“Along with cash bonuses, right?” Pete added. “After that kick-ass summer promotion upped sales forty percent, I think everybody in the company deserves something extra in their Christmas stocking this year.”
Mason nodded in agreement. “Bonuses are definitely on the agenda for the next board meeting.”
Pokey was busy pinning the brooch to her hospital gown. “Now that you mention it, I think I remember Grandmama Bayless wearing a pin just like this one at Christmas.”
“Only hers was the real thing,” Mason said. “Emerald and diamond chips and rubies. Sallie said she still has it but never wears it because she thinks it looks tacky.”
Sophie looked up at Annajane with interest. “What’s tacky?”
“Tacky is in the eye of the beholder,” Annajane told her. “It’s a word some people use for something they think is in poor taste.”
“But this pin is not in poor taste at all. It’s just beautiful,” Pokey declared. She reached for her niece and gave her a hug. “And you’re beautiful for thinking of me and giving it to me. And when Livvy gets as grown up as you, I’ll let her borrow it for special occasions.”
“Oh, we’ve got another one for Olivia back at the house,” Mason said. “And we’ve got this, too, for a special toast.”
He reached into a shopping bag he’d set on the floor and brought out a bottle of champagne and a sleeve of plastic cups.
“Yippee!” Pokey said, grabbing the bottle and giving it an exaggerated smooch. “Hello, my old friend. Welcome back to my world.”
Mason took the bottle and popped the cork, which brought a small “mew” from the startled Olivia, who looked around, took in the scene, and then promptly dropped back to sleep. He handed cups all around, and even poured a tiny bit for the children.
“To Pokey and Olivia,” Pete said. “My two favorite girls in the whole wide world.” He went through the motions of touching cups with the grown-ups and the children, and then settled on the bed next to his wife, dropping another kiss on the top of her head.
“Here, here,” Mason said.
Pokey raised her own glass and took a huge gulp of champagne. “Come on, everybody,” she urged. “Don’t make me drink alone. I’ve been waiting nine months for a taste of something stronger than iced tea.”
Denning, the oldest, took a wary sip. “Gross!” he said. “Quixie’s lots better than this.” He took his cup and dumped it into the sink, and Sophie and Petey loyally followed suit.
“Annajane?” Pokey said, pointing at her friend’s empty glass.
“None for me, thanks,” Annajane said, with a barely suppressed grin, looking over at her best friend and sister-in-law. “But if you had some skim milk—and some prenatal vitamins, I could go for that.”
“What!” Pokey screeched. “Seriously? Does this mean what I think it means?”
“Yes,” Annajane said, leaning her head on Mason’s shoulder. “I’m pregnant. We just found out. Can you believe it?”
Pokey looked from her beaming brother to her teary-eyed best friend. “What I can’t believe is that it took you this long.”
Sophie giggled, and Pokey gave her a look of mock outrage. “You already knew, didn’t you? And you kept it a secret from all of us?”
“Yup,” Sophie said. She proudly removed her bulky quilted jacket to display the T-shirt she’d been hiding underneath. I’M THE BIG SISTER! was written on the white shirt in glittering silver letters.
Pete was pumping Mason’s hand. “Congratulations. When’s the big day?”
“Fourth of July,” Mason said.
“Give or take a day or two either way,” Annajane cautioned.
“It’ll be the fourth, no matter what, as far as I’m concerned,” Mason said. “The most important day of my life.”
“Why’s that?” Pete asked, looking from Annajane to Mason.
“Because that’s the day Daddy saved Mama,” Sophie volunteered. “It was a long time ago. She was dressed up like a pixie, that’s an elf, kind of, for the Fourth of July parade, and some bad boys pushed her down, but then Daddy rode up in the fun car and saved her.”
“And she saved me right back,” Mason said, wrapping his arms around Annajane’s waist.
“And they lived happily ever after,” Sophie declared. But Annajane snaked an arm around Sophie’s waist and drew her into an embrace that had finally, finally come full circle. “We all lived happily ever after,” she said, gently correcting her daughter.
ALSO BY MARY KAY ANDREWS
Summer Rental
Deep Dish
Savannah Breeze
Blue Christmas
Hissy Fit
Little Bitty Lies
Savannah Blues
About the Author
MARY KAY ANDREWS is the New York Times bestselling author of Summer Rental, The Fixer Upper, Deep Dish, Blue Christmas, Savannah Breeze, Hissy Fit, Little Bitty Lies, and Savannah Blues. A former journalist for The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, she lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Visit www.marykayandrews.com.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
SPRING FEVER. Copyright © 2012 by Whodunnit, Inc. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
Excerpt from “The Runaway Bunny” copyright © 1942 by Harper & Row Publishers. Text copyright renewed 1970 by Roberta Brown Rauch.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Michael Storrings
Cover photographs: sandals by Herman Estevez; wood paneling © Shutterstock
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Andrews: Mary Kay.
Spring fever/Mary Kay Andrews. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-312-64271-6 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-0263-6 (e-book)
1. Divorced women—Fiction. 2. City and town life—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3570.R587 S67 2012
813'.54—dc23
2012007411
e-ISBN 9781466802636
First Edition: June 2012
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Epilogue
Also by Mary Kay Andrews
About the Author
Copyright
drews, Spring Fever