Get it together, man. He tried to take a deep breath but couldn’t; his chest hurt. It hurt to breathe. He looked out into the desolate scene ahead of him. It was just gray and endless snow-covered land. He didn’t even know if they were going in the right direction anymore. There was no service on his cell.
He paused at the faint sound of a wolf’s howl. He stood still, knee-deep in snow, with ice and wind pummeling down around them, and waited for the sound again, needing to know if he was imagining things. Sure enough, a minute later, the wolf howled again. And another wolf.
He whipped his head to the right, holding Lily closer, but saw nothing.
He looked and then he saw. In the distance, if he squinted just so, he saw two wolves.
He knew what it was and emotion almost knocked him to the ground; Matthew and Michael. No, he was going crazy. But he walked toward the wolves, following his instincts, ignoring reason. He walked to the two wolves in the distance. The blizzard moaned around them, and everything he’d seen in the last five years, the people he’d loved, the people he’d lost, the pain they’d all been through pushed him forward, closer to the wolves.
And then they were gone. The wolves were gone, but the faint glow of a red Emergency sign entered his line of vision. The hospital.
He had been headed in the opposite direction until the wolves.
He couldn’t speak. He was bone tired and half frozen, but he walked, forcefully, with renewed strength, feeling a sense of peace and fortune in his steps.
The lights became stronger and larger as he trudged through the snow. He spoke to his brother and nephew, not knowing whether or not he was talking out loud. Lily was eerily still in his arms and he refused to think the worst was happening. She wasn’t going to lose their baby. She wasn’t going to have a broken heart again. He refused to give in to the guilt or think about the baby they’d lost. He’d have time to mourn later, after Lily and their baby were okay.
He needed to have faith they would be fine.
He would have cheered out loud when his feet touched the pavement of the outskirts of the hospital parking lot. The Emergency signed beckoned, and he hauled ass, knowing this was the end. All he had to do was get them inside. It seemed so far, but before he even reached the sidewalk, a doctor and nurses were running toward them.
Suddenly, there were people surrounding them, and he tried to speak, but his voice was shaking as the doctor took Lily from him, placing her in a wheelchair.
“Sheriff Donovan called in about you,” the nurse said as they jogged toward the entrance of the small hospital. The doors opened with a swoosh and the bright lights and heat slapped him painfully. He heard them page another doctor. He tried to focus, but everything was hazy and it was as though he was viewing everything from the outside. He shrugged off help.
“Take him into exam room five,” the doctor said to the nurse.
“No, I go with her,” Jack managed, struggling to keep pace but barely able to walk or speak.
The doctor looked at him and then nodded. “Let’s take them both to room two,” he said.
“I’m fine,” Jack said, “just deal with my fiancée. She’s pregnant.” He followed Lily into an examination room, his feet feeling as though they each weighed fifty pounds. Relief shot through him when Lily opened her eyes, and he tried to give the best explanation of what her symptoms were. Everything inside his body screamed with pain as a nurse and doctor began removing his jacket and draping warm blankets on him. Lily was being unclothed as well and they explained they were going to do an ultrasound to hopefully establish what was happening.
Judging by the way the nurse was looking at him, it had taken him a few minutes to process what she was saying. “I’m fine,” he said, his voice sounding raspy to his ears. It was hard to hear, actually. The intense ringing was distracting and making it difficult to focus.
The brown-haired nurse motioned to someone, and suddenly another nurse was trying to usher him out of the room. “What are you doing? I’m fine. I stay here with my fiancée.”
“Sir, we’re worried about frostbite.”
He turned to Lily sharply. Dammit. He thought he’d sheltered her exposed skin enough. “I didn’t see any signs of frostbite on her.”
She gave him a sympathetic smile. “Not Lily, you.”
He shook her off. “I’m fine. I’m staying here.”
“How about you sit down beside the bed and I can have a look, okay? We don’t want to make things worse, and if we don’t treat potential frostbite as soon as possible it can become so much worse,” she said with a firm yet gentle tone. He nodded, keeping his eyes on Lily. Her eyes were still closed and she looked so white.
He cleared his throat. “Can I hold her hand?”
The nurse smiled, touching his arm. “That will be fine. Sit down beside her and let’s get your jacket off, okay ?”
He nodded again. Fear gripped him when Lily didn’t even stir as he pulled her hand into his. “We’re going to warm you up slowly,” the nurse murmured.
“I’m just going to put my head down for a minute,” Jack said, slowly lowering it to the bed, beside Lily.
Their voices faded, the lights dimmed, and his heavy limbs finally felt light.
Chapter Thirteen
Lily woke in an unfamiliar place.
The lights were dimmed and she was bundled up in a bed that wasn’t hers. She felt groggy and disoriented. She gasped as she saw Jack’s head beside her body and a wave of memories flooded her. The storm. The baby.
“Jack,” she said.
His head shot up. His hair was a disaster, his face was red and blotchy, and his eyes were bloodshot.
“The baby?” She was afraid to ask but needed to know.
He nodded, his face breaking out into a grin that already gave her the answer she had prayed for. “You’re fine, you’re both fine,” he said. His voice was raw, and now that she looked at him closer, she could see that he wasn’t wearing his clothes, just a hospital gown and blankets.
“What happened to you?”
“Just a precaution against frostbite.”
“I don’t know how he did it, but he managed to keep you bundled and warm, and he was very close to getting frostbite on his face and hands.”
Lily looked up at a man walking into the room. He was obviously a doctor, judging by the stethoscope around his neck. Tears filled her eyes and she had a very hazy recollection of getting here. “I can’t remember anything after the car being pulled over.”
Jack cleared his throat, and she noticed his hands were bandaged loosely. “We walked.”
“He walked. He carried you the whole way here,” the doctor said, sitting on a swivel stool then coming over to the bed with a machine on wheels. “I’m Doctor Thomson. I was on call when you both came in,” he said. He smiled at them. He looked to be around their age, handsome, and very reassuring.
“Lily just woke up and is asking about the baby,” Jack said.
Dr. Thomson smiled, his blue eyes twinkling. “Baby is fine. You’re fine. You had a ruptured ovarian cyst, Lily. A perfectly benign condition but extremely painful. It was quite large, but luckily did not cause any damage. I’d like to keep the both of you here one more night.”
She closed her eyes and tears of relief poured out.
“Can I get my clothes back?” Jack asked and she and the doctor laughed.
“I think they’re probably dry now. Go to the front desk and someone there can help you.”
Jack looked to her and she knew he didn’t want to leave.
“She’ll be fine,” Dr. Thomson said with a grin. “Actually, it’s perfect timing. You go get your clothes back on while I set up the ultrasound equipment. I want to show you guys something.”
“Everything’s fine, right?” Jack asked, speaking before she could.
“Perfectly fine,” he said with a grin.
“Okay, I’ll be right back,” Jack said. He reached down to kiss her forehead. “You scared the hell ou
t of me, Lil,” he whispered, before leaving the room.
“I have no concept of what time it is,” Lily said to the doctor as he got set up beside her.
“It’s seven in the morning,” he said.
“Wow.”
“When Jack got you in here it was well into the night.”
“How did he…”
“Apparently, the roads were blocked and he couldn’t drive any farther. He’s one tough guy. He walked miles in a blizzard, carrying you. Almost collapsed when he walked in and we had to treat the both of you. It’s a miracle, really,” he said. He looked away for a moment, but not before she caught a flash of something that looked like pain. She tried not to read into it.
She wiped the tears from her eyes as Jack appeared in the doorway, all dressed again and looking even larger than life than she remembered. He’d saved her. He’d gotten her here through a blizzard. He’d risked his life for her. For their baby. “Jack,” she whispered.
He came and sat by her side, wincing when she went to squeeze his hands. “Sorry, not the hands,” he said, his voice thick with pain.
“That was another bonehead move,” Dr. Thomson said as he shook the bottle of goopy ultrasound jelly. “He took off his gloves and put them on your hands, even though you were already wearing gloves. Almost cost him his fingers.”
“Aren’t you going to do this ultrasound?” Jack snapped at the doctor, who chuckled.
Lily shook her head, emotion clogging her throat. “Jack.”
“Ready?” the doctor asked.
She nodded, looking over at Jack. She could tell he was trying to look calm and collected but was nervous, too. “Okay, here we go,” he said under his breath.
“There is the baby that’s got everyone all worried, but as you can see is bouncing around in there, perfectly content.”
Lily laughed through her tears and looked at Jack who had tears in his eyes as well.
“And this is what I wanted to show you,” the doctor said, moving the wand. “Meet baby number two.”
Lily’s heart stopped for a moment and then surged forward.
“What did you say?” Jack asked, his face white.
“Twins. You are expecting twins. Congratulations,” Dr. Thomson said, smiling at them.
Lily couldn’t see a thing because she was laughing and crying and suddenly Jack was there.
“I’ll just get this stuff out of the way,” the doctor said, laughing and putting away the equipment. She was vaguely aware of him leaving the room.
“Twins, Lil,” Jack said, his forehead resting on hers.
“I’m so happy,” she said, kissing him. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t trust you or believe in you. I still don’t know how you got us here.”
He sat down beside her, his eyes intense. “You had every right to doubt me. But I just want to let go of all of it, sweetheart. I just want us to be a family. I want to be your husband. And I need you to believe in me, to know in your heart that I’ll always have your back.”
She nodded and placed her hand on his thigh, since his hands were off limits. “I do. Thank you, Jack.”
“You never have to thank me.”
“I do. You made me believe again. You gave me a baby again,” she said, crying.
He leaned forward. “When we get out of here, we’re going to talk about everything. Everything we missed in each other’s lives. We’re going to plan our future. It’s going to be a great one, Lil.”
“You seem…different,” she whispered, raising her hand to cup his cheek. He kissed the palm of her hand, shivers sprinkling down her spine.
His brown eyes were intense, filled with something she’d never seen in them before.
“I…I want to believe. I want to believe that no matter what happens we’re going to be okay. Last night, I was insane with worry for you. And when you told me about the baby we lost, God, Lil, I don’t think I ever felt so low. And then you scared the crap out of me when you passed out. I felt like I was on the brink of losing everything important to me all over again. I was walking out there and…” He paused, clearing his throat, his head downturned. She squeezed his thigh, encouraging him.
“What happened?”
He squeezed his eyes shut and his jaw was clenched, but he didn’t say anything for a long moment. “Another day. I’ll tell you when we’re home. I can’t wait to go home,” he said hoarsely. He leaned forward and kissed her. “I want you to know that I went to sit with your father. I was going to tell you last night.”
“My dad? When?”
“A few days ago. Lily, I know it sounds stupid, but I wanted to ask him for his blessing. I know he couldn’t answer, and I don’t know if he heard me. But I also had to apologize for walking out on you.”
Lily was crying again and he handed her a box of Kleenex. “Oh, Jack. Why didn’t you tell me?” She blew her nose.
“I didn’t want you to say no. I was sensing that you were pulling away, and I needed to do it because it felt right. I missed your father. You know how well we got along,” he said.
“Jack Bailey, you need to stop terrifying your mother!”
They both jumped and turned toward the door. The entire Bailey clan was standing there, including Chase, Julia, and Maggie.
“Ah hell,” Jack said under his breath as Lily laughed. They all barreled in, surrounding them, hugging them and crying. Emotion swarmed her at the obvious love from this family. Her family. His family. Their baby’s family.
“Thanks a lot, Chase,” Jack said.
“Sorry,” Chase said, grinning and not looking sorry at all. “You scared the hell out of all of us, turning into some mountain man and abandoning your truck. How the hell you made it through that storm, I have no idea.”
Lily caught a look between Jack and his mother and her breath caught. His mother’s eyes were glistening, her chin trembling as she stared at Jack. But Jack broke the moment and turned to his friend, grinning. “It was clearly my amazing physical strength. If you want to work out with me I can give you some pointers.”
Chase was laughing as he punched Jake in the shoulder. Julia grabbed her husband’s arm. “You can’t punch a hospitalized man, Chase!”
Chase and Jack just laughed.
“What happened to your hands, Uncle Jack?” Maggie asked, sitting on the bed beside them.
“I’ll be okay. Doctors were just a bit worried about frostbite.”
Maggie nodded wisely. “I know all about frostbite. You’re lucky they didn’t have to amputate.”
His mother gasped.
“He’ll be fine,” Maggie said with a wink. Everyone laughed.
“Thanks, Dr. Maggie,” Jack said, ruffling the top of her head.
“So, um, is there any other news the two of you might have?” Gwen asked with a mischievous smile.
“You totally told them, didn’t you?” Jack asked, turning to Chase.
“Daddy’s not very good at keeping secrets.”
“Maggie, I think you’ve taken over enough of this conversation. Why don’t we let Jack and Lily speak?” Chase picked her up off the bed.
Maggie crossed her arms. “Adults never like it when kids know too much.”
“Tell us,” Jack’s mother whispered.
Jack looked to her. “You tell them,” he said softly, the happiness in his face softening his features.
Lily looked from him to the small room that was now packed with people who loved them. She took a deep breath. “Jack and I are pregnant.”
They laughed as everyone started screaming and clapping, hugs and handshakes spreading around the room like wildfire. A nurse poked her head in and asked them to keep it down. When the noise finally died down, Jack spoke.
“There’s actually more news…” He gave her a smile and then turned to his family. “We’re having twins.”
“It’s a sign,” his mother whispered. “Our spring is finally here.”
As the room erupted again in a deluge of congratulations, Jack moved clo
se to Lily and it felt as though it were just the two of them. He looked down at her, the emotion and the wonder in his eyes, the memories, their future, shining in his eyes before he kissed her. He kissed her with the promise and the faith of a man who knew their future, who knew they belonged together. He kissed her like a man who vowed to stand by her, no matter what. He kissed her like the man she always knew he could be.
Epilogue
Everyone laughed and clapped as Maggie took a bow after blowing out her birthday candles. Jack stood amidst his family at his parents’ house, a feeling of completion, of peace, inside his soul. He’d come full circle.
He’d run from these people, thinking he couldn’t handle their love during his pain. How wrong he’d been. He’d learned, through Lily, through the knowledge that he was becoming a father, that you stayed with the people you loved through thick and thin.
These people—Chase and Julia and Maggie, his parents, his sister, and Lily—they were his family to the core, and there was nothing that would keep him from them again.
He smiled as he watched Lily laugh at something his crazy sister said. Lily was currently rubbing her growing belly, looking like the picture of health. She looked like a woman who was thoroughly loved, he realized, his chest swelling with pride.
“I hear that chocolate shop of theirs is doing quite well,” his dad said, coming up to him.
Jack frowned at the enormous piece of pie on his father’s plate. “Dad, how the hell did you get a hold of pie?”
His father waved a fork before taking a quick slice of the pie. “I have friends in the right places.”
Jack laughed despite the contraband pie. He’d slowly gotten closer to his father again in the last two months and it felt good. “You and Mom coming out to the ranch for dinner tomorrow night?”
The Baby Bombshell (Shadow Creek, Montana) Page 14
