Baby Makes Four

by Cynthia Thomason

  “You sound excited to get started.”

  “I am. I think this will be good for my boys, too. It’s no secret that they need some sense of routine and responsibility in their lives. I hope that helping me care for the animals will do that.”

  Camryn wanted to ask Reed about the boys’ mother. Not wanting to invade his privacy, she said, “Have the boys always lived with you?”

  “In one form or another,” he said. “Before my wife and I divorced, I was at my clinic in Georgia for long hours at a time. Can’t say I was the best father in those days. But since I’ve had the kids full-time for more than a year, I’ve made some changes that I hope work for all of us.” He squeezed her hand. “One of those changes is relocating to Bufflehead Creek, where the nicest neighbor rented me barn space. I’m thinking I’d like to get to know her better.”

  He’d been divorced for a while; Camryn, only two months. Of course Reed wouldn’t know this. “There isn’t much to know,” she said.

  “I doubt that.” He smiled. “I’m a good listener if you’d like to tell me your story, Cam.”

  Oh, sure. Tell him that she and her husband had lived in separate bedrooms for three years before getting divorced? Admit that she’d slept with him one unscripted night and now she was pregnant with his child? Confess to having panic attacks brought on by two miscarriages and an inability to cope with the pressures of her husband’s job?

  What man starting his life over wouldn’t love to know the intimate details of a life as screwed up as hers was?

  She took a deep breath. “Um...let’s talk about this another time, okay?”

  “Sure. Here come the kids anyway.”

  The conversation had accomplished one thing. Camryn hadn’t focused on the perilous danger her daughter was in during the four-minute ride on the Hummer. All three kids ran to the bench.

  “That was so cool!” Justin said.

  “Yeah, cool,” Esther echoed.

  Phillip, unfazed by anything as mundane as an amusement ride, didn’t comment.

  “Did you like it, Phillip?” Reed asked him.

  “It was okay.”

  Esther quietly took Camryn’s hand. “Can you come with me a minute, Mommy?”

  “Of course.” Camryn got up and followed her daughter a few feet from the boys. “What’s up?”

  “I hated it, Mommy,” Esther said. “It went fast and high and I was scared. I don’t ever want to do that again.”

  Camryn gently tugged her daughter’s head to her chest. “You don’t ever have to, Essie. You never should do anything because someone pressures you to do it. You know that, don’t you?”

  Esther looked up. Her bottom lip was trembling. “Mommy, I think I’m going to throw up.”

  Cam quickly ushered Esther to a bank of bushes nearby. They just made it in time. She held her daughter’s head as Essie spewed up bits of corn dog and lots of fruit punch and ketchup, colorful proof of her tummy’s revolt.

  “Oh, look!” Phillip hollered. “Gross. She’s puking.”

  Justin pointed at the bushes. “Gross!”

  Reed grabbed both boys by their T-shirts and turned them away. “Stop that right now,” he said. “As I recall, both of you have lost your cookies several times. It’s no fun. Sit down on the bench until I see if I can help.”

  “We’re not going home, are we?” Phillip moaned. “Not just ’cause of her?”

  “If we go home, it’ll be because of you two!” Reed said.

  A minute later he appeared next to Camryn with a glass of water and a bunch of napkins. “Come here, sweetie,” he said to Esther. He swept her bangs from her face, wiped her forehead and mouth, gave her a few sips of water. “Feel better now?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. I just had to do that.”

  He chuckled. “Happens to the best of us,” he said.

  Camryn had a brief flashback to another time when Esther had vomited. She had brought the eight-month-old baby to Mark’s office on a day she had planned a lunch date with Brooke. The office drop-in was meant as a surprise. Mark was consulting with an important client. The older man was immediately taken with Esther.

  “What a beautiful baby,” he’d said. “Can I hold her?”

  He took the baby, held her away from his obviously expensive suit and jiggled her in the air. Esther had burped loudly and promptly thrown up mashed peas and carrots all over the man’s lapels.

  “Good God, Cam!” Mark had hollered. “Look what you’ve done.” He handed his daughter back to her mother and called for his secretary to bring towels and cleaning solution, all the while promising to replace the suit.

  “It’s all right,” the client said. “I should have known better. Had four kids of my own.”

  Cam had bundled Esther into her stroller and quickly wheeled her out of the office. That wasn’t the end of the episode. That night Camryn had to hear Mark’s lecture about an office not being an appropriate place for a baby.

  Now, as Camryn watched Reed smooth his hand down Essie’s hair and encourage her to drink sips of water, she was amazed at the difference between the two men. Esther was actually laughing at the explosive timing of her stomach incident, and Reed was telling her about a similar experience from his past. She knew he was exaggerating. She didn’t believe for an instant that Reed had thrown up during an audience with the Queen of England.

  “Why don’t we try some skill games down the midway,” Reed suggested. “I’ll bet Esther will win a giant stuffed bear.”

  “We want to ride,” Phillip said. “You can’t make us do girl stuff.”

  “I can make you do anything I want,” Reed said. “But I won’t.” He gave them the rest of the ride tickets. “Watch your brother every minute,” he warned. “And, Phillip, what time does your watch say?”

  “Seven fifteen.”

  “Right. At fifteen minutes until eight I will be back here to meet you. That’s thirty minutes. And you’d both better be here. Let’s go, ladies.”

  Esther walked between Reed and Camryn, her hands in each of theirs. “I want to pop some balloons with darts,” she said.

  “Excellent idea. And I plan to threaten some milk bottles with a baseball.” Reed glanced over Esther’s head at Camryn and winked. “Having fun yet, Mom?”

  She smiled because, quite unexpectedly, she was.

  CHAPTER SIX

  AN HOUR LATER and sticky from dripping soft ice cream, Reed’s boys and Esther climbed into his back seat. Despite the drama of the evening, Reed thought the trip to the festival had gone well. He’d spent fifteen dollars to win what was no doubt a three-dollar teddy bear for Esther, and she had cuddled the fuzzy black-and-tan animal the rest of their stay at the fair.

  “I’m naming him Saucy,” she’d announced. Justin had argued that she couldn’t borrow a name. She had to think of a new one. However, Saucy stuck.

  Reed enjoyed his fleeting moments with Camryn. When she relaxed and wasn’t worried about Esther’s well-being, she’d become chatty and enthusiastic about the fair. She’d stopped to talk to several people, including neighbors she claimed to have run into for the first time outside of the grocery or feedstore. One lady she introduced as the housewares manager at Value Center, Cam’s favorite place to shop. She talked about the folks in their bufflehead hats and T-shirts. Reed liked this Camryn, the easygoing, smiling woman who was as determined to make a success of her new life as she was to be a good mother. And as he was to establish a successful clinic.

  Reed couldn’t help wondering what she would be like if suddenly they were alone and all her attention was on him. And all of his on her. Too bad that wouldn’t happen tonight. The stars were brilliant, the country music coming from his radio soft and mellow, the moon full... And three kids in the back seat.

  “Hey, are we here already?” Phillip asked.

  “Yes, this is Camryn
’s house,” Reed said.

  “You’re not going to make us go to bed, are you? It’s only nine o’clock.”

  “That depends.”

  “On what?”

  “On the kind of behavior you guys show when we get to our house.”

  From the corner of his eye, Reed caught Camryn’s smile in the dashboard light. “What do you think my chances are?” he asked.

  “All three of them should be tired,” she said.

  Reed parked his vehicle, opened the door for Esther to get out and waited for Camryn to come around to join them. When they got to Camryn’s door, Esther hurried inside. Good kid, Reed thought. That’s exactly what I was hoping she’d do. Not that it mattered. His own kids were staring out the window of the SUV watching every move he made. They had rarely seen their father with a woman other than their mother, and those encounters had been fraught with tension for many years.

  “Thanks so much,” Camryn said. “Esther and I had a really nice time. I definitely owe you and the boys a home-cooked meal after this.”

  “You don’t owe me anything,” Reed said. “But if you’re offering, I’m accepting.” He smiled at her, resisting the urge to take her hand as he’d done several times already. “It was a fun evening.”

  “I’m glad you talked me into this. There are some nice people in this town, and I’m pleased I got to see so many of them. And so many duck enthusiasts.”

  “Buffleheads all,” he said. After a short pause, he added, “You know, I really have the strongest urge to kiss you good-night.”

  Her gaze darted from his car to his face. “Oh, no, that can’t happen.”

  “I know that.” He reached up and twisted a strand of her blond hair between his fingers. “I promise I will tamp down my reaction to the overwhelmingly tempting observation that you look about as cute as a bufflehead duck floating on a quiet pond.”

  She chuckled. “Such flattery.”

  “Besides,” he said. “This isn’t a date. We made that clear when I asked you to come with me. I especially know that because if this were a date, we wouldn’t have brought any kids along, we wouldn’t be ending it at nine o’clock and we would have already kissed once or twice.”

  He was glad she’d left her porch light on—he could see the color rise in her cheeks.

  “Good night, Camryn.”

  “Good night.”

  “If you need any help with your chickens tomorrow, let me know.”

  “I’ll be fine.” She turned and started to go into the house. As he stepped away, he heard her say, “If you need any help with your horses, don’t ask me.”

  He was laughing as he walked to the car.

  * * *

  “I NEED CHICKEN FEED, corn and sugar-free grains,” Camryn told Becky.

  “Coming right up. Heard you are getting new chicks today.”

  “Who told you that?”

  “That handsome Reed Bolden, the one whose gorgeous smile has no doubt brightened up Cottontail Farm in the last week. He just left here a few minutes ago. Said you were coming in.”

  Just the image of Reed’s face popping into Camryn’s mind made her smile. She hadn’t stopped thinking about him since he’d dropped her off after the festival. “Can’t anybody have some private business around here?” she said, feigning impatience.

  “Sure.” Becky winked. “Lots of stuff is private and should be, but probably not hen orders.”

  Esther tugged on Camryn’s shirttail. “Mommy, can we stop and buy apples and carrots for the horses?”

  As much as Cam didn’t want her daughter wandering into the barn, she couldn’t say no. Besides, she had to stop at the farmers market herself for lettuce and blueberries. Her new chicks were going to appreciate their fancy buffet when they arrived. “Yes, you can get treats for the horses, but you can only go in the barn with an adult.”

  Esther gave her a bit of a pout.

  “This is the way it’s going to be, Es. Promise me.”

  “Okay.”

  Camryn paid her bill and hurried Esther to the truck. “No dawdling at the market, Esther. Apples and carrots, and that’s it. We have to be home before ten when the chickens are supposed to be delivered.”

  They arrived at Cottontail Farm with fifteen minutes to spare. An open-air truck pulled in right on time. The driver unloaded three crates of Production Reds, beautiful birds with red feathers and earlobes. Happy to be released into the yard, the new arrivals wandered around, flapping their wings in what appeared to be an appreciation of their freedom. Next they progressed to pecking at grubs and insects on the ground.

  “Ew, Mommy, give them some blueberries,” Esther said. “Look at the gross stuff they’re eating.”

  “It’s not gross to them, Esther.”

  The final crate was unloaded from the truck, and the driver released two fluffy, young Ameraucana Blues and a pudgy, clucking Easter Egger. All three hens immediately waddled over to Esther, who promptly sat on the ground and took one in her lap. Known for their friendly demeanors, the hens didn’t disappoint. Esther and the chickens were soon fast friends.

  “I’m glad you’re getting to know these birds, Esther,” Camryn said. “Because you are going to be responsible for gathering their eggs every morning...even on school days.”

  “And they’ll be blue and green, right?”

  “Yes, they will. And maybe some pink.”

  “Then that will be fun.”

  Camryn paid the driver for the delivery and twelve dollars each for the twenty-seven birds. Besides missing the chance to sell produce at the market this morning, she was burning through Reed’s advance rent money pretty quickly. But all the new hens were good layers, and she’d make the money back soon enough. She hoped each new hen would give her four to five eggs a week.

  Plus she’d finished her cover for the next edition of Alphabet Days. Quirky the Thanksgiving Turkey would be ready for delivery a week before the holiday, and Cam would get a nice check and one hundred copies to donate to Esther’s school.

  Camryn and Esther spent the next hour acclimating the chickens to their new environment and feeding them the goodies from the feedstore. Camryn noticed that there was no aggressive behavior between the new hens and her original ones, and was thankful for that.

  Reed and his boys came over at noon to care for their horses. The boys went into the barn, but Reed walked over to the chicken yard and complimented Esther on her new feathered friends. After paying attention to the birds, Reed headed to the barn, but not without placing his hand on the small of Camryn’s back and wishing her a good day. A simple gesture, but one that temporarily made Camryn forget which nesting boxes she’d neglected to put food pellets in.

  Get a grip, Camryn, she told herself. Just because a man is nice to you, just because your daughter seems to bloom when he gives her his attention, it does not mean you should jump to any conclusions. Don’t forget that any relationship with Reed would come encumbered with all your baggage, especially the one in your tummy he doesn’t know about. And that doesn’t take into account the two rambunctious bits of baggage of Reed’s own...the ones currently in your barn.

  Satisfied that she’d put her mind back on track, Camryn began changing the straw in some of the nesting boxes. She barely heard Esther call, “Mom, somebody’s coming up the drive!”

  Camryn came out to the yard. Oh, boy, not just “somebody,” she thought...a very special somebody driving a pearl gray BMW. Despite all her protestations, Brooke Montgomery had finally graced Cottontail Farm with a visit.

  “Brooke!” Camryn had opened her sister’s car door before Brooke had even turned off the engine.

  “Auntie Brooke!” Esther bounced on her toes, waiting for Brooke to exit the car.

  Brooke managed to hug both ladies in one giant embrace. “If I had known I’d get this kind of reception, I’d have c
ome to this farm before today.”

  “I’m just glad you’re here now,” Camryn said. “In fact I can’t believe it. Why are you here? What made you decide to make the drive?”

  Brooke smiled. “Had to see those new chickens for myself. When you’re this excited about something, Cammie, I have to participate.”

  “I thought you were going to dinner with Mom and Dad.”

  “Yep. Still am. But that’s not until tomorrow. You and I are going to have that girl time I promised you today.” She looked at the farmhouse. “So this is the place. Looks just like the pictures—all cute and charming. Can a girl get an iced tea before she dies of thirst?”

  “Of course. Let’s go in the house.” Camryn stared down at her dirty blouse and pants. “I’ll just brush off my clothes and I’ll be right in. Essie, take Auntie Brooke inside.”

  Esther sidled up close to her aunt. Brooke put her arm around Esther’s shoulders and they headed toward the front porch. As she swatted chicken feathers and feed from her pants, Camryn watched the two go inside.

  As usual Brooke looked fantastic, her makeup artfully applied and her gorgeous blond hair, kissed by the skilled hands of Charleston’s finest hairdresser, hanging down her back in lush, loose curls. One side of her hair had been pulled up and was held by a chic tortoiseshell clip. Brooke wore a pair of tight-fitting, stylishly ragged jeans that probably cost more than three pairs of the sturdy brand Camryn owned. A white blouse and dark blue jacket completed her outfit.

  Camryn smiled as she followed the girls to the house. She’d managed to get most of the chicken remnants off her clothes. Even if she’d stopped to change clothes completely, she knew she’d never match Brooke’s high fashion taste. Brooke had always been the stylish one. Cam had never minded playing the girl next door to Brooke’s cover model.

  Esther and Brooke were chatting easily when Camryn came into the kitchen. She got the iced tea pitcher from the refrigerator and poured them each a glass.