Wind Chime Point

16



Gabi made an appointment with the obstetrician Louise had recommended, but when the time came to go, she was oddly reluctant. Cora Jane sensed it at once.

“Want me to come with you, honey bun? I know Dr. Hamilton. You’re going to like her. She’s no-nonsense, but she gives her patients her full attention and compassion.”

“It’s not that I’m afraid of seeing a new doctor,” Gabi said, trying to put her finger on why she was having so much trouble getting herself to leave the house.

“Is it because Louise told you that Dr. Hamilton could help with an adoption if that’s what you decided on?” Cora Jane asked with astonishing perceptiveness. “Are you suddenly feeling pressured to make that decision? Because you don’t have to make it now. And you know how the rest of us feel. You don’t have to give this baby up. Not ever. We’ll welcome him or her with open arms.”

“I know that,” she replied. “And maybe that is the problem. As my due date starts getting closer, even though it’s still a few months away, I am feeling pressured to decide one way or the other. And there will be an ultrasound today. Up until now I haven’t wanted to know the sex of the baby, but for the past few days I’ve started thinking I’d like to know.”

Cora Jane smiled. “But that will make this child even more real to you and make the decision to let go even harder,” she guessed. “Is that what’s worrying you?”

“Exactly.” She looked to her grandmother for guidance. “What do you think I should do?”

“About learning the sex of the baby?”

“About any of it.”

“Is knowing if the baby’s a boy or a girl truly going to change your decision?” Cora Jane asked. “I mean, do you want a little girl, but maybe not a boy? Or vice versa?”

“No, no,” Gabi said hurriedly. “That’s not it.”

“Then, if it were me, I’d want to know,” Cora Jane said. “And I’ll tell you why. You’re going to be carrying this child for a while to come. It’s natural to start talking to it. In fact, I’ve heard you doing it already. And I honestly believe babies come to know their mother’s voice. I think this child, boy or girl, should know it’s loved. Knowing the gender is a piece of that, don’t you think? Maybe we shouldn’t but we tend to talk to little boys differently than we do little girls.”

Gabi found herself chuckling at that. “Grandmother, I think you just set the gender equality debate back about fifty years. If moms started talking to baby girls in the womb about being iron workers or truck drivers, what a different world we’d live in.”

“I think maybe that’s a conversation to have with them a little later,” Cora Jane said wryly. “But you do get my point, don’t you?”

“I do, actually,” Gabi admitted. “And I think I want to know. It just scares me to think what that will do to my resolve to give the baby up.”

“Honey bun, I think that resolve already has cracks in it a mile wide,” Cora Jane told her.

Blinking back unexpected tears, Gabi whispered, “I think you could be right.”

“Maybe we should back up a step or two,” Cora Jane suggested. “Why did you consider adoption in the first place? Do you not want children?”

“When I was working nonstop, I don’t think I ever really thought about it,” Gabi admitted. “But lately I’ve realized that, yes, I do.”

“Was it about losing your job and not being sure you could provide adequately for a child?”

Gabi shook her head. “Though that’s certainly a consideration, I think I know myself well enough to believe that I’ll get back on my feet. And I have savings and that severance package right now.”

“Okay, then. Was it about Paul, about his very negative reaction?”

Asked directly like that, Gabi recognized that her grandmother was on to something. She nodded slowly. “I think so. I think two things were bothering me. That I’d come to resent the baby because of how angry I am at Paul, and that Paul would try to insinuate his way into the baby’s life—and mine—at some point down the road. I don’t want someone as selfish as he is to be an influence on this baby. Adoptive parents could assure that.”

“I thought so,” Cora Jane said. “Now that you’ve had some time, what do you think?”

“He’s signed the papers giving up parental rights. He’s a nonissue,” she said, her mood brightening. “This is my decision, isn’t it?”

“I’d say so.” Cora Jane regarded her approvingly. “So what are you thinking?”

“I’m scared to death, but I want to keep my child,” Gabi said.

Now she simply had to figure out how on earth she was going to live with that decision. Knowing how compulsively she’d always approached the major decisions in her life, she should have started detailed planning for this baby the instant she found out she was pregnant, not now, months later. The old Gabi would have decorated a nursery by now and started looking for the best preschools. That she was this far behind on making those decisions was proof of just how rattled she’d been by all these changes in her life.

But, she thought, grinning at last, she’d just have to catch up. And there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that she could do it.

* * *



Wade was stunned and delighted when he looked up and saw Gabi crossing his lawn in the direction of his workshop just as dusk was falling. It was the first time she’d deliberately sought him out at home, or anyplace for that matter.

He put down his knife and walked to the door to meet her. “Hey, you,” he said softly. “What brings you by?”

She regarded him hesitantly. “Is it okay? Are you busy? I don’t want to take you away from your work.”

“I can always make time for you,” he assured her. “Something on your mind? Let’s go into the house and I’ll make some tea for you. Even though the rain has finally stopped, there’s still a nasty chill in the air.”

“Tea would be great,” she said, following him. “And I never have seen your house, just the workshop.”

The reminder took him by surprise. “That’s right. I was so focused on having you see my work the day I brought you here, I never thought to bring you inside.”

In the kitchen, which he’d updated with all new appliances and cabinetry after buying the house, he made a pot of herbal tea and poured them each a cup as Gabi wandered around, commenting on the framed photos on just about every surface.

“The kids sure have grown,” she said. “This one’s Bryce, right? How old was he?”

“Four,” Wade said, glancing at the picture she held, a smile on her lips.

She picked up the one next to it. “And this one? Is it Chelsea or Jason?”

“Look at the curls. That’s Katrina.”

“Ah, yes. She’ll go through a period when she hates them, I’ll bet. Then she’ll discover that guys love to run their fingers through those masses of curls.”

She came back to the kitchen table and sat down.

“Why the sudden interest in the baby pictures?” he asked.

“I had an appointment with Louise’s gynecologist today,” she said.

Wade was instantly on alert, wondering if bad news explained her odd mood. “Everything okay?”

“Perfect,” she said, her lips curving slightly. “The baby’s a girl, Wade.” A full-blown smile broke across her face. “I’m having a girl.”

“And you’re happy about that,” he guessed based on her expression, but unsure what this meant for the future. Had she made a decision to keep the baby? Was that what this was really about? Heart in his throat, he asked.

“I had a good talk with Cora Jane this morning,” she replied. “She helped me to see things more clearly. I’d already pretty much decided to keep the baby, but this news clinched it.” Eyes shining, she said, “I’m going to have a daughter, Wade. How could I ever give away my little girl?”

“Any second thoughts at all?”

She shook her head. “I knew this was going to happen. I just knew it. I think Grandmother did, too. I think that’s why she encouraged me to find out the sex of the baby. She knows me too well. She knew that the second this baby became a real person to me, girl or boy, I’d never let go. Blast her for being so darned smart.”

Wade chuckled at that. “You think Cora Jane somehow tricked you into getting her own way?”

“Well, of course, she did, the sneaky woman. And it’s not just her way. She’s insisted all along that keeping the baby was the right answer for me, too. I was just filled with all these doubts about whether I could do it, whether I should, whether I’d take my anger at Paul out on the baby.”

“Nonissues,” Wade said with conviction. He reached out and took her hands in his. “Admittedly, I haven’t known you for very long, but if you ask me, there’s not a doubt in the world that you can do anything you set your mind to. Come on, Gabriella. You blazed a trail through your company’s PR department in record time. The way I’ve always heard it, you made a detailed plan, set your goals and never looked back. You can do the same thing when it comes to raising this baby.”

She regarded him with surprise. “You really have that much faith in me?”

“Absolutely. Name one reason I shouldn’t.”

“A total lack of experience with kids,” she said at once.

“Easy,” he said. “We’ll borrow Louise’s. She always welcomes a break. And I hear the two of you have made peace.”

“She told you that?”

“Yep, she told me all about her visit to Sally’s studio, the lunch the four of you had out there and the public apology she made to you.”

“I have to give her points for that,” Gabi admitted. “I’m sure it wasn’t easy for her to apologize at all, much less in front of her friends.”

“I honestly believe she meant it,” Wade said.

“I do, too. And it meant a lot to me. I don’t think we’ll be best friends overnight, but I think we’ll get there.”

He smiled. “That’s what she said.” He touched a strand of hair that the damp air had turned into a corkscrew curl. Just as she’d said earlier in reference to his niece’s curly hair, he loved running Gabi’s curls through his fingers. “Now, what are your plans for the rest of the evening?”

“I haven’t made any. I just started out for a walk and impulse brought me here.”

“Have you had dinner?”

“Of course, but I’m always starving.”

“Any strong opinions about ice cream?”

“Absolutely,” she said, her expression brightening. “Cover it with hot fudge sauce and I’m in.” Just as the words left her mouth, her eyes widened in surprise and she put a hand on her belly. “If that kick is anything to go by, the baby agrees. She’s going to be a girl after my own heart.”

Which meant, for Wade, that she’d be irresistible, too.

As they walked to the closest ice cream shop, Wade noted that though Gabi seemed at peace with her decision, there was something still troubling her.

“You said something before about being uncertain how you’d manage as a single mom,” he reminded her. “Is that really bothering you? I know I kind of dismissed it, but maybe it’s something we should talk about.”

She glanced over at him. “Do you really want to listen to me weighing all these pros and cons and tossing my insecurities out there for you to dissect?”

“If it’s weighing on you, absolutely.”

She nodded at the conviction in his voice. “Okay, I know I’m a competent human being,” she began.

He merely smiled at the understatement.

“But just as you said a minute ago, I set goals. I go after what I want. I have long-range plans and strategies.”

“Okay,” he said, not entirely seeing the problem yet.

“I haven’t even bought the first bootie for this baby,” she lamented. “I have no idea where I’m going to live, so I can hardly set up a nursery. I’m playing at this whole wind-chime thing, which is not exactly a surefire career path.”

“And none of that seemed as terrifying when you were convinced you were going to give your child up for adoption,” he guessed.

“Bingo! Suddenly I’m feeling completely overwhelmed.” She wrinkled her nose. “I have to say, I don’t much like it.”

Wade laughed, even though he knew it was the wrong reaction. At her immediate frown, he said, “Sorry. It’s just that no one is ever entirely ready to have a baby, especially a first baby. You know Louise. She’s probably every bit as compulsive as you’ve even dreamed of being, and she was absolutely freaked out before Bryce got here, even with Zack completely on board and me dancing attendance whenever he couldn’t be around.”

Gabi looked intrigued by his revelation. “Louise was freaked out?”

“You have no idea. She spent one entire week visiting private day-care centers and preschools. This in an area that doesn’t have competitive waiting lists for these things. And, let me add, she was about as far along as you are now.”

Gabi was smiling now. “I wonder if she still has the lists she made?” she murmured.

“I can just about guarantee it. Now, do you think you can let this go for the rest of the evening and enjoy your ice cream?”

“In a minute,” she said. “Do you have your cell phone with you?”

He pulled it out of his pocket. “Here you go.”

“Is Louise’s number programmed in?”

Wade pulled it up and dialed, then handed her the phone. “I’ll go inside and get the sundaes,” he told her, but she was already hitting his sister with a barrage of questions.

Heaven help him! He’d wanted those two to get along. He hadn’t realized that the bond they were likely to forge might exclude him, even for a half hour at a time, which seemed likely right now.

* * *



Gabi slept late on Saturday morning. When she finally wandered into the kitchen, she was startled to find both Emily and Samantha sitting there with big glasses of sweet tea.

“Where’d you two come from?” she asked. “And are you here to double-team me about something?”

“Not everything is about you,” Emily said, then gestured toward two huge boxes sitting across the room. “Bridesmaid dresses. I found the perfect choices, so I had the store pack them up, ship them over and called Samantha to meet me here.”

“Oooh, let’s see,” Gabi said, reversing directions to head toward the boxes.

“Not yet,” Emily said. “I promised Grandmother she could be here when you try them on. I had my wedding dress sent over, too. I had the final fitting last week and unless something dramatic happens, like too many pieces of Grandmother’s pie or bowls of Jerry’s crab soup, I am ready to walk down the aisle.” She frowned. “Well, except for the veil and the shoes and the bouquet, anyway.”

“Are you sure we have to wait?” Gabi said, eyeing the boxes impatiently.

“Yes,” Samantha said in her firmest big-sister voice. “You know how disappointed Cora Jane will be if we don’t wait for her. She wants to make an occasion of this.”

“Besides,” Emily added, “I understand we have other news to discuss that could take some time.”

“You heard that I’ve decided to keep the baby,” Gabi said. “And that it’s a girl.”

“All of that,” Emily agreed, giving her a fierce hug. “I’m so thrilled for you.”

“And for us,” Samantha said, giving Gabi a hug, as well. “We’re going to be aunts!”

“Have you started thinking about names?” Emily asked.

“Can we go shopping for baby clothes now?” Samantha wanted to know. “I saw the cutest little outfits the other day. I was dying to buy them.”

Gabi laughed. “Hey, slow down, you two. I just made this decision yesterday. I’m still getting used to it.”

Her sisters exchanged a look.

“Meaning she wants to sit down and start making lists,” Emily said.

“There is nothing wrong with planning and organization,” Gabi said defensively. “Some people even think it’s very wise to make sure all the bases are covered.”

“Which people would those be?” Samantha inquired suspiciously. “It doesn’t sound like Wade. He’s pretty laid-back.”

“But his sister isn’t,” Gabi said.

“You’re taking advice from Louise now?” Samantha asked, her expression incredulous. “Just the other day weren’t you two on opposite sides?”

“Long story,” Gabi said. “We’ve found some common ground.”

“Other than Wade?” Samantha asked.

“Yes, other than Wade,” Gabi replied testily. “Maybe we ought to focus on something else.” She looked pointedly at her older sister. “Why didn’t you set up that conference call with your agent the way we discussed? I left you a couple of messages to remind you.”

Emily looked puzzled. “What conference call is that?”

“Gabi offered to do some work as a publicist for me,” Samantha explained. “I’m just not sure the timing’s right, after all.”

“But you said yourself that your career is slowing down. It seems like exactly the right time,” Gabi protested, puzzled by Samantha’s sudden lack of enthusiasm for the idea. “It needs the shot in the arm that a good publicity campaign can give it.”

But even as she pressed, she saw Samantha’s expression shutting down. “Samantha? What don’t I know?”

“My agent dropped me,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. “He said I don’t seem as motivated as I once did and, combined with the whole age thing, he thought maybe he wasn’t the best person to represent me anymore, especially if I intended to treat my career more like a hobby.”

“A hobby!” Emily exclaimed incredulously. “Isn’t it his job to find you regular work?”

“He claims parts have come up while I’ve been away and he couldn’t send me on the auditions because there wasn’t time for me to get back to New York. That’s a crock, and we both know it,” she said, heat returning to her voice. “He just wants to focus on younger, up-and-coming talent who will bring in more money.”

“So much for loyalty,” Gabi said, angry on her sister’s behalf.

Samantha’s smile was faint. “I’m not in a business known for its loyalty,” she reminded them. “It’s cutthroat from day one.”

“Okay, so you’ll get another agent, one who’ll appreciate you and is tuned in to a different list of contacts,” Gabi said.

“And how am I supposed to do that? My résumé for the past year is pretty skimpy. Why would another agent want to bother? Success feeds on success and, let’s face it, I haven’t had much that can be described as successful lately.”

“But I am going to make you sound like the best actress to hit New York in the past decade,” Gabi said with determination. “That spin we talked about is going to turn the tide.”

“I don’t think there’s enough spin in the world to sell an aging actress when everybody’s looking for a youthful face,” Samantha said, her discouragement plain.

“Then come out to Los Angeles,” Emily suggested, her eagerness catching them all by surprise.

Gabi thought maybe Emily had taken her concerns to heart and was reaching out to her big sister for the first time ever.

“Get a fresh start there,” Emily continued, her enthusiasm growing. “You know my friend Sophia has contacts all over the film industry, and Marilyn Jennings, who’s chairman of the board of the foundation building these safe houses, is married to a studio president. I can almost guarantee you’d find a top agent and more roles than you can handle.”

For an instant Samantha looked intrigued.

“It’s not a bad idea,” Gabi said, hoping to encourage the olive branch Emily was extending, if nothing else. “A fresh start could be just the thing to relaunch your career.”

Once again Samantha’s eyes filled with tears. “You two are amazing, but I need to think about this. I’ve never thought of myself doing movies.”

“Hello,” Emily said. “Where do you think most of those TV series are made? And there’s a healthy theater scene out there, too. You can stay with Boone and me, so your housing will be taken care of until you land a few jobs.”

Gabi could see that Samantha wasn’t quite ready to make such a dramatic leap, and the pressure was starting to get to her. She could totally relate.

“Sweetie, all we’re saying is that you do have options,” she told her older sister. “Emily and I are behind you and ready to do whatever we can, no matter what you decide, okay?”

Samantha nodded, swiping at the tears streaming down her cheeks. “I need to go wash my face,” she said.

After she’d gone, Gabi looked at Emily. “She’s obviously feeling overwhelmed and off-kilter. I can relate.”

“Me, too,” Emily admitted. “That’s how I felt when I had this fantastic job offer in Los Angeles and my relationship with Boone was just falling into place back here.”

“Then we’re agreed? We won’t pressure her?”

“Agreed,” Emily said at once. “Do you suppose Cora Jane knows about this?”

“I doubt it,” Gabi said just as her grandmother walked into the kitchen.

“What is it you’re wondering if I know?” Cora Jane asked, proving her hearing was as sharp as ever.

“That some high-falutin’ developer wants to get his hands on some land around here for a big resort,” Emily improvised.

Cora Jane looked as if she weren’t buying that for a single second—not the response nor the supposed rumor.

“So, don’t fill me in,” she said. “I suppose you girls are allowed to keep a few secrets.”

Emily bounced up and hugged her. “But we are very glad you’re here. I wouldn’t allow Gabi or Samantha so much as a peek at their dresses till you got home.”

Cora Jane held up the bag in her hand. “And I brought nonalcoholic bubbly so we can celebrate while you do your little fashion show in the living room.”

“Nonalcoholic?” Emily protested.

“Hey, I have a baby to think of,” Gabi said.

“And we don’t want your sister to feel left out,” Cora Jane scolded. “This will do just fine. The real celebration is all of us being together for this big moment in your life, am I right?”

“Of course you’re right,” Emily told her. “Hey, Samantha, get your butt back down here. We’re about to try on dresses.”

With the true skill of an actress, there wasn’t so much of a hint of Samantha’s earlier dismay reflected in her eyes when she returned, and a deft use of makeup covered all traces of her tears. Her smile for Cora Jane’s benefit was as bright as ever.

They carried the boxes into the living room. Samantha poked at one. “If the first thing out of here is orange, you can count me out.”

Emily laughed. “Would I do that to you? I told you we’d be going with pastels, though since we’ve set the date now for late summer, I decided on slightly deeper shades.”

She opened the box and pulled out a slim dress the color of a ripe peach and handed it to Samantha, then extracted a similar dress in turquoise for Gabi. She regarded them hopefully. “Well? What do you think?”

“Summer at the beach,” Gabi said at once. “They’re beautiful, Em.”

“And that color was made for you, Samantha,” Cora Jane said, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “You girls will be beautiful.”

“And now for me,” Emily said. “I’m changing in the bathroom, though. I want to make an entrance. Gabi, do you want to help? I can’t reach all the buttons in the back.”

Gabi went with her, then stood by as Emily extracted an exquisite fairy-tale dress with a beaded bodice and narrow skirt that swirled into a flowing train. It was the back that made her draw in her breath. It dipped low with dozens of small buttons drawing attention from the small of her back to well below her hips.

“Sexy, huh?” Emily said with a grin. “I figure if people are going to be looking at my backside during the service, then it ought to put on a show.”

“It’s stunning,” Gabi told her. “And exactly right for you. It’s elegant and classy, yet you’ll look like a princess.”

Emily beamed. “Exactly the look I was going for. Hurry with those buttons. I can’t wait to see Grandmother’s face.”

“She’s going to cry,” Gabi predicted.

“Well, I know that. I just hope she’ll get all the tears out of her system now, so she’ll be all smiles on my wedding day.”

“Not a chance,” Gabi said. “She’ll be as emotional then as the rest of us. I expect to bawl my eyes out.”

Emily frowned at her. “Don’t you dare. I don’t want all my wedding pictures to look as if I made my entire family miserable by getting married.”

“Fine. I promise we’ll look as if we’re relieved to be rid of you,” Gabi teased.

“I thought older sisters were supposed to be more supportive,” Emily lamented.

“You’d be thinking of Samantha. I’m here to be the thorn in your side.”

Gabi opened the door, did a little flourish, then stepped aside to allow Emily her grand entrance.

As predicted, Cora Jane’s eyes instantly filled with tears. So did Samantha’s.

“Well, heck, if the two of you are going to cry, then who am I to be holding back,” Gabi said. “Sorry, Em, but you’re just so darn beautiful and we are so incredibly happy for you and Boone.”

When she glanced at her sister’s face, she noted that Emily, too, had tears in her eyes. Oblivious of her dress, she crossed the room and gathered them all close.

“You guys are the best,” she whispered.

“And you, my sweet girl, will be the loveliest bride ever,” Cora Jane said, then grinned. “At least until these two get with the program. I imagine they’ll give you a run for your money.”

All three of them laughed at the unmistakable challenge in Cora Jane’s voice, but it was Emily who uttered a warning.

“Just as long as they don’t steal my thunder, understood?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Gabi said.

“Never dream of it,” Samantha added. “This is your big day. The next few months are all about you, just the way you like it.”

Emily frowned slightly at that. “Hey, wait a minute.”

“It’s okay,” Samantha said. “We love you, anyway.”

“And I’d like to point out that I’ll be having a baby before this big wedding,” Gabi commented. “I wouldn’t mind at least a few minutes in the spotlight. In fact, after going through hours of labor, I may want a parade in my honor.”

“Oops,” Samantha said, grinning. “I almost forgot. You’re not just getting a little pudgy around the middle. That’s a baby you’re carrying.”

“So amusing,” Gabi commented.

“Enough,” Cora Jane scolded. She poured the nonalcoholic champagne into fluted glasses. “To the Castle women, each of you unique and amazing!”

“And to the woman who’s been our example,” Emily said, lifting her glass to Cora Jane.

After that, the tears flowed yet again, right along with the bubbly. Gabi hoped they’d always remember the moments of unity like this one and not the dissension and sibling rivalries that occasionally divided them. With luck and maturity, those were well and truly in the past.