"Is it the kids or the woman that is making you spend the day looking out the window?"
"Neither and both of them. I don't handle change very well and this isn't change, it's damn well redefinition."
"Junior, you're an engineer, of course you don't do well with change. You're just like your father, no wonder I never had any problems coming to work for you. Would you like some advice from an old lady?" Sally cocked her head to the side wanting to draw Junior out of the mood she was in.
"I know you, Sally, you are just going to tell me anyway, so asking you is a waste of breath on my part."
"Damn straight. The children will give you a reason to come home from here and the girl, well she'll just give you reason. This is a good change, Junior, don't blow it. Avery didn't, and look at you now."
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"And that one is called the Big Dipper." Junior held Bailey on her lap as Emmett played near her feet. They were sitting in the backyard looking at the sky and talking after having eaten dinner. Jillian hadn't gotten there yet since she had agreed to have dinner with her father so Junior had gone into the battle of getting the three of them to eat alone.
"How do you know so much about this stuff?" Bailey pulled closer to Junior's body deciding she liked how safe she felt with her and how special she felt when Junior paid this kind of attention to her. Susan had tried but with three of them, in the end Bailey got short changed at times.
"My father taught me. Would you like to meet him?"
"Do you think he'll like us?"
"I'm sure he won't just like you, he's going to love you. Just be prepared, your grandfather is a different kind of person." Junior looked over to the blanket she had put Kristen on to make sure she was still sleeping, and Emmett wasn't trying to put bugs in her ear like he had been earlier. "Come on, it's time for you three to hit the sack."
"Isn't Jillie coming tonight?"
"I'm sure she'll try, Bailey, but Jillie doesn't belong to us so you can't expect her to come over and see us every night."
"I bet if you asked her, we could keep her."
"She's not a puppy, sweetheart."
"You aren't trying hard enough, Avery. A girl wants romance. You know, to be swept off her feet."
"And you know this how?"
"Miss Sally told me. I saw a movie once with my mom and the guy bought flowers and took the girl dancing. We could take Jillie dancing." Bailey looked up at Junior begging her with her eyes to say yes.
"Hey, guys, miss me?" Bailey let go of Junior's hand and ran to her new best friend. The blonde led Bailey and Emmett to their room to get them changed for the night while Junior put Kristen in her new crib.
"Did Avery tell you she's leaving for a couple of days?" Bailey asked Jillian as the woman pulled the covers up from the foot of the bed. It was warm outside, but Junior kept the house so cold you could store meat in the living room.
"Yes, but Miss Sally and I are coming to stay with you guys so don't worry about it. Do you like Miss Cindy?" Jillian had refused to go to work until they found someone who would come to Junior's house and stay with them while they were at the office. After a solid two days of interviews she had found a nice middle-aged woman that the kids seemed to love.
"Yes, ma'am, she's nice. Avery's coming back, isn't she?"
"Oh, sweetheart, of course she is. Now go to sleep and I'll see you in the morning."
Jillian left the hall light on and headed toward the kitchen in search of Avery. Her father had grilled her over dinner to find out what Avery's intentions were, enough so that Jillian had told him to call her and ask himself. Shaking her head she entered the kitchen and found it dark except for the night light over the stove. A quick check of the study, den and living room also yielded no Junior.
"Maybe she's finally flipped and run away from home." Jillian was so busy talking to herself that she almost missed the trail of rose petals on the floor leading out the backdoor. Following them, she opened the screen door and found Avery standing with her back to her, looking up to the skies from the deck. "Want some company?"
"I was waiting for you." When Avery turned around, Jillian got her first look at the bouquet of roses in her hand. Avery had also brought out the radio and flipped it to a station playing romantic music. "Two very different women told me today that I'm not very romantic. Since between them they seem to know what they're talking about, I should take heed in the lessons they are trying to teach me. Dance with me?"
"Do you know how to dance?" When Avery's hand went up and played with her glasses, Jillian had her answer. "I know you are my boss and everything, but just follow my lead on this one until you get the hang of it."
Junior put her hands where Jillian had instructed and was swaying with her in time with the music. "This is nice."
"Just for the record, I think you are terribly romantic so don't go listening to other women on the subject. But dancing and flowers are nice, so keep that part of the advice. On another subject, my father is thrilled to know you. That must have been one dandy of a contract."
"Enough pipe to get crude from the Gulf through four different parishes when it gets to land should be enough of a commission for him to retire."
"Avery, that's huge."
"I'm probably crazy, but I figure it will save me a fortune in shipping and unless someone wrecks into the damn thing it will cut down on the chance of spills. Someone once told me that our children deserve to see a tree instead of looking at them in books when they grow up." Avery pulled her dance partner closer and kissed the top of her head.
Jillian went willing, wanting to melt into Avery. "Stop listening to me when I am complaining about romance, I'm obviously crazy. I'm changing your middle name to Casanova."
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"Where are you?"
"I just landed, which means I'll be in town in about an hour if I push it. It's only five in the morning and the traffic should be coming the other way. I'm sorry I've been away so much."
Jillian rolled over and noticed it was still dark outside but she had made Avery promise she would call as soon as she touched down and got in the car. A string of flukes had driven Avery out to Pegasus eleven times in the last four months and the time apart had been hard for the kids and Jillian.
"Don't push it. I want you home alive, and if you go to the office before you come here I want a divorce."
"Jillie, we aren't married."
Jillian wanted to shout 'Not for my lack of trying' into the phone but thought Avery would drive off the road if she did. "There's something I want to talk to you about when you get here."
"You want to talk about it now? I got a lot of road ahead of me."
"No, Avery, I want you somewhere where I can keep close tabs on you while we talk. If I do it while you are driving the beast, I may never see you again."