Bethany sat bolt upright. “Where are you?”
“I don’t know, just…get here!” And the call ended.
Nate was already pulling on his clothes. “Abby Noonan? Pregnant, married to Earl?”
“Yes, that’s the one.”
He tossed her sweater and jeans onto her lap. “I’ll drive you. I have an emergency kit in my truck. Does she have an OB/Gyn?”
“I don’t think so. She was planning on a home birth.”
He clicked on his remote warmup key to get the truck ready to go. She was fumbling with her inside-out sweater, so he helped her with that, then they both ran for the front door.
The Noonans lived on a farm even farther down the ridge than the Hilltop Homestead. They were probably twice as far from the firehouse as he was. If Abby—and her baby—were going to have any chance at all, they’d better drive like the wind.
Chapter Thirty-One
Thank God for Nate.
Not just because he’d been there for her when she was spinning out of control with edgy rage. But also because he knew everyone in Lost Harbor and where they lived. Apparently he’d been out to the Noonans’ farm before, when one of their kids had fallen off a ladder.
Also, he was an excellent driver and knew how to handle the roads and their crusty layer of salt and ice, and the occasional slippery curve.
For so many reasons, she’d done exactly the right thing running straight to Nate to work off her anger.
While he drove, she called Gretel back, hoping to get a better idea of what was going on, but her sister didn’t answer. She also called the Lost Harbor dispatcher and was informed that it would be about half an hour before anyone could get out there.
It was up to her and Nate.
At first she didn’t try to talk. The grim set of his jaw told her he needed to focus on driving. Besides, she’d done enough talking for one night. Ranting and raving was probably closer to the truth. He must think she was nuts, barging in with all her drama. Neurotic, to say the least.
But it hadn’t turned him off, so there was that.
Hot sex one minute, jokes the next. And now, deadly serious as they headed to the scene of an unknown medical emergency.
She needed to fill him in on Abby’s case.
“The last time I saw her, she was exhausted and dehydrated. I recommended an MRI but apparently she never got one.”
“Any guesses what’s going on?”
“I was worried she might have something neurological going on. She said she’d been unusually clumsy lately and blamed being tired.”
“That’s outside my expertise. Is Ian around?”
“I saw him earlier today.” She’d forgotten about Ian as soon as she’d left the cafeteria. But she was glad he was in town in case Abby needed him.
The quiet settled in again. They turned onto a gravel road with very sketchy plowing. Nate’s big truck bumped over ruts of ice that required extra attention to navigate. Lights shone from a house hidden by a thick grove of snow-burdened trees. Not far to go now.
And she still hadn’t said what she wanted to say. After her blowout with her father, she was tired of holding everything in.
“It’s possible that Abby’s problem involves her pregnancy. Will you be okay if it does, given…?” She winced at how tactless that sounded.
He looked over at her with a frown. “What are you talking about?”
She forged ahead, despite her rocky start. “I’m talking about what happened with your baby sister. The other day at the firehouse, when you blamed the chrome polish, it was about Sabrina, wasn’t it?” She remembered it so clearly—Nate hunched over next to the fire engine, shoulders shaking.
“So? What are you getting at? Why are you talking about her?”
“Why don’t you talk about her?” she countered. “Besides, all I asked is if you’d be okay.”
“I’ve never lost my cool during a call.” Tension vibrated in his voice, in his posture, in his hands tightening on the steering wheel. “Never.”
“Nate, come on. I was just trying to--”
“I know what you’re after. You think I should talk more about her. You wanted me to, at the firehouse and in bed at the hotel. You keep bringing her up.” He scowled at the road ahead as he steered the truck around an icy puddle.
She felt as if the conversation had turned into a skate across sketchy ice. “Well, it seems like an important piece of your life.”
“It isn’t. You don’t know my life.”
“That’s the whole point—”
He interrupted again. “I don’t talk about it because I don’t need to.” Just ahead, lights blinked again through the thick stands of trees surrounding the house.
“You never have? Not even with your family?”
“No. I talked to her in my head, that’s all. I would show her things that I learned at school, new hockey skates, that sort of thing. But only for a while. Then I stopped.”
The hardness in his voice made her want to cry. How could it not affect him? Of course it did.
“If you ever want to—”
“No. I never want to. I will never want to. You need to back off, Bethany.”
His flat harshness sent a shock through her. “Okay. Sure. If that’s how you want it—”
“That’s how it is. That’s what we decided it is. That’s how you wanted it. Remember? I’m the fake not-quite-worthy boyfriend.”
They drove around the last curve of the drive and reached a sprawling farmhouse with every room lit up.
“Nate!” she cried. “I never said you weren’t worthy. That’s not at all true—”
“Yes, it is. I know what’s going on here. I’m your rebellion against your daddy. He pissed you off tonight and so you came racing up the hill for a booty call. That’s me, the fun booty call. I’m not complaining. But don’t act like this is something it’s not. And don’t fucking bring Sabrina into it.”
He jerked the truck to a stop and turned off the ignition.
She pushed open the door and jumped out of the truck. For a dizzy moment she wasn’t sure if she was running toward a patient or escaping from Nate. Then her doctor training took over and she ran for the front door. She heard his door slam, and a moment later he was beside her, his emergency bag slung over his shoulder.
His expression was all business now.
Both of them had their game faces on. As if they hadn’t just shredded their…whatever it was.
A small child, his face covered in tears, opened the door and pointed them toward a nearby room. They found Abby on the floor, unconscious, with Gretel crouched over her. Abby’s shirt was open and bits of foam flecked her neck and face. All the furniture had been pushed aside.
“Thank God you’re here!” cried Gretel. “She keeps having seizures. I’m just trying to keep her from hurting herself. I called Ian too, and he said to call the EMTs. He said not to put anything in her mouth.”
“Good, that’s great, Gretel.” Bethany kneeled next to her sister. “Why don’t you see about those kids, they look completely freaked out.”
“They’ve been crying nonstop. Is she going to be okay?”
Nate handed her a stethoscope and she listened to Abby’s heartbeat.
“BP 100 over 70,” said Nate, who’d applied a blood pressure cuff. “Pulse very rapid.”
Just then, Abby seized again, arms and legs thrashing. With Bethany holding down one of her arms and Nate the other, Bethany counted the seconds. She knew Nate was doing the same.
“How many times has this happened?” Bethany asked Gretel.
“This is the fifth.”
“Let’s get her ready for transport.” Nate nodded and got to work. “An ambulance is on the way,” she told Gretel.
“What’s wrong with her?”
“Not sure yet. But she needs to get to the hospital. Are you okay staying with the kids?”
“Of course. I’ll call her husband too. I have his number somewhere.”
Bethany gave her sister an impulsive hug. “You did great, baby sis.”
Tears spilled from Gretel’s blue eyes. “I was so scared. I don’t know how you do this.”
Nate was busy rigging up a makeshift gurney from a sheet. By the time they heard the ambulance pull up outside, they were ready. The other paramedics hurried in with the real gurney, and it took just a moment to transfer her onto it. Within seconds, they’d whisked her off into the night.
Gretel disappeared into the kitchen with the kids.
Bethany and Nate were left staring at each other.
A sense of emptiness drained through her. They’d worked so well together. And yet everything felt wrong.
“Nate, I—”
He held up a hand. “Let’s not.” A muscle in his jaw flexed and she saw that he was still very angry. “I think we know where we stand.”
She stared at him, feeling her own anger well inside her. Was he going to permanently freeze her out because she’d dared to mention his sister? “Do you know that just now, in the truck, was the first time I’ve ever heard you say Sabrina’s name? Does that seem right to you?”
He turned away and shoved his cuff and stethoscope back in his bag.
“You think you’re fine, but you’re lying to yourself, Nate, and that’s the stupidest kind of a lie there is. Take it from me.”
He looked up at her briefly, eyes flinty gray, then zipped his bag and stood. “I’ll meet you in the truck.”
“That’s it? We’re not going to talk about this?”
But she was talking to his back as he strode toward the door.
Chapter Thirty-Two
A few days later, Nate dropped in at the hospital to check on Abby Noonan. He found her looking pale but alert, surrounded by her husband and children. Earl Noonan surged to his feet and wrapped Nate in a bear hug as soon as he walked in.
“Thank you, man. Thank you. Dr. Morrison too. Without you two, I can’t even…” He broke off, his big burly frame shaking. “I flew down as soon as Gretel called, just got here in fact.”
Nate patted him on the back until he calmed down. “Glad to help, but Gretel’s the one who held it all together. Is she around?”
That was actually code for “is Bethany around,” but Earl didn’t have to know that. Nate hadn’t seen or spoken to Bethany since that night at the Noonan place. Their fight had stirred up too much inside him. He needed some time to think it through. For days now, his head had felt thick and slow.
But he missed seeing her.
“No, she’s back at the ranch with Chloe, she has the flu. Come on. Abby wants to thank you, too.”
He stepped to Abby’s side and stooped down to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.
“I can do this because I’m not infectious,” she said with a weak laugh. “Turns out I have a wee little t-u-m-o-r in my brain.” She spelled out the word with a loaded glance at her kids. “It’s in an easy spot to remove. They’re going to do an emergency C-section, since I’m so far along anyway, and do the surgery right afterwards.”
She put on a brave front for someone facing childbirth and brain surgery. “It sounds like they have it under control. Good news.”
“Yes, Dr. Finnegan explained everything very clearly, and Dr. Morrison agreed that it’s the best course of action. I trust them. I’m not at all worried.”
She glanced at her husband, who was showing the kids something outside the window, then lowered her voice. “I’m lying. I’m fucking terrified.”
He crouched next to her and took her trembling hand. “Hey, that’s all right. Of course you’re terrified. That’s normal. Who wouldn’t be?”
“Don’t tell my family. I need to look brave. I know Earl is even more scared, and he works with explosive chemicals all day.”
“Abby, you are brave. Being afraid doesn’t take away from that. But look, Dr. Finnegan is great. We’re lucky to have him here. He’s going to get you through this.”
“That’s what Bethany said. Dr. Morrison. I was really freaking out before she talked to me.”
“You can trust her. I would trust her if I had a brain tumor. Or anything else.”
Abby nodded, her gaze clinging to his. “I do trust her. You should hear Gretel talk about her. She says Bethany is the only reliable person in her life and always has been. It’s—well, it’s a shame.”
“What’s a shame?” He braced himself for a lecture about him and Bethany.
“That she’s considering leaving.”
“What?”
“I overheard her and Dr. Finnegan talking. I guess she got offered a position back east. It’s at a great hospital, not a little podunk place like this.”
So Bethany was going to leave without even telling him.
Then again, why would she tell him after he’d told her to back off—and worse? He’d been so harsh to her.
They hadn’t said one word to each other in his truck. Later, he’d lain on his back in the cupola room and watched the stars. And thought about Sabrina and Bethany and her accusations of “lying to himself.”
If Bethany left Lost Harbor, his life would go back to normal. Casual relationships, work. Travel. The life he’d always enjoyed so much. But now the thought of it gave him no joy.
One of Abby’s kids came hurtling over to the bed, shouting about a snowshoe hare he’d spotted.
Nate said goodbye and slowly strolled through the hospital corridors toward the exit. The closer he got to the sliding glass doors, the more his feet dragged. He wanted to see Bethany. Even if they were done, he still wanted to see her.
Just see her.
Soak in her smile. Smile back. Make her laugh.
Breathe more easily.
But he didn’t catch a single glimpse of her, no matter how much he loitered in the hospital lobby. He even sent her a text, which she didn’t answer.
So he gave up and trudged through the snowy parking lot to his truck.
One week since she’d seen Nate. Scratch that; she’d caught a glimpse of him at the hospital. But her heart had turned inside out at the sight of his tall form and all his words had come rushing back. Back off. Don’t act like this is something it’s not. Don’t bring Sabrina into this.
What a fool she’d been.
Nate had taken her so far out of her comfort zone—breaking rules, falling in love—and now nothing made sense. Everything was upside down.
Even her relationship with Gretel, who caught her crying in the car outside the Dark Brew coffee shop. Doing her part to help Gretel “adult,” she’d driven her sister to a job interview.
Then burst into tears at the sight of a plow truck that reminded her of their trip to Grandview.
As soon as Gretel slid back into the car, she wrapped her arms around Bethany. “Tell me everything, big sis. Come on.”
So Bethany did, recounting her fight with Nate virtually word for word. For once, Gretel was the calm, logical one. “So you’re in love, but Nate thinks you were just rebelling against Daddy?”
“I guess he does. But that’s so far from the truth.”
“Have you told him you love him?”
“Of course not! We’re just…being casual. I couldn’t do that.”
Gretel fixed her with that luminous turquoise gaze. “Then how do you know he doesn’t love you?”
“I just told you. He pushed me away. He told me to back off.” She used the back of her mitten to dab the tears off her face.
“Look, Bethy. People aren’t logical. They lash out when they’re in pain. Maybe he’s still hurting over his baby sister.”
“So I should never have brought up Sabrina.”
“I’m not saying that. It depends on what kind of relationship you want. That’s what it all comes down to. What do you want in your life?”
Bethany looked over at her sister. A smudge of snow lingered on her purple knitted hat. More flakes were drifting past the passenger window.
What did she want in her life?
Part of her
just wanted everything back how it was—career solid and heart intact.
But did she really want that? Since she’d come to Lost Harbor, she’d changed. She’d fallen in love. She’d stood up to her father. She’d claimed her self-respect. And she didn’t want to go back to the old Bethany.
“I want this place,” she said abruptly. “Lost Harbor. I like it here.”
Gretel blinked in surprise. “Um…I like it here too. What does that--”
Bethany started up the car. “I need to write a letter to the state medical board. I’m not giving up my job here without a fight.”
“All right. Okay then. Good talk that had nothing to do with the medical board.”
Smiling for the first time in a week, Bethany blew her sister a kiss. “People aren’t logical, haven’t you heard?”
The first practice game of the winter hockey league was usually a high point of Nate’s November. The Lost Harbor Puffins—or the Lost Harbor Losers, as their competitors liked to call them—needed him in the net. And he needed the team to get through the winter.
But this year, Nate wasn’t looking forward to it the same way. In fact, he felt bored as he laced up his skates. His usual warmup laps of the chilly ice rink gave him no pleasure. The brisk rush of the rink’s icy breath on his cheeks didn’t fill him with excitement. The familiar razzing and joking around among the teammates—some of whom had been away fishing all summer—left him cold.
It all felt empty.
Maybe he should plan more trips out of state this winter. Hawaii, he thought, stroking hard across the ice. A beach with Bethany…
He caught himself. No Bethany. He’d be taking this trip alone, or with another woman.
No. There would be no other woman. He’d be taking this trip on his own. The way he did everything, really, when you came right down to it. Because that was what he’d chosen.
A puck came bouncing across the ice toward him. He didn’t have his stick yet, so he stopped it with his blade. Looking up, he saw Darius Boone, the fire chief, gliding toward him.
“Looking sharp,” he said dryly. “Rough night?”
Seduced by Snowfall Page 21
