by Marta Perry
He focused his gaze on the books. “I was looking for some texts on genetics.”
She joined him by the bookcase and reached for a book on the upper shelf. “I’m not sure what Harold has in here. He never alphabetizes anything.”
The clean citrus fragrance of her hair slipped around him like a soft Hawaiian breeze. He leaned back to scope her hair out again.
Yep. Every bit as glorious up close.
She should have flowers in it, the way the island women wore them. It was easy to picture her walking beside him on the beach, her hair flowing in the wind. He itched to feel its softness. To let it glide though his fingers.
Suddenly, she whipped her head around to stare at him. “What?”
He took a step back and crossed his arms. “Nothing.”
“You were staring at me.”
“No, I wasn’t.” Even to his own ears he sounded like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
She arched one brow. Her look said she wasn’t buying it.
“Okay, I was admiring your hair, that’s all.”
Grasping a lock in her hand, she frowned at it. “When I left the house this morning it wasn’t dry so I had to leave it down. I’ll put it up before I see patients.”
“You don’t have to do that. It’s very lovely.”
Her cheeks took on a rosy hue. “Thank you.”
He couldn’t help himself. Reaching out, he brushed a strand from her shoulder in a soft caress.
* * *
Amber sucked in a quick breath at his touch. Her hair had been damp when she left the house, but she could have put it up after she arrived. She never wore it down. It was always confined in a braid or bun. Today had been different. For some inexplicable reason, she wanted Phillip to see it down.
Now she realized she was being vain. Taking a step away from him, she swept it into a rope and began coiling it. “My mother never cut her hair. She called it a hangover from her Amish life. I adopted the habit.”
“You don’t have to put it up.” He sounded sorry to see her do so.
“It’s dry now.”
“Have you ever cut it?”
Continuing to wind, she said, “It gets trimmed. It pleases mother and my grandmother that I keep it long.”
Pulling several large hairpins from her pocket, she slipped them in and patted the roll. “There. Good to go.”
“You should wear it down more often. It’s beautiful.”
He did like it. A thrill of happiness made her smile.
“Amber, have you ever thought of working somewhere else?”
“Like where?”
“Hawaii, for one place.” A question hovered in his eyes, a hope that secretly pleased her. She had thought about seeing his island home, but she wasn’t ready to admit that.
She turned back to the bookcase. “I sunburn too easily. Genetics, you say? I don’t see anything but what you’re holding. You can always use the computer to look something up. I know our dial-up can be slow and frustrating.”
“I’ll drive to Millersburg after work and do some research at their medical library. I need to check on Martha, anyway. Are any of your patients in labor?”
“Not a one.”
He opened the book and held it out to her. “Do these dates and names mean anything to you?”
She studied the textbook for a few minutes. “I’m not sure.” Pointing, she said, “This could be the Zook boy who died two years ago. He had some developmental difficulties from birth.”
“What kind of difficulties?”
“I’m not sure.”
“He wasn’t one of your patients?”
She shook her head. “No, he was born in the hospital in Millersburg. They were visiting family there when she went into premature labor. He never left the hospital.”
Turning to a new page, he asked, “What about this one?”
Checking, she shook her head. “Before my time.”
“It says Knepp. Could it be one of Sophie Knepp’s girls?”
“It could be. We have a lot of Knepps in this state.”
He carried the book back to his desk and sat down. It was clear he was deep in thought.
“Your next patient is in room one,” she reminded him.
“Fine. Thank you. I’ll be there in a minute.”
She started to leave but he suddenly spoke again. “Do me a favor, will you? Ask Wilma to get some old charts from storage.”
“Sure. Which ones?”
“The one for this Zook boy, and see if she can find a Knepp with this birth date.” He scribbled it down and handed her the note.
“It may take a few days. We store our closed charts out of state.”
“Tell her to get them as soon as she can.”
Throughout the rest of the morning, Phillip remained distracted. He was always attentive to his patients, but in between clients he shut himself in the office.
At noon, Amber stuck her head in to see if he wanted to get some lunch. He didn’t, and she went away feeling more disappointed than she should have.
When they closed up that evening, she watched him walk across the parking lot and turn the corner.
“You’ll have to get used to that,” Wilma said as she came to stand beside Amber.
“Get used to what?”
“Him being gone.”
“I know he’s leaving soon.” It was hard to imagine this place without him. He’d become so much a part of her life. Pushing open the door, she walked to her car and drove home feeling more depressed than she had since she’d first learned of Harold’s accident.
At home, Fluffy was waiting eagerly for his food bowl to be filled. Amber obliged the cat then made herself a light supper. She spent the rest of the evening catching up on her midwife journal, reading and trying not to think about Phillip. Or how much she would miss him when he went away.
On an impulse, she went to the computer and began clicking through some of the travel sites that featured Hawaii. She’d always thought the rolling hills, fertile fields and pristine white farmsteads of the Amish made Hope Springs a beautiful place. It paled in comparison to the exotic beauty of the islands embraced by the blue-green sea.
What man in his right mind would give up a home and a practice there to relocate to this wide spot in the road? No, she might wish he would stay but he wouldn’t. This wasn’t the kind of medicine he wanted to practice. She understood and respected that to the fullest. Phillip would leave in a few more weeks.
Unless Harold asked him to stay.
Was that what Harold had been thinking when he agreed to getting a partner? Was that idea the odd quality she detected in his voice? If it was, he might be in for a heartbreak as big as hers.
Fluffy chose that moment to leap onto Amber’s desk in search of some affection. Pulling the cat close, Amber sighed. It was time to stop denying it. She had fallen hard for Dr. Phillip White.
“Do you want to hear how foolish I am, Fluffy? I may not get stuck behind the sofa but I’m a fool anyway. I’ve fallen in love with Phillip. Stupid, huh?”
The cat meowed softly as if in agreement.
It was foolish. A wonderful kind of foolishness. She’d never felt like this about anyone. She suspected the attraction was mutual. Even if it were, it wouldn’t make a difference.
“He didn’t come here looking for a relationship, Fluffy. He’s doing his grandfather a favor, that’s all. He came out of guilt, not because he wanted to work in an Amish community.”
Fluffy remained silent this time.
“You’re right. I’m going to do myself a favor by forgetting we had this conversation.”
Raising the cat to look into his face, Amber said, “I hope you can keep a secret. I’m going to bed now and I’m not going to cry myself to sleep. I’ll save that for the night he leaves.”
It seemed like she’d barely closed her eyes when her doorbell began ringing incessantly. She glanced at the clock. It was a few minutes after three-thirty in the morning.
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The doorbell chimed again. Slipping into her robe, she pulled it tight and padded barefoot down the stairs. It was likely that one of her expectant mothers needed her.
Turning on the porch light, she pulled aside the lace panel on the tall window that flanked her entryway.
To her surprise, she saw Elijah Knepp standing outside, his straw hat in his hand. She pulled open the door. “Elijah, what’s wrong?”
“It is Sophie. Her time has come.”
Amber’s heart sank. “Elijah, I can’t deliver her. Sophie must go to the hospital in Millersburg.”
His brows snapped together in a worried scowl. “We do not wish the hospital.”
“I’m sorry, but this is what Dr. White says must happen. Didn’t you get his message last week?” She couldn’t force anyone to accept medical care. She could only hope to persuade them to agree. “Ja, we got the message. But it is not what we wanted. If you say we must, we will. Her time is close.”
“Thank you. Let me grab her chart. The hospital will want it. Why don’t you leave your buggy here? I’ll drive you back to the farm and take both of you into the city. You can make arrangements for someone to get the buggy home in the morning.”
“Danki. I will unhitch Dobby.”
“You can put him in the side yard.”
It wouldn’t be the first Amish buggy to be parked in her drive overnight. She’d had a small area privacy fenced at the side of the house for such occasions.
Racing back upstairs to change, Amber wished with all her heart she could give Elijah and Sophie the kind of delivery they wanted. Being able to do home deliveries again was the one good thing that would happen when Phillip left.
Perhaps the only good thing. She would to cling to that bit of comfort.
Chapter Nineteen
The ringing of Phillip’s cell phone woke him at a quarter to four. Picking it up, he mumbled, “Dr. White here.”
“Phillip, this is Amber.”
Her voice brought him wide-awake. “What’s up?”
“I’m on my way to Sophie Knepp’s home. She’s in labor. Her husband came to get me.”
He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Okay. What’s the plan?”
“I’m going to pick her up and drive her to the hospital. Why don’t you meet us there?”
“Sounds good. How long?”
“It’ll take me at least fifteen minutes to get out to the farm. I’d say we should be in Millersburg in forty minutes.”
“All right. I’ll meet you there.”
Hanging up the phone, he headed for the shower. He couldn’t be sure of his grandfather’s motivation for allowing Amber to do home births, but if it meant more hours of sleep, it wasn’t such a bad idea.
After a quick shower, he dressed and jumped into his car. He did think Sophie was a high-risk patient, but his conscience pricked him. She might not get to experience the calm, spiritual birth that he’d seen with Amber’s other home delivery patients. Even so, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Halfway to Millersburg, he dialed Amber’s number while he was stopped at a stop sign. It went straight to her voice mail. He left a brief message asking for an update, then snapped his phone shut and drove on. At the parking lot of the hospital, he placed another call to her number with the same results.
Why wasn’t she picking up? What was wrong?
Up on the OB floor, he checked in with the night shift charge nurse. The young woman in pink scrubs smiled at him brightly. “How may I help you?”
“I’m Dr. Phillip White. I’m expecting a patient soon. Nurse-midwife Bradley is bringing her in. What room is she going to?”
“This is the first I’ve heard of an admission, Dr. White.”
“Miss Bradley hasn’t notified you?” He glanced at his watch. It had been almost an hour since he’d spoken to her last.
“No sir, but we have room six ready. Can I have the patient’s name?”
“Sophie Knepp,” he replied absently.
“Do you have her chart with you?”
“No. Excuse me a moment.” He walked away from the desk and tried Amber’s number once more. There was still no answer.
* * *
Driving on the dark roads required all Amber’s concentration. In places it was rough and bumpy. It was easy to get lost on some of these twisting lanes. When they finally pulled up to the farmhouse, Mr. Knepp got out first and hurried toward the house. Pausing to grab her bag from the front seat, Amber noticed her phone on the car floor. Picking it up, she dropped it in her jacket pocket and followed Elijah inside.
It took her five seconds to see that Sophie was well into her labor. Her face, sweat streaked and red from exertion, filled with relief when she caught sight of Amber. “The baby is coming.”
There was no way Amber was going to put her in a car and risk a delivery on the roadside somewhere between here and Millersburg. Smiling to reassure her, Amber said, “Hi, Sophie. It looks like you’ve done most of the work already.”
Sophie’s only answer was heavy breathing as another contraction took hold.
Pulling her phone from her pocket, Amber started to dial Phillip’s number, but her phone screen remained blank.
Surprised, she tried again. “This isn’t out of my service area. I should still get a signal.”
She tapped the phone against her palm. Nothing. She tapped it harder. Still nothing. It couldn’t be the battery. She’d put a new one in two days ago. Maybe it had broken when it fell out of her bag.
Sophie spoke up. “I do not want to go to the hospital.”
Amber shook her phone again. “I’m sorry, we talked about this. The doctor feels it’s best that you do.”
Sophie, wide-eyed, shook her head. “There is no time.”
Amber slipped her useless phone in her pocket, then took off her jacket and looked for a place to lay it. Elijah took it from her. She muttered her thanks and started laying out her things. Babies didn’t care what doctors wanted. They came in their own good time. This one was going to arrive very soon. She needed to get ready.
* * *
For another hour, Phillip waited by the hospital maternity desk, drumming his fingers, turning down offers of coffee and pacing. His first instinct was to rush out to the Knepp farm, but he knew he’d never find his way in the dark. He wasn’t sure he could remember the way in broad daylight.
He’d spent more time enjoying Amber’s company than memorizing the twisting roads when they’d made prenatal visits to her clients. If he hadn’t been so smitten with her he’d be more effective now in tracking her down. That irony wasn’t lost on him.
When a second full hour had gone by, he couldn’t wait any longer. Something was up. She wouldn’t blow him off like this. Maybe she’d had an accident. His mind shied away from that thought, but he knew something had gone wrong.
Returning to the desk, he leaned on the counter and spoke to the charge nurse. “How do I contact the sheriff?”
The nurse dialed the emergency number and handed him the phone. When dispatch answered, he quickly explained the situation. After being asked to wait, he impatiently held the line, his fear growing by leaps and bounds. Finally, a man’s voice came on.
“This is Nick Bradley. You think something has happened to Amber?”
“She hasn’t shown up at the hospital, she’s not answering her phone. Did she call 9-1-1?”
“We’ve got no record of that. Stay at the hospital, Doc. I’m on my way. I’ll pick you up out front.”
* * *
Amber was loading her supplies in the back of her station wagon when she saw the flashing lights coming up the lane. Oh, dear. Phillip had pulled out all the stops to find her. At least she knew he cared.
When the sheriff’s car stopped beside her and an officer got out, she gave him a little wave. “Hi, Nick.”
She saw Phillip emerge from the cruiser’s passenger side door. Her heart did a funny little flip-flop at the sight of him. He was a tall
, lean silhouette against the blood-red sunrise; she couldn’t see his face.
The sheriff said, “You okay, cuz?”
“I’m fine, Nick. Sorry you were sent on a wild goose chase.”
“When someone tells me my little cousin is missing, I don’t take that lightly. What’s the story?”
“Yes, Amber. What is the story?” Phillip asked coming up behind Nick.
“It was the weirdest thing. I called you on my cell phone and told you I was on my way here. When I arrived, I tried to notify you, but my phone didn’t work. I think it broke when it fell out of my bag.”
Nick gestured toward the house. “Everything go okay?”
“Sophie and her new daughter are fine. They were settling down to sleep when I left. Phillip, I was going to call you as soon as I got to a phone. Thanks for sending the cavalry after me. Even if I didn’t need it.”
He approached and stood close. Softly, he said, “I’m just thankful you’re okay.”
His voice vibrated with deep emotion. He held out his hand. She took it and he squeezed tightly, as if he’d never let go. Amber wanted to throw her arms around him and reassure him with a kiss. Having her eagle-eyed cousin observing them kept her from doing something so foolish.
Nick opened his cell phone and held it up. “I’ve got cell service here. I wonder why you can’t get it?”
“It wasn’t that I didn’t have service. The thing was dead. It wouldn’t work.”
Suddenly, her phone began ringing. Both men looked at her in surprise.
Amber dug it out of her pocket, her surprise equal to the men standing beside her. She opened the phone and said, “Hello?”
“Honey, are you all right?” It was Wilma.
“I’m fine.”
“I heard the sheriff’s office is looking for you.”
“They found me.”
“Thank the Lord for that. Where are you?”
Amber saw a scowl begin to darken Phillip’s face. “Wilma, I’ll give you the details when I get to the office. I’ve got to go.”
Closing the phone, she looked Phillip straight in the eye. “It was not working an hour ago. At least the delivery went off without a hitch. I told you it would.”
A remote expression turned his face to stone. “You had to do it your way, didn’t you? You had to prove I was wrong.”
