“The one who can make you blush,” Summer added avidly, taking her sister’s arm. “Okay, Autumn, who is he?”
Groaning, Autumn allowed herself to be hustled along, though she was determined to change the subject the minute the five of them were settled in Spring’s car. She had no intention of discussing Jeff Bradford with two happily married couples!
Were her confused feelings for him really so obvious that her family had noticed a change in her that quickly? she wondered ruefully. Maybe it wouldn’t be quite so easy to put him out of her mind during the next two weeks after all.
7
“ARE YOU SURE you’re warm enough, Spring? Do you want me to bring your sweater?”
“No, thank you, Clay, I’m fine.”
“Well, how about something to eat? D’you want a sandwich or something? You have to keep up your strength.”
“Clay!” Spring protested, making Autumn smile at the exasperated look on her older sister’s face. “Isn’t Gil waiting for you?”
Clay bit his lower lip thoughtfully. “Yeah, he is, but I can stay home if you need me. I don’t have to watch football with Gil.”
“Please go,” Spring said firmly. “This is my last chance to visit with Autumn before she returns to Florida, and you promised Gil and me that you’d spend a couple of hours with him. Now go.”
“Don’t worry, Clay, I’ll take care of her,” Autumn promised gravely, trying not to laugh. She was spending New Year’s Day, the last day of her vacation in Arkansas, at Spring and Clay’s lovely nearly renovated older Victorian home in Little Rock. Clay would drive her to the airport the next morning to catch her flight back to Tampa. She’d enjoyed her visit very much, but she was ready to go home. She tried to tell herself that Babs and her job were the main reasons she was in such a hurry to get back.
Clay looked sheepish but smiled at Autumn in gratitude. “Thanks. You know where I can be reached if you need me.” He leaned over to give his wife a long, passionate kiss before allowing himself to be shooed out of the room.
The sisters waited until the front door had closed behind him and the sound of his car engine had faded before giving in to the gales of laughter they’d been holding back. Reclining comfortably on her couch, her dainty yellow-and-white cat curled in her lap, Spring rolled her eyes in mock dismay. “Seven more months of this! Maybe I shouldn’t have told him about the baby until closer to the due date.”
“Spring, I think he would have noticed,” Autumn remarked dryly, swinging her foot in front of her as she lounged in a large wing chair.
“It seemed like such a nice idea to tell him on Christmas Eve—kind of like an extra Christmas present. I should have known that he would overreact.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I think he’s kind of sweet. I particularly liked it when he refused to allow you to open your own presents in case you got a paper cut or something.”
Spring groaned and buried her face in her hands. “Oh, God. I’ll never survive this pregnancy.”
Pregnancy. Autumn shook her head slowly, trying to comprehend the reality of the word. In just seven short months Spring would be a mother. Autumn would be an aunt. Her parents would be grandparents. It was mind-boggling, thinking of the new generation beginning in her family.
Spring had made her announcement to the family on Christmas Day, to the general delight of the Reed clan. It had been a wonderful holiday, and Autumn had enjoyed being with her family again. She’d been a bit concerned that, as the only sister left unmarried, her family would show an even greater tendency than usual to treat her as the “baby,” something that had always frustrated Autumn. Yet, for the first time, she felt this year that she’d been treated as an adult, a capable, intelligent career woman.
Maybe it was because she’d been on her own for several years now, or maybe because the two newest family members, Derek and Clay, had never known her as the “cute little tomboy” and therefore didn’t treat her as such. Whatever the reason, Autumn was grateful. Though various members of the family had commented that Autumn seemed to have changed in some way since her last visit home, Autumn had managed to change the subject each time. She was fully aware that she had displayed an uncharacteristic tendency to drift off into her thoughts during her holiday, particularly since Spring had made her announcement. She was also aware that, rather than putting Jeff out of her mind on this vacation away from him, he was as much a part of her thoughts as before.
Autumn had been reexamining her goals in life during the past two weeks, finding contradictions within herself that she hadn’t realized were there. Until she’d met Jeff, she’d thought she wanted nothing more out of life than a fulfilling career, a company of her own that would bring her financial security and a satisfying degree of responsibility. When she’d thought of marriage at all, it had been as a nebulous possibility, perhaps when she was fully established, well into her thirties.
Now she found herself wondering what it would be like to be married, sharing her life with a man full-time. Wondering if a mother who drove a pickup truck and strapped on a tool pouch could make a nice home for a dark-haired, blue-eyed child. No, she wouldn’t allow herself to get that specific in her wondering. This was strictly hypothetical curiosity on her part.
“Aren’t you terrified?” The words left her mouth without conscious thought.
Spring looked a bit surprised for a moment, then smiled understandingly at the younger sister who’d always been so intense about life’s roles and responsibilities. “I guess I am, a little,” she admitted. “It’s not like the baby’s going to arrive with an owner’s manual. Like any first-time mother, I’ll be playing it by ear a lot. But I already love this baby so much. And Clay will be a wonderful father.”
“What about your career? Will you be able to dedicate as much time and energy to your practice after the baby arrives?”
“I’ll certainly have to make some changes, and I haven’t worked them all out yet. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to take off for maternity leave, for example. I’ll have to work with my patients as much as possible so they won’t be forced to go elsewhere. Fortunately, there aren’t that many emergencies in optometry, so we should be able to work around the four to six weeks that I’m off.”
“And after the baby’s born?”
“I’ll start talking to other working mothers soon about the different types of child care available in the area. I know attorneys, retailers, bankers and doctors who also happen to be mothers. Good mothers. I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to offer advice. My baby will be well cared for, Autumn.”
Autumn smiled. “You don’t have to convince me of that. I happen to think my niece or nephew is very lucky to have you and Clay for parents.”
“Thanks.”