At least he saw disappointment in her eyes.
“I’m teaching a childbirth class tonight. But I’ll call you when I get home, and we can plan.”
He smiled. “Sure.”
He didn’t know how much good it would do to plan, though. Between their surprising weather and her unpredictable patients, he was starting to see that he was the one who needed to remain lighthearted when their plans went awry. The surprise at seeing Kendra’s charming old home was just a taste of how unexpected dating Kendra might be.
Chapter 7
A week later Kendra approached Marianne’s front door, her home visit bag slung over her shoulder. She stepped back when the door swung open. A pregnant, fortyish blond nearly squealed and took Kendra’s hand to pull her inside.
“I am so excited to meet you! You’re Kendra, right? Of course you are. I’m Alice.” She called deeper into the house. “Lonnie! Lonnie, come here and meet Kendra. Turn off that game, babe, and come in here.”
Dumbfounded, Kendra glanced around the foyer. This was definitely Marianne’s home. She awaited Lonnie’s appearance and the possible explanation it might bring. But the blond babbled on.
“When Marianne told me—well, told us really—about you, I just quit Dr. Zibarro immediately. I mean, right. Away.“
“Uh, Dr. Zibarro?”
Marianne finally toddled down the stairs. “Alice, sweetie, let Kendra breathe. She thought she was just coming to examine me, not field your unbridled enthusiasm.”
“Hey.” A burly young man in a Seattle Mariners T-shirt walked in. He had to be a decade younger than Alice. “You’re Kendra? The midwife?” He put his hand out.
“Kendra the midwife. That’s me.” She shook his hand.
Marianne steered Kendra toward the guest bedroom area. “See, I told you I was going to rave about you. And Alice and Lonnie here are six months along and haven’t been at all happy with Dr. Zibarro.”
“He’s mean,” Alice said behind them.
“Mean?” Kendra knew Zibarro could be brusque, but she had never heard of his being mean.
Marianne waved the comment away. “Alice’s feelings are easily hurt. Well, they are, Alice. See? Lonnie’s nodding. Anyway, Kendra, you’ll take her as a patient, won’t you?”
Kendra looked from Marianne to Alice. Lonnie had already quietly headed back to the television. “I don’t know, Alice. We’ll have to talk about it.”
“That’s fine. I’m not due for another exam for a few more weeks.”
Kendra tried not to let Alice see her frown. It wasn’t that she wanted to turn anyone away. But she also wasn’t a one-woman campaign against Antoine Zibarro’s practice. The man was a perfectly good OB/GYN.
“You don’t mind Alice sitting in on this exam, do you?” Marianne opened the door to the bedroom, and Alice waited for Kendra to follow before she joined them.
“I don’t mind if you don’t.” She set her bag on the dresser and unpacked her stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. “But Marianne, maybe you could refrain from talking me up to people who are already associated with other doctors for their deliveries. There are plenty of women out there getting pregnant. I don’t want to become known for stealing away doctors’ patients, okay?” She reached back into her bag.
Alice sat in a chair near the window. “But I thought you’d be happy to meet people like me. You know, who are still eager to use a midwife, even after that article came out.”
Kendra stopped digging in her bag and looked up at Alice. “What article?” Acid suddenly burned her stomach.
Marianne lay back and again waved away the comment. “It’s nothing. Just some squeaky wheels looking for attention.”
“And Zibarro is right there, squeaking with the best of them. I left it on the kitchen counter.” Alice headed for the door.
“No, Alice,” Marianne said, “don’t bother Kendra with that.”
Kendra approached Marianne but looked over her shoulder at Alice. “Actually, I would like to see it, but let me take care of Marianne’s exam first.”
The article was not what Kendra would have called “nothing,” as Marianne had. A few local obstetricians, Antoine Zibarro included, had provided quotes for a piece about the possible dangers of relying on midwives and especially of delivering babies at home. It didn’t look as if Zibarro had prompted the article, but he was front and center in a group position that sounded rather crusadelike.
“This is awful.” She set the paper down on the kitchen counter while Marianne poured three cups of tea.
“But they showed both sides, don’t you think? They included two couples who used midwives and were happy with the results.”
Alice tapped on the paper. “They certainly didn’t talk me out of the idea. I’m thrilled Lonnie and I will be able to deliver at home.”
“Alice, you and I still have to interview, okay? I can’t commit to your care until we do that.” Kendra looked at the paper again and sighed. “I guess it wasn’t a complete hatchet job. But it doesn’t encourage me to rush into opening my own clinic, that’s for sure.”
Marianne gasped. “So you’ve been thinking about my idea?”
With a mild chuckle, Kendra said, “I’ve wanted my own clinic for as long as I can remember. I know a couple of midwives who would love to partner with me. But there are so many things involved, not the least of which is money. And now this.” She pointed to the paper. “I’m going to have to see if there are repercussions in the community because of this.”
“Listen, you believe you’re doing what God wants you to do, don’t you?” Marianne asked.
“Yes.” Kendra sipped her tea. “At least I try to listen for His guidance.” After reading that article, she had to admit some shakiness to her conviction. But not out loud.
Alice smiled. “Then all you need are enough patients who believe in you.” She waved her finger between Marianne and herself. “We’ll help you there, and I’ll bet lots of your past patients would, too. Referrals, you know?”
“Maybe we can even help with the money situation,” Marianne said. “I’ve done quite a lot of fund-raising in my day, you know. I also have connections with people in finance. I didn’t spend my married years watching TV and eating Cheese Doodles. And Alice here can be mighty pushy when she wants to be.”
Kendra set her cup down and gathered her bags to leave. “I need to get back to work. But you two are really wonderful. Every time I get depressed tonight about that article, I’m going to think about this conversation. I can’t believe how supportive you both are.”
Alice gave her a wink. “Anything for my new midwife.”
Marianne laughed, and Kendra gave Alice a look of mock admonishment. “Marianne’s right. You can be mighty pushy. I’ll give you a call, and we’ll get together in the next couple of days to talk about your pregnancy.”
Alice shrugged, holding her palms up. “That’s all I’m asking.”
That wasn’t exactly true, but Kendra would leave it at that for now. She needed to get away and pray about Alice and about the women and babies currently in her care. There was a chance some of her patients would have questions after seeing that article. She wanted to make sure she gave them the answers God wanted her to give.
Chapter 8
The next evening Steven sat across from Kendra at JORY, one of his favorite restaurants, at the Allison Inn in the heart of Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
“I love this place,” Kendra had said when they pulled up to the valet. They took the time to look out beyond the inn, to appreciate its lush vineyards and elegant gardens. “My sister, Shar, and I did a weekend at the spa here last year.”
He had watched her relax visibly during the past hour or so since he picked her up. Once they entered the restaurant and were shown to their table, she sat back against the upholstered booth. Steven smiled back at her. “I’m glad you agreed to come out tonight.”
She sighed. “I needed this like you wouldn’t believe.” She unfolded her napkin a
nd arranged it in her lap. When she smiled, he saw weariness giving way to contentment. “And thank you for the tour of your workshop. With no thunderstorms!”
“But I noticed you chose not to wear white.”
“I’m no fool.”
“That was already clear. You agreed to go out with me, didn’t you?”
Her chuckle had a lazy, laid-back sound to it. She leaned forward and rested her chin on her hand, as if she were in class and he were the subject she studied. “You know what I think I like about you?”
He mirrored her gesture, a twinkle in his eye. “There are so many possibilities, I can’t even begin to guess.”
She sat up straight and laughed out loud. “I’ll narrow it down for you, then. I like that you’re always so calm. You bring out the calm in me.”
“You do mean calm? Not boring? I mean, cadavers are calm.”
“I didn’t say you were lifeless. Far from it. But so often I’m surrounded by people in a panic, you know? It just goes with the territory for a midwife. And you’re …” She put her hands just over the table and slowly moved them away from each other, as if she were playing the piano. “You’re mellow.” This last she said in a spacey, hippie voice.
He let his expression go goofy. “Dude.”
For dinner they enjoyed Manila clams and watercress soup, Atherton lamb and sea scallops, fresh, hot coffee, and each other’s company.
“You still want me to restore your great-grandmother’s desk, right?”
“Definitely. Especially after seeing the things you had in your workshop.”
“I don’t have anything in there with the kind of finish your desk needs. A lot of the furniture from the deco era has a real polished finish to it, more than anything you saw in my shop. I think we should do that deco finish with your desk. It’ll highlight the wood’s grain better. And the inlay.”
She lifted her palm to him. “I defer to your wisdom and brilliance.”
“Cool. I’m happy you like what I do. My folks worry sometimes because I often turn down the more commercial, construction-type jobs. That’s where the quicker growth in business comes from. The better money. But these individual jobs are the kind of work I look forward to when I wake up each morning.”
“They’re more artistic, aren’t they?”
He nodded. “Yeah. So it’s a trade-off. I enjoy it more, but the income isn’t usually as good.” He shrugged. “I take on commercial work when I have to, though.”
Why was he yammering on about money to her? They barely knew each other, and he was starting to sound like he was interviewing for something. Maybe he was. He knew her profession would make it difficult for her to juggle several guys at once, but he couldn’t believe she didn’t have her pick of men. She was smart, kind, funny, and beautiful.
As they walked out of the restaurant, a woman passed them and broke into a big grin when she saw Kendra.
“Kendra!” She gave her a hug as if they were the closest of friends, and Kendra said hello, but Steven didn’t see a lot of recognition in her eyes. Apparently, the woman noticed that as well.
“Jill Maxwell? Five years ago? Twin boys? Fraternal?”
Jackpot. Recognition dawned on Kendra’s face, and she hugged the woman back again. “How are you? How are the boys?”
“Fantastic. Starting kindergarten in September, can you believe it?”
“No, it feels like yesterday.” She glanced at Steven. “This is my friend Steven Nichols. Jill was one of my surprise home deliveries.” She and Jill grinned at each other.
“Surprise?”
Jill said, “I was supposed to deliver at the hospital, but the boys had other plans. They came way early—”
“And way fast,” Kendra said.
Jill placed her hand on Kendra’s shoulder. “After reading that article this week, I feel like I really dodged a bullet. Or two bullets, I guess!”
“What do you mean?” Kendra’s smile faltered. Steven didn’t like the sudden change of direction in the conversation any more than she seemed to.
Jill shrugged. “Well, I never realized how risky home births were.”
Kendra looked as if the woman had just slapped her. “They’re not—”
“They haven’t seated you yet?” A man the size of a linebacker walked in and interrupted the conversation.
“I haven’t given them our name yet, Brad. Look who I ran into, honey. You remember Kendra. She delivered the twins. And her boyfriend, Steven.” Jill chuckled. “She didn’t deliver Steven, just the twins. Ignore me.”
“Oh, hey, yeah. Nice to see you again.” Brad gave both Kendra and Steven a powerful handshake.
Steven placed his hand against Kendra’s back and thought he felt her shaking. He looked at her face and could tell her mind was elsewhere, or at least unsettled.
“Sorry, Jill. Brad,” he said. “We need to be someplace right away, so …”
“Oh, sure,” Jill said. She gave Kendra’s arm a little squeeze. “You’ll have to come see the twins sometime.”
Kendra nodded. “Yes. I’d like that.”
As soon as she and Steven walked out of the restaurant, she teared up. Steven handed his ticket to the valet and gently put an arm around her. She turned into his chest, so he completed the embrace. He spoke softly into her hair. “You should do just as she said. Ignore her.”
“What am I going to do?” She pulled back and looked into his eyes. “She even experienced an emergency home birth that went well, and she’s turned off by midwives, thanks to that article.”
“I’m sure she’s not the norm, Kendra.” He wiped her tears away with his thumb. “Anyway, she didn’t mention midwives. Just home births.”
She puffed out an exasperated sigh and shook her head. “Most people just lump the two together in their minds. This could ruin my business.”
The valet pulled up, and Kendra turned away to get into the Silverado. Steven followed her and silently closed her door for her.
She looked at him when he got in the car. She had stopped crying, but that wonderful contented expression from the restaurant was long gone.
“Steven, do you mind if we just play that nice classical CD you played before? I mean, no talking for a while? I need to gather my thoughts. Is that all right?”
“Sure.”
But as they drove back to her house, he tried to think of suggestions for how she might combat the article’s possible effect on her business. He wished he could just make it all better for her. When they reached her house, he walked her to her door, a protective arm over her shoulder.
“You know, when you decided to help Marianne, and then John got upset about it, you said you were just going to say a prayer and hope for the best. Maybe that’s the best thing to do now. Until you feel more certain about doing anything else, that is.”
She sighed. “Of course I need to pray about it. But this timing couldn’t be worse. I was talking with a couple of other midwives about opening a clinic.”
“Don’t give up too soon. That could still happen.”
They ended their evening on a solemn note. The last thing he wanted was for their first kiss to be connected to worry or sadness. The moment was far from romantic. So he just gave her a quick kiss on the head.
“I still need to come pick up your desk. I’ll call you to schedule that. And to see how you’re feeling, too.”
She nodded. “Good night. Thanks. It was fun.”
They exchanged a rueful laugh.
And as Steven drove away, he tried very hard to focus on the actual fun of the evening, rather than creeping feelings about his brother-in-law and the trouble he had likely stirred up for Kendra. He tried not to dwell on the possibility that, by introducing Kendra to Marianne, he had indirectly drawn her into a battle she shouldn’t have had to join.
Chapter 9
Kendra’s mother and sister were in no hurry to leave her house.
“Nothing doing,” Shar said. “If Steven is on his way over, we need to stic
k around long enough to meet him.”
Their mother remained on the couch and crossed her legs. “I second that motion.”
“That’s fine.” Kendra sat back down as soon as she checked herself in the foyer mirror. “I want you to meet him anyway. Especially with you heading home tomorrow, Shar. Just don’t embarrass me. No stories about past boyfriends or stupid things I’ve done. I’m already feeling at odds because of the whole stink of that article.”
“What stink?” Shar took another sip of lemonade. “I think you’ve taken all of that too personally. Don’t get Mom all worried. You haven’t lost any patients over it, have you?”
“No. I guess I just feel kind of defensive. Yeah, don’t worry, Mom.”
Shar stood and looked out the window. “Besides, from the way you describe him, Steven doesn’t sound like the type to give you a hard time about anything.”
“Get away from there, nosy. And you’re right. He’s actually called a few times this week and encouraged me to ignore the article and move forward with the clinic idea. My midwife friends feel the same way. We’re going to look at some properties tomorrow.”
“Yes, I like this man, Kendra.” Her mother stood and joined Shar at the window.
“Will you two please get away from—”
“Ooo, there he is!” Shar jumped back, which made their mother jump as well, and the two women practically knocked each other down running back to the couch.
“Oh, for goodness’ sake.” Kendra laughed at them, and they joined her. “I said don’t embarrass me, okay?”
She was still smiling when she answered the door. Steven had a young man with him and rolled a hand truck behind himself. He returned her smile.
“That’s what I like to see. You look a lot happier than the last time I saw you.” He and the young man walked in. “Marty here is going to help me load your desk—oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you had guests.”
“We’re not guests; we’re family.” Shar strode up to him and shook his hand.
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