“We are actually your neighbors,” the man said as he drove the buggy.
That surprised Maddie. “I did not realize that. I have not been here long enough to get to know everyone yet.” And some of those I’ve met haven’t been very welcoming.
A canopy of branches from surrounding trees shaded the dirt pathway. Mr. Bonner kept the conversation neutral, talking just enough to not have an uncomfortable silence between them as he moved the small black buggy toward his home.
Finally Maddie could stand it no longer. “I must make myself quite clear on the subject, sir. I do not want to be here with you, Mr. Bonner. Your behavior toward me in town was insufferable. I am not sure I shall forgive you for that.” She glanced toward him. “What makes no sense is why you would behave so abominably if you have a wife you love. And from your actions coming to get me today, it does appear you love her. Perhaps you should take inventory of your life, sir, and reassess what is truly important to you. If you love your wife, quit chasing skirts.”
She pinned her eyes straight ahead. “That is all I have to say on the subject.
Bonner stared at her his eyes wide. “Blunt chit, aren’t you? I pictured Guylenhall as someone who would want a meek person for a wife. You definitely do not fit that image.”
She huffed. “I assure you there is not a meek bone in my body. Far from it. Now, are we almost there?”
He pointed straight ahead, his lips quirking. “Yep. Right up yonder.”
When they reached his front yard, he got down from the wagon and came around to her side to help her down. He gave her a lopsided grin, then reached up his arms to assist her, but Maddie took a small step backward. She had the urge to smack that arrogant grin off his handsome face.
“Please, Mrs. Guylenhall. I would much rather you not break a leg or twist an ankle while you are trying to quit the conveyance on your own before you get inside the house to help my wife.” He released a sigh. “You made your point earlier. I can but assure you I shall remain on my best behavior.”
Yes, he was right. She was being silly. Yet…
With her feet firmly planted on the ground, he placed his hand on her elbow to move her toward his front door. His eyes dared her to argue with his action.
Oh, dear God. Please do not let me have made a mistake coming here. Please let him really have a wife.
A woman’s scream was her immediate answer.
She ordered, “Take me to your wife, Mr. Bonner.”
They went down a long hall toward the back of the house. While her house—well Luke’s actually—was large and spacious with simple homey touches and comfortable leather and wood furniture throughout, this home was equally as large, yet much more opulent. It seemed out of place in the middle of the open plain. An elaborate chandelier cast a soft glow over the entryway. Porcelain figurines of animals stood atop gleaming table tops—the only touch that seemed masculine in what she’d seen so far of the house. A glance to the front parlor revealed stuffed emerald green furniture on elegant wood turned legs. The plush green carpet in the hallway—that matched the green of the furniture—was soft beneath her feet. She’d become used to wooden floors. This house was a woman’s dream come true.
Bonner opened a door to the right and stepped aside.
Lying atop a large tester bed was a pale young woman with light brown hair that had once probably been fashioned in a neat braid that lay over her shoulder. Now wisps were free along its length. The woman was beautiful. Maddie would have expected no less from the man who brought her here.
“You came! Thank you! I was so afraid you wouldn’t. I know how most people feel about us.”
Us? Maddie knew nothing about the woman. It was only her husband that had made a horrible first impression.
“Darling, this is Mrs. Guylenhall. She is Luke’s wife.”
The woman stretched out a hand. “Yes, of course. I heard about you in town. Heard what you did for Birgit Ericksson.”
Maddie stepped forward to take her hand.
“Please call me Maddie.”
“I am Rosemary.” Another contraction chose that moment to make its presence known. “I fear something is wrong.”
“Is this your first child?”
The woman nodded. “It is. We have hoped for a child for years, but this is the first time I became pregnant.” She practically whispered the last word. “I had begun to fear I was…barren.”
Oh, these people and their ridiculous ideas of what could and couldn’t be talked about!
“What time did your contractions start?”
“Sometime in the middle of the night. They weren’t horrible then, and I did not want to awaken Jeffrey, so I did not say anything.”
Maddie did a quick calculation. Surely the child should be coming soon, although sometimes first babies did tend to take their time.
“Mr. Bonner, I will need boiling water and a lot of clean towels. Can you get those for me?”
He seemed thrilled to have something to do. Anything to get out of the room. He removed his black coat and threw it negligently over a nearby chair, revealing a revolver strapped to his belt. “Yes, I will fetch those for you.”
After he delivered the items, he asked, “Do you need anything else?”
“No, this is enough for now. If I need more, I will let you know.” She glanced toward the bedroom door. “Now, if you do not mind, I would prefer if you left us to what needs to be done. Wait in your parlor so I can find you if I need anything. I saw it as we walked down the hallway.”
Relief washed over his face and he quickly backed out the door. He didn’t completely close it.
Hours went by and Rosemary seemed no closer to having the baby. Something really must be wrong, but Maddie didn’t know what. She’d done her cursory checks and everything seemed to be progressing as it should.
Pounding and the raised voices of angry men worked their way into the room. Listening, even though she probably shouldn’t have, Maddie realized the man shouting in terms laced with colorful expletives was Luke.
“Rosemary, if you will excuse me a minute, I need to go see what is wrong. I shall be right back.”
Rosemary held out a weak hand. “Please do not go!”
“I promise I’ll not be long.” With that she rushed out of the room and down the plush hallway to the front parlor.
His mouth set in a stern line that suggested he was ready to do battle, her very angry husband stood in the doorway. No doubt about it, when her husband scowled, he was a frightening man. He’d probably perfected that look while in the military. “Luke, what is wrong? What are you yelling about?”
He stilled, his features turning to granite. He shot a glare at Bonner, his eyes blazing, then trained his eyes on her and lit into her. “Fetch your things, woman. We are leavin’.”
His words and tone startled her. “Leave? I cannot. Rosemary has not had the baby yet.”
“Well she can have it without you. Let’s go.” His eyes snapped as he moved aside to let her precede him out the door.
Reeling at his cold words, she stood back to look at him. She’d never seen her husband like this before. Nevertheless, whatever was wrong didn’t matter. Rosemary needed her. “I am not leaving. I cannot.”
The tick in his jaw told her he was furious. Where was the kind man she was so coming to depend on?
“Maddie, I am not goin’ to tell you again. Let’s go.” Arms crossed over his chest, his foot tapping impatiently, he’d schooled his face so it betrayed nothing. His warning was all the more frightening for the quiet way he said it.
The air teemed with tension.
She did her best to ignore his ominous tone. With an effort of will, she clenched her jaw to steel her resolve. “And I am not leaving. I left you a note.” She expelled a breath. “Told you Mrs. Bonner was ready to deliver. I cannot walk away in the middle of a birth.”
“Left me a note?” The coldness of his voice matched his icy stare. “Next time put it where I can find it. I had
no idea where you were when I returned home.”
She willed her breathing to slow. Didn’t quail before him. “I put it right in the middle of the kitchen table.”
“Well it weren’t there when I came home. I found it on the floor hours later,” he admonished and grabbed her arm. “Let’s go. This is not a joke.”
“Well at least we agree on something!” Despite her intention to keep her temper in check, she huffed in disgust. Arguing with him was pointless. The tension in her shoulders grew worse. The obstinate man was refusing to listen, and she needed to get back to Rosemary.
A loud scream filled the house.
Distress shot through Maddie. She huffed an audible breath. “I am not going anywhere. I have to get back to Rosemary. Now!” she snapped. “Are you finished?”
“Unless you are comin’ with me, I am just gettin’ started.”
Mr. Bonner paced the room, a troubled look on his face. His eyes shifted between the argument in front of him and the hallway that led to his wife. “Mrs. Guylenhall, please.” His hand rose to motion down the hall. “My Rosemary…”
Despite her attempts to remain inside, Luke pulled her outside. The contours of his well-defined muscles flexed as he clenched and unclenched his fist. “You went out alone with Bonner! Came with him alone to his house! How could you? You are my wife!”
Oh! The infuriating man. She met his caustic gaze. They’d disagreed before, but she’d never seen him this upset. “Yes, I came with him. I did not know where they lived, and I do not have a horse or buggy of my own, so I did not have any other way to get here.” Her emotions were raw and close to the surface. Sometimes this obstinate man could bring out the worst in her.
His jaw clenched.
“What is wrong with coming here with him? They are our neighbors.”
From the explosive look that crossed his unyielding face, clearly that was the wrong thing to ask.
“What is wrong? What is wrong?” he shouted. “The man dallies with any woman in a skirt.”
This was about jealousy? She tried to keep her churning emotions in check.
She trembled as she searched for words to explain. “The only person I am here for is his wife, Rosemary. Luke, if you cannot support me in helping someone else, please leave. I shall get home myself later,” she said with more bravado than she felt. She had no idea how to do that. She really would have to learn the surrounding area.
“How? With Bonner?”
Her throat clogged with emotions. “That is not my concern right now. Helping Rosemary is.”
“Well it is my concern. You ain’t goin’ anywhere with that man again. Ever. I won’t allow it.” Determination filled his voice.
Another scream tore through the air.
Maddie’s head swiveled to peer back inside the house. She tried, and failed, to keep her anger in check. Clearly any attempt to calm him now would be futile. He was stubborn, hard-headed, and totally unreasonable. How had she thought she was growing to care for him?
“I have to stay here. Rosemary is not having an easy delivery. I believe she is right in believing something is wrong. I must get back to her.” Frustration laced her voice. “If I have to, I shall walk home. I think I remember the roads we took getting here.”
“That is all you have to say?”
“To you? Yes.”
He seemed to think about it a minute, finally conceded after another shout of pain from Rosemary. The rigid pain of determination on his face relaxed. “All right, but I’ll be waitin’ out here on the porch.” He shot a glare inside the house and moved to sit in a rocker. “And tomorrow we start’ ridin’ lessons.”
She gave him a quick hug—that he didn’t return—and rushed back into the house.
Sweat covered Rosemary’s face. “Oh, God, Maddie. Thank you for coming back. I did not think Luke would let you stay.” She took some deep breaths. “Then again, I feared he would not let you come in the first place.”
“Why not?”
“Because he and Jeffrey hate each other. Have for years.”
Well, that explained a lot. She’d have some serious talking to do after she got back home.
“Why?”
Rosemary shook her head. “Not my story to tell. Luke hates, loathes, and despises the ground my Jeffrey walks on. Everyone knows about the animosity between them.”
Everybody but me.
After another strong contraction, Maddie checked Rosemary again, palpitated her stomach. Oh no! Maddie placed a hand over her collarbone, willing her rapidly beating pulse to slow. How could she have missed this? Probably because she’d never seen it before. She used her hands on Rosemary’s stomach to try to manually rotate the baby’s position.
“Rosemary, with the next contraction, push really hard. I think we are finally about to have a baby.”
Maddie checked the beautiful little boy carefully as she cleaned him. Perfect. A tug at her heart surprised her. What would it be like to hold a child of her own? Would she ever know? Would Luke want children with her? Probably not, as angry as he was with her at the moment.
Bonner pushed open the door. “May I come in yet?”
Maddie took a deep breath. “No, not yet. I will come get you when you may come in here.”
“But I heard a baby cry.”
“Yes, Mr. Bonner. You have a beautiful son.” The newborn bellowed at the top of his lungs.
“Then why—”
Rosemary’s painful scream filled the room.
“Because you have another baby on the way, sir. Please go away. I need to concentrate.”
A smile filled her face as she looked into his shocked countenance.
After cleaning up the second baby, a beautiful baby girl with wisps of black hair, Maddie’s heart did a small, unexpected flutter. Being a midwife was difficult. Holding tiny babies only to have to hand them over to someone else. It made her hands feel…empty. What an odd feeling. She’d never experienced that in Atlanta when she helped Father.
Dismayed at her maudlin thoughts, Maddie watched Rosemary.
The woman had lost a lot of blood, and things had gone awry with the second birth.
Maddie groaned. If there already was animosity between Luke and Bonner, how was she ever going to break the news to the man? First she had to tell Rosemary.
She laid the little girl on Rosemary’s chest, beside her sleeping brother.
“Rosemary, I need to tell you something. It’s…important.”
The woman’s eyes rose from her babies to Maddie. “Is something wrong?”
She chewed her lip in consternation. “Yes, I am afraid there is.”
Rosemary’s eyes widened in fear. “The children! Are they—”
“Are fine. I promise you. But…something is wrong. There was nothing I could do to stop it, but there was damage that occurred during the birth of your daughter.”
“Is she really all right?” Rosemary looked worried.
“She is fine. Perfect. Both children are.”
“Then what is wrong?”
Maddie took a deep breath, struggled to keep her voice calm. “Rosemary, I am sorry…oh, I hate having to have to tell you this, but with the complications you experienced, I am afraid you will not be able to have any more children.”
There. She’d said it. Now the tears and recriminations could come. The hatred pointed in her direction.
But there was nothing she could have done differently. Nothing Doctor Turner could have done either. Maybe in a large town hospital, but she doubted even that.
Rosemary looked down at her children, still cradled on her chest. She placed a hand on each little bundled up back.
“God has blessed me with two perfect children. And He allowed me to live through the process—which before you got here I truly feared I would not. It was not just fear of the pain that made me send Jeffrey for you. I believe God in His own way gave me a warning. A foreshadowing of what He knew was to come.” She gently touched her children’s backs again.
“I hope you do not mind my talking about Him like that. Some people in town might be offended by it. Especially since I am often not at church anymore because of the way people feel about Jeffrey. I used to be there every time the doors were open. Now it is just easier to stay away than watch the constant condemnation in their eyes.”
She lifted her head to pin her eyes on Maddie. “Never fear, dear friend. I hope I may forever call you that. If you are afraid I will be upset, I won’t. I will not cast blame—not on you and not on God. What happened was already in His plans. Jeffrey and I struggled for years to have children. Now that you have helped me give birth to these two perfect little beings, I do not need any other children. My family is perfect.”
“But…”
“No buts. Please go tell Jeffrey he may come in the room. I want him to meet his children.”
“He will need to be told.”
A genteel smile filled Rosemary’s face. This woman would have been one of her peers were they still living in Atlanta. How in the world had she wound up with a man like Bonner?
“And we will. After he has seen his children.”
Maddie understood. But would this woman’s husband take the horrible news as graciously as Rosemary had? Or would he blame her, causing even more animosity between him and Luke?
Maddie headed out to the parlor. Bonner stood wringing his hands. His head rose when he heard her footsteps. Tears rolled down his cheeks unchecked. The sight took her aback.
“Please tell me my wife is all right.” His eyes beseeched hers. “Oh, please God, Mrs. Guylenhall, tell me Rosemary is all right!”
“Come see your beautiful babies, Mr. Bonner. You have a son and a daughter.” She carefully avoided answering his question about Rosemary.
With only the words “Thank you” crossing his lips, he rushed past her and into his bedroom.
She poked her head out to the porch. “I’ll not be too much longer. I just have to clean up and speak with Mr. Bonner. There is something he needs to know.”
The Rancher's Southern Belle Page 15
