Wayward Hearts

by Susan Anne Mason

  Lily shook her head. “Wow. I thought high school in a small town would be simpler. But it sounds worse than mine.” She drained her can. “So why’d he go out with her now?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe a rebound thing after he and Susie broke up.”

  Lily rose and rubbed her belly. “Could be. Susie was really torn up when Jason ended their relationship.”

  Maxi snapped to full attention. “Jason ended it?” Maxi had assumed Susie had broken his heart.

  “Yup. Things were getting serious between them. Susie wanted to get married, but as soon as she raised the subject, Jason bolted. Word around town says he has an aversion to commitment.”

  Of course. It all made sense now. A girl like Susie would expect marriage after dating for two years.

  Lily winced and seemed to go pale, but she recovered quickly.

  Maxi was sure the baby had just kicked her too hard. She threw her empty can in the trash and followed Lily into the shop. “They’re right. Jason is leery of marriage. It has something to do with his father leaving when he was young.” She shook her head. “Funny, I thought Susie would be the one to change that.”

  ****

  Gloria slammed the door to her BMW and jammed her keys into the ignition. That trash Maxi North was back in town and had somehow wormed her way into Jason’s life again. Just when she was about to make her move to get him back. She didn’t need Maxi distracting Jason when she was trying to get his attention.

  The engine purred as Gloria pulled away from the curb.

  She’d had to contend with Jason and Maxi’s friendship all through high school. When Maxi had finally left town for good, no one had been happier than Gloria. Happier still to hear they’d had some big falling out before she left.

  Then Gloria had to bide her time until Jason’s relationship with Susie Marshall ran its course. It hadn’t been too hard to get Susie to push Jason for marriage. A few strategic suggestions and Susie had bridal gowns blinking in her brain. Gloria knew Jason would head for the hills at the mere mention of the idea. Her plan had worked to perfection. He’d dropped Susie like a grenade about to detonate, and once they’d broken up, Gloria had taken full advantage of a very lonely Jason.

  True, she hadn’t been able to keep his interest for long, but their brief time together had only increased her feelings for him. As well as her determination to win him back.

  Gloria gripped the steering wheel with iron fingers. There was no way she’d let Maxi North’s unexpected arrival ruin her plans.

  She would keep Maxi away from Jason—no matter what it took—because one way or another, Gloria would become Mrs. Jason Hanley.

  10

  Maxi hummed to herself as she made her way to the nurses’ station near her mother’s room. On her way to the hospital, she’d stopped in the Kingsville camera shop to get the pictures of Lily’s hairdo printed. Maxi’s pulse had quickened as she studied the results. They’d turned out even better than she dared hope. With Lily’s exotic looks, the photos would make a wonderful addition to her portfolio.

  Residual excitement lingered as she waited for the nurse to update her on her mother’s condition. Finally a woman came to tell her that Mama had improved greatly in the last twenty-four hours, and she’d be able to go home in the next day or two.

  Sure enough, when Maxi poked her head in the room, her mother’s color looked much better. Maxi bent to kiss her cheek. “Hi, Mama. How are you feeling today?”

  Her mother struggled to sit upright in the bed. “Much better. How are you, dear?”

  “Good, thanks.” Maxi rearranged the pillows behind her mother’s back and then pulled up a chair beside the bed. “There’s something I need to tell you, though.” She couldn’t put it off any longer.

  A frown creased Mama’s forehead. “What is it?”

  “We’re going to have to stay with the Hanleys for a while until repairs are done to the roof and the soot is cleaned out.”

  Tears edged her mother’s eyes. “So we didn’t lose the house?”

  “No. The damage is repairable. Jason is helping with that.”

  “What about the insurance? Won’t they handle it?”

  Maxi hated the lines of worry on her mother’s face. “Eventually, but you know how much red tape is involved. Jason’s going to start on things, and when we get the money from the insurance, we’ll reimburse him.” No use worrying now whether the insurance would pay. Truth was on her side. Neither she nor her mother had started that fire, and if arson was involved, they could prove their innocence.

  Her mother smiled. “Sounds like you’ve got it all worked out. I should have known better than to worry. God will take care of us. He always does.”

  Maxi bit back the sarcastic remark that burned on her tongue. She wouldn’t ruin her mother’s optimism with her own negative thoughts. Nothing Maxi said would change Mama’s unwavering view of the Almighty. Maxi sighed, wishing she could regain the simple faith of her youth. It would be nice to lean on God for help with life’s problems. Truth was, ever since Drew’s senseless death, Maxi didn’t feel entitled to call on God for anything.

  She spent another twenty minutes with her mother until Mama’s lids began to droop. She left her mother to rest, with the promise to pick her up as soon as the doctor released her.

  Maxi had just turned onto the road to Rainbow Falls when her cell went off. She glanced at the display. Jason. This was the first time he’d initiated contact with her since the kiss. Looking in the rearview mirror, she slowed her speed and pulled off to the side of the road before answering the call.

  “Maxi. Thank the Lord. Can you come over to Lily’s right away?” Panic infused his voice.

  Her hands stiffened on the wheel. “What’s wrong?” It wasn’t like Jason to show fear. He was a fireman, trained to handle emergency situations.

  “Lily’s not feeling well. I think she might be in labor.”

  “Labor?” Was that why Lily seemed so pale when she left the shop earlier? “Did you call Doc Anderson?”

  “Yeah. But I can’t reach him. I called for an ambulance, and they’re tied up with a multi-car accident. They’ll be here as soon as they can. And Nick’s in Bismarck today. He’s not answering his cell. I suggested the hospital, but Lily won’t hear of it. Not without Nick.”

  “Is she having regular pains?”

  “I don’t know. She’s moaning a lot.”

  Maxi let out a relieved sigh. Jason was likely panicking for nothing. If he couldn’t tell whether or not Lily was having contractions, it couldn’t be too serious. Maxi pictured him pacing as he talked and had to grin at the thought of Jason alone with a pregnant woman who might be in labor.

  “Calm down, Hanley. Everything will be fine. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

  ****

  Maxi wasn’t laughing half an hour later when she saw her friend’s pain firsthand.

  No wonder Jason had sounded so panicked on the phone. Up in the master bedroom, Lily writhed on her bed, emitting gut-wrenching moans with each contraction. Maxi wiped Lily’s sweat-soaked face with a cold cloth and then laid it on her forehead.

  Lily reached over and clutched Maxi’s arm, fear evident in her dark eyes. “This is happening too fast, too soon. I’m scared. I should have let Jason call for an ambulance sooner.”

  Maxi’s pulse sprinted to a dizzying rate. Her friend needed someone—a doctor, a mid-wife—anyone who knew something about delivering a baby. But Doc Anderson still wasn’t answering his phone. Probably off on an emergency call. “If Jason and I help you downstairs, we can get you into the car and drive you to the hospital.”

  “I don’t know if I can…” Lily’s fingers clamped like a vice around Maxi’s wrist.

  Maxi tried to ignore her friend’s panic and stay rational. Provide calm assurance.

  “Sure you can. First we’ll get you sitting up.” Puffing and straining, Maxi struggled to lift Lily’s upper torso and push some pillows behind her. When another contraction hit
, a scream exploded from Lily’s chest, resonating through Maxi’s frame. The blood drained from Lily’s face, and for a second, Maxi thought she might pass out. Maxi murmured soothing platitudes while Lily endured the pain. When the death grip on her hand eased up, Maxi knew the contraction had ended.

  “Thirsty,” Lily croaked from between lips that were beginning to crack at the corners.

  Maxi rearranged the sheet over Lily’s extended belly and patted her hand. “I’ll go get some ice chips. Be right back.”

  Guilt washed over her at the relief she felt to be out of the room. Like a prisoner executing a jailbreak, Maxi made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen.

  Jason was pacing the length of the room when she entered. Lines of worry wrinkled his brow. “How is she?”

  Maxi swallowed hard, trying to quell her own anxiety and not make matters worse. “I’m pretty sure she’s in advanced labor.”

  Her hand shook as she opened the freezer and took out the ice trays. How could this have come on so fast? Lily had been fine earlier. Or had she? She had seemed spent when she left Peg’s. Had Maxi’s photo session contributed to the early onset of labor? Maxi attacked the cubes with the kitchen mallet. Each crash of the hammer jarred her arm up to her elbow. “Did you reach the doc yet?”

  He shook his head. “No. I left another message. You’d think he’d have some way of getting hold of him. Ambulances tied up, and the only doctor in town out of contact with a pregnant woman in labor.”

  His exasperation would’ve been comical if Maxi didn’t want to scream. She had no idea what to do for a woman in labor. “What about Nick?”

  “Can’t reach him either. The last thing he said was that he’d have his cell on. I don’t understand it.”

  Maxi tried to think clearly, to focus on a logical solution. “Lily’s in too much pain to move her now. She couldn’t even sit up for a minute.” She dumped the ice chips in a bowl. “You said you called the Kingsville Hospital, and they’re going to send an ambulance as soon as it’s free?”

  “Yeah, they’re all tied up with some car accident.” Jason scrubbed a hand over this face as he walked. “I put in a call to the guys at the fire station. They’re in the same boat as the ambulance drivers.”

  “We need help. Who else in town has experience delivering a baby? Is there a midwife or anything?”

  Jason’s eyes slid away from hers. He jammed his hands deep into the pockets of his ripped work jeans. “Well…”

  “What is it?” She fought the urge to shake the words out of him.

  “I’ve had some training with the birth process—as a fireman, I mean. We worked with dummies and watched videos, so nothing firsthand.”

  She could see the fear in his eyes. A bubble of hysterical laughter rose in her throat. He could dash into a burning building without blinking, but assisting a birth scared him to death. She took a breath to control herself. His training was all they had to go on. “What do we do? Boil water? Rip sheets?”

  He smiled at that. “No. We’ll need lots of towels. Some sterilized scissors and a clamp. And something clean to wrap the baby in.”

  A wave of dizziness struck as the stark reality of the situation became evident. Could the two of them actually bring a baby into this world?

  She and Jason? Alone?

  For the first time in years, Maxi began to pray.

  11

  Darkness was falling when Jason finally heard from dispatch. The ambulance was now en route. Estimated time of arrival half an hour. Jason pressed his lips together as he pocketed his phone. They didn’t have half an hour.

  “Jason.” Maxi’s frantic voice reached him in the hallway where he’d taken the call in order to hear better. Lily’s screams during the contractions told him the pain had become almost intolerable.

  He rushed into the room, where Maxi sat by Lily’s side, one hand holding hers, the other wiping her perspiring brow.

  “I think she’s getting weak.”

  The fear in Maxi’s eyes steadied him. These women needed him to be calm, to guide them through this. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. “Everything’s going to be fine,” he said in his most soothing voice. “It shouldn’t be much longer now.”

  He took his place at the foot of the bed where Lily lay draped in a sheet. He approached the situation as he would a victim in a fire.

  Be impersonal and professional, kind but firm.

  He could do this. He had to do this.

  Jason lifted the sheet to check on her progress. Adrenaline kicked in at the sight of the top of the baby’s head. Suddenly this emergency became very real. “I can see the head. Lily, you need to push down on the next contraction.”

  He looked up to make sure both women had heard him. Lily’s hair lay plastered against her head, soaked with sweat. But she nodded her understanding. Jason’s heart thumped loudly in his chest as he recalled the next steps in the training manual.

  “Maxi, when the contraction starts, help her lean forward and support her from behind. She’ll have to push for as much of the contraction as she can. And rest in between.”

  “Easy for you to say.” Maxi scowled and took her place.

  In the distance, a phone rang, but no one was in a position to answer it. The next contraction had begun. As instructed, Maxi helped Lily move forward, urging her to push. Lily grunted with exertion, her face crimson. The minute and a half contraction seemed to last forever.

  “OK, let her rest,” Jason told Maxi when it subsided.

  Lily fell back, panting, while Maxi wiped her face with the damp cloth. A cold bead of perspiration slid between Jason’s shoulder blades as he waited.

  Two more contractions followed. He couldn’t tell if they were getting anywhere. The baby hadn’t budged. Jason’s tightly held control began to slip as doubts crept in. Was he doing the right thing? What if the baby got stuck? They had no way to monitor the baby’s heart rate. No way to tell if it was in danger.

  He shook his head as if to shake loose the negative thoughts. He had to be strong for these women. They were depending on him to get them through this crisis. He bowed his head and prayed for strength and guidance. If anything happened to Lily or the child, he could never live with himself.

  Lord, bless Lily and her baby. Cover them with your grace and protection. Guide me with the right steps to deliver this child safely.

  He opened his eyes when Lily groaned, signaling the next contraction.

  “Come on, Lily. You can do this. Help her, Maxi.”

  With Maxi’s support, Lily pushed until she was worn out and then fell back on the pillows almost unconscious. What would they do if she actually passed out? Jason stood to pace the room until the next contraction. He looked at his watch. Nick should be home soon. What kind of scene would he arrive to? Miracle or disaster?

  He felt Maxi’s hand on his arm. “Why don’t we switch this time? You can help Lily better up there.”

  Maxi’s face was so pale her freckles stood out in stark contrast. Her eyes met his, and he nodded. “Say a prayer, Max,” he whispered. “This isn’t looking good.”

  “I’ve been praying all along.”

  Lily’s scream mobilized them both into action. Jason took Maxi’s place beside Lily. He used his strength to raise her ravaged body. “Come on, Lily. Your baby needs you to push. You can do this.”

  With tears and sweat running down her face, Lily pushed until Jason heard Maxi’s cry. “The baby’s coming. One more time should do it.”

  Thank You, God.

  Again, instructions swirled in his head. “Once the head’s out, we have to stop and clear its mouth. Make sure the cord’s not wrapped around the neck. Then wait for the next contraction before any more pushing.”

  “Got it.” Maxi swiped an arm across her forehead.

  Five minutes later, the lusty cry of Lily’s baby filled the room. The sound was sweeter than anything Jason had ever heard. His breath whooshed out of his lungs as his spine turned to gela
tin. Maxi held up the squalling red bundle, tears streaming down her face.

  “It’s a girl, Lily. You have a beautiful baby girl.”

  A hundred pound weight lifted from Jason’s shoulders. Tears stung his eyes as he looked at the miracle of life in Maxi’s arms.

  Thank You, Lord, for Your help. We couldn’t have done it without You.

  Lily lay back limply while Jason went to cut the cord and clamp it off. With a clean towel he wiped the infant’s face. Maxi wrapped her in a fresh sheet, and then, as if holding a priceless work of art, carried her over to Lily. She laid the baby in her mother’s arms, and the howling stopped immediately.

  “See, she knows her mama,” Maxi whispered.

  Despite her ordeal, Lily beamed at the bundle while tears dripped down her cheeks. “Hello, beautiful girl.”

  Jason watched them for a minute, amazed at the transformation in Lily. How could she seem on her deathbed one minute, and Madonna-like the next? All part of the miracle of childbirth he supposed. He walked over to kiss Lily’s cheek and then stepped outside to give the women some time alone. He’d leave the rest of the details to the paramedics.

  Relief spread through his body replacing the adrenaline, and sudden exhaustion set in. He blew out a long breath as he descended the stairs on stiff legs.

  They’d done it. The baby and Lily were alive.

  He offered another prayer of thanks. Then he headed outside to wait for the ambulance.

  ****

  Maxi’s high-strung nerves gave way to immense relief when the paramedics arrived mere minutes after Annabelle Maxine Logan made her grand entrance into the world.

  Nick showed up five minutes later. He’d been frantic when he arrived. He’d lost his cell phone at the conference, had a flat tire on the highway, and when he tried to call from a payphone, no one had answered. Then, greeted by the sight of an ambulance pulling into his driveway, sheer panic had set in.