Ladd Haven

by Dianne Venetta

  Troy held the baby up without thinking, the sticky cord dangling against his forearms.

  “She’s so small...” Casey marveled. Flashing a glance to Troy with renewed panic, she asked, “Is she okay?”

  “I think so,” he replied, noting the faintest rise and fall of her chest, more a flutter of skin near the rib cage. Leaning an ear close, he listened. Was that the baby’s breath sound he detected? Or was it his own?

  Holding as still as he could, he continued to listen. The baby convulsed in a tiny sneeze. Casey laughed. Relief swept through him. “I think she’s okay!” he announced happily.

  “Maybe she’s allergic to hay.”

  “Hope not,” Troy said, heartened by the love coursing in Casey’s eyes. “’Cause this here girl is gonna learn how to ride before she walks.”

  Casey looked to him. “Can I hold her?”

  “Course you can,” he said. Sliding his knees along the ground, he maneuvered his body next to hers. He placed the baby in her outstretched hands.

  As though fearful she’d break, Casey cautiously took the infant from him, crossing her legs Indian-style beneath her. As Casey gazed at the miniature figure, Troy tugged the hem of her dress over her knees. “She’s beautiful.”

  “That she is. Most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.” Concerned with completing the task, he wondered if he was supposed to cut the cord. It looked like it was pulsating. Should he pull the placenta out? Horses allowed it to release naturally. Peering at Casey, Troy decided to let nature take its course. Childbirth was natural. What came next had to be natural, too. Slightly unnerved by the mess of blood beneath Casey, soaking through her dress, he wadded a towel and tucked it between her legs.

  “Casey!”

  Jarred by the interruption, Troy turned on his hunches. Annie and Cal Foster rush into the barn, Miss Delaney and Nick on their heels. “What happened?”

  “We had a baby,” Troy said, prouder than he’d ever been in his whole life.

  Casey’s mom stopped dead in her tracks. “You had a baby?”

  Cal grinned. “We have a granddaughter!”

  “Sure do,” Troy replied. “Most beautiful little thing you ever laid eyes on.”

  Mrs. Foster rushed over, crouched beside her daughter and locked onto the baby in Casey’s hands. Slick from birth, skin wrinkly, the baby was making noises that reminded Troy of a kitten. Casey smiled. “Say hi to your new granddaughter.”

  Mrs. Foster was speechless. The others gathered around her, ogling over shoulder. Shock was the best word to describe the women’s expressions. Pleasure covered the men. Troy felt a healthy mix of both.

  “Ain’t she a beauty?”

  “Troy, she’s the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen,” Nick responded.

  Delaney followed suit, her gaze strung tightly around Casey and the baby. “She’s amazing, Troy.”

  Cal grinned. “No different than delivering a foal, huh?”

  Troy laughed. “Well, now I wouldn’t go sayin’ all that. This here was quite a bit different but we managed.”

  Nick grinned. “You did more than manage. You saved the day.”

  Casey was staring between her mother and her baby. Eyes glistening, she was mesmerized between the two. “What do you think?”

  “Are you okay?” Casey nodded. Glancing to the wriggling baby in Casey’s hands, Mrs. Foster started to cry. “Is the baby okay?”

  “I think so.”

  “Ambulance is on its way to take you two to the hospital,” Cal informed them. “We called on our way here.”

  “Good,” Delaney clipped. “I’ll head over to the stables so they’ll know to direct them here.”

  “How about we call down to the hotel and get Malcolm to direct them back?” Nick asked.

  Delaney nodded. “Better idea.”

  “Can I hold her?” Annie asked.

  Casey moved hands and baby toward her mother who, realizing the cord was still attached, seemed to think twice. “It’s okay,” Casey said. “Take her.”

  She did, ever so slowly drawing the newborn close to her chest. Gazing down at her, Troy could feel a swell of emotion gush from Mrs. Foster as she said, “She’s so light. And tiny, isn’t she? But she’s two months premature,” Annie said, concern gathering in her gaze as she answered her own question.

  “We’ll get her checked out at the hospital,” Cal reassured, “and make sure all is well.”

  “Yes,” his wife echoed the sentiment. She glanced up at him, concern not completely wiped from her gaze. “We’ll make sure she has the best treatment available.”

  “She’s gonna be fine,” Casey said. “Thanks to her daddy.”

  Mention of the word daddy zapped through Troy like a bolt of electricity. Daddy. He was a daddy! Everyone turned to him, igniting a hot rise to his cheeks. “I only did what I had to do.”

  “You did a fine job, Troy.” Delaney leaned down and planted a kiss on his cheek. “A really fine job.”

  Reaching a hand to cover the space on his cheek, he rose. Mildly embarrassed, he replied, “Yes, ma’am. Thank you.”

  Cal clapped a hand to his shoulder. “Wouldn’t have expected anything less.”

  Troy pushed his hat back. “Thank you, sir. I appreciate that.”

  Delaney squatted by Annie, taking a closer look. “Have you thought of a name?”

  “Cassidy Jo.”

  Annie looked at Casey over the baby. “Sounds strong and capable.”

  “Like you,” Casey said, her voice whisper-fine.

  Tears welled in her mom’s eyes. “Like you.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “Sweetheart,” Ashley said. “I have a story to share with you.”

  “A story?” Confused, Felicity glanced around the table to find all eyes on her in the most disconcerting way. “What story?”

  “You know your grandmother was my best friend.” Felicity nodded, momentarily distracted by several rapid kicks from Emma Jane. Her mom had said as much before. “The two of us go way back,” Ashley continued, “to our elementary school days.” She chuckled, momentarily lost in a faraway memory. “I loved her like a sister. She was my other half. Closer to me than anyone in this world,” she added fiercely.

  Felicity began to relax. “Yes, I think I remember my mom telling me.” Now that she was back in the fold of family and well clear of Victoria Foster’s presence, the knots in her stomach loosened. She could let down her defenses. Ashley and her grandmother Susannah had been childhood friends. Ashley and her mom were close, too. Like the mother she no longer had.

  “Well, when your grandmother was young, she was real close with Ernie. Looked up to him like he was a walkin’ angel, and I know he felt the same about her.” Ashley nodded, as though confirming it as fact. “But Ernie was possessive when it came to Susannah. He watched her like a dog with a bone, wouldn’t let anyone get within two feet of her unless he approved of them.”

  “Didn’t she mind?” Felicity asked, trying to imagine Uncle Ernie behaving in such a way. For as long as she remembered, he’d been twiggy, bony. How did he expect to protect her if someone wanted to do her harm?

  Ashley smiled, blue eyes shining with affection. “Susannah adored Ernie and trusted him with her life. If he said no to something, the answer was no. When Gerald Foster started comin’ around, Ernie got a little crazy.”

  “Crazy?” Felicity asked. “But why?”

  Leaning forward, absently fiddling with one of Emma Jane’s chubby feet, Lacy seemed as intrigued as she. “Was Mr. Foster not a nice person?”

  “Aw, no,” Ashley said, waving Lacy off. “Gerald was a fine young man. Ernie’s dislike didn’t have anything to do with Gerald. Not really, anyway. Gerald’s only crime was falling in love with the wrong woman and wanting to spend his every waking moment with her. He and Susannah were closer than two peas in a pod, walking to school together, taking picnics by the river... But they were never more than friends—at least on Susannah’s part. But Gerald,” A
shley sighed, sliding a quick glance to Fran. “He was smitten.”

  Fran nodded, a stark sadness entering her eyes. “Deacon witnessed it personally. He lived two doors down from Gerald and used to hear him whistling Dixie when he’d walk past his house on his way home. Without fail he’d weave Susannah’s name into the song and Deacon thought he was plumb crazy.”

  “He was,” Ashley agreed. “Crazy in love with Susannah.”

  “Why weren’t the feelings mutual?” Felicity asked.

  “Susannah was sweeter than a dog in heat, don’t get me wrong,” Ashley said with a swing of her head, “and she adored Gerald. But she had a wild streak bred deep in her soul that she couldn’t ignore. Soaked clear through, like butter in a biscuit, you know what I mean?” Ashley nodded, as though prodding her to agree. “Ernie saw it, too, which made him worry all the more over the two spending so much time together.”

  When Ashley didn’t continue, glancing to Fran like she was seeking permission before she spoke the next words, Lacy beat Felicity to the question. “What?”

  Ashley dipped her chin and glanced between the two women seated across from her. Felicity and Lacy held their tongues in anticipation. “Ernie thought Gerald had takin’ to supper before sayin’ grace.”

  “Huh?” Felicity looked to Lacy. “What does that mean?”

  Lacy clamped her mouth closed, leaving Ashley to reply, “He thought Gerald had stolen Susannah’s virginity. Sent his blood a boiling, I tell you he nearly split the man’s skull.”

  Felicity gasped in unison with Lacy who exclaimed, “I didn’t know that!” Fran nodded solemnly. “Are you saying Ernie actually went after him physically?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Ernie took a shotgun to Gerald but when the gun jammed, he cracked him over the head with it.”

  “Oh my gosh!” Felicity cried out, disturbed to learn her uncle had it in him. “Are you kidding me?”

  Ashley paused. “I wish I was darlin’ but I’m not. As God is my witness, I’m telling you the truth. Ernie was mad enough to hunt bears with a hickory switch that day.” Casting her eyes to the ceiling, she rolled out, “Well, don’t you know Susannah nearly lost her mind over the incident. She shrieked and she hollered, but Ernie didn’t listen to a word of it. He stared her down like a varmint and said, ‘No more.’” Ashley brushed her palms together before her. “And just like that, Susannah told Gerald she couldn’t see him anymore.”

  Felicity fell back against her seat, stunned. Shocked, disappointed, but mostly stunned by the ferocity of her uncle. She’d always known Ernie to be crusty and grumpy, but she’d never thought him capable of physical violence. She had discarded all his threats over the years as nothing but talk. Trash talk, angry talk. Why, to think that Uncle Ernie could have killed Mr. Foster was unbelievable! “So that’s why Uncle Ernie was angry at my mom all these years. Because she married Gerald’s son?”

  “Oh, Lordy, he was fit to be tied! Refused to attend the wedding, despite Susannah begging him for days. Not a chance in he—” Ashley flung a hand to her mouth. She smiled sheepishly and said, “Well, you know what I mean. Ernie wasn’t going and Delaney was marked from then on.”

  “I guess,” Felicity replied, staggered by the level of hatred a man could hold in his heart.

  Yet never once did he direct it at her. Never once did he raise his voice to her. Felicity finally understood what her mother had meant all these years when she said, You’re special to him.

  “After the incident,” Ashley said, resuming her story, “Susannah was miserable for a few weeks but she let it pass. Like I said, she was never interested in Gerald in a romantic light. She only had eyes for Harry Wilkins.”

  “My grandfather,” Felicity uttered automatically.

  Ashley nodded. “The boy was nothin’ but a hayseed plow boy, never wanting any more than a wad of tobacco and a good time. He worked for a local farm, provin’ about as useful as a back pocket on a T-shirt but Susannah didn’t see any of it. Harry was a charmer. Reckless too, enthralling Susannah with tales of his escapades.” Ashley fanned herself as though suddenly warm. “Lord knows I tried to convince her otherwise. Gerald would have made a good husband, a devoted husband. Harry on the other hand was about as reliable as a dime store magic trick.” Ashley shook her head. “But Susannah thought he was handsome and charming and her heart was sewn to his.”

  “Did Uncle Ernie know about him?”

  “Not ‘til it was too late. Knowin’ the same fate would befall Harry as Gerald, Susannah ran off and married the boy on her eighteenth birthday.” Ashley shot a hard gaze toward Felicity and said, “I don’t like speakin’ cross words against your kin, Felicity, but Susannah could have done a lot better than Harry.”

  “Uncle Ernie wasn’t mad about her marrying Harry?” Felicity asked.

  “It was too late. Susannah had done the deed and he wasn’t gonna force her to annulment. Remember, she was his whole world. And she was married, which meant she was Harry’s responsibility.”

  “Didn’t Harry manage the liquor store downtown?” Lacy asked.

  “Drank half the profits, too.”

  “My grandfather was an alcoholic?” Felicity asked, misery sinking into her heart. Was everyone in her family a drunk?

  “No, darlin’ he wasn’t. Harry liked his whiskey but he never let it get out of control. And he was good to Susannah. Loved her with all his heart. Harry just couldn’t hack responsibility, always looking for the next thrill.” When Ashley’s gaze dimmed, Felicity felt it coming. “He died playin’ chicken with a freight train. Tried to time it just right but miscalculated.”

  Felicity closed her eyes, warding off visions of squashed metal and shattered glass. She had no idea her grandfather died in such a manner.

  “Was he drunk?” Lacy asked, cradling a wiggly Emma Jane close to her breast.

  “Not a drop. It was high noon on a Monday afternoon. But old Harry never met a challenge he couldn’t lick and thought he was invincible.” Ashley winked. “I think that’s where your momma gets it from.”

  Lacy’s cell phone rang. Fumbling through the purse next to her, she snatched an aqua encased phone and pressed it to her ear. “Hello?” Her expression morphed from prurient curiosity to sheer horror. “Oh no!” Angling her head into her phone, she sent a shocked look around the table. “In the barn? No doctor?”

  Felicity’s heart stopped. Who was she talking about? Her mother? Troy?

  Lacy burst into a giggle and squealed to the table, “I’m a great aunt!”

  “What are you talking about, child?” Fran demanded.

  Ashley gaped. “Casey had her baby?”

  Casey had her baby? Felicity reeled—but she couldn’t have—she was only seven months pregnant! Horrible thoughts and images crashed in her brain. Was she okay? Why was she in a barn? Where was Troy? Was the baby okay?

  “She had her baby in the barn over at the hotel,” Lacy explained, phone planted to her ear. “Cassidy Jo.”

  “Cassidy Jo?” Fran asked.

  “That’s her name,” Lacy told them.

  “Is she okay?”

  Lacy nodded. “Baby and momma are both fine. There’s an ambulance on its way to take them to the hospital.”

  “Well, if that don’t put pepper in the gumbo!” Ashley exclaimed. “We got ourselves a barn-birthed baby!”

  Nervous excitement sprinted through Felicity’s stomach. She had a new cousin! Or did she? What would Casey’s baby be to her? Felicity wondered as Lacy delivered a blow-by-blow of the events. Casey’s car ran out of gas, she hiked to the stables, never made it, felt cramps, Troy showed up and helped deliver the baby. His baby. Troy helped deliver his own child.

  How incredible. How romantic! Felicity leaned in and digested every word Lacy spoke.

  Casey had a baby!

  Chapter Thirty

  Sitting in a chair, bedside, Troy watched Casey as she held a well-bundled Cassidy in her arms. Sitting atop the sheets of a hospital bed, the new Parker mother was
feeding her baby as she awaited official discharge. Swathed in a lightweight blanket, marked by pink and blue stripes, the baby sucked from a petite plastic bottle. Her lips moved rhythmically as fingers wrapped around her momma’s thumb, holding it close. Troy marveled at his daughter’s size. She was like a miniature human being, a tiny person, yet she behaved the same as anyone else. Cassidy drank, gazed at the world around her, wriggled and waved arms and legs. And she smiled. Or what Casey claimed was a smile. Troy wasn’t sure how much of a baby’s behavior was intentional or instinctual but he knew one thing—Cassidy knew who her momma was.

  Reaching over, he gently stroked the feather-fine hair on his baby’s small head, the strands dark and dense as they full covered her skin. Caressing the silken strands gave Troy deep pleasure. Roused a deep need to provide and protect. He didn’t care how much hair she had, only that she was healthy and happy, though the nurses were convinced Cassidy Jo Grace was going to be the envy of all the girls in school with her thick waves of black hair. Peering into Casey’s eyes, her gaze secured peacefully on her daughter, Troy figured Cassidy was gonna have hair like her momma. Pausing on the picture of his wife and child, powerful emotions wound through him. Actually, he hoped Cassidy did everything like her momma. From her looks to her heart, he’d be real pleased if the two were exactly alike. Except that Cassidy was gonna love horses like him.

  “Cal said the cabin is comin’ along real quick,” Troy said.

  The comment drew a smile from Casey as she temporarily withdrew her gaze from her daughter and rested it on him. In one gaze she transferred a mountain of love and adoration from Cassidy to him. “I’m glad. I’m ready to get out of here and move into our new home.”

  Pleasure coursed through him. Our new home. Amazing how a woman could affect him like this. A child, his family. Especially after the last several weeks. With criminal charges hanging over his head and a new baby and now a wife in his life, it had been rough going. Miss Delaney wouldn’t let him work the stables. Cal Foster couldn’t get him a job at his family’s ranch. He could work scooping piles of horse crap at a nearby ranch, but he wasn’t ready to reduce himself to mindless work. It would hurt too much being that close to the animals and not being able to work with them. It was one thing to invest the time in menial labor with Hotel Ladd where he had hope for a future. It was quite another to accept a dead-end job with a second-rate ranch in the backwoods of Tennessee. Casey had suggested he bus tables for Fran, but Troy couldn’t bring himself to do it. Jimmy Sweeney worked there, and now that he was training to be assistant manager, he could potentially be Troy’s boss.