Texas Gold (Mills & Boon Historical)
Page 27
She nodded, feeling somewhat akin to the mare, complacent and wrapped up in the marvelous process of containing a new life within her womb. The carriage was waiting for Max by the door, and he climbed in and lifted a hand to wave.
Faith watched it roll down the drive, then turned and went into the house. She went through the day wrapped in a haze of contentment, and fell asleep in the midst of hemming diapers. Sitting in a rocking chair near the window, her head resting against the high back, she dozed fitfully, awakening as the east wind began to blow up a sudden squall. The rain fell in hard, driving sheets, and when a particularly loud crash of thunder startled her, she jolted upright in the chair, her sewing falling to the floor.
“Mrs. Belmont?” she called, and was met with silence. Faith rose and felt a twinge that began in her back and cascaded around to gather with a thrumming beat beneath her bulging belly. Her palms slid to support the weight of it and it grew taut with unbelievable tension beneath her hands. Her breath caught at the sensation of dampness between her legs, bringing a frown to her brow.
“Max?” She called his name with a sense of panic. Surely he was due home. The sky was dark with lowering clouds, and lightning flashed amid them. Wind blew, rattling the shutters and the air inside the house was suddenly chill.
The front door slammed open and heavy footsteps approached the parlor door. “Faith? Why isn’t there a lamp lit? Are you in here?” Max stood in the gloom of the unlit foyer, dripping water onto the tiled floor.
“Yes, I’m here,” she said, and then cleared her throat, aware that her voice was thick with apprehension. “I think I’m going to have the baby. Max, I’m frightened. I called for Mrs. Belmont and she didn’t answer. Something’s very wrong.”
“Where could she be?” he asked, his voice rising sharply as he shed his heavy topcoat and tossed his hat onto a chair.
“I don’t know. I was sleeping and just awoke.” Warmth flooded her garments and with a gush of fluid, she felt the helpless sensation of losing the waters in which her child had been cushioned against harm for the past nine months. “Oh, dear.” It was a soft admission of helplessness, and Max sped to her side.
“What is it, sweetheart? What’s happened?”
“I’m a mess, Max. I’ve just managed to ruin the carpet, I fear.”
“Mrs. Belmont.” His voice rose in a roar, and the woman came flying from the back of the house.
“What’s wrong, sir? I just stepped out onto the back porch for a minute to bring in a bucket of rainwater for Miss Faith to wash her hair tomorrow. What’s happened?” Her experienced eye took in Faith’s circumstances, and with a cluck of her tongue and a sage nod of her head, she took charge of the situation.
“You’d better tell James to go for the doctor,” she said judiciously. “I’ll just take this dear child upstairs and get her ready for the big event.”
And so she did. Max did as he was told, as did James. It was no time until the doctor arrived, climbing the stairs to the second floor, where he set the situation to rights in short order. His chuckle relieved Max’s mind as a black bag was deposited on a chair and hot water was delivered to the bedroom, by the vigilant housekeeper.
Faith’s labor was progressing at a rapid pace and the doctor kept an eye on her as he scrubbed his hands and arms in her china bowl, rinsing well as Max stood helplessly beside the bed. Waving his damp hands in the air to dry them a bit, the physician approached the bed, and nodded with satisfaction as he beheld the woman there, her straining body poised to deliver her child.
“You aren’t going to make me miss my supper, are you, ma’am?” he asked with a grin. “I told you some women were built to have babies, and you’re one of them.
“Everything’s under control, Max,” he said, offering a bit of comfort to the anxious man who seemed to be having second thoughts about the process of becoming a father. And then Faith cried out, caught up in the urgency of labor that would not be halted by the absence of a physician’s guidance.
Even as he bent to assist her, she strained, squeezing Max’s hands and clinging to his strength as the tiny form of their child came into view. “I don’t know why you called me out on such a nasty afternoon,” the doctor said. “You’ve got this down pat, ma’am.”
Lifting the infant boy in his hands, he rubbed the tiny back with vigor, then wiped the residue of childbirth from his mouth and nose with a clean cloth. In less than an instant the silence was broken as tiny lungs filled with air and released it in a resounding cry.
“I knew it would be a boy,” Faith whispered, her gaze caught by the dark hair on the round head. And then the doctor tipped him into full view and her claim proved to be true as the obviously masculine form was held aloft for her inspection.
“Thank you for my son,” Max said, his voice choked with emotion as Faith reached to touch his face. He bent to kiss her and then Mrs. Belmont was there at the foot of the bed, holding a blanket to receive the plump form as the doctor cut the cord that had joined mother and child during the past months.
The housekeeper wrapped the babe securely and turned, placing him in Max’s arms, her smile dazzling as she pronounced the new arrival a dandy young man.
Settling on the edge of the bed, Max bent to press his lips against Faith’s forehead. “Thank you, sweetheart,” he whispered, and then placed the squirming, squalling infant in his mother’s arms.
“I appreciate your speedy work, ma’am,” the doctor said, tending to details and then briefly giving instructions to Mrs. Belmont for Faith’s care. “You’re in top form for a city woman,” he said bluntly. “You’ve got a strong, healthy wife,” he told Max. “And a beautiful son.”
“She’s tough,” Max said with pride. “You ought to see her shoot a rifle and ride a horse. She’s been riding every day up until a couple of weeks ago.”
“But I’ll probably have to wait for a couple of months before I get back on Goldie,” Faith murmured. “We have a foal to deliver first.”
“You’ll deliver the foal?” the doctor asked, his gaze fastened on Faith’s smiling face. And then he turned to Max. “A woman of many talents,” he said. “You’re a fortunate man.”
“She’s a woman worth her weight in gold, and then some,” Max said, his fingers lacing through the curls that tangled damply against Faith’s shoulders and fanned against her pillow. “Tested and refined by adversity,” he murmured in her ear. “Pure gold.”
“She’s a rare breed, I’d say. Where’d you find your wife, anyway?” the doctor asked, rolling down his sleeves.
“In Texas,” Max said softly. “She’s pure, unadulterated Texas gold.”
ISBN: 978-1-474-01718-3
TEXAS GOLD
© 2003 Carolyn Davidson
Published in Great Britain 2014
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of Harlequin (UK) Limited
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*Edgewood, Texas