook Ava awake.  She sat up immediately and then called out to her parents.  They all stood and looked at Ean expectantly.  “Well?” Ava finally said.

“It’s a girl!  I have a beautiful, healthy daughter,” he beamed.  “She tiny, five pounds, three ounces but she’s perfect.”

“How’s Lacey?” Ava asked, her voice laced with concern.

“She was a trooper.  For as fast as the labor came on, it stalled for a while and the baby was in distress and the doctor’s were just about to prep her for a C-section but then everything seemed to kick into gear.”

“So she’s okay now?”

“She’s exhausted but thrilled,” he replied, looking exhausted himself.  He sat down on the sofa that Ava and Brian had vacated and leaned back and closed his eyes; his grin never fading.  “A daughter; I have a daughter.”

“Does this daughter have a name?” Jack Callahan asked.

Ean opened his eyes and sat up.  “Olivia Harper Callahan.”  He smiled at the collective sighs of his family around him.

“Such a beautiful name,” his mother said.  “Now when do we get to see her?”

Ean led them down to the nursery while explaining that because it was so late they’d only be able to see her through the glass.  They’d have to come back when visiting hours began in the morning.  He shared their disappointment because he wanted to show his daughter off but knew that everyone needed their sleep; plus he was anxious to get back and check on Lacey.

Within minutes, Ean waved goodnight to them all and watched as they headed toward the elevator.  The doors had barely closed when he turned to return to his wife’s side.

****

“She’s perfect, absolutely perfect,” Linda Callahan kept saying.

“You’re just biased, mom,” Ava teased.

“No I’m not; you saw those other babies in the nursery.  Olivia was hands down the most beautiful.”

As much as Ava would have loved to poke fun at her mom a little bit more, the truth was that she was exhausted.  It was nearing midnight and she still had to get her car from Ean and Lacey’s and head home.  “Do you need a ride to your car?” her father asked.

Brian didn’t wait for her to respond.  “You two go on home; I’ll take Ava back to her car.  It’s late and I’m sure you both want to go to sleep.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Jack said, shaking Brian’s hand.  “Thank you, Brian.  We’re grateful that you were there to get Lacey here to the hospital.”

Ava’s back stiffened at the comment; after all, she had been there too and was more than capable of getting Lacey here if Brian hadn’t swooped in and stole her glory!  She was about to bring that fact to everyone’s attention when her parents each leaned in and wearily wished her a good night.  Before she could even respond they were walking away.  She looked at Brian and wanted to wipe the smirk off of his face.