by Metsy Hingle
“Steven, are you sure nothing’s wrong?” Maria asked, tipping her head slightly to look up at him.
“I was…I was thinking about you having the baby.” He paused and decided to come clean about his fears. “You’re so small. What if the baby’s too big? I was a big baby, nearly twelve pounds.”
She patted his hand and gave him a look filled with humor and patience. “Well, I hope this baby isn’t quite so big. But if it is and there’s any sign of a problem during the delivery, the doctor will probably just do a C-section.”
“A C-section? Oh God,” he said on a groan. He felt the blood drain from his head at the thought of Maria being cut open to remove the baby.
“Don’t look so worried. Women have been having babies for thousands of years. Our bodies know what to do.”
“You saw that film. How can you sound so calm? Aren’t you afraid?”
“A little,” she told him. “But I’m excited, too.”
“So was I—before I saw what you have to go through. Now I’m terrified,” he admitted.
Maria laughed, a genuine laugh, among the few he’d heard from her since his arrival in Silver Valley. “It won’t be that bad.”
He arched his brow, letting her know he thought otherwise.
“Oh, all right. So it’s not going to be a picnic. But feeling our baby growing inside me and knowing that soon I’ll be able to hold him or her in my arms…well, it seems such a small price to pay for something so remarkable.”
Our baby.
It had been the first time since she’d told him she was pregnant that she had actually referred to the child she was carrying as their child and not just hers. He clung to those words, took encouragement from them.
“All right, mothers and coaches. Take your positions,” Nurse Carol ordered, cutting off further conversation.
Maria lay down flat on the mat and Steven waited beside her as the instructor took them through a series of steps that included the breaking of the water and the timing of the labor pains.
“Okay, the labor pains are now two minutes apart,” Nurse Carol informed them. “What do you do?”
“Break out the cigars,” one expectant father said, which resulted in a burst of laughter and an equal number of groans from the other ten couples.
“Not in my delivery room you don’t—unless you’re prepared to eat it,” Nurse Carol remarked. Given the no-nonsense look in her eyes, Steven didn’t think she was kidding.
“Mothers, what should your coaches do?”
“Buy us diamonds and flowers,” a buxom redhead suggested.
“Naturally. But he should do that after the baby is born,” Nurse Carol said. “Until then, what’s his job?”
“To hold our hand and tell us to breathe,” replied a tiny blonde who looked like she was carrying a watermelon.
“Very good, Penny. Coaches, take your partner’s hand.”
Kneeling beside Maria, Steven held her hand in his. And despite the well-lit room, the other couples and Nurse Carol barking out instructions, he felt an intimacy with Maria unlike any he’d ever known before. Something shifted inside him as he looked at her, her belly swollen with his child, her hand clasped in his.
“Remember, moms, when those pains hit, squeeze your coach’s hand. And, coaches, tell her to breathe.”
“You’re beautiful,” Steven whispered.
For a moment, Maria ceased making the quick, panting breaths. Her eyes met his, held.
“Time for another labor pain,” Nurse Carol advised. “Remember as the pains get sharper, you squeeze on your coach’s hand and try to remember to breathe.”
Maria squeezed his hand, panted, and never once did her eyes leave his. And in that moment, he felt all the distance she’d put between them both emotionally and physically for the past several months begin to fade.
Somehow they managed to get through the rest of the class. And by the time he pulled the SUV onto the road leading to the Calderones’, Steven knew that he and Maria had turned a corner. “It’s pretty isolated out here,” he noted as the solitary house came into view. “A lot different from Boston.”
“Yes,” Maria replied. “It’s beautiful and peaceful, but I’m not sure I could ever live here the way Louis and Magdalene do. I guess I’m too used to having lots of family around. Even though Gina, Rita and I each had our own apartment in the brownstone, we were always in and out of each other’s places. It was the same thing when Karen moved in.”
“You miss them.”
“Yes,” Maria admitted as he pulled the SUV into the drive. He shoved the gear shaft into Park and cut off the engine. “It looks like we beat Magdalene and Louis home. I guess the meeting ran over.”
“Why don’t I come in and stay with you until they get back?” he offered.
“Thanks but I think I’ll just turn in. I’m pretty tired.” She unhooked her seat belt. “Thanks for coming with me tonight.”
“I was happy to do it.”
“Well, I’d better get inside before we both freeze sitting out here. Don’t bother getting out. You should probably head back to the hotel before the snow starts again.”
Steven didn’t even bother responding. He simply exited the vehicle, went around to the passenger side and opened the door for her. “Thanks,” she said as he helped her down to the driveway. Her boots moved silently across the fresh snow as she made her way to the front of the house.
Steven followed her, trying to use his body to shield her from the wind that had kicked up and whistled eerily through the pine trees. A solitary light had been left burning over the doorway. When she paused and turned to face him, her face was bathed in the soft light. Steven felt that tightening of emotion in his chest again as he looked at her. “Maria—”
“Steven—” she said at the same time.
He laughed. So did she. “You go first,” he told her.
“I just wanted to say that I’m glad you came with me tonight.”
“Me, too,” he replied.
“And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the baby sooner. You were right. This is your child, too.”
She wet her lips as she spoke, and his gaze locked on the movement, reminding him of how long it had been since he’d kissed her, since she’d kissed him.
“And regardless of what happens between us, you are the baby’s father. You should be a part of its life.”
He captured her fingers, held them in his and moved in close. “I want to be a part of both your lives. Marry me.” And before she could refuse him, he lowered his mouth to hers. He kissed her gently at first, soft, tender kisses, trying to show her how much he loved her, how much he wanted her. But when she opened to him, he groaned and took the kiss deeper. He kissed her hungrily, reveled in the feel of her arms wrapped around him, her fingers tangling in his hair.
When she tore her mouth free and clung to him, Steven held her close. All the while he continued to press kisses to her hair, drew in her scent. “I’ve missed you so much, Maria. I don’t ever want to be away from you like this again.”
“I’ve missed you, too,” she admitted. “Let’s go inside.”
Holding her by the shoulders, he moved back a step so that he could see her face. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes soft and dreamy, her lips swollen from their kisses. “If I go inside with you now, I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep my hands off of you.”
“I know. I don’t want you to,” she whispered.
Desire, already burning hot inside him, reached flash point. Everything told him to scoop Maria up into his arms, carry her inside to her bedroom and make love to her as they both wanted to do.
And if he did so now without first resolving things between them, he would be right back where they had been months ago—engaged in a secret affair and hiding their relationship from the world. He wanted more, deserved more. They both did. “If I come inside and I touch you, I do so as your future husband. No more sneaking around. No more hiding our relationship. We get married and go ba
ck to Boston together and tell our families everything.”
Maria pulled away from him. “That’s blackmail,” she accused.
“Call it whatever you want. But that’s the deal,” he said, hoping he could make her understand that they deserved this chance. “So what’s it going to be? Do I come inside or do I go back to my hotel?”
“I guess you’d better go back to your hotel.”
Six
Something soft and fuzzy tickled Maria’s cheek. She twitched her nose and snuggled her face back into the pillow. Moments later she felt the tickling sensation again and swiped the fur away.
Fur?
She opened her eyes and stared at the source of the fur. Sophia, Louis’s pampered gray cat, lay curled up on the pillow next to Maria’s head, her long fluffy tail swishing slightly while she enjoyed some feline dream. Normally, the cat followed Louis around the ranch like a dog, trailing behind him as he did his chores. Not even the snowfall seemed to deter Sophia from following her master. And when Louis was indoors, she was constantly on his lap. “Sophia, what are you doing in here? Why aren’t you with Louis?”
The cat opened her green eyes, stared directly at Maria. She gave Maria a look that seemed to say “It should be pretty obvious what I’m doing. I’m trying to sleep.” Then she yawned, closed her eyes again and settled back down to sleep.
“Well, don’t let me disturb you,” Maria muttered. Pushing herself up on her elbows, she shoved the hair out of her eyes and checked the bedside clock. “Oh God,” she groaned when she saw it was well past ten o’clock in the morning. She should have been up hours ago. Although she no longer needed to be at Baronessa Gelateria for the start of the day, she had continued to rise early. She never slept this late.
Not that she’d slept all that much, Maria admitted as she exited the bed and headed for the bathroom. She’d spent most of the night tossing and turning, thinking about Steven and wishing she knew what to do. Moments later, she stepped into the shower, and as the warm water washed over her body, she thought again of Steven. Of the way he had looked at her during the Lamaze class. Of how it had felt to have him there with her, sharing the experience. Of the way he had held and kissed her later. Of the things he’d said. If she hadn’t already been in love with him, she’d have fallen in love with him last night. She’d offered him her body and he’d turned her down because he’d wanted more than sex from her. He’d wanted her heart. His honesty and integrity had shamed her. And his words about love and commitment, about taking chances, had kept her up most of the night.
Was Steven right? Would their families accept a marriage between them? Should she take a chance?
She thought about her conversation with her cousin, how Karen had said her parents were worried. Soapy water sluiced down her shoulders, her breasts, over her belly. Whether she married Steven or not, she would have to tell her parents and the rest of the family about the baby.
What about the Contis? How would they take the news?
Recalling Karen’s remark, she imagined an angry Lucia confronting her father. Try as she might, she couldn’t help but think of the Conti curse. And thoughts of the curse set off that flutter of panic inside her again. Exiting the shower, she grabbed a towel and after drying off, she began to dress.
Maria had just finished blow-drying her hair and pulling it back with a navy ribbon when the bathroom door creaked open.
“Meow.”
“Still here?” she asked Sophia who began to wind herself around Maria’s ankles. “Let’s go see where Louis and Magdalene are.”
Picking up the cat, she headed downstairs, fully expecting to smell the spicy scent of the enchiladas that Magdalene had promised to prepare for Louis’s lunch that day. But when she reached the bottom of the staircase, she didn’t smell enchiladas or anything else cooking for that matter. The house, usually abuzz with the sound of Magdalene’s voice either singing along with the radio or more often than not during these past few weeks chatting on the phone about the upcoming Christmas Bazaar, was eerily silent.
“Magdalene?” she called out as uneasiness began to trip down her spine.
When no one answered, she put Sophia down and the cat scampered off in the direction of the kitchen. Maria followed—only to discover the room empty. No pots or pans simmered on the stove. She touched the oven, found it cold. A quick scan of the kitchen revealed no evidence that Magdalene had even been in the room that morning.
Something was wrong.
No sooner had the thought entered her head before Maria did her best to quell it. Since becoming pregnant, she’d developed a tendency to overreact. Magdalene probably just wasn’t in the mood to cook today, she reasoned.
Leaving the kitchen, she checked first the den and then the room that had been set up as an office for Louis. Both were empty. She knocked on the couple’s bedroom door. “Magdalene?” she called out before pushing the door open. The bed was made. The bag with Magdalene’s knitting sat next to the chair. A book rested on a night table. But there was no sign of Magdalene.
Quickly Maria checked the remainder of the house, including the laundry room, but no signs of Magdalene. She thought about the garden. Since the first snowfall, the older woman hadn’t spent much time there, but Maria decided to check it out anyway. Grabbing her coat, she headed outdoors.
A light snow was falling onto the already snow-covered ground as Maria made her way to the small garden out back. When she found it empty, she headed for the barn, burrowing into her coat and scarf as the wind whipped snow around her. Taking care, she planted her boots firmly along the path. Since Louis had moved most of his stock a few weeks ago, he’d taken to working in the barn and fussing over the four horses that he kept there. Magdalene was probably with him, she reasoned, thinking once again what a close relationship the couple shared.
When she reached the barn, she used both hands to grip the handle on the heavy door and pulled it open. “Louis? Magdalene? Are you in here?” she called out as she stepped inside out of the cold. Adjusting her eyes to the dim light, she scanned the area to her left and then to her right. The smell of horses and hay was strong, but there was no sound of whinnying, no hooves pawing the floor. She moved over to the tack stall, found it empty. Also missing was the horse trailer.
Growing more anxious by the moment, Maria hurried back toward the house. She checked the garage and discovered Magdalene’s Ford Explorer was there, but Louis’s Range Rover was gone. Evidently the pair had gone off somewhere together. The realization should have calmed her. But it didn’t. Probably because Magdalene made such a fuss about not leaving her alone in her pregnant condition, Maria thought. Telling herself she was being foolish, Maria had just exited the garage when she spied Louis’s Range Rover turning onto the road. Despite the cold and wind, she waited for them, waving and smiling as they drove the big red vehicle up the driveway and entered the detached garage.
“I was beginning to worry about you,” Maria called out when the garage door opened.
“We went to bring the horses to Arturo’s,” Magdalene informed her as she exited the garage.
Maria took one look at her friend’s face and her smile faded. Something was wrong. The normally cheerful Magdalene looked as though she’d just lost her best friend. Louis looked even worse. “What’s wrong?” she asked as they drew closer to the house. “Has something happened?”
“It is Louis’s father. He’s been in a car accident and is in the hospital in Billings,” Magdalene explained.
“I’m so sorry,” Maria told them. “Is he… Will he be all right?”
“We don’t know yet. He is in a coma,” Louis said, his voice holding the same stricken note as his face. He opened the door for them to enter the house.
“Papa Calderone is a strong man,” Magdalene told her husband as they removed their coats and hung them on the rack near the door. She touched her husband’s arm. “He will get through this, Louis.”
Louis covered the hand that rested on his arm. “I
hope you are right.”
“I am,” Magdalene insisted and Maria was sure the other woman was trying to be strong for her husband.
“If I hope to reach Billings before dark, I better go pack.”
“I’ll fix some snacks for the drive.”
“You don’t need to do that. I will pick up something.”
“I said I will fix you something,” Magdalene insisted.
Louis sighed. “All right. But do not make a fuss. I am really not hungry.”
Magdalene stood and watched as her husband headed in the direction of the bedroom. “My poor Louis. He has not eaten a bite since his sister called this morning to tell us Papa Calderone was in the hospital. And you know how he loves to eat.”
“I’m sure he’s just worried,” Maria offered, wanting to ease her friend’s anxiety. “How are you holding up?”
“All right, I guess.” Magdalene swiped at her eyes. “I’d better go fix those sandwiches,” she said and together they headed for the kitchen.
While Magdalene pulled out assorted meats and cheeses, Maria got out the home-baked bread that Magdalene preferred to the store-bought variety and began to slice it. “Do they know what happened?” Maria asked.
“According to Louis’s sister Anna, a drunk driver apparently crossed the highway median and collided with Papa Calderone’s truck.”
“How awful.”
Magdalene nodded. She slathered mayonnaise and mustard onto the bread. “The other car hit Papa’s truck head-on. The doctors think his head must have hit the windshield. He has a bad concussion and broke his collarbone and arm. Anna says Papa lost consciousness on the way to the hospital and has been in the coma ever since.”
