by Donna Alward
Josh went to the kitchen window. “It’s out here!” he called to her. “One of the big pine trees at the end of the driveway.”
She went to his side and looked out. Sure enough, the howling wind had taken out an ancient pine, and the tree now blocked the end of the drive. Lizzie stared at the huge root system left behind and wondered at the amount of force it would take for such a thing to occur. It was awesome in the truest sense of the word.
Josh was thinking a bit differently. “Looks like I’m stranded right along with you,” he observed.
“I can think of worse fates,” she joked, putting her hand on his arm.
They were nearly in each other’s arms again when Lizzie’s phone buzzed.
“It’s Charlie,” Lizzie said, opening the message. “Shit. She’s in labor.” Josh’s eyes met hers, clearly worried. “She says the road into town is closed because of trees down and they can’t get through to the hospital.”
Lizzie bit her lip, her gaze turning to the window where the fallen tree was barely visible in the sheets of rain. Charlie needed a doctor, and as Lizzie looked at Josh she knew he understood exactly what she was thinking.
“I’ll go,” he said. “I’ve got the slicker. It’s only a mile or so.”
“It’s closer to two miles, in one-hundred-mile-an-hour winds and this rain.” She ran her hand through her hair. “You’re not going by yourself. I’ve got a raincoat somewhere. We’ll go together.”
“You need to stay where it’s safe.” He was already texting Charlie, but Lizzie shook her head. No way was he going alone. And if Charlie did end up delivering the baby at home, Lizzie needed to be there, especially if she was this close.
“I promised her I would be there for the birth of her baby. I’m going with you, Josh. Give me two minutes.”
Two minutes was all it took for her to grab a raincoat from her closet. She didn’t have boots, so she put on sneakers—the best she could do under the circumstances. Josh was dressed and pulling his hood over his head, tying the strings tightly beneath his chin, and she did the same.
With a big breath, they opened the door, stepped out into the madness, and Lizzie shut it tight and locked it again.
The wind hit them hard, nearly knocking Lizzie off her feet as the rain bit at her face. “You sure you want to do this?” Josh called out.
“I’m sure!” she called back.
“Watch for trees,” he advised. “And let’s do this as quickly as we can.”
Keeping up a fast pace was impossible as they got hit with gust after gust of wind. The sound was wild and eerie; there were no cars on the road or people anywhere. With the power outage the houses were all dark. It felt otherworldly, and Lizzie grabbed Josh’s hand as they trudged along the road toward Charlie and Dave’s house.
It took them almost forty minutes to make the trek through the storm. There were several trees down and the rain came in sheets, soaking through Lizzie’s pants and shoes. When they reached the lane to the cottage, Lizzie let go of his hand and ran to the front door, her sneakers squidging all the way. Josh hustled up behind her just as she was pounding on the door.
Dave opened it, looking harried and very relieved.
“The cavalry’s here!” Lizzie announced, stepping inside. Josh went in behind her, and they took off their shoes as Dave shut the door behind them. “Where is she, Dave?”
“In the living room, foolish girl. She was cold and wanted to be near the fireplace. God, it’s good to see you guys. How the hell did you get here?”
Josh answered, “We walked from Lizzie’s. There’s a tree down at her place or else we would have brought the truck.”
“I’ll go to Charlie. Dave, I’m soaked from the waist down. Do you think you could find me a pair of Charlie’s sweats or scrubs and some thick socks?”
“Of course.”
A moan came from the living room and Lizzie rushed away.
She found Charlie sitting on one of the loungers from the deck, and Lizzie started laughing. “Oh my God, this is perfect!”
Charlie’s forehead glistened with sweat and some of her hair stuck to her face, but she was sitting up just as she would be in a hospital bed. “Glad you find it funny. I wanted to have my baby in a nice comfortable maternity ward, with, you know, electricity and stuff.”
“I’ve got the generator running, baby,” Dave said, coming into the room with the wad of clothes in his hands.
“Oh, thank you,” Lizzie said, taking the clothes. Her sweatshirt was still dry, but her pants and feet were soaked through. “Charlie, you breathe through the contraction. Josh, maybe you can get Charlie’s bag from Dave and take some vitals while I change. Then we’ll get down to business.”
Dave and Josh disappeared into the bedroom while Lizzie stripped down to her panties and pulled on soft, warm sweatpants and some sort of fuzzy purple socks that were ugly as sin but blessedly warm.
“That feels good. It’s wicked nasty out there,” Lizzie said, tossing her wet clothes on the small hearth in front of the fireplace.
“You sound like a real Mainer,” Charlie gasped.
“What can I say, this place grows on you.” Lizzie pulled up a kitchen chair and sat next to Charlie, noting the time on her watch. “Breathe, honey. Nice big breaths. Have you been timing your contractions?”
Charlie sent Lizzie a dark look as she breathed out. “Of course I’ve been timing them.”
“How far apart?”
“Four minutes. Give or take. Though that one felt closer.”
Lizzie glanced at her watch again.
“I’m going to have to check you, okay?”
Charlie’s face was red and damp with a sheen of sweat as she recovered from the contraction. “Okay. I’d rather it was you than Josh.”
Lizzie laughed again. “I bet. Listen, don’t worry about a thing, okay? One little baby and three doctors? This is going to be smooth sailing.”
Josh and Dave returned, but Lizzie didn’t think about seniority or anything else. She just took charge. “Dave, you find a way to boil some water or dig out some alcohol so we can sterilize those scissors, and Josh, you find something we can use for a clamp for the cord, okay? And I’m going to need some towels. Has your water broken yet, Charlie?”
“Not yet,” she answered.
“Okay then. I want a garbage bag, too, Dave, and a pile of towels.”
Lizzie rooted around in Charlie’s bag and found a pair of sterile gloves. “Okay, Charlie. Let’s see how far along you are.”
Another contraction came, though, and Lizzie glanced at her watch. Barely two and a half minutes and things were speeding up. The contractions were getting closer together, and as Charlie breathed Lizzie could tell that her friend couldn’t speak through the pain. She was still panting when Dave returned with a bag and towels, and when Charlie saw him she shot him a glare. “This is all your fault,” she groaned, leaning back and closing her eyes.
He drew back as if burned.
“Don’t worry,” Josh said, coming into the room with a basin and a bottle of alcohol. “She’s just in transition.”
“Just in transition? Just in transition?” Charlie growled, opening her eyes to include him in her wrath.
“And this is why men don’t have babies,” Lizzie soothed. “Okay, guys, you stay up there for a moment while I have a look.”
She knelt in front of the lounger and eased the garbage bag under Charlie’s bottom, then layered a couple of soft towels before pulling the sheet down. “There. Now let’s get your underwear off, sweetie.” Charlie was already covered with a light blanket—apparently the feeling cold bit was true.
Lizzie’s exam was brief and she was glad she and Josh hadn’t taken any longer arriving. “This isn’t going to be long at all. Are you ready to be a mom? You’re doing so great.” She pulled down the blanket and looked at her best friend. “You can do this. You’re nearly there.”
Dave sat on the chair Lizzie had abandoned and took Charlie’s ha
nd. “I’m here, honey. I’m so proud of you.”
Lizzie looked up at Josh, who was taking the stethoscope out of Charlie’s bag.
“I love you, Dave.” In between contractions now, Charlie’s voice softened and Dave touched his lips to hers. Josh needed to listen to the baby, but Lizzie could tell that he didn’t want to interrupt the moment.
Another contraction built and Charlie leaned her head forward, holding Dave’s hand, breathing in rhythm until Lizzie realized they were all matching her breath for breath.
Josh moved in and had a listen as Charlie rested for the short time between contractions. He met Lizzie’s gaze and frowned. “The heart rate’s a little slow.”
“She’s progressing well, though.” Unease began to trickle through Lizzie at the suggestion that something might not be 100 percent right. “Do you want me to try to move things along?”
“What’s the heart rate?” Charlie asked, still slightly out of breath.
Josh put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Not low enough for you to worry about. You put on your mom hat and leave the doctoring to us, okay? We just need you to do your job, which is going to be to push. Very soon, I hope.” Josh looked down at Charlie. “We got this, Charlie. I promise.”
Again with the skitter down Lizzie’s spine.
Outside, the hurricane raged, shaking the cottage with its fury, whipping branches off trees and churning the ocean into a dark-gray froth. But inside they were only focused on Charlie and her labor. During the next contraction her water broke, and Lizzie and Josh worked to take away the wet towels and replace them with new, soft ones. At the next check Lizzie gave Charlie the all clear. “If you feel like pushing, go ahead. Just let your body do the work, okay, honey?”
Dave uttered words of encouragement, but it was four more contractions before the urge to push overtook her.
“She’s crowning!” Lizzie exclaimed, beaming at Charlie. Lizzie focused on the baby, on Charlie, tried to ignore the small voice in her head that told her not to get too comfortable. Not to miss anything. The last baby she’d delivered—
No, she couldn’t think like that. That was an entirely different situation with an accident and a preemie and—
“Lizzie,” Josh’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Hey.”
She looked up, dazed. And she could tell Josh knew where her thoughts had gone.
“I’m fine. I’ve got it.”
The baby crowned. Josh was at Lizzie’s shoulder, Dave was at Charlie’s head, stroking her hair, and things were heating up.
And then Lizzie saw the cord and her heart stopped a little.
The umbilical cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck. In her head, Lizzie knew this wasn’t a big deal. It was common enough. But that, with the decreased heart rate earlier and her general sense of unease, made Lizzie freeze. What if she was missing something?
“You’ve got this,” Josh said in her ear.
She swallowed. “Charlie honey, don’t push for a minute, okay?”
“Easy for you to say!” Charlie grunted and bore down.
“Don’t push!” Lizzie commanded, trying not to panic. It was just a cord.
Josh put his hand on her shoulder. “I can step in, but you need to do this. You can do it. Just ease the cord over the baby’s head.” His voice was warm and low so as not to alarm Charlie any further.
Lizzie’s eyes blurred with tears and Josh came around, wiped them with his thumbs, and kissed her forehead. “You’ve got this,” he repeated. “Nice and easy, loosen the cord and slip it over. It’s only wrapped around once.”
With his voice soft and encouraging in her ear, she loosened the cord. The baby turned a little, in preparation for birthing the shoulders, and Lizzie let out a breath.
“Okay, Charlie. Next contraction you give ’em hell.”
There was a groan and a yell, and then the baby slid into Lizzie’s waiting hands. Josh was there with a pink towel and Lizzie laughed with joy as the baby’s first cries filled the room. They bundled her as best they could with the cord still attached and placed her on Charlie’s tummy.
“Congratulations, Mom and Dad,” Lizzie said, weeping now. “A beautiful, healthy baby girl.”
Josh’s hands squeezed Lizzie’s shoulders. “Told you so,” he said in her ear.
“Yes, you did,” she replied, tilting her head to rest on his hand for a second. “Thank you, Josh.”
He gave her a final squeeze, then took over clamping and helping Dave cut the cord. Lizzie attended to Charlie, and Dave took over the task of a first bath with some of the water he’d heated when Lizzie and Josh had arrived. When both mom and baby were cleaned up, Lizzie helped Charlie settle the baby at her breast.
The sight was so emotional that Lizzie escaped to the kitchen, giving Charlie and Dave some privacy. Josh went with her, and when they were around the corner he simply took her in his arms and held her tight.
She put her arms around his back and held on.
“Josh?”
“Hmmm?”
She tilted her head up to look at him. “I think I love you, Josh.”
“Just think?”
“It’s a big step for me.” She smiled, somehow both tired and energized.
“In that case, I think I love you, too.”
She wouldn’t weep again. She wouldn’t. But the words made her want to.
“For a while I was so afraid. And then you were there and I knew you trusted me.”
“I knew what you were thinking. But we all make mistakes, Charlie. And we can’t let those mistakes freeze us up and make us afraid to try again.”
“You’re not just talking about the baby.”
“Smart girl. The truth is, if Erin hadn’t died, we would have divorced. Our marriage wasn’t meant to be. And if that’s true, surely that means there’s someone else out there for me who is the right one. I can’t let myself be afraid and miss the best thing to ever happen to me.”
“You’re saying that the problem isn’t trust but loving the wrong person all along?”
“Maybe. Or maybe the point is, it doesn’t matter. Trust, faith … it all means something intangible. It’s based on something more than hard evidence. And maybe what it is for me is love. Either way, I’m ready to try again.”
“Me, too,” she whispered. “Except…”
He pulled away a bit. “Except what?”
She wanted to do this right. Be sure, not screw it up. “Josh, I’ve always planned my career step-by-step. And then I let my impulsive side take over my personal life to make up for it. Both crashed and burned. I went looking for adventure, but what I really wanted was something to make me feel alive. You do that for me, Josh. When I look at you. When I touch you. I don’t want to ruin that. I just … I need you to agree to one more rule.”
“Oh great. Another one of Lizzie’s rules.” His tone was joking, but she could see the shadow of worry in his eyes. “What is it?”
“Be patient with me. I want to do things right. Just be patient with me and be beside me as I figure that out, okay?”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“I think you’ll find I can be very patient … about some things,” Josh said. Then he dipped his head and kissed her. Hard. Possessively. So passionately that it curled her purple-covered toes.
“Are they kissing?” came a yell from the living room, and Lizzie and Josh broke apart. Josh’s face flamed red as they saw Dave standing in the doorway with a smirk on his face.
“Oh yeah!” he called back. “Big-time.”
“Woo hoo!”
Lizzie laughed. And then Josh pulled her close and she knew somehow they’d figure it all out.
CHAPTER 22
Two months later
Lizzie huddled into her thick sweater, watching as Josh zipped his fleece up to the top, guarding against the bitter wind off the ocean. The boat ride to Lovers’ Island had been a cold one, and in early November the beach felt barren and wild. T
hey’d spent an hour scouring the peak of the island where they’d found the leather pouch but had come up empty. Not that they’d really expected to find anything. Still, Josh’s eyes lit up when the mythical treasure was mentioned, even though he hadn’t kept a bit of the initial find to himself. The historical society was benefiting greatly from the coins. The rest of the treasure, if there was any, remained a mystery.
Josh and Lizzie both wanted to go to the beach before heading back to Jewell Cove, though. Lizzie stopped, spread her arms wide as if to embrace the wind, and closed her eyes. She was 100 percent enjoying her new adventure—being head over heels in love with the man beside her.
Her eyes were still closed when she felt him there, his body blocking the wind, his lips on hers as his arms pulled her against him. She responded by looping her arms around his neck and kissing him back until they were both out of breath.
“Remember our first trip here?” he asked, his lips close to her ear.
“Of course.” She grinned up at him, remembering the day very clearly. “You were very naughty.”
“I was falling in love with you even then,” he answered, taking her gloved hand in his.
“Me, too.” She’d been too afraid, too stubborn, to admit it.
True to his word, Josh had been patient with her while she sorted out what she wanted to do. He’d been free with his affection but reserved in his demands, and she loved him all the more for it. Never in her life had anyone accepted her in this way. The freedom of it had made her decisions easier in the end. She’d waited until today to tell him, hoping he’d be happy with her choices. She’d made them for herself, but also with her and Josh’s relationship in mind, and she was quite excited.
“Let’s sit over here,” she suggested, pointing to a spot where the sand met rock. They found a natural seat in the granite and perched on it, sheltered a little from the cold wind.
“You’re a little crazy for wanting to come out here this time of year,” Josh teased. “It’s freezing. And I’m sure you don’t want to strip to your underwear and go for a dip.”
“I’m not into hypothermia,” she replied. “But I did want to come here for a reason, Josh. I have news.”