Authors: Barbara Ellen Brink
“So, what is it?” she asked,
holding the fur ball away from the food on her plate. The puppy kept trying to
scramble up and out of her arms, smelling steak and thinking it was all for
her. She had a brown and black face with a white chest and paws and was about
the cutest thing Billie had ever seen.
Davy looked at her strangely and
forked a piece of watermelon. He stated the obvious. “It’s a girl,” he said, as
though he thought taking the blindfold off had not helped her eyesight one bit.
She laughed. “I know that, silly.
What kind of puppy? I haven’t really studied up on dog breeds lately,” she
said, slanting Handel a glance.
“A collie, of course,” he said with
a teasing grin. “A true Hollywood dog. Are you going to name her Lassie?”
“That’s a little too cliché, don’t
you think?” She looked down at the pup and those liquid brown eyes and smiled.
“How about Jimena?”
Handel squeezed her hand. “I think
that’s perfect,” he said, his voice a little huskier than usual. “Jimena it
is.”
Davy had already wolfed down his
hotdog and plate of watermelon, so he took Jimena to play in the grass while
the rest of them finished eating. Sabrina was watching Billie intently.
“What?” she said, unobtrusively
wiping at her eyes.
“You look different. You seem
different,” she said, sounding as though she was trying to figure out a puzzle.
Then she gasped. “Aww. Now I know.” Her smile stretched so wide Billie was sure
she could see molars in the corners. “You’re going to have…”
“Don’t say it!” Billie put a hand
up to stop her mother’s announcement.
“…a sister!”
“What?” she looked at Handel. But
he just shrugged.
“How did you know?” Adam asked,
putting his arm around Margaret, hardly able to keep the silly grin from his
face. “We didn’t want to announce our engagement and take over the celebration.
Today is about Billie’s birthday, and Handel’s successful case, and Mom’s bon
voyage party.”
“I can see why you’d wait to
announce,” Handel said wryly, “there’s only so much celebration energy in a
hotdog.”
Everyone laughed and Margaret flushed
a bit pink in the cheeks. She explained that she’d left her new engagement ring
at home, but would show them all later.
Billie was just beginning to breath
a sigh of relief that the attention had turned to her brother and his fiancé
when her mother reached out and clasped her hand. She looked up into Sabrina’s
eyes and felt the mother/child connection she was always hearing about, the
connection that didn’t end with the severing of an umbilical cord. What Sabrina
called her ESP.
Her mom’s eyes were filling up fast
and Billie blinked back tears of her own, refusing to let go and give in to the
tug of the undertow. Handel leaned in and spoke softly in her ear, “Are you all
right?”
She shook her head. “I need to talk
to you,” she said, and got up, pulling him after her. Sabrina had tears rolling
down her face by this time, but she was still smiling. Adam and Margaret were
over playing with Davy and the puppy and didn’t seem to notice their quick
escape.
Billie kept walking straight into
the vineyard, moving so fast that Handel finally tugged on her arm. “Slow up,
babe. What’s going on?” he asked, clearly worried now.
They were out of sight and out of
hearing range of the rest of their party, so she let him pull her to a stop and
turned to face him. She licked her lips nervously and looked into his eyes, as
blue as the sky they reflected. “I don’t know how to tell you,” she began.
He held her at arms length, now
obviously anxious with worry. “Just tell me. What’s wrong? You never cry.
You’re not upset about their engagement?” he asked, trying to understand.
“No,” she blew out a laugh. “Of
course not. It’s nothing like that.”
“Then what is it like?”
Billie ran her fingers through his
blonde hair, pushing it back from his forehead. She moved in close, her lips
just grazing his ear and whispered, “There’s going to be a new addition to the
Fredrickson Parker clan. Do you want to name it Lassie?”
Their neighbors, Herbie and Hazel,
probably heard his whoop of joy. It was definitely heard by Sabrina, Margaret,
Adam, Davy and Jimena. They all came running into the vineyard, wondering what
was going on. At least most of them were wondering. Sabrina fairly glowed with
the knowledge.
They laughed, and danced, and
celebrated together between rows of vines thick with leaves and heavy with
fruit. After all, it was the perfect place for a celebration of life.
Handy kissed Billie beneath the
California sun and tasted the sweet new life that stretched before them, heady
and as intoxicating as bottled wine.
End
Barbara
Ellen Brink lives in the great state of Minnesota with her husband, their two
dogs, Rugby and Willow, and their two adult children living nearby. She spends
much time writing, reading, motorcycling, running, and enjoying life with the
family and friends that God has given her.
The Fredrickson Winery Novels:
Savor
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Second Chances Series:
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The Amish Bloodsuckers Trilogy:
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/BarbaraEBrink
My
Webpage/blog:
http://www.barbaraellenbrink.com
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