She wished she knew…
“Are you all right, sweetie?”
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she looked over at her mother with a small smile of assurance. “I’m okay. This movie just really got to me.”
Andrea nodded in understanding, but concern stirred behind her blue eyes.
The doorbell sounded from the hall, filling the house with its musical chimes.
“I’ll get it,” Rory volunteered, rising from the couch, and walking toward the hall.
“Oh, hi, Cousin Tessa. Hi Dianne,” Rory greeted the two women standing at the open door.
“Hi, sweetie. You know you can just call me Tessa; I won’t be offended. I promise,” Tessa said, reaching forward to hug her.
“Force of habit,” Rory expressed, leaning forward as Tessa’s arms warmly embraced her.
“Hey, Rory,” Dianne greeted when they separated, reaching over to hug her as well.
“Are your mother and aunts here?” Tessa asked.
“Um, yeah. They’re in the family room. We were watching a movie.” She led them down the hall.
“Hi, ladies,” Tessa’s greeted the sisters cheerily the moment she stepped into the family room.
“Hi, Tessa,” they greeted back, each rising to embrace her and Dianne.
“Did…did you see Jules?” Cora tentatively asks.
“Not since last night when she came in,” Tessa answered, giving her an apology.
“Oh, okay,” Cora responded, her voice low and disappointed.
“What’s wrong? Did you get bad news?”
“No, no. The doctor says everything’s fine. Nothing new to report. We need to eliminate any stressors for Jules because it’s not good for the baby,” Cora explained.
Tessa’s chin jerked in agreement. “So, she’ll be on bed rest,” she surmised.
Cora nodded, yes. “I’ve been calling her cell, but it goes straight to voicemail,” she revealed with a collapse of her shoulders.
“I’m sure it’s nothing, Cora. She’s probably just resting,” Andrea spoke up.
“I know,” Cora responded with a purse of her lips.
“When is she being discharged?” Tessa asked.
“Today. I’m leaving within the hour to pick her up.”.
Rory stood by the wall watching the conversation between the older women when a hand waved before her face.
“Hey.”
She turned to look at Dianne questioningly.
“I’m going over to the Camano Islands. They have a wine tasting at the Kristoferson Farm. Would you like to go with me?”
“Yeah. Of course,” Rory jumped at the opportunity to visit one of the other islands of Puget Sound.
