With Courage and Commitment

by Charlotte Maclay

  When they finished, they handed the clerk their completed forms.

  She eyed Stephanie’s advanced pregnancy and smiled. “I always say, better late than never.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Danny answered. “I’ve been meaning to propose for some time. Guess I almost procrastinated too long.”

  “From the look of your bride, she may not make it to the wedding before that baby of yours pops out.”

  Frowning and rubbing her hand across her lower back, Stephanie said, “I’ll make it even if I have to keep my legs crossed for the full three days.”

  Danny didn’t like the sound of her answer. She wasn’t due for another week or more. There should be plenty of time to get the wedding out of the way before Vickie arrived on the scene.

  He tucked the signed and stamped marriage license safely in his hip pocket as they walked back to the truck.

  “So what do you want to do about the wedding itself?” he asked as casually as he could. The reality of what they’d done—of what they were about to do—was about as scary as being the nozzle man on your first fire.

  This time he wouldn’t be able to back out, to change his mind, to simply walk away as he had twice before. As his father had.

  Damn! For Stephanie’s sake, Danny wished he could get an instant gene transplant so he wouldn’t risk hurting her.

  “Under the circumstances,” she said, “I’d like to keep it as low-key as we can.”

  “Yeah. Guess it would be tough to get a wedding gown fitted in only a couple of days.”

  “Particularly in the shape I’m in. There can’t be many places to buy a ready-made maternity wedding gown.”

  He stopped her on the sidewalk and lifted her chin. “You deserve better, Twigs. A gown and a church, music and dancing. If you want me to—”

  With her fingertip on his lips, she silenced him. “This is all so surreal. And it isn’t fair to you, either.”

  “You don’t hear me complaining, do you?”

  “No, and I suppose you’re going to tell me this is what friends are for.”

  Catching her finger in his mouth, he nibbled lightly. It nearly broke his heart to see the troubled look in her hazel eyes, the golden sparkles dimmed by worry. Marriage to a guy like him did that to a woman, he supposed, somebody she knew couldn’t handle commitment. “I’m gathering lots of points so you’ll owe me big time later.”

  “It figures.”

  She visibly shuddered, from the cool afternoon air or something else, he couldn’t be sure, and he turned them back toward the parking lot.

  “I’ll talk to my dad this evening about what we’re doing.”

  “You want me to be there with you?”

  “I think it will be easier to explain without you.”

  Probably because Chief Gray hadn’t planned for his daughter to marry an ordinary firefighter. Not that Danny couldn’t study, take the tests and move up a grade or two. In fact, for Stephanie he’d do just that if she’d ask him to. God, if it were in his power, he’d give her the moon and stars. But he didn’t think he’d have the chance, as much as he might want to. The likelihood of their marriage lasting through even one civil service testing cycle seemed remote. Her troubles with Edgar would be resolved by then. She wouldn’t need Danny any longer.

  “If your dad wants to hit me or something, I’ll come on over.”

  She stopped at the passenger side of the truck and looked up at him. “I suspect Dad will want to give you a medal. He isn’t fond of Edgar and he’s always had a soft spot for you—even when you hit that home run right through our front window.”

  “Really?” Pleased with that news, he opened the door, helped her up, and caught her when she lost her balance, teetering backwards. “Easy, Twigs.”

  “Thanks.” Righting herself, she took a deep breath. “Dad has a friend who’s a judge. Maybe he can ask him to perform the ceremony in his chambers. I’d at least like my father there wherever we do the deed.”

  “Fine by me.” Taking her hand, he brushed a kiss to her knuckles. He’d buy her flowers, the biggest bouquet he could find. She deserved so much more. “Everything’s going to work out, Stephanie. You’ll see.”

  STEPHANIE HELD THAT THOUGHT close to her heart all night. She’d explained the situation to her father, who had taken the news that she was going to marry Danny amazingly well.

  The next morning, he went off to a community public relations affair in a bright frame of mind while she’d been blurry eyed from lack of sleep. What was it with the men in her life? Didn’t they realize she wanted love, not a forced marriage to protect her child or a marriage of convenience?

  She stormed around the house. Guilt about what she was doing to Danny was driving her crazy. So was the ache in her back. And every time she heard a car outside, she was half terrified Edgar was about to show up and drag her off where he could snatch her baby right out of her belly. Which didn’t seem like all that bad an idea at the moment because little Vickie was pressing on her pelvis as if she was doing a headstand, which was giving Stephanie cramps.

  She had to do something to get her mind off her troubles.

  The toilet needed cleaning. If there was any job in the world she hated more, Stephanie couldn’t think of it. But she might as well get it done while she was feeling energetic. No doubt after the baby arrived, she wouldn’t have time for such mundane chores.

  She also needed to work on the layout for the Boutique Bagels’ ads. She wanted to be able to put draft copies in the mail to the owner before the baby came, let him have time to study the concept, then put the wheels in motion to run the ads when she was back from the hospital. The timing would work out perfectly.

  Of course, as long as she was cleaning the toilets she might as well scrub the bathroom floor, too. The kitchen could use a good mopping while she was at it.

  And she hadn’t packed her bag yet for the hospital. Now, there was something she couldn’t put off much longer. She’d get down her suitcase from the attic and find the packing list Maureen had given the class.

  Not that there was any rush. She’d seen her doctor on Monday. Everything was progressing normally. She had a full week to go.

  DANNY WAS AT LOOSE ENDS.

  He had the day off but he didn’t want to do any training, not twenty-four hours before the triathlon. He needed his muscles to be relaxed and well rested, ready to perform at top speed. For the sake of the buddies he’d lost in Idaho, he wanted to be at his peak.

  Because of Moose, he had to be if he wanted a chance to win.

  But with nothing to do his nerves were stretched as tautly as a fire hose under maximum water power. Tomorrow would be his wedding day. He could barely believe it even when he said the words aloud. Twigs, his bride. He didn’t know whether to shout it from the rooftop or send her a sympathy card.

  He wanted to race across the street, take her in his arms, kiss her senseless, and tell her that he’d love her forever. Because that was the truth. That astounding discovery had hit him upside the head at about four in the morning, and he hadn’t been able to go back to sleep afterwards.

  He actually loved her. He wasn’t going to wake up tomorrow or the next day or ten thousand days from now bored with the whole thing, wanting out of his marriage to Stephanie. Not a chance.

  This time he was going to stick it out through sickness and health, until death did them part—unless she told him to get lost.

  But the thought of actually crossing the street to announce that revelation was about as absurd as running a marathon on his hands. She wouldn’t want to hear it.

  In fact, given her nerves yesterday, she was probably on the verge of backing out of the marriage altogether. He wasn’t about to risk that.

  So he decided to go down to the station house. He could hang out with the guys on B shift, maybe have lunch at the Smoke Eaters Bar and Grill. Stay loose that way. Then he’d carbo-load for the race, get a good night’s sleep and be all set to go in the morning.

  Yep,
that’s what he’d do.

  TO HIS DISAPPOINTMENT, all the fire trucks were out on a run when he arrived at Station 6. He wandered inside, his running shoes squeaking on the concrete floor of the empty bay. Even the administrative offices sat absent of their usual occupants, Saturday being a day off for the eight-to-fivers.

  Out of desperation, he shoved open the door to the dispatch office. There was always someone on duty there.

  He almost groaned aloud when he saw Emma Jean behind the counter. Bad mistake, he realized. He didn’t want to get trapped into a conversation with her but he couldn’t think of a graceful way to escape.

  “Hey, hon! I knew you’d drop by today,” she said, her silver jewelry jingling as she turned toward him.

  “How would you know that?”

  Lifting her shoulders in an easy shrug, she grinned. “I’m psychic.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “Anyway, I was checking out my new crystal ball this morning and I saw the darnedest thing.” Getting up, she came over to the counter that separated them. “It didn’t make any sense to me but maybe you can explain it. Take a look.”

  The scowl he’d developed since he walked into dispatch deepened. “If you’ve got another hamster in that damn crystal ball of yours, I’m going to break it open with a fire ax and scatter it at sea.”

  “Goodness, but you’re in a bad mood. I can’t think why, not if what I see in this is true.” She placed her ball on the counter and pulled the cover away. “What do you think?”

  He thought he was crazy. What he saw inside the globe was an image of him holding a baby in his arms, a woman next to him who resembled Stephanie. The picture was fuzzy like an out-of-focus camera shot but the likeness was uncannily accurate.

  Sweat beaded his forehead. “How’d you do that?” It was his own imagination that had conjured that picture. Not Emma Jean and her stupid ball.

  Emma Jean pumped a fist in the air. “I knew this ball was better than the last one I had! Paid twice as much for it, too, but it was worth every penny.”

  He took a step away from the counter. “I gotta go.” Whirling, he made for the door. He didn’t know what was going on.

  The last words he heard before making a dash down the hallway were, “Congratulations! She’s a lucky woman.”

  That was so eerie it gave him the creeps. He’d never expected to see anything in a crystal ball, except the paper rodent image Emma Jean had planted there. He wasn’t psychic. Didn’t want to be.

  Still, he couldn’t shake the thought that he’d had a glimpse of the future, a future he desperately wanted to be more than a fleeting moment in time. His imagination had done that for him.

  And the overwhelming love he had for Stephanie.

  AFTER A QUICK TRIP DOWNTOWN to do some shopping, he killed most of the afternoon at the Smoke Eaters Bar and Grill, sipping a single beer and playing darts with anyone who showed up.

  Finally he went home. The phone was ringing when he walked in the door, a light blinking on the answering machine.

  “Sullivan.”

  “Thank God you’re home, Danny. This is Harlan Gray. I think Stephanie has gone into labor but she won’t go to the hospital. You’d better get over here in a hurry.”

  For a full heartbeat, panic immobilized him. Then he broke into a sprint fast enough to break world records in the hundred-yard dash.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Danny burst in through the back door, nearly scaring Stephanie out of her wits. He looked wild eyed, his face a white mask.

  “How far apart are the pains?”

  “A long way. They’re not even regular. I’m sure they’re those practice contractions, those Braxton Hicks thingies.” She wouldn’t let them be anything else. She wasn’t ready to go to the hospital, couldn’t have the baby yet. It was too soon. She’d been having aches and pains for weeks, it seemed. These were no different.

  “I’ve been watching her,” her father said, looking as anxious as Danny. Men. “I think they’re about fifteen minutes apart.”

  She got up to pace around the kitchen. The floor was immaculate, the counters sparkling, every dish put away. “They’ll stop in a minute. They already have. See?” She held her arms wide and put on a bright, albeit phony, smile.

  “Maybe we ought to call the doctor,” Danny suggested.

  “Don’t be silly. It’s the weekend. She needs her time off like everyone else.”

  “We could go to the hospital, let somebody check you out.”

  “I’m not even packed yet.” She’d been so busy cleaning and scrubbing, she hadn’t gotten around to it.

  “You’re not? God, Stephanie, you were supposed to do that weeks ago.”

  “Well, I didn’t!” she snapped. “The list is around here somewhere. And don’t swear at me.”

  “Right. I’m sorry.” He looked suitably contrite—and worried sick.

  “I’ll get the suitcase down,” Harlan said.

  “There’s no rush,” she repeated, more for herself than her father, who was already heading for the pulldown stairs to the attic.

  “You want to sit down? Or have me rub your back?”

  “No, I want you to go home. Dad will call you if—”

  “I’m not leaving.”

  Stubborn man. “You have to. You’ve got your race in the morning.” And a wedding in the afternoon you’d never intended. “You need your rest.”

  “Forget the damn—darn—race.” Pulling out a chair at the table, he sat down, leaned back and crossed his arms. “I’m going to stay right here until you decide it’s time for me to take you to the hospital.”

  “Danny, the race. What about your friends in Idaho? You were doing it for—”

  “You and Vickie are more important than they are.”

  Unable to stand on her feet any longer, she sat down opposite him. A contraction snaked through her, and she wrapped her arms around her belly, trying not to let the pain show on her face. “You can’t let your team down.”

  “How many minutes since the last one?”

  She hadn’t fooled him. “I don’t know.”

  Skeptically he raised his eyebrows.

  “I don’t, really. Dad’s been keeping track.” She’d been doing her damnedest to ignore the whole thing. With each passing hour, she’d been increasingly afraid this was the real deal, not a false contraction in the bunch. For all her brave words, abject terror kept nipping at her heels. She couldn’t talk fast enough, rationalize wildly enough, to keep the fear at bay. “You know as well as I do that I can’t have the baby yet.”

  “I’ve got the feeling you’ll have the baby whenever Vickie decides it’s time.”

  She groaned but not from pain. “I’ll mess up everything. Your race—”

  “I’ll race next year.”

  “The wedding. There’s not much point in getting married if I have the baby before the ceremony.”

  A frown lowered his brows. “We’ll get the judge over here now.”

  “We have to wait the three days, so no matter what else I do, I’m going to have to keep my legs crossed until after midnight.”

  Her father reappeared in the kitchen with her suitcase. “Here we go. Now, you say there’s a list—”

  “I’ll take care of it.” She hopped up too quickly and was rewarded with sharp pain across her groin for her effort. “Dammit,” she muttered.

  Both Danny and her father eyed her with mild censure.

  She planted her fist on her hip. “It’s all right for a woman in labor to swear, and you can expect a hell of a lot more of that from me before this whole mess is over.”

  “Ah, so you admit you’re in labor,” Danny said with a self-righteous gleam in his eyes.

  Her father set the suitcase down on the floor. “There’s going to be a problem getting Judge Helmet here before tomorrow afternoon. He left after lunch yesterday to go golfing at Pebble Beach and planned to come back tomorrow in time to perform the ceremony. I don’t know how to reach him.�
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  It was Danny’s turn to swear under his breath.

  “See? I can’t have the baby yet.” Snatching up the suitcase, she marched down the hallway toward her bedroom.

  Danny shot to his feet as she left the kitchen. Talk about the best-laid plans going wrong. He wanted this wedding in the worst way, but it wasn’t going to happen unless Stephanie thought it was the only way to keep her baby. And he knew darn well no amount of crossing her legs would slow down the arrival of a baby determined to be born. Not at this stage.

  “I’ll help her get packed, Chief, if you’ll give Tommy Tonka a call. Tell him he’ll have to move up to the senior division of the triathlon.”

  “Can he do that?”

  “It’s within the rules, since he’s already registered. But finishing the race…” He shrugged, wishing he hadn’t been so set on Paseo winning the event and him personally beating Moose. “Whatever he can do will be better than conceding and withdrawing the whole team.” At least Moose and his cohorts from the La Verde Fire Department wouldn’t have a total walkover.

  “All right, I’ll get hold of Tommy. You take care of Stephanie for me.”

  “I will, assuming she’ll let me.”

  Nodding grimly, Chief Gray acknowledged that would be a major hurdle. “I’ll call the Highway Patrol, see if they can locate the judge.”

  “Thanks.” He hesitated. “Chief, I know you probably wouldn’t have picked me to marry your daughter, but I want you to know—”

  “What makes you think I wouldn’t want you to marry Stephanie?”

  “Well, I—” His shoulders slumped and he studied the squares of linoleum on the floor. “You know how my dad took off, leaving Mom and me, and it makes sense you’d think I’d do the same thing to Stephanie. But I swear—”

  Harlan firmly clamped his hand down on Danny’s shoulder. “Son, I knew your father and while he wasn’t a bad man, he was weak. He didn’t have the guts to stick around when things got a little rough so he took off. That’s not what a man ought to do.”