Always Loving You (Danvers #6)(35)



“Cool. Do you think you could pick Ella up today from Suzy’s and stay with her until I get home from Charleston this evening? I’m meeting the rest of the guys there and dropping Ella off to spend the day. Suzy offered to let her stay at her house, but Ellie gets so tired that I know she’ll be ready for bed early.”

“Um . . . sure.” Ava knew that Jason and Gray had recruited some of the others to take a trip to Charleston and look at some new office space there. Truthfully, she thought it was also a chance for the men to have a guys’ day out, under the guise of business. Suzy had invited all the women over for a day on the beach, but Ava had declined, preferring to mope around at home. “I’ll swing by there around four, and we can stop for dinner somewhere on the way home.”

Declan sounded relieved as he said, “Thanks, sis. It pisses Ella off, but I don’t want her being alone right now so close to her due date. She can barely reach the steering wheel in her car over her stomach, so she has no business driving.”

Ava smirked as she heard Ella yelling in the background. “You better go take care of that,” she teased her brother as he said a quick good-bye. She loved the man he had grown into. He still had hard edges, but his life revolved around his wife and now his family. She only hoped that someday she’d know how it felt to be a part of something like that.

She was mulling over that thought when she saw a large ad on the local Web site. cALLING ALL BEGINNERS! SET YOURSELF FREE, LEARN TO SURF TODAY! Bingo! There it was, her next hobby. Since the whole disaster with the hang gliding meeting, there was no way she could go back there again. The guy who bothered her might have just been a harmless creep, but she couldn’t take any chances. The idea of setting herself free as the ad promised sounded appealing as well. Also, the training class was located just a mile from Mac’s house, so there was a good likelihood she’d run into him during one of his daily runs along the beach. She quickly filled out the online registration form and clicked SEND before she chickened out. She could swim, so what was the worst thing that could happen? Her thoughts went to Emma and the death of her sister, Robyn, in a surfing accident and she froze. Oh God, there was no way she could tell Emma about this. For a moment she was prepared to abandon the idea. It said beginner, though, so surely it was perfectly safe.

*   *   *

It was a little after four when Ava pulled into the driveway of Gray and Suzy’s large, but surprisingly homey, beach house. Mac lived only a few miles down the road, so she was very familiar with this part of town. When she walked up the pathway and rang the doorbell, Suzy opened the door wearing tiny white shorts and a blue halter top. “She’s on the couch asleep,” Suzy said with a grin and gestured toward the living room.

Ava moved through the spacious entryway into a large room with vaulted ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows. She had visited a few times for various barbecues, but she never failed to gawk at the beauty of the ocean showcased to perfection by the tall windows. “Yeah, Declan said she would want to go to bed early, but I kinda thought it would be after dinner.” Looking around the empty room, she asked, “Is everyone else already gone?”

Suzy nodded. “Beth and her son Henry were the last ones other than Ella, and they left a few minutes ago. I don’t know why Ella didn’t just agree to stay. As you can see, she’s perfectly at home here.”

Ava smothered a smile as Ella snored softly, blissfully unaware of being watched. As she was wondering whether to wake her or not, Ella suddenly jerked before jumping from the couch faster than anyone with a belly her size should have been capable of. Both Ava and Suzy stared at her in surprise. Ella rubbed her back and started chanting, “No, no, no, oh God, no!”

“Els, what the hell?” Suzy asked, looking confused.

“Maybe she’s talking in her sleep,” Ava suggested, staring at her sister-in-law.

“Oh, Suzy, I’m so sorry,” Ella moaned. “I must have peed on your couch.”

At Ella’s words, Suzy and Ava looked to where Ella was pointing and a puddle of liquid was visible against the tan leather. Ava had to give Suzy points for composure as she only looked mildly green before saying, “Er—it’s okay. I mean shit happens . . . or pee, I guess in this case.”

Ella looked horrified and on the verge of tears before her expression froze. It was startling to see someone go blank in the blink of an eye; hell, it was rather alarming. “Ella?” Ava moved forward, putting her hand on the other woman’s arm. “Is everything all right?”

Then Ella said something that put the fear of God into Ava. “I . . . I think I might be having contractions.”

Suzy jumped forward as if shot from a cannon. “Oh, f*ck balls! Your water broke, didn’t it?”

Ella started laughing, causing both Ava and Suzy to panic. “Stop!” Suzy shouted. “My God, don’t move.” Pointing to Ella’s belly, she added, “And try not to wiggle that thing—like at all.”

“But shouldn’t she sit down or lie down?” Ava asked, not knowing what to do next. Suddenly, it hit her, and she pulled her phone from her pocket. “We need to Google it. Google will tell us what to do!”

“Screw that,” Suzy said. “We need nine-one-one. I don’t know about you, but I’ve got no plans to pull a baby from Ella’s vajajay today. Call for help now!”

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