After the Rain

by Karen White

  Suzanne paused for a moment, wondering how much she should tell, then realized that she had to continue. “It’s much worse than that. I found out today at the exhibit that those pictures were probably stolen fifteen years ago. Before he gave them to me. He used me to launder them. All he has to do is tell the authorities I sold them. They would never believe me in a million years if I told them Anthony had given them to me. I’m sure he wants to find me to make me come back to him. Or he’ll send me to jail.”

  Cassie shook her head slowly. “You could be in a lot of trouble, you know.” She rubbed her hands over her abdomen. “Why would you ever agree to marry somebody like that?”

  Suzanne slammed her hands against the steering wheel, making the car swerve slightly into the next lane. She jerked it back. “Stop asking me these questions. You don’t know anything about me. And it’s none of your business.”

  Cassie gritted her teeth through a contraction and shouted, “It damn well is my business. Harriet was my sister.”

  Suzanne’s eyes smarted. “What has that got to do with me?” She wished she hadn’t said it, because she already knew.

  “Because, unfortunately, what happens to you will adversely affect Joe. That’s why it’s my business. I knew it was too soon for him to get involved with somebody. And then he just happened to pick the absolutely wrong person.”

  The words hurt more than Suzanne wanted to admit, and she said the first thing that came to her, knowing they’d hurt Cassie just as badly. “Harriet’s dead, Cassie. Joe isn’t.”

  A groan of pain came from Cassie as she twisted herself on the seat and threw her head back. “Damn it, Suzanne. Don’t you think I see that every day of my life?”

  Suzanne pushed the gas pedal down harder. “Just because Joe’s getting on with his life doesn’t mean that there’s no more room for Harriet. Is that what you’re afraid of, Cassie? Because making Joe a martyr will not bring her back.”

  “You could never love him like Harriet did. Never.”

  Tears blurred Suzanne’s vision, and she blinked rapidly as she approached a solid wall of Atlanta traffic. She stopped behind a large office supply store truck as other cars filled in the gaps around her and engines idled.

  “Maybe I already do.”

  “No.” Cassie’s voice sounded strangled, full of pain.

  Suzanne continued to stare straight ahead, not able to face Cassie. She felt the truth of her words before they appeared on her lips, but they gave her cold comfort. “I do. Not in the same way Harriet did. She fell in the love with the man he was. I love him for who he is now.”

  “No!”

  This time the word was nearly a scream, and Suzanne jerked her head toward Cassie. “What?”

  Cassie’s amber eyes were filled with pain and . . . surprise. “My water just broke.”

  CHAPTER 19

  Suzanne thought her neck would snap as she jerked her head toward the laboring Cassie, then toward the metal ocean of stopped cars, then back again. “No.” She repeated Cassie’s words, the pain in them no less acute.

  “The baby’s coming. I can feel it.”

  “No, it’s not. Just hang on until I can get you to a hospital.” Her foot hovered over the gas pedal as she prepared to move. Unfortunately, nobody else in the lane in front of her or on either side seemed to be of like mind. A man in a small BMW with the window down was looking over at them in curiosity but raised a newspaper when Suzanne looked in his direction.

  Cassie grunted. “I think I need to push. I need to push!”

  “Don’t you push. Whatever you do, don’t you push.”

  Suzanne turned off the ignition and searched under the seat until she found the “recline” button and tilted the seat backward to give them more room. Then she lunged past Cassie and grabbed Cassie’s purse, yanking out her cell phone. Too panicked to realize that his number was probably on speed dial, she shouted, “What’s Sam’s number?”

  Through gritted teeth, Cassie gave her the number, pausing after the first three numbers to allow for a contraction to pass. “They’re coming faster now. I swear I can feel the head.”

  Suzanne’s fingers shook so badly while she dialed the phone that she had to hang up twice and try again. Sam answered on the third ring.

  “Sam, it’s Suzanne. I’m with Cassie and I think she’s gone into labor.”

  Sam’s voice was calm, probably from years of dealing with emergencies. “Where are you?”

  “Somewhere on I-Twenty in the middle of a traffic jam. There must have been an accident or something, because we haven’t moved in about ten minutes.” She stood on the seat to peer over the line of cars. Two teenagers in a vintage Beetle to her left looked at her with curiosity while the BMW guy just shook his head. “We just passed Exit Nineteen.”

  She glanced over at Cassie, and her panic rose a notch. “What are you doing? Put your underwear back on!”

  The hair around Cassie’s face stuck to her sweat-soaked cheeks. “I’m getting ready to deliver this baby. It’s not going to wait.”

  Suzanne thought she could detect a note of panic in Sam’s voice as he responded, “How far apart are the contractions?”

  “It’s hard to tell—I’m not using a stopwatch. But I think about every two to three minutes.”

  There was a brief pause. “Tell her not to push. I’m calling an ambulance now on my other line. Don’t hang up the phone.”

  “Right. Like I would.” Sam had already put her on hold.

  Cassie was now bracing herself against her door, her legs up on the bench seat, and she was pushing—hard. Suzanne looked up and caught the wide-eyed stare of Mr. BMW before he looked back at his paper.

  She turned back to Cassie. “Don’t push! You are not having that baby now. An ambulance is on the way.”

  Cassie’s face reminded Suzanne of that girl in The Exorcist, but instead of green, her skin was a vivid red. “Damn it, this baby is coming now!” She rolled her head back and forth. “Aunt Lu’s going to be so mad about her car.”

  Sam came back on the line. “Tell her to hang on; the ambulance should be there within fifteen minutes.”

  Suzanne’s voice shook. “I don’t know, Sam. She’s pretty insistent that that baby is going to be born any minute now.”

  An excruciating wail shot up over the sound of idling engines, and for a moment Suzanne didn’t realize that the sound had come from Cassie. One of the teenagers in the Beetle called to her, “You okay in there, lady?”

  “Sam? Are you there? I think Cassie’s in a lot of pain.”

  Cassie let out another wail, as if for good measure.

  Sam’s voice was strained. “I’m going to have to walk you through this.”

  She thought her head would spin off its shoulders. “No way, Miss Scarlett. I don’t know nothin’ ’bout birthin’ babies.”

  “Look, Suzanne. The ambulance isn’t going to get there in time. You’re the only one who can help her.”

  Cassie began panting heavily, her face reddening. Then she gasped out, “I know you can do this.”

  Suzanne glanced over at Cassie’s face, red and sweaty in the midst of the contraction, and she knew she didn’t have a choice. “I was afraid you were going to say that.” She forced herself to take three deep breaths. “What do I do first?”

  “Do you have any hand wipes? You want your hands to be as clean as you can get them.”

  She cradled the phone under her chin. “Yeah. I’ve got some in my backpack.” Her backpack sat on the floor of the backseat behind her, and she reached back and pulled them out. She emptied half the box onto the dash before opening the first one and scrubbing her hands.

  Cassie shouted as another contraction took hold of her, and Sam sounded shaken when she heard his voice again. “Can you see anything?”

  Trying not to appear squeamish, she peered past the raised skirt of the maternity dress. “I . . . I see the baby’s head.”

  “Shit.” His voice was quiet, as if she wasn’t su
pposed to have heard him curse.

  She seemed to draw strength from his helplessness, feeling a real need to help for the first time in her life. “Look, Sam, I can do this. Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

  “I need to talk to Sam.” Cassie reached for the phone, but as she did, her fingers caught in the long chain she always wore around her neck. The delicate chain snapped, scattering gold hearts all over the seat and floor of the car. Suzanne could see panic in Cassie’s face for the first time since the labor had begun. Cassie tried to hoist herself up to capture all the hearts, but another contraction seized her and she bore down on the child attempting to be born, another guttural scream pealing out of her mouth.

  Suzanne kept her voice calm. “Don’t worry about the hearts. I’ll keep them safe and make sure they’re all put together again. Promise. Just concentrate on this baby.” She watched as more of the head appeared, and she waited to see what would happen.

  Cassie gripped her wrist hard enough to make it hurt, her breathing labored and pausing between the words to gasp for air. “Make . . . sure . . . you . . . do. Joe and his kids . . . mean more to me . . . than you’ll ever know.”

  Suzanne just nodded, wondering if Cassie was still talking about the necklace. She didn’t release Cassie’s hold until the contraction had passed, then held the phone to Cassie’s ear so she could speak to Sam.

  It was then she realized that she had an audience. A middle-aged man wearing a golf visor and a knit shirt was peering inside the car.

  “Need some help? My wife and I are in the van behind you, and it looks like you might be having some difficulties. . . .” When he saw what was in the front seat, he averted his gaze.

  “Are you a doctor?” Even she recognized the note of hysteria in her voice.

  “No.”

  “Then I need you to run up and down these lanes and see if you can find one.” She glanced back down at Cassie. “Even a veterinarian would work. Just go. Run!”

  The man nodded and headed off, his expression one of relief.

  A near scream erupted from Cassie’s mouth, following by grunting. “This baby is coming now!”

  Sam’s voice faded in and out as he spoke. “She always means what she says. You’re going to have to put the phone down, Suzanne, and be ready . . . guide the baby out.”

  “Sam? I can’t hear you. Tell me what I’m supposed to do next.”

  “Support . . . head . . . shoulders . . . keep baby . . . on stomach.” She turned and aimed the cell phone toward the back of the car, trying to get a clearer signal. “Clear the nose . . . mouth . . . wait . . . ambulance . . . umbilical cord . . .” And then the phone went dead.

  She glanced out the window, looking for the man who’d approached her earlier, but didn’t see him or any would-be rescuer and tried to suppress the panic that was about to make her head explode. You have to stay calm. She needs you. She turned back to Cassie, who was now wedged up against the side of the car, sweat rolling down her cheeks and a clear look of panic and pain etched on her face.

  Suzanne did the first thing that came to mind. She took her hand. She tried hard to keep the fear out of her voice but wasn’t completely successful. “Cassie, we can do this, okay? You do whatever you’re supposed to do, and I’ll be here waiting to catch the baby. We’ll be fine. You’ll see.”

  Their eyes met, and for a brief moment, Suzanne felt the bond of sisters, of implicit trust. It shot like adrenaline through her system, making her stronger.

  Cassie responded by bearing down, the silence of her effort deafening in the small space of the front seat. Suzanne knelt on the seat, watching with awed fascination as the tiny head emerged. She ignored the blood and fluid and saw only this beautiful new life.

  Cassie screamed, then yelled before collapsing back against the side of the door. Gasping, she asked, “Is it out? I don’t hear anything.”

  “Not yet. I think you’re going to need to push again to get the shoulders out.”

  “Oh God.” She breathed heavily, gathering strength. “They didn’t go over car deliveries in Lamaze class.”

  Suzanne grimaced. “Maybe you can talk to them about adding it.”

  Another contraction hit, and Suzanne reached for the baby’s head as tiny shoulders emerged, followed by the rest of an impossibly small human being. It slid neatly into her hands, and she stared at it for a moment, wondering if this had really just happened. Cassie threw her head back and screamed like a dying animal, and Suzanne thought for a moment that Cassie had lost her mind. Nobody could stand that kind of pain. And if she did, this was sure to be an only child.

  Remembering what Sam had said, she began clearing the mucus from the baby’s nose and mouth and was rewarded by a resounding squawk from the bundle in her arms.

  Cassie was now slumped against her side of the car, her head barely raised. Weakly, she asked, “Is it a girl or boy?”

  Momentarily confused, Suzanne stared at the baby. “I don’t know.”

  Cassie’s eyes closed for a moment as if to summon the last of her energy. “Look between the legs, Suzanne!”

  Feeling stupid but pleased with herself at the same time, she did as she’d been told. “It’s a girl.”

  Cassie reached for the baby, and Suzanne laid her on her mother’s chest. Reaching in the backseat, she grabbed one of Lucinda’s sweaters and put it over mother and child.

  A tapping sounded on her car door at the same time she heard the wail of a siren. The man she’d spoken with earlier stood with a tall woman wearing glasses and carrying a small black bag. Weak with relief, Suzanne moved to get out of the car, but Cassie’s voice called her back.

  “Thank you.”

  The baby made mewing noises under the sweater, and Suzanne smiled. “You’re welcome.” Then she left the car, allowing the doctor to take over. She stood by the side of the car, leaning on it to keep from falling, and waited until the ambulance arrived, unable to shake the silly grin off her face—or the feeling that she had just changed lanes on the highway of her life. She could only hope that a tractor-trailer truck wasn’t headed her way. The sky rumbled overhead as storm clouds smothered the sun, and she huddled in her thin sweater as the first raindrops began to fall.

  Joe touched the glass on the observation window of the nursery, looking at the rows of pink and blue bundles in the clear plastic bassinets. He closed his eyes, the poignant memories of his six trips to this same hospital almost overwhelming. Until the last time, with Harry, this had been his favorite place in the world. Even the sterile smell and bland walls couldn’t wipe away the way he’d felt in the halls of the maternity ward. It was a place of unbelievable joy, affirmed love, and new beginnings. And then, the last time, of endings.

  He opened his eyes and saw baby Parker, swaddled in pink and mewling like a kitten for attention. Already acting like Cassie, Joe thought, and smiled, wondering at how this miracle of life continued to surprise him. Life went on, no matter how much you dared the sun not to rise again. He wouldn’t have believed it three years ago, but things did change. He still missed Harriet, still loved her. He always would. But now she was a part of his past—a happy past but still the past. The future was his to live and to fill with whatever he chose out of life.

  A nurse walked into the room, and Joe tapped on the window and pointed at the Parker bassinet. Picking up the baby, the nurse moved closer to the window to show him. He marveled at the tiny, perfect fingers, the minute nose, the delicate eyebrows and lashes. She let out a loud cry, much bigger and louder than such a small human being was expected to make, and Joe smiled again. This was definitely Cassie’s daughter.

  He thanked the nurse and waved at his niece, the joy and nostalgia melding together and sending a warm glow into his heart. He watched the nurse put the baby back into the bassinet. New beginnings. If only he could convince Suzanne that every life held the possibility of new beginnings, of second chances. He touched the glass again, then turned away and headed for home.

 
; As Joe pulled the truck into his driveway, he spotted Suzanne on the front steps wearing a tall princess hat with streamers that came down over the waist of his old ski jacket that she wore. Amanda was in the process of galloping toward her at full speed. By the time he’d left his vehicle and made it to the front walk, Amanda was happily ensconced in Suzanne’s lap. As he approached, he realized that not only had Amanda dressed Suzanne, but she’d also done her makeup.

  Resisting a smile as he viewed their matching matte blue eye shadow and round circles of rouge on their cheeks, he bowed deeply, sweeping his hand over the ground. “Your Royal Highnesses.”

  “Hi, Daddy! Miss Suzanne and I were playing Pretty Princess.”

  He grinned down at Suzanne. “Let me guess: you lost?”

  She stuck out a foot and playfully kicked him in the shin. “At least I knew better this time than to bring any money.”

  The front door popped open as Knoxie ran out chasing after Harry, his hands covered in oozing red goo. He launched himself at his father, but Joe managed to evade him with a well-placed hand on the little chest. “Whoa there, buddy. What’s this on your hands?”

  Knoxie sighed loudly. “I was making lunch and I asked him to hold the tomatoes while I got the bread out of the fridge.”

  Suzanne stood, plopping Amanda on the porch. “Come on, Harry. Let’s go get cleaned up and I’ll help Knoxie with lunch.”

  Joe eyed the clownlike makeup on Suzanne’s face and knew that he’d never seen her looking quite as beautiful. “I’ll help.”

  They all moved into the kitchen. Suzanne lifted Harry up to the sink and began rinsing his hands. “How’re Cassie and the baby doing?”

  Joe reached up and removed Suzanne’s princess hat. “They’re both doing great—better than Lucinda’s car anyway. Her car will be at the detailer’s for another week, but Cassie and the baby are supposed to leave the hospital tomorrow.”

  Suzanne grinned as she dried Harry’s hands on a paper towel and set him back on the ground. “Sorry to hear about the car, but it’s good news about Cassie. Have they named the baby yet?”