“And a blanket.” Georgie rubbed the horse. “Even big guys get cold.”
“Elmer is already wearing his blanket. He’s his own furnace.” Zach opened the stall door. “Ms. Aggie and Misty Day prefer blankets, as does Lumber Jack. Shall we?”
Georgie designated herself the company keeper—the one tasked with keeping each horse company in the holding stall while Zach removed the soiled bedding in the horse’s stall. She stepped back into each stall to make sure he’d fluffed the clean bedding enough like a stern stable supervisor.
Other than his time with Cody, Zach had always preferred to work alone in the stables. Just him and the horses. Now Georgie was with him and his smile refused to fade. He was not supposed to discover more things he liked doing with Georgie.
The last stall cleaned, bedding appropriately fluffed and the Ambassadors prepared for the incoming storm, Zach high-fived Georgie. “If you hadn’t stopped to confess to every horse that you didn’t know what you were doing, we would’ve been finished sooner.”
“I wanted to prepare them.” Georgie bumped her shoulder against Zach.
He guessed she’d wanted to prepare herself. Talking to each horse gave her a chance to assess the animal and her surroundings first. Every horse seemed almost like a patient she’d wanted to get to know personally in order to best care for them.
The double doors swung open. A blast of cold air surged through the barn.
Grace tugged her scarf away from her mouth and smiled. “Glad to see you two are still here. I could use some help with the foals.”
Georgie and Zach hurried forward. Grace held the leads attached to three foals. “Ethan and Ty are fixing a shelter in one of the pastures. Ethan sent me ahead with the young ones.”
Zach reached for the lead of a bay-colored colt. The colt looked about the same age that Rain Dancer had been when Zach and Cody first started training him. Zach glanced at Georgie. “You wanted to know what Rain Dancer looks like. He could’ve been this colt’s sire.”
“He’s beautiful.” Georgie accepted the lead of a gray filly. “Where to?”
“Let’s keep them in stalls next to each other.” Grace guided a brown-and-white paint foal into the first empty stall. “Who’s Rain Dancer?”
“Zach’s horse.” Georgie disappeared into the middle stall with her filly and continued, “Zach’s horse needs Ethan’s help.”
“I’m sure that can be arranged.” Grace shuffled around the foal’s stall. “Ethan hasn’t ever turned away from an animal in need.”
But Ethan would most likely turn away from Zach and Rain Dancer. Most definitely once the family learned about Georgie and Zach’s deception. It hardly mattered that Zach considered his feelings for Georgie real now. He’d agreed to their scheme intending to deceive the Blackwells for his own gain. Zach stroked his hand over the bay colt, then removed the lead rope and prepared the stall. Too bad he hadn’t been better prepared for Georgiana Harrison.
If Zach had tipped his hat over his eyes and fallen asleep on the airplane, he’d never have…
He shook his head and latched the colt’s stall door.
The time for ifs had long since passed. He had to concentrate on the now. That meant an incoming blizzard, upholding his end of their deal and supporting Georgie’s decision to move to London.
He ground his teeth together.
She no more belonged in a research lab in England than he belonged in a business suit in the city’s financial district. He zipped his coat and yanked his gloves on, then checked to make sure Georgie had bundled herself back up. He’d walk her back to the dining hall and protect her from the wind gusts. Then he’d find a way to protect his heart from falling for her any further.
Zach escorted Georgie and Grace back to the dining hall, then headed out to scatter salt around the doors of the barn and dining hall.
Two hours later, Dorothy’s beef stew and four loaves of homemade beer bread had been quickly devoured.
Their only remaining task was to enjoy Dorothy’s chocolate gingerbread cake.
Zach stood now in front of the massive fireplace and sorted through the collection of wet scarves, gloves and hats. The saturated items he set closer to the fire to dry out before anyone had to go back outside.
“I’m not sure we’ll be getting much sleep tonight with the wind and storm.” Georgie handed him a coffee cup. “Figured caffeine won’t hurt.”
“Cheers.” Zach tapped his cup against hers.
The blast of cold air and the booming voice shouting a hello from the dining-hall entrance muffled Zach’s toast. The entire room quieted and turned toward the entrance.
Three men covered in snow and varying degrees of grins stood in the doorway.
“Dad.” Georgie’s whisper carried no farther than the steam in her cup. She started forward, then changed directions.
She stopped moving only when her arm connected with his. Zach swallowed a deep sip of his coffee and wished he’d thought to add something stronger than vanilla creamer.
The oldest gentleman, his grin clipped from one ear to the other, spread his arms wide. “Didn’t think we’d make it home, but here we are.”
“Elias Blackwell, I promised Georgie you wouldn’t be reckless.” Dorothy wiped her hands on a kitchen towel. Her foot tapped on the wood floor. Her voice ricocheted off the vaulted ceiling. “What did you do?”
Zach rocked back. That was Georgie’s grandfather and the man they all referred to as Big E? His cowboy hat was worn, yet had retained its shape, as if pride alone held it together. Or perhaps it was Big E’s presence. He was a hard man to ignore, even buffered by two tall gentlemen.
“Wasn’t gonna let a blizzard keep me from my family, especially during the holidays.” Big E unzipped his coat, scattering snow around his boots.
“Well, get in here, get warm and get some dinner.” Dorothy motioned to them. “Everything is still hot.”
“I’ve got some introductions to do first.” Big E cleared his throat and set his hand on the shoulder of the gentleman standing to his right. He was broad and built like a draft horse. His shoulders looked reliable, his face kind, despite the uncertainty narrowing his eyes. “Everyone already knows Rudy Harrison.”
Georgie’s dad had arrived. Georgie shifted beside Zach, bumping into him several times.
Big E motioned to the man waiting on his left. He was the tallest of the three men and lean. A salt-and-pepper beard covered his face and a watchful glint reflected in his gaze.
Big E pushed his shoulders back, and pride infused his words. “This here is Thomas Blackwell, my son and the girls’ biological father.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
GEORGIE’S MIND SWIRLED and tumbled, tossing every rational thought around like the winds rearranging the snowdrifts outside.
She gaped at the three men in the dining-hall entrance. One she’d loved her whole life. One she’d only just learned was her family. And one she’d never considered she’d ever meet. Or ever want to.
Her dad. Her grandfather. And the man who had abandoned her pregnant mother and four young daughters and never returned. The coffee cooled to acid in her stomach.
What had Big E been thinking? To bring Thomas Blackwell here. Georgie blinked. Thomas was a Blackwell. He had every right to be on Blackwell land. Every right to get to know his family, too.
And Georgie had every right not to get to know him. But she had questions. Wanted answers.
The trio removed their jackets, set them on the hooks on the wall and moved into the room. In her direction. Georgie wound her arm around Zach’s waist and bunched his flannel shirt in her fist.
She needed more time. Time to process. Time to think.
She was the only Harrison sister present. Had her sisters known what her dad and Big E were up to? No. The storm hadn’t been planned. Lily and Fee should’ve been there for
dinner. Peyton and Amanda should’ve arrived earlier that afternoon. Thanks to a snowstorm, they’d get there the following day. Georgie shouldn’t have been the only Harrison getting ambushed by her two fathers and one cunning grandfather.
She tightened her hold on Zach. Grateful he hadn’t left her completely alone.
Her father reached her first. Concern smoothed across his face.
“Dad.” A tremor worked through her, trapping her in place.
She’d always hated surprises. Disliked the commotion and disruption. But the anxiety coiling around her spine shredded her control. Her dad had always appreciated her need for preparation. But she’d reduced their communication to brief texts and even more rapid phone calls, preferring to concentrate on work, not her family.
Family first. She’d put her goals first. All to honor her mother’s memory. And she had to face the consequences now.
Zach introduced himself and shook her dad’s hand. Zach’s hold never loosened on Georgie, as if he understood her knees would buckle without him.
Big E took off his cowboy hat and shook Zach’s hand, then greeted Georgie. Her grandfather held his hat, instead of reaching for her.
Zach and Big E parted and introduced Thomas Blackwell. Her biological father never stepped into her space. She assumed he too understood the precarious grip Georgie maintained on the situation.
“Georgie, we need to talk,” her dad said. “Given the weather and the phone reception, we decided to wait until we arrived.”
Georgie nodded, as if her dad had simply explained why they’d missed dinner. As if her father couldn’t have mentioned their plans during any one of his hourly updates. “Peyton, Amanda, Lily and Fee don’t know you located Thomas either?”
Her dad shook his head.
Big E settled his hat back on his head. “Some things are best said in person.”
Or not at all.
Thomas cleared his throat. “I’d like to…”
She wanted to block him out. Outbursts solved nothing. Logic and reason always centered her. Only she couldn’t hold on to one coherent thought longer than a second.
“Georgie!” The panic in Katie’s shout echoed around the pine rafters. “I think I’m going to need a doctor.”
Doctor. That one word lodged inside Georgie and thrust the chaos of meeting her biological father aside. Shoved what would be Thomas’s awkward explanations for abandoning his family and his much-too-late apologies to the far corner. To the deal-with-later-or-perhaps-not-ever category. Georgie latched on to her new focus, released Zach and rushed to Katie.
Chance knocked over two chairs to reach his wife’s side and shouted, “Someone call 911.”
Katie groaned through her clenched teeth. Her eyes squeezed shut. Pain pinched her entire face, drawing out the color.
“Breathe out during the contraction.” Georgie squeezed Katie’s arm and looked at Chance. Fear had set into his features. She scrambled to recall her training. Tips from attending physicians. She hadn’t trained on the labor and delivery ward.
Zach stepped into her view and her world seemed to right itself. Georgie gathered her wits about her. “Chance, time her contractions.” She paused, waited for Chance to blink and focus on her voice. On her instructions. “We need the time from the end of one to the beginning of the next. And the duration of each contraction.”
Chance reached into his pocket, fumbled and dropped his phone. Tyler moved to his brother’s side and accepted Georgie’s dad’s wristwatch. The one Georgie and her sisters had given him last year on his birthday—a simple, traditional watch with a second hand, a readable clock face and nothing extra, just the way he liked it.
Ty’s hand dropped onto his brother’s shoulder. “We’ll time it together.”
Chance focused on his wife. “Another is starting.”
Georgie guided Katie through another round of breathing. Grace gathered Rosie and Eli by the fire. The others watched Georgie patiently, as if awaiting her direction. Georgie frowned. “Why isn’t anyone dialing 911? She’s in labor.”
“Roads are closed, darling.” Big E scratched his cheek. “No one else is getting in or out tonight.”
Panic plunged over Georgie like a landslide. Katie needed a hospital. Her doctor. Nurses trained to guide her through the delivery process.
Katie clung to Chance’s hand. Her head fell back on the chair. “This cannot be happening now.”
“I think it is.” Chance kissed his wife’s forehead, then lifted his alarmed gaze to the room. “What are we supposed to do now?”
Big E clapped his hands together. “Blackwell Ranch hasn’t seen a baby born on its land since my brother’s birth too many full moons ago.”
Katie lurched forward, buckled over and fisted her hand on the armrest.
Ty started another count. Chance monitored Katie.
Katie hissed, sucking her breath through her gritted teeth. The contraction ended and Katie rediscovered her voice. Her heated words vibrated around the room. “The ranch isn’t going to see a baby born tonight, if someone doesn’t tell me what to do. Now.”
No one spoke. No one offered a suggestion. The baby was coming. Georgie rounded on the group. “We need a room.”
“You can use the animal barn,” Ethan offered.
“I am not giving birth in the surgical animal clinic where heifers and mares have been opened up.” Katie groaned and clutched her stomach. “I. Am. Not.”
“The main house is closest,” Chance said.
Dorothy latched her arm around Hadley’s waist. “We’ll drive up there now and prepare one of the guest rooms.”
“I can’t leave Mama K,” Rosie cried.
Katie lost her voice again to another contraction. They were getting closer.
“We’ll have a movie night and popcorn in Hadley’s family room.” Grace picked up Eli.
Georgie bent down until she was eye level with Rosie. She wiped Rosie’s tears off her pale cheeks. “You’ll be close the whole time this way. And if Mama K needs you, I’ll come get you.”
“Promise?” Rosie’s voice was waterlogged.
“Absolutely.” Georgie held out her little finger for a pinkie swear.
Satisfied, Rosie kissed Katie’s cheek, then took Grace’s hand. They followed Dorothy and Hadley outside to the ATVs.
Ethan listed off supplies he had in the surgical barn, from sterilized clamps, forceps and scalpels, to scrubs, masks and gloves.
Thomas nodded. “We’ll need it all.”
Chance accepted the watch from his brother. Ethan and Ty sprinted out the side door to Ethan’s large-animal clinic. No questions asked. No doubt about Thomas Blackwell and his instructions.
Georgie gaped at Thomas. She hadn’t invited him. He wasn’t part of her we.
“I’m a trained naval medic.” Thomas held his hands behind his back and regarded her, his voice and face serious. “And I’ve heard from your dad and grandfather about your medical degree and accomplishments.”
And she heard his kind understanding in referring to Rudy as her dad.
“Thomas is more than that.” Big E slapped his hand on Thomas’s shoulder. “He rescued the Frye family from their overturned car that had caught on fire just last month.”
Her dad offered his support. “Two young children and their parents are able to spend this Christmas together, thanks to Thomas.”
“We can talk more later.” Thomas fastened his perceptive gaze on Georgie. “Right now, we have a scared first-time mother and a baby wanting to make its arrival.”
Big E nodded to Rudy. “We’ve got a snowplow to run.”
“Now?” Georgie asked.
“Gotta clear the road for the ambulance to get in eventually,” Big E said.
Chance tossed his phone at his grandfather. “Find our doctor and call her for us.”
> “I’ll do that.” Rudy took the phone from Big E. “Then we’ll discuss how and when to drive the snowplow.”
Chance helped Katie stand. Thomas moved in to assist the couple. Chance looked back at Georgie. “You and Zach are following behind us, right?”
“Yes.” Zach took Georgie’s hand.
Too soon, Georgie was staring at the white farmhouse, obscured through the ATV’s windshield by the steadily falling snow and her doubt.
“Ready?” Zach asked.
“No.” Georgie twisted her hands together. “Not at all.”
The list of potential problems and possible medical emergencies filed through her like an overloaded computer printout. There were too many opportunities for error. Mistakes couldn’t be corrected. Or forgiven.
“It’s going to be fine.” Zach set his hand on her knee.
“It’s a baby, Zach.” She squeezed his fingers, as if the pressure would make him understand. As if her own terror could be as easily squashed. “This isn’t a bloody nose.”
“It’s Katie.” Zach covered their hands with his other one, applied his own pressure and warmth.
Georgie lifted her gaze to his. How could he remain so calm? So very composed? No wonder his brother had wanted him to be there for his treatments. Georgie wanted Zach beside her, too. Now and later.
Zach kept his gaze fixed on hers. “Your cousin needs you, Georgie.”
Georgie stiffened. She hadn’t left any of her sisters alone when they’d been hurt. Apart from when her parents had made Georgie stay home instead of going to the hospital with Lily after her sister’s big accident. That hadn’t been Georgie’s choice.
She had a choice now.
Katie would not be alone. Georgie wouldn’t leave Katie with a stranger to deliver her first baby. Katie would have her family to help her welcome the next Blackwell.
“Can you get my phone from Dorothy’s house? Call Dr. Alan Stafford.” She opened the door and squinted into the wind. “He’s listed in my contacts. Tell him what’s happening. He’ll know what to do.”
“Who’s Dr. Stafford?” Zach asked.
Harlequin Heartwarming December 2020 Box Set Page 18
