The Cowboy's Christmas Surprise

by Marie Ferrarella

  Ray stood up. “I’ve got to get going before you start charging me for this little head-shrink session,” he quipped, digging into his pocket for money. Taking it out, he laid several bills on the counter.

  “Keep it,” Miss Joan said, pushing the money back at him. “It’s on the house. You’re going to need the money to rent that pretty little monkey suit you were just complaining about.”

  After a beat, Ray picked up the bills and shoved them back into his front pocket. “Thanks,” he murmured.

  Holly noticed that he didn’t bother contradicting what Miss Joan had said. It looked as if Ray was going to be in another wedding party. Which meant that she had another opportunity to see him looking better than any man had an earthly right to be.

  She didn’t realize that she was smiling as she went about her work.

  But Miss Joan did.

  Chapter Twelve

  As the diner door closed behind Ray, Miss Joan turned around to look at Holly. “Well, you seem to have things under control here, so I’m going to go over some of the order forms,” the woman told her. “If you need me, I’ll be in my office.”

  Holly nodded. She moved faster through her routine when she was alone. “Okay. I’ve got plenty to keep me busy out here.”

  She heard the front door opening again after what seemed like only a couple of minutes had passed. Holly didn’t bother turning around when she asked, “Forget something?” She’d just assumed that Ray had doubled back to the diner for some reason.

  She should have known it wasn’t him when the hairs on the back of her neck didn’t stand up the way they always did whenever he was in the vicinity.

  “Yeah,” a feminine voice said. “What my feet look like.” The words were accompanied by a deep, heartfelt sigh.

  Startled, Holly swung around to see Alma making her way to the counter at the pace of an arthritic snail. Holly glanced at her watch out of habit.

  “You’re early,” she commented. The past couple of months, Alma had taken to coming in every morning like clockwork for a large container of herbal tea to go. But she usually came in closer to nine, not seven.

  “I know.” Alma pressed her hand to her spine, no doubt trying to relieve an ever-present ache. “I thought if I showed up early at the sheriff’s office, I could leave early, as well.”

  “To go home and put your feet up so you could get more comfortable?” Holly guessed, returning to the counter and rounding it in order to begin preparing the deputy’s container of herbal tea.

  Alma’s laugh was short, harsh and dismissive. “Holly, I’m eight-and-a-half-months pregnant with a giant elephant—there is no comfortable position I can possible get to without first being knocked unconscious.”

  Holly gave her an understanding smile. “You have my sympathies. The usual?” she asked even as she got the pot of hot water.

  “The usual,” Alma echoed as she attempted to sit on a stool and redistribute her bulk in some sort of balanced fashion. But her eyes widened in distress before she could actually make satisfactory contact with the stool. “Speaking of usual,” she said with a huge sigh, completely abandoning the notion of sitting. “Looks like I’ve got to pay a visit to yet another bathroom. I swear, I should just pick a bathroom stall and have all my mail forwarded there. It feels like I’ve got to go every three and a half minutes.” She frowned at she looked down accusingly at her protruding abdomen. “Either this kid is spending all his or her time sitting on my bladder or my bladder has mysteriously shrunk down to the size of a pea.”

  “Maybe it’s a little of both,” Holly speculated helpfully. She’d picked up Alma’s ambiguous reference to gender. “I take it that you still don’t know what you’re having?”

  Alma shook her head. “I want to be surprised,” she said as she began the slow journey to the rear of the diner where the restrooms were located.

  “Well, you certainly have a lot more willpower than I do, Alma,” Holly acknowledged. “If it were me, I’d want to know.”

  Alma flashed a weary smile in her direction. “I really like surprises.” She winced a little. “Better make that an extralarge container, Holly. I need something to settle my stomach. I’ve been feeling really queasy since yesterday morning.”

  “Maybe you should go in to see the doctor,” Holly suggested.

  “I am, this afternoon. Right after my shift,” Alma told her as she disappeared around the corner. “Until then, I need tea.”

  “One giant-size tea coming up, Deputy,” Holly called out, reaching under the counter for one of the oversize cups that Miss Joan kept there.

  Holly placed it on the counter, took two tea bags from the vacuum-packed canister where Miss Joan kept the herbal tea and deposited both into the cup. She then took it over to the urn and carefully poured the hot water over the tea bags.

  While the tea bags were steeping, Holly went back to what she’d been doing to get the diner ready for the morning crowd that would begin arriving within the hour, looking to have breakfast.

  Almost ten minutes had passed before she remembered to check on the tea.

  When she did, Holly frowned. The tea was darker than the way Alma usually drank it. But then, she had asked for a larger container, so maybe she wouldn’t mind that the tea was stronger, as well.

  “Hope you like your herbal tea strong, Alma,” Holly said, addressing the comment to the woman she assumed had stopped to look at something at the rear of the diner after she’d left the restroom. When she didn’t receive even a grunt back, Holly glanced over her shoulder. “Where are you anyway?” she asked, half directing the question to the absent deputy, half to herself.

  Maybe I should check on her, Holly thought, growing a little concerned.

  Rounding the counter, she made her way to the rear of the diner, expecting to walk headlong into Alma at any moment.

  But she reached the restroom door, and still no deputy.

  Cocking her head, Holly paused for a second, listening to see if she heard any sort of movement on the other side of the door.

  She didn’t.

  She was becoming uneasy. Alma was taking too long. Something wasn’t right.

  “Alma, are you in there?” Holly asked, raising her voice.

  There was no answer.

  Why?

  She knew that Alma couldn’t have left the diner without her noticing. There was only one way in or out, and the deputy would have had to pass the counter in order to leave. It wasn’t as if there was a crowd she could have blended into.

  Had she gone to see Miss Joan for some reason? Holly wondered. The woman was her mother-in-law and maybe there was something Alma wanted to share with Miss Joan.

  But even as Holly came up with the excuse, it just didn’t sit well with her.

  Something was wrong, she could feel it in her bones.

  “Alma?” she called through the door. “I’m coming in, okay?”

  Very slowly, Holly pushed open the outer door with her fingertips, giving Alma every chance to call out and tell her to stay outside. When she didn’t, Holly pushed the door open all the way.

  That was when she saw her.

  Alma was lying facedown on the floor. She appeared to be unconscious. Oh, God, had she fainted?

  For a fleeting second, Holly thought of running for help, but she just couldn’t move. Maybe she’d already allowed too much time to go by and this was one of those times where every second was critical. The thought all but froze her in place.

  Rather than leave Alma, Holly shouted as loudly as she could, “I need a little help in here!”

  Holly dropped to her knees beside the unconscious pregnant woman—which was when she realized that she was kneeling in something damp.

  Alma’s water had broken.

  Her hand on Alma’s shoulder, Ho
lly tried to gently shake her awake.

  “Alma? Alma can you hear me?” she asked urgently. “Alma, it’s Holly. Can you tell me what happened?”

  Since Alma was still lying facedown on the tiled floor, all she could make out was one eyelid fluttering slightly. It was enough to give her hope.

  “That’s it, Alma, wake up. You can do it. C’mon, try to sit up for me,” she coaxed.

  Angling, Holly slipped her arm under the older woman’s shoulder—which was when she heard Alma’s involuntary cry.

  Alma’s eyes flew open—and immediately filled with pain. “No, I can’t... It’s...the baby... The baby’s...coming,” she cried in an unnatural panic, each syllable sounding as if it was physically being wrenched out of her throat.

  “I’ve got to get you to the doctor,” Holly told her, doing her best not to panic herself. This was a natural process, a perfectly natural process, right? Women had been giving birth, with or without help, for centuries, right?

  But when she tried to move Alma, the other woman clutched tightly on to her arm, trying to stop her from doing that.

  “No, I can’t... I can’t.”

  Holly regrouped. “Okay, you don’t have to get up.” She started to rise. “I’ll go get him to come—”

  Holly never got the chance to say here. Alma caught her wrist in what felt like an iron grip. “No...stay...please,” she pleaded. “Now... Coming... Now!” she cried between firmly clenched teeth.

  Holly took a deep breath. This was not going well. “Okay, I’ll stay, Alma. I’ll stay,” she promised. With effort, Holly centered herself. And drew on what she knew. She offered Alma an encouraging smile. “And don’t worry, you’re actually not my first. I brought Molly into the world.”

  For a second, she recalled the utter chaos of that night, with her brother yelling orders at her and his girlfriend crying and screaming. And there she’d been, caught up in the eye of the hurricane, praying she didn’t mess anything up.

  Molly had arrived in less than a heartbeat—and she was perfect.

  “Jill went into labor three weeks early and there was no time to get her to the doctor, either. And I know more now than I knew then because of those nursing courses I’ve been taking, so everything’s going to be all right. Trust me.”

  She was doing her best to put Alma at ease, but apparently she wasn’t being too successful. Alma still looked scared.

  “But, Alma, I’m going to need my hand,” Holly told her gently. The words didn’t seem to register with the pain-racked deputy. “Let go of my wrist, Alma,” Holly requested a little more forcefully.

  Belatedly, Alma opened up her hand, then instantly dug her fingertips into her own palms. The pain was almost making her pass out.

  “Sorry...” Alma breathed.

  “Nothing to be sorry about,” Holly said soothingly. “I get it.”

  Stripping off her apron, Holly did her best to slide it under the deputy’s writhing body. From this new position, Holly got a better look at Alma’s face. There was a fresh cut, still bleeding, right above her right eye. It wasn’t very hard to figure out what happened. Alma had to have hit her head on the edge of the sink when she fainted.

  But right now, that was of secondary importance. Bringing this baby into the world, healthy and sound, was her first priority.

  “This...is...awful...” Alma cried.

  “It’ll be over soon, I promise,” Holly told her.

  With determination, she folded back the bottom of Alma’s oversize blouse and then tugged down the khaki-colored elastic-waist slacks she had on, taking them off the deputy.

  “This is where it gets personal, Alma,” Holly muttered. “But like I said, it’ll be over with soon.” It just won’t feel so soon until it’s over, she added silently.

  One look told her that not only was the baby crowning, but that this baby was coming whether or not either one of them was ready for its arrival.

  “Very soon,” Holly told her.

  “Holly?” Alma cried uncertainly.

  Holly heard everything she needed to in Alma’s voice. She knew what the deputy was asking her.

  “The baby’s coming, Alma. I need you to bear down and push,” she instructed. “I’ll do the catching.” Alma screamed as a fresh pain ripped through her. The sound vibrated through Holly’s head, all but making her deaf. “Well, you’ve certainly got that part down. Now push!” Holly ordered in a voice that would have made a drill sergeant envious.

  The door directly behind her swung open just then. “I heard that all the way through the diner. What the hell is going on here— Oh, my God!” Miss Joan cried out as the sight of her daughter-in-law lying on the bathroom floor and what that meant registered. “Alma, baby, are you all right?”

  “She’s fine, Miss Joan,” Holly told her, trying to keep her voice calm. “You’re about to become a grandmother. If you’re not busy,” Holly added drolly, “could you get behind her, please, and support her shoulders?”

  For one of the few times in her life, Miss Joan appeared indecisively torn. “I’ll go run to get the doctor—”

  “There’s no time,” Holly snapped impatiently, cutting Miss Joan short. “Get someone else to go. I need you to get down behind Alma, Miss Joan. Now!”

  Without another word, Miss Joan did as she was told. Hurrying out, she called to the only other person in the diner, Angel, and dispatched her for the doctor. Rushing back into the bathroom, she knelt down directly behind her daughter-in-law and propped Alma’s shoulders up against her own body before adding her hands to the effort. She pushed Alma into a forward position so that she could do as Holly instructed.

  “Okay, Alma,” Holly said, focusing entirely on the deputy. “Now push again. Harder.”

  “I...am...pushing...harder.”

  “Again!” Holly ordered.

  The next moment there was the sound of another voice, far higher, joining in.

  Crying.

  “It’s a girl, it’s a beautiful, beautiful baby girl! You have a girl, Alma,” Miss Joan said, sobbing as she remained leaning forward, propping Alma up.

  Holly, holding the brand-new life in her hands, offered the infant to her grandmother.

  Miss Joan was shaking as she accepted the baby and wrapped her arms around it. “Perfect,” she pronounced, never taking her eyes off the precious life she was holding.

  Rocking back on her heels, Holly exhaled a ragged breath. That had been the most nerve-racking, exhilarating experience she’d had in a very long time. She recalled the thrill of holding Molly in her arms after coaching her transition from womb to world. It was a heady feeling.

  She began to get up. “I’m going to go get a knife to cut the cord,” she told Alma.

  A feeling of déjà vu all but blanketed her when she felt Alma grabbing her by the wrist again, her eyes once more wide with pain that went on to etch itself on her face.

  “Holly?” Alma cried, bewildered yet certain at the same time. “I’m not done yet. I’m having twins.”

  Rocking back on her heels again, Holly was about to ask her what she was talking about, but then the next second, there was no need. Back to her initial position on the floor beside Alma, she saw that there was another head pushing forward, struggling to come into the world.

  Twins?

  “What’s going on?” Miss Joan cried, looking from Alma to Holly. Given where she was, sitting directly behind Alma’s head, the older woman didn’t see what was happening.

  “Cash and I didn’t tell anyone. We...wanted to...keep...it our...secret...”

  “You really do like surprises, don’t you?” Holly marveled, looking at Alma. “Okay, here comes number two!” she announced, hunkering down. “You know the drill, Alma. Push!”

  Alma did as she was told. She pushed.

 
Holly offered what encouragement she could, urging Alma to push at regular intervals. After enduring what felt like the longest minutes of her life, Holly found herself helping ease Miss Joan’s second grandchild out into the world.

  Alma’s scream was almost muted in comparison to the scream that had initially brought Miss Joan running to the restroom.

  Holly held the second baby close to her. The warmth that worked its way all through her had little to do with the infant’s body temperature.

  “It’s a boy, Alma,” she said, looking at the worn-out, brand-new mother. “You got one of each.” As gently as possible, she laid the second infant in Alma’s arms. “No offense, Alma, but I sure hope that you’re finally closed for business now,” she said, nervously eying Alma’s lower half.

  This time, there was no explosive follow-up.

  For a second time, Holly started to rise to her feet. Unlike the first time, she made it.

  “I’m going to get some clean dish towels to wrap around these babies,” she told Miss Joan and Alma.

  She sincerely doubted that either woman heard her. But that was okay, as they were otherwise occupied, Holly thought, smiling to herself as she stepped out of the restroom—

  And right into Ray.

  “What the hell happened to you?” he asked, staring appalled at the state of the front of her uniform.

  For the first time since she had met him, her Ray-dar, as she secretly referred to her ability to feel his presence wherever he was, had failed to go off and alert her to the fact that Ray was around.

  Collecting herself, she stepped back.

  “I just got a frantic call from Cash saying that Alma wasn’t answering her cell phone and the sheriff said she should have been there half an hour ago. I know she picks up her tea here first so I thought I’d ask if you’d seen her.”

  The words came out in a rush as he went on staring at the blood on her uniform.

  Holly nodded numbly. “Alma’s in the ladies’ room at the moment.”

  Sensing the blood he was looking at wasn’t Holly’s, he asked, “Is she okay?”