by Mary Leo
“What do you think brought me in here tonight?”
“Tell me she didn’t—”
“She did. A tofurkey.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Not a problem. It was better than her flourless cake for my birthday last year.”
“Crazy as it seems, I now know how to make one. You don’t treat me right and I’ll bring one into the office.”
Blake emptied his glass of wine and poured another then topped hers off. “Funny you should mention the office. There’s something I need to tell you.”
“About Mrs. Abernathy?”
“Who? No. This is something entirely different.”
“Another rule you and Kitty left out?”
“Not exactly.” He hated this kind of stuff.
“If it’s about the cake, I promise not to bring one in, or anything else that’s even remotely good for you. But you realize my sister will probably outlive us both.”
“I know. She’s a regular food doctor.”
“Yeah.” Maggie sliced off another piece of steak. “But we’ll have so much more fun.”
That brought on an actual giggle and Blake couldn’t help but notice how deep that dimple was in her left cheek, and how downright pretty her eyes were, and how her forehead wrinkled, and how he was thinking about what it might be like to kiss those full lips.
He had it bad and he barely knew the woman.
Blake forced himself to look at the line dancers in front of him. The place was jumping tonight, and for a Sunday that was a rare occasion. Briggs was gearing up for Spud Week and the harvest. Two things that put happy in everyone’s heart.
The thought made him smile, and as he watched the couples kickin’ it up, he decided that as soon as Maggie gobbled down the last bite, he’d ask her to dance. One dance couldn’t hurt.
Then he’d fire her.
And just as he considered how he would accomplish these tasks, her cell phone chirped.
“Excuse me,” she told him and took the call. In seconds her entire demeanor changed. “I’ll be right there.” She stood. Her napkin fell to the floor. She looked at Blake and her eyes went moist.
He felt his stomach tighten. “What’s wrong?”
“That was a nurse at Valley Hospital. Kitty’s been admitted. I have to go.”
“I’ll drive you.”
And before Blake could think of what this might mean, he and Maggie were in his pickup racing toward the hospital.
Chapter Four
Valley Hospital was bigger than Maggie had expected. She somehow had a preconceived idea that any hospital in this minor town would be small and inadequate. On the contrary, it took up about a half-acre of land, had four floors and a staff that seemed as professional as any hospital the Bay Area had to offer.
Fortunately, Doc Blake was the calm breeze to Maggie’s hurricane of emotions and knew exactly where to go and who to ask about Kitty. For the most part, he didn’t exactly have to ask anyone anything. Maggie witnessed firsthand the benefits of living in a small town.
“Hey, Doc, Kitty’s up on the third floor in maternity,” someone behind a desk shouted as he and Maggie walked into the E.R. waiting room. “Room three-twenty-four, but she’s just getting up there so it might take a bit before you two can see her.”
Blake nodded. Maggie hadn’t taken another step, though, when several people wanted to meet Kitty’s sister. Maggie was cordial with the introductions while her mind raced through countless scenarios that her sister might be dealing with.
One of the people in the waiting room was an older woman. She didn’t appear to be an E.R. patient, rather, someone who was waiting for a loved one already inside. She walked up to Maggie and wrapped her arms around her, giving her a tight hug. “Don’t you worry about nothing, honey. Nothing bad’s gonna happen to your sister or them babies. They got the best doctors in all of Idaho working at this here hospital, so you just keep smiling ’cause that’s what your baby sister needs right now.”
For some inexplicable reason, Maggie believed her and held on tight for a moment before she let go. “Thanks.”
“Whew. Take it easy, honey. These bones of mine are getting mighty fragile,” the woman said. Then she looked over at Doc. “You gonna make a formal intro or do I gotta do it myself?”
Blake chuckled and said, “Mrs. Abernathy, this is Maggie Daniels. Maggie this is Mrs. Esther Abernathy.”
“Don’t mumble, son. Speak up.”
Maggie raised her voice a couple of decibels. “Doc Blake has mentioned you. It’s great to finally meet you.”
Esther turned to Blake. “I can hear her perfect. Why can’t you learn to talk like that?”
She didn’t wait for Blake’s response. Instead, she turned back to Maggie. “What your sister is gonna need is complete bed rest till it’s safe for them babies to be born. She’s been having contractions for the past couple weeks and the poor thing didn’t know it. Caused her cervix to flatten to one-point-two centimeters. Not good. They pumped her full of terbutaline to stop them contractions and a corticosteroid to get them babies’ lungs to mature…just in case.
“But we’re not going to dwell on that possibility now. If everything goes good, and there’s no earthly reason why it won’t, ’specially if I have anything to do with it, they’ll be letting her out of here in a few days. Once they do, I’ll be stayin’ right there with her to make sure she don’t get out of bed but to use the facilities and to bathe once in a while. I’ll need my own room, so honey, if you’re sleepin’ in the guest room, you’re gonna have to move on out. Sorry to put you in such a pickle, but I’m the only one who knows how to handle a spitfire like Kitty. Maybe you can sleep on Kitty’s sofa, but if I remember right, that sofa’s made out of materials that no man or beast can get themselves comfortable on. You might think of gettin’ a room somewhere. Or—” she turned to Doc Blake “—she can move in for a spell with you and Dodge. You got that nice big spare bedroom your ma kept that ain’t doin’ you no good. Your ma would’ve liked to see a pretty little thing like Maggie using it, instead of that nasty old wife you once had messing it up for some kind of business office that wasn’t never no business worth a lick.
“Now you two go on up to Kitty’s room and quiet yourselves. She needs her sister to hold her hand for a spell and to tell her everything is gonna be just fine. I got to go home now and start packing and preparing before I can move into that all-natural house. It won’t be easy, but when God gives me a challenge I got no choice but to follow through, ’specially since tolerating Kitty’s ‘green’ ways is His way of getting me closer to heaven.”
Then, as if that was all that needed to be said, Esther Abernathy abruptly turned and walked off, leaving Maggie and Doc Blake standing in the middle of the room wondering what the heck had just happened.
* * *
BLAKE SAT ON A hard chair against the wall in the tiny private room at Valley Hospital trying not to fall asleep. It had been almost five hours since they’d arrived, and the last time he’d checked, Maggie still wasn’t comfortable leaving her sister. She’d been sitting next to her sister’s bed, holding Kitty’s hand for almost four hours straight. Blake didn’t have the heart to try and convince her to leave, so there they both sat watching Kitty sleep.
Maggie’s reaction and her dedication to Kitty had thrown him for a loop. Up until that urgent phone call, he had expected Maggie to react to these types of emergencies exactly as his ex-wife had, cool and indiffere
nt. Even when Scout broke her arm at daycare, it was Blake who went rushing to the hospital to be with his child, not Beth. She had waited until that night to comfort Scout, when all the urgency was over and Scout was sleepy from the pain medication.
That had been the final blow to their marriage. Blake knew right then and there he couldn’t continue to live with a woman who put her own needs before their daughter’s. Beth had chosen to remain at work and have Blake handle it, rather than finding out what Scout needed.
He had filed for a divorce the very next day.
The door opened and a dark-haired nurse Blake knew well walked into the room. “You two should go home,” she whispered. “Kitty’s contractions have slowed way down. Those babies aren’t going anywhere tonight. You can come back in the morning when Kitty’s awake. She’d probably like that much better. Right now she has no idea you’re here. Besides, Doc, my son Conner has an appointment with you tomorrow afternoon and I’m sure he’d like it much better if you weren’t sleepy when you have to extract his wisdom teeth.”
Blake stood, stretched then settled his hat on his head, walked over to Maggie and held out his hand to her. “She’s right. We should go.”
Maggie looked up at him, her eyes still red from crying. Makeup completely gone. He wanted to take her in his arms and comfort her, but he knew he couldn’t. Not now. Not like this.
“You can leave, but I want to be here when Kitty wakes up.” She turned back to her sister, ignoring his outstretched hand.
Blake gave the nurse, a woman he had dated briefly when they were in their early twenties, a pleading look. She walked over to Maggie, and gently patted her back. “Maggie, I’m Cori. Tim’s cousin.” Maggie stood and they gave each other a tight hug. “Believe me, sweetie, I know how you’re feeling.” Maggie went back to sitting next to Kitty. “I have a sister, and if she were in here I’d want to camp out as well, but it’s really better for everyone if you go home and get some rest. That way, if she needs you in the morning, you’ll be clearheaded.”
“We always promised each other that if anything ever happened to one of us, we’d be there. I have to stay. I promised.”
“But nothing’s happened. And nothing’s going to happen. Not on my watch. Kitty’s fine. So are her babies.”
“How can you be sure? What if those contractions start up again?”
“Trust me. I’ve been taking care of pregnant women for the last eight years. As long as she stays down and takes her meds, everything will be just fine. I promise.”
Blake had to admit the whole thing made him nervous. He’d already been through a birth tragedy with Colt’s wife, when Joey was born. But he knew this was different. For one thing, Kitty was in much better shape than Colt’s wife had been. And Kitty wasn’t hemorrhaging, she had merely started labor six weeks too soon. Plus, he knew Cori wouldn’t make a promise if she thought she couldn’t keep it. She was a straight shootin’ kind of girl. Always had been, and probably always would be. It was her brutal honesty that Blake had had a hard time with when he was dating her. However, over the years he’d come to realize that Cori’s honesty was a dependable force.
He once again held out his hand to Maggie. This time she took it and stood, facing Cori. “Are you here all night?”
“Until nine when my shift is over. I promise I’ll call your cell or I’ll call over at the house if anything changes. But nothing’s going to change. Kitty and those babies mean a lot to our family, so let me do my job.”
“No matter how small, you’ll call me?”
Cori nodded. “You have my word, sweetie.”
Maggie bent over and gently kissed a sleeping Kitty on the forehead, then proceeded to head out with Blake by her side, still holding her hand. He threw Cori a smile and a nod as he left.
“Get yourself some sleep, Doc. Conner doesn’t need any slip-ups with that extraction.”
“I intend to do just that.”
Her gaze shifted to his hand still holding Maggie’s, and she threw him a wry look. “I’m going to try to believe you.”
He let her comment slide. Maggie didn’t seem to hear it and he was in no mood to defend his ethics.
They didn’t talk much as they left the hospital and drove out of the parking lot, but once they were on the road Blake felt as if he had to break the silent tension. “If you don’t want to be alone, you can spend the night with me.” She turned toward him, and he caught a look of surprise on her face just as they passed under a streetlight. He thought he needed to clarify. “What I mean is, you can spend the night in the guest room. There’s nothing…”
“Thanks, but I just want to go home. I need to email Tim and tell him what’s going on. I don’t have his address in my phone. It’s on Kitty’s laptop.”
Blake felt dog-tired. It was going on three o’clock Monday morning and he’d been going since five Sunday morning. It had been one of those days that didn’t quit, and the thought of driving Maggie home, then driving all the way to the ranch, seemed impossible. The trip would take him almost an hour.
He was thinking of bedding down in the truck, when Maggie made an offer he didn’t understand, exactly. “You’re welcome to spend the night in my bed.”
“I, um, I…”
He glanced over at her and could see the smile slip across her sweet lips. “I’ll sleep in Kitty’s room. I don’t know how far your ranch is, but if you’re as tired as I am, I don’t want to be responsible for your falling asleep at the wheel.”
How could he resist? “I’d like that. I only have three patients tomorrow, and they start with Conner sometime in the afternoon. I’m not exactly sure what time, but I think we’ll be safe if we show up around noon.”
“Can I come in a little earlier? I want to get my bearings before any of your patients arrive.”
“Whatever makes you comfortable.”
And there it was. He decided that Maggie Daniels was nothing like his ex-wife and he wanted her in his office. But, more important, he wanted her in his life.
Still, he had to hold on. He could see himself getting carried away here, only to lose her to the big city. That part of Maggie was ingrained in her DNA. Of that, he was certain. But if a man was worth his name, that man would figure out a way to change her city thinking into Country reason.
Fortunately, he was just the cowboy to do it.
* * *
BY THE TIME Blake parked his truck in front of Kitty’s reclaimed-brick bungalow, Maggie felt sick with fatigue. She hoped that Blake didn’t need much more than to be pointed in the direction of her bedroom and the linen closet, because she was functioning on fumes at the moment.
He followed close behind as Maggie made her way up the brick walkway lined by gold and deep orange baby mums, and up to the cherry-red front door. Kitty’s front yard was pretty enough to be in a magazine. Not only was her house Country Living–worthy, but her front and backyards could be featured in Better Homes and Gardens.
As soon as Maggie opened the front door, flipped on the lights and peeked in the empty living room she felt like crying again. Kitty wasn’t there. She was in a hospital fighting to keep her tiny babies inside her.
Maggie couldn’t walk inside. Not yet. She turned to face Blake.
“You want, we can sit for a spell on the front porch. Kitty’s swing sits two real cozy.”
Maggie was tempted. When she’d arrived, she remembered thinking about sitting on that swing, with a cup of steaming coffee, considering what her
life had come to. She loved porch swings. When she was a little girl, not long after their father had abandoned them, there was a year when their mom had sent them to live with a cousin in a small town in Indiana. Kitty had taken to it like a kid to Christmas, but Maggie had a tougher time adjusting. Still, the one thing she’d loved about her stay was sitting on that front porch swing, imagining how things would be when she grew up.
Unfortunately, nothing she had imagined had happened, and Kitty’s porch swing had turned into a symbol of her failed life, so she wanted no part of it.
They were standing only inches from each other, Maggie totally aware of the concern in his eyes. He took her hand again. She took a step closer, wondering if she should just let go and allow herself to be comforted by this sweet cowboy.
The night felt cool against her skin as the silence that surrounded them seemed to draw them even closer. She wanted nothing more than to fall into his arms and have him assure her that everything was going to be fine. That a lot of pregnant women go through this, it was nothing to worry about. She wanted to kiss his lips and fall asleep cuddled up next to him, knowing that nothing bad could ever happen as long as she held on tight.
He took a step toward her.
“That light is keeping me up,” Mrs. Abernathy yelled from somewhere inside the house. “If you’re spending the night, Doc, I made up a cozy spot for you in the nursery. If not, git goin’ with your flirtin’ self. You got patients to deal with later today, and Maggie don’t got no time to be catering to your manly needs with things like this.”
They both laughed. Maggie let go of his hand and said, “Never could I ever get used to this. How did she get in here?”
“Kitty probably doesn’t lock her doors. Most people around here don’t. It’s a courtesy, of sorts. If someone stops by when you’re not home, they can get in and wait for you.”
