by Leona Karr
Color drained away from his face, then he seemed to catch himself. “I guess there’s nothing to do but wait and see. And then we’ll just have to deal with the situation as best we can,” he said in a firm, assured tone.
She nodded but she had little confidence that her best would be good enough. They both knew she had come to the ranch to be a companion to the pregnant young woman, nothing more. She certainly wasn’t qualified to act as midwife or anything close to it. She was only here because Hal had failed to get anyone else to help. Another woman’s presence in the house was better than none at all—but not much better, she thought, feeling sickening quivers in the pit of her stomach.
“I’m glad you’re here, Jill,” he said, his grateful eyes caressing her face. “Damn glad.”
“This is more than I can handle,” she said quickly. “Just because I’ve had a baby myself doesn’t qualify me to deliver one. There’s no way I can deal with this.” Her helplessness exploded as fury. “We need medical help! Pure and simple! Don’t you understand?”
“Easy, easy,” he soothed. He knew that she was scared to death. And the way things were going, so was he. “We’ll just have to take things as they come, won’t we? As you say, this could be a false alarm.”
She swallowed hard, and gave him a forced smile. “Pray that it is.” Both of them took a deep breath as they returned to the room.
“She can’t have the baby now. It’s not time. It’s not time.” Gary kept saying the same thing over and over as if constant repetition would make it so.
Hal put a steadying hand on the young man’s shoulder. “Don’t be running to meet trouble before it gets here, Gary. Let’s get a weather forecast. Maybe the storm’s passed over sooner than predicted. Might start clearing today.”
“But what if it doesn’t?” Gary asked in a frightened voice.
“Go with Hal, Gary. Better for Sue to rest as much as possible.” And better for you to keep out of the way, Jill added mentally. Dealing with an expectant father’s uncontrollable anxiety along with everything else was more than she could handle at the moment.
“We’d best make ourselves scarce for a bit.” Hal escorted him to the door. “Let’s check and see if they’ve got the phones working.”
Sudden hope buoyed Jill. What a blessing that would be. Any communication with somebody knowledgeable would be a godsend. Jill gave Hal a grateful look as he took Gary by the arm. He winked back and gave her a thumbs-up.
Hal knew that Gary was only half listening to his reassuring words as they made their way through the silent house to the kitchen. He went directly to the phone. As he had expected, it was still dead.
Damn, he silently swore and quickly turned on a portable radio. A weather forecaster repeated what he already knew—the worst blizzard in a century had paralyzed Colorado and Wyoming. The bad news was that the storm had curved back on itself and was no longer moving out of the region. There had been little change in the last twenty-four hours, with high winds and snow continuing to fall, shutting down all roads, disrupting telephone service, and halting all travel, including air traffic in and out of the region.
Gary’s youthful face was drawn and pale as he sat listlessly at the table and rested his head in his hands. Hal searched for something positive to say but came up short. He’d never been one for spouting empty promises. There was no way to bring in competent medical help for his wife. The deepening fright in Jill’s honey-brown eyes was warning enough about what lay ahead. And with the telephone wires down, they were on their own—one woman and five men, none of whom knew a damn thing about delivering a baby! He ran an agitated hand through his uncombed hair just as Kirby and Zack came into the kitchen.
“You looked worried, boss. We’ve got enough grub to last a week,” Kirby assured him. “And a backup generator if the power goes off.”
“Doesn’t look like we’ll be doing chores,” Zack said with undisguised pleasure. “No use trying to dig out the drifts until the snow stops falling.”
Hal’s thoughts momentarily settled on the crisis the storm was creating for him personally. A prolonged snowfall would take its toll on his animals. He knew there was little more he could do. He’d made certain there was feed and water in the barn for the horses. As best he could, he had provided for the livestock in the pastures and corral. He didn’t like the helpless feeling that came over him. Buried under snowdrifts, the whole ranch operation was at a standstill. If this blasted storm didn’t lift soon, they might be a week digging out.
Raising his head from his hands, Gary said in a choked voice, “My wife’s having her baby.”
“What?” both Zack and Kirby said together.
“We don’t know that,” Hal said, giving Gary a reassuring smile. “Let’s not jump any creeks until we have to. Jill says that lots of women go through something like this.”
“Sue’s having pains,” Gary insisted. “Contractions.”
“Uh-oh!” Zack said, knowingly. “She’s in labor, all right. A few of them and wham, off to the hospital. In a few hours, another kid.” His mouth hardened with the memory. “That’s the way it always went with my mom.”
Kirby shrugged. “You couldn’t prove it by me. I stay clear of that kind of stuff, but I always thought women knew how to take care of these things themselves.”
“Not always. Sometimes—” Zack started to elaborate.
“Why don’t you fix us some breakfast, Kirby,” Hal said smoothly, cutting Zack off. He didn’t see any value in idle chatter adding to Gary’s anxiety. The young man was already tied up in knots.
When Scotty and Larry joined them a few minutes later, Gary dumped his worries on them. Neither the skier nor the Scotsman had much to say, but everyone seemed on edge and prickly. Hal was aware of the growing tension as a heavy silence settled on his snowbound guests.
When Jill came down into the kitchen a short time later, he didn’t need to ask whether Sue’s contractions had let up. Her tense expression was answer enough. She had dressed, exchanging her pajamas for a pair of jeans and a multicolored ski sweater, but her long hair was still tangled from the night’s sleep, and the anxious lines in her face hadn’t eased. He wanted to put his arm around her again, and assure her that everything would be all right. Instead, he had to tell that the phone was still out and repeat what the weatherman had said.
“How’s my wife?” Gary demanded anxiously.
“The contractions are no closer together and no more intense than they were before. And that’s a good sign.”
“How close?” Zack asked.
“About forty-five minutes.”
Zack nodded. “She’s in labor, all right I was telling them about my ma. She dropped babies easy like. Nature takes care of these things,” he told Jill.
Don’t I wish, she thought silently. Just the thought of being responsible for the delivery of someone else’s baby was paralyzing.
Kirby wiped his hands on his apron. “Got some biscuits in the oven, Jill. Hash brown potatoes and bacon in the skillet. And I’m about ready to scramble up a Mexican omelette. Nothing like a good breakfast to set things right.”
Jill’s nervous stomach instantly rejected the heavy, spicy menu, but she didn’t want to hurt Kirby’s feelings so she said, “I think Sue could handle tea and toast a little better.” Though she knew a woman in labor shouldn’t eat anything, she didn’t want to alarm Gary by admitting what she knew in her gut to be true—his wife was going to have this baby…soon.
Scotty frowned. “Aren’t you going to eat any breakfast? You look as if you’ve been up all night.”
She pushed back a strand of tousled hair. There hadn’t been any time to worry about her looks, but suddenly the scrutiny of five men in the kitchen made her acutely aware of her disheveled appearance.
“You kinda look like the morning after, Jill, if you know what I mean.” Larry grinned knowingly.
“Like a filly rode hard and put away wet,” Zack agreed.
“That’s enough, f
ellows.” Hal sent a warning look around the table. “Jill doesn’t need your tomfoolery.”
“No need to get riled up about a little teasing,” Scotty chided Hal. “They’d didn’t mean anything by it”
Jill wished that Hal had let the remarks slip by. Undoubtedly, these men had spent many hours in this kitchen, laughing, teasing, and enjoying each other’s company. She didn’t want to cause any friction between them.
“A cup of coffee and a couple of biscuits will be fine for me,” she quickly told Kirby. “Just put them on the tray with Sue’s tea and toast.” Then she turned to Gary. “I have to get back upstairs. Will you bring up the tray when it’s ready?”
As she left the kitchen, Hal fell into step beside her and walked with her to the foot of the stairs. “Is there anything else you need?”
“Not at the moment.” She quelled a nervous quiver trailing up her spine. “But, frankly, 1 don’t know what to do if she goes into hard labor.”
“My birthin’ experience is limited to the barn. I’ve pulled a couple of foals when a filly was in trouble and helped several newborn calves into the world, but animals have an instinct about these things. They pretty much do what has to be done.” At her fallen expression, he added quickly, “But I think I could follow directions if someone told me what to do.” He raised a questioning eyebrow.
“Don’t look at me. As I said before, having a baby doesn’t qualify me to deliver one. I’ve never even seen puppies born. And what if Sue gets into trouble?” Her lower lip trembled in spite of her determination to keep it steady. “There must be some way that we can get her medical attention.”
“Like digging out twenty-five miles of highway in a blinding blizzard?” He shook his head. “Look, if there was any chance I could reach Dr. Evanston or anybody else and drag them back here, I’d give it a try. But, just now, I can’t see any way to get help.” He touched her arm. “But things could change. And this could still turn out to be a false alarm.” His voice rose hopefully.
“You want the truth? The baby’s coming.”
“How soon?”
“I don’t know. But does a few hours one way or the other matter? From what you’ve said, there’s no hope of the situation improving fast enough to get medical help. And I don’t know what to do. Having life and death in my hands is a little more than I can handle.” Unbidden tears sprang into her eyes.
He hadn’t intended to touch her, but when she lowered her head and her slim shoulders trembled, his arms instinctively went around her. She leaned against him the way she had in the attic, and once more he felt a surge of emotion from her nearness. As her sweet length pressed against his thighs and chest, unbidden desire sent a spiral of heat surging through him. The scent and feel of her utterly seductive femininity overwhelmed him. Unconsciously, he tightened his embrace, and let his hands slip down the inviting curve of her back and waist. As she leaned into him, she raised questioning eyes and he knew that she was experiencing the same unbidden flare of passion.
He reluctantly dropped his arms and she moved back. For a split second, neither of them said anything, then, to hide his own embarrassment, he said as casually as his uneven breath would allow, “Emergencies have a way of bringing out unexpected feelings.”
“Yes,” she agreed in a thick voice. His embrace had ignited latent-desires that flared under his touch, and she hadn’t meant to give way like that. Her own body had betrayed her. For a brief moment in his arms, she’d felt an emotional surrender and a dangerous longing. Her heart was still leaping around and her breath was short. The physical contact had shaken her more deeply than she was willing to admit But at the moment, she wasn’t up to handling any more confusion. There were more important things to think about than her bewildering feelings.
“I’d better get back upstairs.” She avoided his eyes, as she turned away and hurried up the stairs. Pausing outside the Millers’ bedroom, she took a minute to collect herself. Once the emergency was over, her sensible self would return. Often people behaved irrationally under pressure but once normalcy returned, so did common sense. Having delivered this mental lecture, she felt back in control. Bracing herself, she went into the room and saw with relief that Sue had fallen asleep.
Jill glanced at her watch. Not quite an hour had gone by. If the contractions were settling into a pattern, the next one would come in about ten minutes. Even as the thought passed through Jill’s mind, Sue groaned and opened her eyes with a startled expression. “Oh, no.”
Jill bent over her. “Another contraction?” she asked anxiously.
Sue shook her head.
Good, Jill thought with relief. The contractions weren’t coming closer together. Maybe there was hope after all. “What is it then?”
Sue swallowed hard. “My water broke.”
Jill silently groaned. She knew what that meant. All hope of false labor pains was instantly wiped out with this news. She must have blanched, because Sue gave a frightened sob when she saw Jill’s expression. “The baby’s coming, isn’t it?”
Jill met her anxious eyes with as much reassurance as she could and explained what had happened. “You’re in labor, all right. Your baby has moved low enough for its head to put enough pressure on the bag of water to break it.”
“I’m going to have the baby? Now? Today?”
Jill nodded.
“How soon?”
“All babies come in their own sweet time,” Jill said as lightly as she could while praying under breath, Dear God in heaven, what’ll I do now?
“Well, I guess this is it, then,” Sue whispered in a choked voice. “We’ll be needing some of the baby things we packed in one of our suitcases. I’m glad Mr. Haverly insisted on bringing everything from our car.” She nodded toward some cheap luggage sitting in the corner. “We should have bought more things, but I’d planned to go shopping with Mother. She said she would see to everything when we got home. Mother said she’d be with me when…” Sue’s voice suddenly broke. In an instant, she dissolved from a married woman into a young girl crying for her mother.
Jill put her arms around her, searching for some reassuring words, when they heard footsteps in the hall and Gary strode into the room with the breakfast tray. “Here you go, sweetheart, tea and toast.”
Sue’s eyes spilled over with tears.
“What’s the matter?” He froze.
“The baby’s coming. My water broke.”
Gary’s bravado instantly disappeared. “Oh, my God.”
Jill reached out and took the tray from him before he dropped it. Stunned, Gary sat down on the edge of the bed and took his wife in his arms. “It’s all right, honey. It’s all right. Oh, my God!”
Jill turned away from the distraught young couple and walked over to a window. Now that the birth was inevitable, she seemed unable to organize her thoughts. She should be planning ahead. Deciding about what should be done. But her mind had shut down. As she stood there, her eyes narrowed against the brightness outside. Ice crystals created an intricate web on the windowpane and a huge cottonwood tree growing near the house was only darkly visible, its branches a dim tracery against the blowing snow.
Jill shivered and hugged herself, but the chill prickling of her skin had nothing to do with the wintry scene outside. The baby was coming. No doubt Sue was dilated enough for the baby’s head to be engaged. She remembered her own delivery. She’d awakened in the middle of the night with a soaked bed, and Randy had been born about nine hours later. A quick delivery, they had told her, but the labor had seemed anything but quick, even though she’d been in a Los Angeles hospital with the best of care.
She remembered a flurry of nurses poking her and reading monitors. Her doctor, a young man who always wore outlandish ties, periodically breezed in and out of her room. Once when he had his stethoscope on her rounded tummy, he laughed and told her, “Your little one has the hiccups.” How lucky she had been. She’d had all the care in the world and a wonderful healthy son to show for it.
“Jill…Jill…” Gary’s strained voice brought her out of her reverie. “Sue’s having another contraction.”
Jill glanced at her watch. Right on schedule.
“It’s a little harder than the other ones.” Sue gasped as Gary stepped back from the bed and let Jill take his wife’s hand.
When the contraction had eased and Sue was limp with relief, Jill turned to Gary. “Your wife needs her bed changed and a fresh gown. There are linens in the bathroom closet. Will you see to it? I’ll be back in a minute.” She bounded out the door and ran smack into Hal, who was just about to turn into the room.
“Whoa! I was just coming to check on things.”
She pulled him down the hall a few steps, lowered her voice and told him what had happened. “It’s coming. The baby’s head must be engaged, getting ready for delivery. Even though Sue’s a large girl, there’s no telling how long a first labor will be. It’s possible that we could get somebody here in time for the delivery if we could reach them in the next few hours.”
“But we can’t. We have no idea when the phone lines will be up again and—” He stopped short, as if a thought had hit him with a sudden jolt.
“What?” she asked anxiously. “What is it? What are you thinking?”
“Scotty!” His face brightened. “I think he has a cellular phone in his pickup. We can use it to call out. Even if help can’t get here, someone can tell us what to do.”
As he saw an instant glow radiating in her face and her eyes luminous with sudden hope, he impulsively leaned over and kissed her hairline. “We may be okay after all. Hang in there.” She smiled at him as if he’d just handed her the biggest bouquet of roses in the world, and he felt ten feet tall.
Hurrying back downstairs, he took the steps two at a time, swung around the newel post and strode into the kitchen, shouting, “Scotty, did you drive your pickup over here?”
The ruddy-faced fisherman had just thrown a couple of logs on the fire and was busy poking at the embers. “Sure did. Why?”
“You still got that cellular phone?”
“Yeah, why?”
