Home For The Holidays

by Elena Aitken

  He laced his fingers through hers the minute her father let her go and took his seat. Turning to face Reverend Halpern, he squeezed her hand and she squeezed back.

  “Dearly beloved,” the reverend started. The rest was a whirlwind of words and responses. He would remember to his dying day the way Sunshine looked at him when she repeated her vows, and as he stumbled through his he hoped she felt the same. It seemed an eternity before Halpern said the words he’d been waiting to hear, though.

  “You may now kiss the bride.”

  Cole caught Sunshine in a tight embrace and kissed her thoroughly before he broke away to the accompaniment of cheers and laughter. They walked up the aisle, receiving everyone’s congratulations before being bundled into the Town Car that was to take them to the Cruz ranch for the reception.

  “This can’t be real,” he said to Sunshine as they drove. “It just can’t be.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I have everything I ever wanted.”

  “Except chickens.” She kept her face straight for only a moment. Cole had told her all about his plans after she’d given him the ranch. “You want chickens, don’t you?”

  “Free-range chickens. That okay with you?”

  “Yes. As long as you understand they’ll be the best-cared-for chickens ever.”

  “Of course.” He reached down to pat her belly. “How’s Junior?”

  “Juniorette is doing just fine.”

  They wouldn’t find out the sex of their baby for months. Cole was curious, but as much as he teased Sunshine, he would be happy no matter if they had a boy or a girl. After all, this was just the first one.

  “Are you sure you’re not going to miss having a honeymoon?” she asked coyly.

  “No, I don’t need to travel again any time soon. I’m looking forward to hunkering down in that sweet little house you bought me.”

  “Me, too.”

  “We’ve really done it, haven’t we? Made this all work out.”

  “We have. I can’t imagine what we’ll get up to next.”

  “I can.” He tugged her close and dropped a kiss on her lips. “Unfortunately not for hours and hours, though.”

  Epilogue

  Eight Months Later

  Despite the air conditioning, the heat made Sunshine’s loose cotton top stick to her skin as she bent over the counter and packed another vegan sandwich into its recyclable container. In an hour or two the place would begin to fill up with the breakfast crowd. Emma was due in soon. This late in her pregnancy, Sunshine only came in early mornings to make the box lunches that had done so well for them. It turned out that lots of people in Chance Creek and the surrounding areas had food allergies that made it difficult for them to eat out. Emma and Sunshine had seen an opportunity and jumped on it. Not only did they sell prepared meals to individuals and families, along with their normal restaurant and bakery fare, they also catered corporate events when companies wanted to make sure the food they served was appropriate for a crowd with different dietary needs.

  Sunshine had worked hard to develop a vegan menu that would appeal to the meat–and-potatoes crowd and it had worked to some extent. They made sure to attend every event in town that would allow them to give out free samples for people to try. They also held frequent tasting parties in the restaurant aimed at drawing a new crowd.

  Sunshine was pleased with the outcome, although today she felt like her belly was in a vise.

  Braxton Hicks contractions had started several weeks ago and increased in strength until it felt like every time she moved, one clenched around her middle like a band of steel. She heaved a sigh, packed another sandwich and slipped it in the refrigerated cases that lined one part of the bakery side of the building.

  “Ouch.” She braced a hand on the counter and pressed another one to her back.

  “Everything okay?” Emma came in and hung up her purse on a hook. “You don’t look so great.”

  “Thanks,” Sunshine said dryly. “More Braxton Hicks. They never stop.”

  “Well, you should stop. Go home. I’ll take it from here.”

  “I think I’ll take you up on that.” Suddenly she was too tired to think straight.

  “Want me to call Cole?” Emma peered at her. “Or maybe your doctor?”

  “No. I’m going to go home and take a nap. I might as well; this is my last day working.”

  “And about time.” Emma came to give her a hug. “Don’t worry; we’ll hold down the fort until you’re ready to come back.” They had decided to close the restaurant for a month, but keep the bakery and packaged food side of the business open. Sunshine knew Emma would do just fine.

  Another contraction squeezed her. “Thank you.” She hugged Emma back. “Don’t be a stranger, though. I’ll be bored at home all by myself.”

  “Soak it up. You won’t be bored again for a long, long time.”

  Sunshine waved good-bye to her, grabbed her purse and left the restaurant. Outside she climbed into the sky-blue GMC truck Cole had bought her so she could travel safely on the country roads to and from town. She started the engine and pulled out, grateful that work was over. She felt so heavy and her muscles ached and she hadn’t been sleeping well these past few nights.

  Out of town, she relaxed, letting out a breath. Emma was right; she should enjoy the next two weeks. Once the baby arrived—

  Another contraction hit her, this one twice as hard and twice as long as any that had come before. Sunshine swerved, got control of the truck and pulled over, barely getting the truck into park before another contraction hit and a wave of wetness ran down her legs. She sucked in a surprised breath, but before she could react, yet another contraction squeezed her. She bent over, wanting to cry out with the slicing pain that wrenched through her, but no sound came.

  This wasn’t Braxton Hicks. This was labor, she thought wildly. She grabbed for her purse on the passenger seat in order to reach her phone, but when another contraction hit, she only succeeded in knocking it to the floor. She panted until the contraction passed, then tried to reach the phone again, but the bulk of her belly got in the way. She managed to unhook her seatbelt, push back the seat and crawl clumsily over the divider between it and the passenger side, but she was crouched there when the next contraction clamped down on her and Sunshine could only pant through it again, tears slipping down her face as she rode the wave of the pain.

  She finally reached the phone, scooped it up and pawed at it until she found Cole in her contacts. As the phone rang, and the pain came again, she clutched at the back of the seat, still crouched on her knees, her mouth open in a silent scream. She’d never seen the county road so empty. As the phone rang on and on she realized just how alone she was. Never in her wildest dreams had she thought she’d face labor without Cole there.

  Just as she was about to give up, Cole answered. “Sunshine?”

  “Cole—” She broke off with another contraction and dropped the phone. She could hear him calling, “Sunshine? Where are you?” But there was no way she could answer until the squeezing stopped.

  “In the truck. On the road,” she finally cried. “Cole—”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  A pain clamped down on Sunshine and she shrieked with it, fighting against the urge to bear down and birth her child. She couldn’t do it like this. Not here. Not without Cole.

  But her body wasn’t listening. Sunshine fought to remember the instructions she’d gotten in birthing class. Breathe. Something about breathing—”

  Another contraction hit her and Sunshine held on for dear life, panting with the pain, trying to bend with it. That was better—a little. But the urge to push was so strong.

  In a rush of clarity, Sunshine realized no matter what happened she was going to have the baby right here. As horror threatened to overwhelm her once more, a vision popped into her mind—a rough mud hut and women grouped around an open hearth. She’d seen all kinds of dwellings on her trip around the world and had met women
who’d given birth in all kinds of circumstances. They’d lived to tell about it.

  So could she.

  At the next pause between her contractions, she clumsily bent down and slipped off her pregnancy panties. Thank goodness she was wearing a voluminous sundress. She didn’t think she could have gotten off a pair of pants. She considered her surroundings but realized she had nowhere to go. The truck lacked a back seat and she wasn’t going to give birth on the side of a highway.

  Besides, she didn’t have time to move.

  The next contraction was stronger than all the others that had gone before it. Sunshine gave up trying to hold back.

  She began to push.

  “I don’t know where she is,” Cole bellowed. “Somewhere between the restaurant and home. On the side of the road. And she’s hurt!”

  “Keep calm,” Cab said. “I’m on my way. So are the paramedics. We’ll find her. Don’t get into an accident.”

  Cole tossed away his phone and stepped on the gas. He’d been out in the chicken house when Sunshine’s call had come, which was why he hadn’t heard it at first. Surrounded by free-range hens, he’d been fixing a feed trough, but when he’d answered the phone and heard Sunshine scream, he’d dropped everything and raced for his truck. Nausea crawled up his throat at the thought of Sunshine hurt. And if they lost the baby—

  He drove faster, nearly veering off the road as he came around a curve.

  He fought for control of the car, got it back and slowed down just a notch. Cab was right. No sense crashing now—he wouldn’t be a help to anyone then. He heard sirens in the distance and stepped up his speed again. Where was Sunshine?

  When he spotted her truck pulled diagonally off the road, Cole’s heart lurched into his throat. He screeched to a stop, jammed the truck into park and barely remembered to shut it off before he raced across the road.

  “Where is she?”

  Cab caught his arm and stopped him from tackling the nearest first responder. “She’s fine. She’s pushing right now. Get around there and help—but first settle down.”

  Cole pushed Cab away, rushed around the truck and elbowed past a paramedic who was leaning in the passenger side. Sunshine clung to the back of the driver’s seat, on her knees. The paramedics had draped the cab with as much protective pads as they could and the truck looked like a miniature hospital room, but Cole didn’t care about any of that. “Sunshine? Are you okay?”

  “She’s doing great.” The paramedic, a no-nonsense blonde with her hair scraped into a bun, pushed into the truck beside him. “Remember to breathe, honey.”

  “You’re almost there. Another push,” someone else said. He looked past Sunshine to see another paramedic behind her, leaning in through the driver’s side door.

  “What do you mean, almost there?” he growled “Why aren’t you taking her to the hospital?” What was wrong with these people? “Sunshine, honey—”

  She sucked in a breath, clutched the back of the seat and bore down, emitting an animal-like groan Cole had never heard before.

  “That’s it. Keep going. Keep going—” the paramedic said.

  The groan ended in a wail that stood the hairs on the back of Cole’s neck on end. “Sunshine!”

  Almost immediately she bore down again and it was all he could do to stand there while the paramedic behind Sunshine shouted out encouragement.

  The truth finally hit him. Sunshine was giving birth—right now.

  They weren’t going to the hospital.

  “Come on, Dad. Tell her to breathe. You know what to do,” the paramedic coached him.

  All the classes they’d taken together clicked into place. She was past early labor, past the transition. This was the real deal. Cole bent down and leaned into the truck so she could see him. “Come on, honey. You’ve got this. Focus on me.”

  Sunshine bore down again, emitting an animal keening that seemed to go on and on.

  “All right. Nearly there. Nearly—”

  There was a shout. “That’s it, Sunshine. The head’s out. One more push,” the paramedic cried.

  She pushed again, half groaning, half shrieking. Cole had never felt so helpless in his life. “You can do it,” he chanted. “Come on, baby. You can do it.”

  “There you go,” the paramedic said. There was a flurry of activity and a new sound.

  Cole’s heart stopped.

  The tiny cry piped up again and slid into a wail.

  Cole stared at Sunshine. She stared back.

  “That’s our baby,” he told her. “Did you hear that? It’s our baby.”

  Tears gathered in Sunshine’s eyes. Cole surged forward and kissed her, ignoring the protests of the paramedic he pushed aside. Sunshine clung to him and he supported her weight as she bore down one last time.

  “We’ve got the afterbirth. Get a gurney. Prepare an IV!” Cole lost track of the shouted commands around him.

  He didn’t care. Sunshine was alive. So was their child. Only when the paramedics lifted Sunshine from his arms, and Cab reached in to haul him out of the truck was he able to think about anything else. He staggered around the vehicle to find Sunshine lying on a gurney, covered by a blanket, their baby in her arms.

  “Let’s get mom and baby to the hospital,” the paramedic said. “You can ride in the back if you like.”

  “You better believe I will.”

  Cole wasn’t letting either of his girls out of his sight again.

  “After traveling the whole world, who would have thought I’d find my favorite vista right here at home?” Sunshine said to the other women who had joined her on the small back deck, their babies on their laps. Sienna suckled at Sunshine’s breast. Autumn’s son, Alexander, waved his arms as she held him. Morgan’s son, Andrew, was fast asleep. Fila’s son, Holtan, played in her lap, while Bella’s daughter, Maria, gazed into her eyes.

  After a month, the nightmares that had plagued Sunshine the first days after her birth experience were finally dwindling away, but she was recovering more slowly than she had planned and her restaurant would remain closed for another month. She was glad Emma was doing well with the bakery. Meanwhile, Cole already had more orders for his eggs than he could keep up with, so he was expanding his business again. He and Evan were still making plans for wind turbines, but they hadn’t figured out the logistics yet. She was on the mend, but she wasn’t ready to work yet. It was nice to know she didn’t have to rush.

  Something had shifted with Sienna’s birth. Her goals hadn’t changed, but her way of thinking about time had. Right now it was time to relax with her baby. Soon enough it would be time to reopen her restaurant, put out her cookbook and pursue fame.

  “Did the doctors say anything at your last visit?” Mia asked her. She, too, held a baby—Veronica, her second daughter. Unlike Pam, Veronica sported a thatch of blond hair like her father.

  “She said everything’s fine. She said the fast delivery paired with the circumstances has just worn me out. As long as I rest, everything will be fine. There’s no reason at all I can’t have more children.”

  “That’s good,” Morgan said.

  “I’m kind of glad for an excuse to take it slow,” Sunshine admitted. “I didn’t realize how hard I’ve pushed myself these past years. Sienna and I are going to relax for a while.” She shifted in her seat and Sienna lost her breast. Her tiny face screwed up and she let out an angry wail.

  “Good luck with that,” Autumn said. “But yes—rest as much as you can. The restaurant will be there when you’re ready.”

  “It really is a beautiful view,” Fila said. “I could sit out here all day.”

  Sunshine agreed as she shifted Sienna to a better position and reached down to pat Duke’s head. He’d turned out to be a loyal dog who was never far from her side. She, Sienna and Duke often spent much of the day out here. Cole had bought comfortable deck furniture and he always made sure she had everything she might need before he went out to work in the barns. He checked back on them as often as he co
uld, too. Sometimes he took Sienna and held her while Sunshine napped. She’d wake to find him watching her, a fond smile on his face.

  When the women left, Cole brought her dinner and sat beside her, a plate in each hand. “You look happy,” he said. “Did you have a good visit?”

  “I did. I love it—it’s like being in a flock of babies when everyone comes over.” They’d been doing so several times a week. She shifted Sienna into her bouncer seat on the deck in front of them. The baby gurgled, but settled in, almost asleep already.

  “I’m glad you have company. But I also like it when they go home and I get you to myself.”

  “You don’t think I’m lazy spending my days lounging while you work?”

  “Are you kidding?” He speared a slice of melon off of her plate and ate it. “I love knowing exactly where you are. It makes my day to come visit my girls.”

  “It won’t always be like this.”

  “That’s okay. I’ll love that, too.”

  Sunshine snuggled against his arm and popped a strawberry into her mouth. “You are the best husband ever, you know that?”

  “I don’t know about that, but I do know you are the best wife.”

  Click here to read The Navy SEAL’s E-Mail Order Bride, Book One in the Heroes of Chance Creek series.

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  About the Author

  With over one-and-a-half million books sold, NYT and USA Today bestselling author Cora Seton has created a world readers love in Chance Creek, Montana. She has thirty-five novels and novellas currently set in her fictional town, with many more in the works. Like her characters, Cora loves cowboys, military heroes, country life, gardening, jogging, binge-watching Jane Austen movies, keeping up with the latest technology and indulging in old-fashioned pursuits. She lives on beautiful Vancouver Island with her husband, children and two cats. Visit www.coraseton.com to read about new releases, contests and other cool events!