Page 91 of 15 Summers Later

She was still sick first thing every morning, but by midday, she felt fine. The worst of her nausea seemed over, as if her body had been trying to tell her something with the constant queasiness.

The message had been most emphatically received.

She was still tired a great deal of the time and could cry at the drop of a hat. Gradually, though, she had begun to adjust to the idea of being pregnant, the knowledge that another life was growing inside her, created from the best parts of her and the man she loved.

She had been to a doctor in Sun Valley, Dr. Choate, a warm older woman who had assured her all seemed to be fine and prescribed multivitamins and plenty of exercise and fresh air.

She had scheduled an ultrasound in a month, if Ava was still in town.

It might be too early to find out the gender of the baby, Denise Choate had warned. Ava didn’t care about the gender. She wasn’t even sure she wanted to know ahead of time. She would love the child, no matter what.

Through it all, she continued to get regular emails and phone calls from Sylvia Wittman. Her agent was always brimming over with exciting news.Ghost Lakehad moved up a slot on the bestseller list that week. Sub rights had been sold for three more translations. Several of the more famous book clubs were considering it for a future monthly pick. A few more movie producers had reached out.

Ava tried to summon adequate enthusiasm, but it was difficult when she couldn’t seem to focus on anything but the life growing inside her and her worry over the kind of home she could provide to her child.

Now, nearly two weeks after Luke Gentry had first suggested she might be pregnant, Ava sat once more at the Emerald Thumbs Farmers Market selling flowers and vegetables and baked goods for Leona and her friends. This time, she had both Gracie and Beau at her feet.

Beau, the name Madi had given Gracie’s border collie friend, was able to get around better. As his health and strength increased, his personality began to shine through. The dog was smart and curious, quick to learn and eager to show off any new tricks. He loved being in the thick of the action and was completely devoted to Gracie.

When Leona had heard the story about the pair’s rescue and about Madi’s plan to keep them together at the sanctuary, she insisted that she and Ava should foster them until their owners or a new forever home could be found.

Ava didn’t mind. She had come to love the two dogs and was already bracing herself at the impending heartbreak of having to give them up to someone else.

Much to her shock, the dogs seemed fond of her as well—especially Gracie, who loved to snuggle whenever possible. In the evenings, when the shadows were long and the air smelled of flowers and sunshine, Ava would sit out in her grandmother’s lovely garden on a bench, with Gracie snoozing beside her while Beau sniffed each flower and vegetable plant, as if they couldn’t grow without him.

How would she say goodbye to them when it was time for her to return to Oregon? She didn’t want to think about it.

Maybe Ava should stay here and have the baby, in this little cocoon where she felt safe and warm and protected. Where she could hide away from the buzz of interest aboutGhost Lakethat awaited her away from Emerald Creek.

She couldn’t escape it completely here, either, she acknowledged. Already that day, she had signed three copies of the book that had been handed to her by market patrons. She cringed each time, wondering if she would ever feel more comfortable with the recognition.

Gracie, who apparently loved her, imposter syndrome notwithstanding, stood and nudged Ava’s leg with her cold nose in an expectant kind of gesture.

“What? Do you need to do your business? Now? I’m kind of busy.”

Two customers were chatting with her grandmother while they decided which of the flower bundles to purchase. Leona overheard her speaking with the dog and waved her hand.

“Go ahead and take them both for a walk. I’m here. I can handle things. You need the exercise, darling. You have been trapped in our stall all morning. While you’re out, you should pick up a treat for yourself. That place on the corner has some wonderful goat-milk lotion. You definitely need to try it.”

Their stall had been busy all day, nearly selling out of all the lavender sachets she and Leona had made that week and all but six of their cut flower bouquets.

It had been Ava’s idea to add a placard explaining that all proceeds from sales helped provide food for the pets at the Emerald Creek Animal Rescue. She wanted to think that helped them sell out faster.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. I know how to work the billing thingy on the tablet, now that you’ve explained it, so I should be fine. It will be good for all of you.”

Her grandmother got along most of the time without her, when Ava was living in Oregon. She could handle fifteen minutes of sales on her own without trouble.

As soon as she stood up, the dogs rose to their feet as well, almost as if they had been listening to the conversation and knew what was about to happen.

Ava couldn’t help smiling as she hooked on their leashes.

“We’ll be at the dog park. Call me if you need me and we can be back in five minutes.”

“I won’t need you. Go. Have fun.”

She quickly made her way through the crowd, as she could tell Gracie’s need was becoming urgent. The dog park was at the opposite end of the downtown park from the farmers market, through the trees and past the playground.

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