Read Online Elm Creek Quilts [12] The Winding Ways Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini - Free Book Online Page A

took a moment to puzzle out who knew what when. “We were going to tell them soon anyway.”
    “Yes, but I wanted it to be on my terms, so I could keep the chaos under control.”
    Matt grinned and bent over to kiss her on the cheek. “Hon, I think your days of keeping chaos under control are numbered. Better get used to it.”
    Groaning, Sarah snatched up his pillow and covered her face—and then, abruptly, she realized that for the first time in weeks, she didn’t feel sick upon waking. Her nausea had vanished so completely that she had almost forgotten it. “Matt, what day is it?”
    “Tuesday, August fifth. Why?” Suddenly Matt’s eyes widened in alarm. “Oh, no. Sarah, I’m sorry. I completely forgot.”
    “Forgot what?”
    “It’s our anniversary.”
    “Oh, right. Don’t worry about it. I forgot, too.’
    “I didn’t even get you a card.”
    “That’s okay. I didn’t get you anything, either.” As Matt sighed with relief, Sarah quickly counted the weeks, then bounded upright in bed, triumphant. “I am now officially in my second trimester, and look! No morning sickness, right on time. Don’t tell me chaos can’t be managed. This is one fetus who knows how to keep a schedule.”
    She shrieked and ducked out of the way before he could swat her with a pillow.
    Her friends hid it well, Sarah thought as she went downstairs, but surely they had already figured it out. How else did they account for her morning bouts with nausea, a prolonged stomach virus only prenatal vitamins could cure? She had experienced every typical symptom exactly when What to Expect When You’re Expecting warned her it might appear, and since all of the Elm Creek Quilters except for Summer had been pregnant at least once, they knew what to look for.
    They were very good actresses, Sarah decided. They knew her so well that they couldn’t possibly have overlooked such a profound change in her life. Gracious friends that they were, they were waiting for Sarah and Matt to share their big news on their own schedule. That time had come.
    She’d break the news at lunchtime, and it would be a relief to finally have everything out in the open. Sarah and Matt had so much to do to prepare, and only six more months to do it. They had to transform their suite’s sitting room into a nursery, purchase the layette, arrange for a diaper service, take baby CPR lessons—so many important tasks that Sarah could barely fit the spreadsheet on her computer screen unless she shrank the font. But less organized people than Sarah had babies every day, and if they could manage, she certainly could.
    Breakfast was a pleasure for the first time in weeks, and not only because Anna’s orange-ginger waffles were sublime. If only she could have indulged in a cup of coffee—but medical research conflicted on this point, and Sarah had decided to err on the side of caution and eschew caffeine for the duration. Sylvia’s favorite mint tea didn’t pack the same wallop as Sarah’s favorite French roast, but she carried a steaming mug up to the office anyway, to sip as she plowed through the usual pile of daily paperwork. Judy’s impending departure had thrown her regular course schedule into disarray, but the replacement instructor, Gretchen Hartley, had assured Sarah that she had taught classes similar to Judy’s specialties and could step in at a moment’s notice.
    Gretchen and her husband were moving into the manor on Wednesday, so Gretchen would have a few days to observe the daily camp routine before anyone thrust her unprepared into a classroom. Sarah breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back in the tall leather chair, closing her eyes and resting her hands on the cool oak desk. She loved her office in the manor’s stately library, which spanned the entire width of the manor’s south wing. Light spilled in through tall diamond-paned windows on the east and west walls, and between the windows stood tall bookcases, shelves bowing slightly under the