Colorado Woman (The Hansen Women)

by Coburn, C. C.

  “I am serious. And you better slow down some more.”

  “I want to lose them,” he said.

  “Trust me, son, by the time we make it to the top of the pass, those vans won’t be goin’ anywhere, except to the repair shop. You know how long it takes to get a large vehicle tow truck out here?”

  At last Mac got the old man’s reasoning. He eased off the accelerator and picked his way up the bumpy road. Some places it was so deeply rutted, one wheel wasn’t even making contact with the road.

  “You better select low range if you want to make it up this hill,” Gramps suggested. “You do know how to find low range don’t you, son?” he asked.

  Mac slowed the vehicle and looked down at the console, searching for a button. Gramps reached forward between their seats and grabbed a knob near the floor. In one deft move he engaged low range and the big SUV’s engine tone changed and Mac felt the tires grip the slippery road.

  “Thanks,” Mac gritted through his teeth. Would he ever learn how to live in the country?

  “Do you love my granddaughter?”

  “More than life itself,” Mac admitted.

  “That’s good, ’cos I was wondering how long we were goin’ to live with you drivin’ like a city slicker. You’ll be movin’ out here then.”

  Mac smiled across at Gramps. Unfortunately the wheel got whipped out of his hands as they hit a rock. Quicker than lightning, Gramps reached over and steadied the wheel and the vehicle, which had been teetering on the brink of a cliff, righted itself.

  “Sorry,” Mac said, apologizing for the cuss–word he’d uttered as the wheel had been torn from his grasp by the rock.

  “It’s alright, son. I cussed a few times myself when I was learnin’ to drive this track. Mind you, I was only ten at the time.”

  Mac concentrated on staying on the road as they neared the summit.

  “Wow!” he said as they reached the top of the pass and the next county was spread out before them.

  “Can you understand now why Maggie never wanted to leave this valley?”

  “Sure can. I’d like to have time to explore it more with her.”

  “You will. If you play your cards right,” the old man assured him. “Instead of actin’ like a horse’s ass and makin’ a spectacle of her.”

  Mac wasn’t going to argue, He deserved the ticking off.

  “Now, keep to the left side of the track; it’s tricky goin’ downhill. We don’t want to end up like those blood–suckers back there.” Gramps pointed a dismissive thumb over his shoulder behind him.

  “They’re not all bad,” Mac assured him.

  “They are if they’re hangin’ round our front gate lookin’ for a story that’s none of their beeswax. It’s just sensationalism and gossip.”

  “Gramps, you’ve gotta know I never intended this.”

  “I do, son. I know how a man can lose his head over a pretty lady. Can lose any lick of sense God gave him. You treat my Maggie right and it’ll all work out fine.”

  “You sound pretty sure of that.”

  “Actually, I’m not, I just figure if I tell myself somethin’ often enough it will end up bein’ true.”

  “That’s not what I’d call a ringing endorsement of my ability to win Maggie’s heart.”

  “Oh, you got her heart, son. It’s her soul you need to work on. You hurt her deep and our Maggie doesn’t heal quickly.”

  They continued to pick their way down the mountain and soon the dust track evened out, then the blacktop started again.

  “You can gun it now, son. I know the county sheriff and he aint about to give you a ticket with me beside you.”

  “At least I hope he won’t,” Gramps muttered under his breath.

  Gramps continued to give Mac directions, as they skirted around Spruce Lake then joined the highway to Silver Springs.

  Sure enough, Gramps was right about beating the ambulance. They pulled into the parking lot of the hospital at the same time as it pulled up to the emergency room entrance.

  Mac was out of his car and waiting at the back door of the ambulance as the paramedics opened it. The first thing he saw was Pixie’s pale face. Fearing the worst, he wanted to leap into the vehicle to help Maggie in any way he could.

  “She’s fine,” one of the paramedics reported, seeing the look of anguish on Mac’s face.

  She didn’t look fine, Mac thought as medical personnel poured out of the Emergency Room and clustered around the gurney as it was unloaded.

  The paramedic who’d climbed out of the back of the ambulance started issuing a bunch of instructions to the rest of the medical team, reporting on Maggie’s condition as they wheeled her inside. “She’s pregnant,” he heard someone report, in amongst all the medical jargon.

  “What did you say?” he demanded, grabbing hold of the paramedic’s arm, halting his progress.

  The paramedic pulled his arm from Mac’s grasp. “I said, she’s pregnant. Now step aside.”

  Mac let him go, too stunned to say or do anything more. Maggie was pregnant? But…she’d said…

  Mac wanted to follow her behind the screen in the ER but realized he’d only be in the way and, right now, it looked like Gramps needed his support. The old man had aged ten years in the past hour. Mac went to him and took his arm and led him to some seats in the foyer. Pixie joined them, linking her fingers through her grandfather’s.

  Mac had gotten over his shock that Maggie hadn’t told him about the baby. It had been quickly replaced with fear for both Maggie and their child. He wished Pixie had been more upfront with him when he’d called, but now wasn’t the time for recriminations.

  A quarter–hour later, one of the male nurses came to find them. “You can see Ms Hansen now if you’d like” he said. “She’s stable, but they’ll be taking her up to a ward shortly.”

  “She has to stay overnight?” Mac asked.

  “The doctor can explain,” he said as he showed them to where Maggie lay on a gurney in the ER. Her color had improved, but her eyes were closed. Various bags hung above the bed, with drips leading into her veins.

  “Are you Ms Hansen’s next of kin?” the doctor asked.

  “I am,” Gramps said, stepping forward. “But Mac can stay, he’s practically family.”

  Mac’s heart bloomed at the compliment. He wasn’t sure Maggie would consider him practically family, since she hadn’t cared to share this momentous secret with him.

  “Ms Hansen is suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum, ” the doctor announced.

  “Oh my God! Is she going to die?” Pixie exclaimed, and drew closer to her grandfather.

  The doctor smiled kindly. “Not if I can help it. But if she’d waited any longer, her dehydration levels could have gotten to a critical level. Hyperemesis Gravidarum is acute morning sickness. The severity is a rare complication of pregnancy but, with the right treatment, I’m hoping your sister can go home in a few days. Meanwhile, she’s on nutritional supplements via I–V because, as you know, she can’t keep anything down. And she’s severely dehydrated, so she’s on a saline drip as well.”

  “I want Maggie to have the best room in the hospital, the best doctors,” Mac cut in.

  “I understand your concerns, sir, and I can assure you, Ms Hansen will be given the best of treatment—as are all our patients.”

  Mac took the small reprimand on the chin and said, “I’m the baby’s father.” Then he wondered why he’d felt the need to admit the fact to a complete stranger.

  “Does she need a blood transfusion?” Pixie asked. “We’re the same blood type.”

  The doctor smiled kindly. “That won’t be necessary. But thank you anyway.”

  “I think I need to sit down again,” Gramps said and started sinking to the floor.

  The doctor hooked his foot around a stool on wheels and got it under Gramps before he fainted. “We need another gurney over here,” he called to the ER staff.

  “Oh, my God! Is Gramps going to die?” Pixie demand
ed and Mac put his arm around her shoulders. The poor kid was trembling like a leaf.

  “I think he’s just had a bit too much excitement for one day,” the doctor said, and listened to Gramp’s heart as he lay on the gurney. “Strong as an ox,” he pronounced and replaced his stethoscope around the back of his neck.

  “Gramps?” Maggie murmured from her gurney.

  Everyone’s eyes shot back to Maggie as she reached out her hand. Mac caught it and brought it to his lips. “He’s fine, Honey. So are you. And our baby.”

  Maggie ended up spending only two nights in hospital. Mac hired three nurses to take care of her around the clock when she arrived home.

  She soon got tetchy with all the fussing and visitors, and everyone took that as a sign she was greatly improved.

  Four days after Maggie’s admission to hospital––two days after she got home––she asked to see Mac.

  He’d complied with Maggie’s wishes that he not visit her—delivered regretfully by Paige, who promised to slap a law suit on him if he so much as darkened their door before he was invited to by Maggie.

  Expecting to find her upstairs still in bed, he was surprised to be shown out the back door to the river where Maggie sat, curled into one of the Adirondack chairs.

  He took a moment to observe her, to watch the way the breeze caught her hair, to compose what he wanted to say to her.

  He’d been so desperate not to mess up what he had to say, he’d written out a speech, edited it many times over and learnt it word for word.

  He stepped up behind her, saying, “Maggie.”

  She reached out her arm and he took her hand and kissed, it as he sank into the chair beside hers. “I’m sorry,” he said, suddenly forgetting his carefully planned speech.

  She smiled tentatively across at him and squeezed his hand. Mac tried to analyze if her grip felt strong enough as he gazed into her eyes, searching for the love that had once resided there.

  “I love you!” he blurted out and cursed himself. That declaration was supposed to come later in his speech. When he was surer Maggie had forgiven him.

  “I’m sorry, Mac.”

  His heart fell to his stomach. Was this it? Was this the way their relationship would end? With her saying, “I’m sorry, but it’s over?” He’d promised himself he’d comply with any wish of hers—even if it was Maggie saying she never wanted to see him again.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the baby.”

  “What? ” Mac couldn’t believe his ears. “What did you just say?”

  “I said, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the baby. It took me a while to come to terms that it might be a reality—after…after what I’d been told in the past. After I’d told you I couldn’t have children.”

  Mac kissed her hand, held it to his heart. “You have nothing to apologize for, sweetheart.”

  “I…I…”

  Words failed her. Desperate to know what she was going to say, he asked gently, “What is it, Maggie?”

  “I want you to be a part of our baby’s life.”

  Mac was confused. “Of course I will. Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Because you’ll be leaving at the end of summer. You’re an even bigger music star now than you were when you came here. All I ask is that you try and find time for our child in your schedule.”

  Mac got off his chair and sank to his knees in front of Maggie. “Honey, it’s never been about the fame for me. It was always been the song–writing. I’m quitting recording and I’m just going to write. I’m buying the ranch next door so I can be near you and our child, so I can be a part of his or her life. If I never leave this valley for the rest of my life, I’ll be a happy man—so long as I can be with you.”

  He watched as confusion danced across her features.

  “But they said on the television—”

  “Television news and gossip programs do not run my life. I do. I make the decisions on what I do, where I live and with whom. And if you’ll agree to marry me, then I’ll have satisfied all I want out of life.”

  “You want me to marry you?”

  “I’d prefer it if you didn’t make it sound like some sort of infectious disease,” he said, and softened his remark with a smile. “I’ve wanted to marry you since that night we spent in the cabin,” he declared. “No, scratch that. I’ve wanted to marry you since the moment you snatched that shotgun out of my hands and cracked it open. I figured any woman who knew how to do that was worth hanging onto.”

  Maggie grinned. “Really?” she asked and he could hear the hope in her voice.

  “No, not really, but pretty soon afterwards. And I haven’t stopped wanting to marry you for a moment since.” He reached for her other hand and held both hers in his and said, “Maggie Hansen, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

  “I’m surprised you still want me. I haven’t made any of it easy for you.”

  “Anything worth having is worth fighting for,” he said, exasperated. “And I’d really like an answer because I’m kneeling on a rock and it’s killing me.”

  Maggie laughed and nodded and said, “Yes.”

  “Halleluiah!” they heard Gramps say from the back porch.

  Maggie spun around in her chair and Mac got to his feet, as their families poured onto the lawn and made their way over to them both. There were hugs and kisses of congratulations all round.

  Epilogue

  A month later, surrounded by friends and family, Mac and Maggie exchanged their vows on the banks of the South Platte River, as it flowed past her cabin.

  Mac had moved into the cabin with Maggie. She’d refused to move from her idyllic location and instead he’d purchased the ranch next door for friends and family to stay in. At the moment it was inhabited by Annie and Tony and their family.

  Lisa got a job teaching at Coldwater elementary school and had purchased a house in town for a song. Her place in Seattle had sold quickly and she was happy to be moving on. Maggie hadn’t seen her sister’s eyes glow like they had lately for too long a time. The twins were looking forward to starting school with their buddies, Ethan, Isaac and Caleb.

  The barbeque weekend had proven to be such a huge success that the school would be opening for the Fall Semester the following week, with four new classes filled with children of families who’d decided they liked what they saw of Coldwater when they’d attended the barbeque. Businesses were opening on Main Street and the town was getting a buzz about it as homes were rented and renovated. Those who couldn’t find work in town were happy to commute to Spruce Lake and other towns further afield. The benefits of raising their families away from the stress and crime of the cities—and the cheap real estate—far outweighed the small inconvenience of commuting.

  Maggie couldn’t have been happier. The only dark cloud over her most perfect day was that her sister, Kelly couldn’t have been there to share in the festivities.

  But Kelly was working as a nurse in Zimbabwe for an international aid organization. They weren’t expecting her to make it home anytime soon.

  Paige had surprised them all by showing up in town before the barbeque and declaring she was done with LA.

  Maggie expected that to last about as long as her high–heeled cowgirl boots stayed shiny and new looking.

  Pixie had spent time interning with a PR company in Nashville, arranged for her by Mac. She’d reported back daily on how much fun she was having and had then flown out with Flynn days before the wedding.

  Gramps and Martha had moved into the Love Shack, as it had become known. They were planning a December wedding, Gramps figuring he’d waited this long to remarry, he might as well just make sure it was what he wanted. Martha had assured him she needed time to consider if it was what she really wanted too. In the meantime, Mac, Gramps and Tony had planned a small extension to house a kitchen and living room. Gramps had declared he didn’t want anything bigger to look after since he intended spending his days fishing and making love. Martha had rolled her e
yes.

  Maggie and Mac had seen off the last of their guests and were preparing for bed—preferring to have a real honeymoon in a few months’ time—when the phone rang.

  Smiling, Maggie picked up the phone.

  “Maggie Hansen!” she’d replied, forgetting for the moment that she had a new surname.

  “Ms. Hansen. It’s Communities for Africa here. I’m afraid I have some bad news about your sister…”

  Coming Soon!

  The next installment in the Coldwater, Colorado series:

  LA LADY

  Paige’s story

  Chapter One

  “Crap!”

  “What?” Paige Hansen’s hair stylist, Andre asked.

  “Another of my ex–boyfriends is getting married.” Paige shut off the Facebook newsfeed she’d been perusing on her cell while Andre did her foils.

  “So? They’re exes, sweetie. Who cares?”

  “I care! That’s the seventh ex of mine who’s getting married to the girl he dated after me. Immediately after me. What does that say about my chances of ever getting married?” she wailed.

  Paige let her characteristically cool demeanor slip. She could do that with Andre. He’d been her father–confessor for nearly two years. He knew about all her most recent exes…and, that she had naturally red hair—red hair that she tried desperately to cover with all manner of hair products and treatments. Paige hated her hair! She’d blame it for her breakups, if that didn’t make her seem too unhinged.

  “I want to go lighter,” she said to Andre. “Strip out this color and get rid of every strand of red in my hair!”

  “Oh, sweetie, come on! Your hair is the most divine color, stop trying to disguise it… Or at least what I remember of it was divine.” Andre tapped his chin. “No, I’m wrong, that was Colette with the divine red hair. Yours was pretty terrible.”

  “You’re not helping.”

  “Stop being such a drama queen. So what if some moldy old ex of yours is getting married? Would you want to have walked up the aisle with any of them anyway?”