She wasn’t even certain what might lie ahead for her, much less for her sister.
* * *
Ethan didn’t show up for Sunday brunch. Though there were a couple of dozen people gathered in clusters all over the backyard, enjoying Jerry’s improvised omelet station, pecan waffles and homemade grits, the absence of one person was giving Samantha heartburn.
“I pushed him too hard last night,” she grumbled to Gabi.
“Pushed him how?”
“I told him he needed to open his heart, take a chance on love. I should have known he’d decide I had an ulterior motive. I scared him off.”
Gabi laughed. “I don’t think Ethan scares that easily. I’m sure there’s another explanation.”
“Has he spoken to Grandmother? Sent his regrets to Boone or Emily?”
“Sweetie, you’re asking the wrong person,” Gabi said. “Just ask one of them if they’ve spoken to him.”
“Asking would only make me look pathetic,” Samantha said.
“Okay, I’m officially confused,” Gabi said, a twinkle in her eyes. “Is this about you having hurt Ethan’s feelings with something you said last night, or is it about him hurting yours by not showing up today?”
“Oh, bite me,” Samantha said irritably. “I know I’m not making a lot of sense.”
“Sense rarely has much to do with falling in love,” Gabi said.
“I am not falling in love with Ethan,” Samantha said hurriedly, because she felt she needed to. Maybe if she could convince everyone else of that, she’d believe it herself. It was absolutely the worst possible time for her to fall in love with anyone, much less Ethan, who had complication written all over him.
“How about a big glass of orange juice?” Gabi said.
“What? I don’t think OJ, for all of its nutrients, is the answer.”
“Oh, come on,” Gabi urged. “It’ll make you feel better, especially if you lace it with enough champagne. I hear Jerry makes a really potent mimosa.”
“You’re drinking mimosas? What about nursing the baby?”
Gabi gave her a chiding look. “I never said I’d tried one. That’s just the rumor that’s going around, that his are excellent. I’m almost regretting that I haven’t weaned Daniella.”
“You do know that sooner or later that baby is going to day care, right? To the one you handpicked after consulting with Wade’s sister about every child care facility in the entire region?”
Gabi looked flustered. “Truthfully, I’ve been thinking about that. It’s working out okay taking her with me to the gallery.”
Samantha stared at her incredulously. “You can’t be serious! I hear a half dozen artists have complained about the noise.”
Gabi waved her off. “Artists are notoriously temperamental. It doesn’t mean a thing.”
“Not even if one of them happens to be your soon-to-be husband? Wade says he hasn’t been able to concentrate on his carvings for weeks now. The only time he gets any work done is at home in his old studio.”
“Oh, phooey. That’s because every time that child so much as whimpers, he has to run and check on her,” Gabi said. “That’s on him.”
Samantha backed off. “Your decision,” she told her sister. “I’m just reporting what I’m hearing.”
Gabi frowned. “Wade really said that to you?”
“He did.”
“Why hasn’t he said it to me?”
Samantha smiled. “He seems to think you’d get a little defensive. Judging from your reaction just now, I’d have to say he knows you pretty well.”
Gabi drew in a deep breath, then sighed. “I’d better find him and talk about this. I thought he liked having the baby close by as much as I do.”
“Sweetie, he adores that child. Make no mistake about that. He’s just not a huge admirer of her lung capacity when he’s trying to be creative. And those other artists? They’re not even half as addicted to that sweet baby as Wade is.”
“How’d you wind up in the middle of this?” Gabi inquired curiously.
“I wasn’t. Grandmother caught wind of it. She mentioned it to me and said she was reluctant to tell you. I had a chat with Wade myself, heard the frustration in his voice and decided you needed to know.”
“I needed to know,” Gabi confirmed. “I’ll call the day care tomorrow, see if I can get Dani in there tomorrow or the next day. With everything going on this week for the wedding, it’s good timing, anyway.”
“If you make the arrangements, I’ll be there on her first day to offer tissues and moral support,” Samantha promised.
“That’s all well and good,” Gabi said. “But Wade needs to show up with at least two dozen of those doughnuts he uses to bribe me to get his way.”
“I’m sure he’ll be happy to oblige.”
“Yeah, he will,” Gabi said, smiling, though there were tears in her eyes. “How’d I get to be so lucky?”
“By being a fabulous, incredible Castle woman,” Samantha told her.
“In that case, you deserve one of the good guys, too. And, for the record, I hope it’s Ethan.”
“Too soon to tell,” Samantha said. But she couldn’t deny that she hoped so, too.
* * *
By the time Ethan was able to get away from the clinic and over to Cora Jane’s, most of the guests had left. Only Boone’s car and one other remained parked in the driveway along with the family vehicles. Though he’d made a quick call to Boone earlier to explain that he’d had to deal with an emergency, he doubted if that message had been passed along to the one person likely to be offended by his absence. Why hadn’t he thought to insist that Boone spread the word?
As he crossed the lawn, he was aware that all eyes seemed to be on him. He was also very aware of the frown spreading across Samantha’s face. Rather than going straight to her, though, he approached Cora Jane, bent down and kissed her cheek.
“I apologize for not getting here earlier,” he told her.
“Not a problem,” Cora Jane said, patting his hand. “I heard about the emergency. Is the boy okay?”
Ethan nodded, his gaze on Samantha, who was looking slightly less annoyed now. “He will be.
