Never Too Late

by RaeAnne Thayne

  Damn. So much for his plans to reach Albuquerque that night—or his hopes of outmaneuvering the storm by heading south. He had to hope this wasn’t a grim precursor of what was to come on this trip.

  “I guess we’d better stop in Shiprock for the night. Pull over and I’ll drive from here.”

  She slanted him a quick, amused look before turning her attention back to the road. “Why? I’m perfectly comfortable driving in snow.”

  But he wasn’t comfortable with her driving in snow. It was irrational, he knew, as from what he could see she was handling his SUV just fine.

  She wasn’t exactly driving at a snail’s pace but her speed didn’t seem at all excessive for conditions. She had engaged the on-demand four-wheel drive, he noted, and she seemed very competent behind the wheel.

  She was a doctor. No doubt her hands were probably capable of all kinds of things.

  The thought reminded him of that damn vivid dream, of those hands caressing him, reaching for him….

  Hunter pushed the memory aside quickly.

  “We should keep an eye out for a hotel, since it looks like we’re starting to hit civilization.”

  They discovered as they drove slowly through town that Shiprock had very little in the way of overnight lodging. At last, almost at the outskirts, they stumbled past a small two-story hotel with a neon Vacancy sign out front. Underneath it was an even more encouraging message—Pets Welcome.

  Kate pulled a U-turn in the deserted street. The Jeep slid a little as she made the turn but she expertly maneuvered out of the skid and pulled up in front of the modest brown brick building.

  The parking lot was crowded with vehicles. His heart sank until he remembered that Vacancy sign out front.

  “Wait here. I’ll see what they have,” Hunter said.

  Kate nodded and he climbed out, relieved that any lingering effects from that dream had expired.

  The lobby was pleasant but impersonal. The only bright spots were a striking woven Navajo rug hanging behind the front desk, a homely Christmas tree that looked like some kind of juniper gleaming cheerfully in one corner, and a sign that read Happy Holidays and what he assumed was the same sentiment in another language, undoubtedly Navajo.

  The clerk was about forty with a round, cheerful face and smooth black hair that reached past her hips. She looked frazzled but still managed a smile as he approached the desk.

  “You’re in luck,” she said in response to his request. “You’ll be taking my last two rooms. Usually this time of year we’re pretty empty but I guess you’re not the only ones looking to get out of the snow today. Don’t blame you a bit. Looks like a bad one out there.”

  He let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. At least they wouldn’t have to share a room. He wasn’t sure if his taut nerves could handle that. After nine hours in the car with her, he desperately craved a little distance to regain his much-needed control.

  He handed over his credit card. As he waited for her to process it, his gaze shifted out the window. While he had been speaking to the clerk, another vehicle had pulled up behind his SUV and, out of habit, Hunter automatically catalogued the make and the model and the occupants—a woman and what looked like two small children, in a late-model extended-cab pickup truck with a sleeper shell, Utah plates.

  The woman lumbered out and rocked her torso back and forth on her hips for a moment, her hands pressed to the small of her back. As soon as she turned, he realized why the need to stretch. She looked at least eight months pregnant and even from here he could see the fatigue and discomfort in her features.

  She walked inside the hotel lobby shaking off the snow that had collected on her parka just in the short distance between her vehicle and the building.

  The woman mustered a tired smile that didn’t come close to reaching her eyes, the color of creamy hot cocoa. “Ya’at eeh. Your sign out front says Vacancy. I need a room for one adult and two children.”

  Any minute now, it looked like that tally would rise to three children, Hunter thought.

  The clerk’s hair rippled in a sleek black waterfall as she shook her head regretfully. “Haven’t had time to turn off the sign yet. Sorry, but I just gave our last two rooms to this fellow here. You might try the SleepEasy, down at the other end of town.”

  Everything about the pregnant woman seemed to sag in defeat. “I just came from there. They were full, too. Guess we’ll try to push on through to Farmington.”

  She looked as if she barely had the energy to walk back to her truck, forget about driving through a blizzard to the next town.

  Hunter muttered an oath. He couldn’t turn a pregnant woman and her children out into the teeth of a blizzard—even if his spontaneous act of generosity would mean he had to spend the night trapped in a room with Kate Spencer.

  “Stop.” The word burst out of him just as the woman reached the door. Damn, he was going to regret this. But he knew he would regret it even more if he let her walk out. “Look, we can get by with one room. You take the other one.”

  The woman turned, wary and hopeful at the same time, as if fate had handed her so many disappointments she was afraid to believe this chance wouldn’t be snatched out of her hands.

  “Are you…are you sure?”

  “Yeah,” he growled, though his mind was already filling with all kinds of forbidden images. Kate walking out of the shower, her hair damp and that beautiful face scrubbed clean. Kate curled up in the next bed. Kate waking up in the morning, all soft and warm and welcoming…

  “Both rooms have two double beds,” the clerk offered helpfully.

  That was something, at least. If he had to share a room with Kate, he knew he would be up all night. But at least with two beds he could pretend to sleep on a bed instead of pretending to sleep on the floor.

  He grabbed the two key envelopes the clerk had prepared and handed one to the woman. “Here you go.”

  “I can pay for it,” she said, somewhat stiffly.

  “The charge has already gone through on my card. It would be a hassle to void it, so don’t worry about it.”

  “But…”

  Something in his expression must have stopped her argument. Tears swelled in her eyes but to his relief they didn’t spill out. She was gazing at him like he had handed her the keys to Fort Knox. “Thank you. Thank you so much for your kindness.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said gruffly, then turned to the desk clerk. “Is there somebody who can help with her bags?”

  The clerk nodded and paged someone named Vernon to come to the front desk.

  When he was certain the woman was taken care of, he walked back to the SUV. Now he only had to explain the situation to Kate.

  And wonder how he would survive twelve hours of driving the next day on no sleep—except for one brief nap, tormented by dreams he had no business entertaining.

  “I’m sorry again about this.”

  Kate, perched on the edge of one of the two double beds, gave Hunter an exasperated look. So they had to share a room. It wasn’t the end of the world. He didn’t have to glower like it was the worst thing that had ever happened to him. The man had spent more than two years in prison—as punishments went, sharing a hotel room with her shouldn’t even rank in the same stratosphere.

  “It’s no big deal,” she said again, trying not to be hurt by his obvious unease. “What else could you have done? That woman needed it worse than we did. I wouldn’t have been able to sleep knowing we sent her on her way into that storm. You did exactly the right thing.”

  He didn’t answer, just continued standing at the window gazing out at the snow still falling heavily.

  Kate swallowed her sigh. What were they supposed to do for the rest of the evening? It was far too early for bed and the idea of sitting in this hotel room with Hunter edgy and restless all evening was about as appealing as cleaning out an impacted bowel.

  She stretched a little to take the driving kinks out of her back and was debating whethe
r she should turn on the television set to watch the news when he turned from the window abruptly. “I’m going to take Belle for a walk.”

  “In the snow?”

  “She needs the exercise. Anyway, I have a parka in the Jeep. I’ll be fine. Do you want me to bring back something for dinner? On the way here, I saw a diner a block or so away that looked open.”

  “Sure. If they have some kind of soup and maybe a dinner salad, that would be great.”

  “What kind of soup do you like?”

  “Any kind except broccoli.”

  “You’re a physician. Don’t you know broccoli is good for you?”

  “Unfortunately, it’s usually the things that aren’t very good for me that I find the most desirable.”

  He made a sound that could have been a laugh. “You and me both, doc.”

  “Can you carry a take-out bag and hold Belle’s leash at the same time?” she asked.

  “I’m a man of many talents,” he said dryly. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

  Kate had to admit she was relieved when he slipped on Belle’s leash and walked out of the hotel room. Her muscles seemed to relax and for the first time all day she felt as if she could take a deep breath into her lungs.

  This was all so much harder than she thought it would be, spending every moment in close proximity. With each passing minute, she found something else attractive about him. By the time this trip was over, she was going to be a quivering mass of hormones.

  Unless she did something about it. The thought whispered into her head, seductive and beguiling.

  Maybe he wasn’t completely immune to her. After he had awakened while she was driving, she thought she caught a glimpse of something in those midnight eyes, something dark and hot and hungry. He had quickly veiled it before she could be sure but there had been an instant there when she thought maybe that hunger had been directed at her.

  The thought made her stomach muscles quiver. If she tried hard enough, perhaps she could seduce him. What better way to spend a snowy night trapped together in a hotel room than in each other’s arms?

  She rolled her eyes at herself. Right. As if she could entice a man like Hunter Bradshaw. She was just a master of seduction, wasn’t she? That’s why she was the only twenty-six-year-old virgin left in the civilized world.

  To distract herself from such unproductive thoughts, she flipped on the television just in time to catch the end of the six-o’clock news. She watched the Albuquerque station for a few moments, long enough to learn the whole area was socked in by snow. When the news was over, she flipped through the twenty or so channels with little success.

  Though she didn’t necessarily feel like going out into the teeth of that storm, she could use some exercise to work out a little of this dangerous restlessness. The hotel didn’t have a pool or an exercise room. About the only course open to her was walking the halls.

  At least she could get some ice while she was up and moving, she decided. She found her room key and grabbed the ice bucket, then walked out into the hall just as the door to the room next door opened.

  The woman in the doorway was lovely, with thick dark hair that brushed her shoulders and delicate light bronze features. She was also hugely pregnant, near the end of the third trimester, Kate thought.

  This must be the woman Hunter had given their second room to. His career in the damsel-rescuing business was certainly off to a promising start.

  She turned her sudden grin into a friendly smile and gestured to the ice bucket the woman held. Inside the room, she could see two dark-headed children propped on their stomachs on the bed watching cartoons.

  “Hello. Looks like we’re heading in the same direction. Can I fill that for you? That way you don’t have to leave your children.”

  “That would be great.” The woman mustered a strained smile that didn’t conceal her sudden wince or the hand she placed on the small of her back.

  Kate took the ice bucket from her and quickly filled them both, then returned to the room. The woman was still standing in her doorway, her expression pinched.

  “Here you go,” Kate said.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. I’m Kate Spencer, by the way.”

  “Mariah Begay. You’re with the nice man who gave us the room, aren’t you?”

  Nice? She didn’t hear that word used in connection with Hunter Bradshaw very often. It should be, she thought. He was nice, even if he would probably jump down her throat if she ever called him that. What else would you call a man who had sacrificed at least a week of his life to help his sister’s best friend?

  She nodded. “Right.”

  “Thank you again for giving up your room. I hope it hasn’t been too much of an inconvenience.”

  “Of course not.” She smiled. “Your children are beautiful. I’m guessing they’re about five and two, right?”

  The woman’s small smile revealed a narrow gap between her two front teeth. “Yes,” she answered proudly. “Claudia will be six in February and Joey will be three next June.”

  “You’re going to have your hands full with the little one.”

  “I know. But they’re worth it.” She winced again and pressed her hand to her back again. It was almost rhythmic, Kate thought, watching her carefully.

  “I noticed you had Utah plates.”

  “Yes. My husband flies F-16s in the air force. He’s stationed out of Hill Field but he’s been in the Gulf for the last six months.”

  “Hunter and I are both from Salt Lake City.”

  Mariah’s eyes widened. “I thought I recognized him! That’s Hunter Bradshaw you’re traveling with!”

  Kate could feel her friendly smile cool and she braced herself to defend him. Hunter’s case had been widely publicized in Utah. Dru Ferrin had been a popular television personality and her death had been front-page news for months, both in the aftermath of the murders and during the trial.

  She doubted there was a resident of Utah who didn’t know Hunter’s name.

  Even though his vindication and subsequent release had also been widely publicized, Kate knew there were many who still believed he got away with murder.

  How he must hate his notoriety, she thought, aching for him.

  “Yes,” she said tersely.

  “I followed the trial a little. I was bedridden during my pregnancy with Joey so I had a lot of time to watch the news. I thought it was terrible what happened to him! A horrible injustice. Mike and I never thought he was guilty, even during the trial.”

  She pressed a hand to her back again and Kate wondered if she was even aware of it.

  “You know it’s not really safe for a woman past her eighth month to do a lot of traveling, especially not alone.”

  “I know.” Grief spasmed across her face. “I wouldn’t be here but my father died two days ago. Cancer. We knew it was coming.”

  “That doesn’t make it any easier. I’m sorry.”

  “I had to come back to the Rez for the funeral. My mother doesn’t have anyone else.”

  Kate watched her for a moment, wondering if she ought to mind her own business. But when Mariah pressed her hand to her back again, she couldn’t contain her suspicions any longer.

  “How long have you been having contractions?” she asked.

  Mariah stared at her, her eyes as wide and dark as the desert at midnight. “I’m not!”

  “You’re having pain, though, aren’t you?”

  “Some. My back has been bothering me. But that’s only because I’ve been driving for the last six hours.”

  “You would know, I suppose. Can I just point out that we’ve been standing here talking for ten minutes. I’ve counted the times you tense up and I’m up to four now. That’s less than three minutes apart.”

  Mariah stared at her, her features slack. “You’re…you’re wrong. I can’t be in labor! I’m only thirty-six weeks along!”

  “Well, babies sometimes have their own timetables. One more week and yo
ur baby would be considered full-term.”

  “No,” Mariah wailed. “I can’t have my baby on the reservation! I can’t! I swore when I left for college that any children I might have wouldn’t be born here.”

  She seemed horrified at the very idea and Kate instinctively tried to calm her. “I’m sure there’s fine medical care here. Shiprock is a good-sized town. They should have a clinic, at least.”

  “They do,” Mariah said automatically. “They built a new one a few years ago. Farmington has a hospital too. That’s where my father was treated during his illness. Maybe I should just try to make it there.”

  Before Kate could answer, Mariah moaned with pain and held both hands over her abdomen, as if Kate had made the contractions more real just by mentioning them.

  “How far away is the Shiprock clinic?”

  “I don’t know. The other side of town. Three, maybe four miles.”

  “With these conditions, it will take at least ten or fifteen minutes to drive that.” Kate frowned. “I’m not sure it’s safe to try to make that, not as fast as these pains seem to be coming and not in this blizzard. Is there an ambulance service?”

  Mariah looked taken aback by that and for the first time, she started to look scared.

  “I…I think so. Do you really think that’s necessary?”

  “From what I’ve seen, your contractions are coming fast and regular. Without an internal exam I can’t be certain, but I’m willing to bet you’ve been in labor all day without realizing it. You’re probably close to fully dilated, which means that baby’s going to be here soon, ready or not.”

  “Are you a nurse?”

  Kate tried to look professional, something tough for somebody who wasn’t even five feet four inches tall. “Doctor, actually. I’m in my second year of residency at the University of Utah.”

  Some of the fear seemed to ease in Mariah’s eyes. “Oh thank heavens! Have you delivered any babies?”

  “Three or four dozen.”