by Ann Yost
When Jake finally released Hallie, Cameron claimed a dance. He was so skilled she didn’t have to do a thing but hang on.
“Whew,” she breathed, after a series of intricate moves, “where did you learn to dance?”
“My wife and I attended a lot of functions when I was at the bank in Boston. She hired a private instructor for me.”
“It certainly paid off. It’s so easy to follow your lead.”
“I’m glad you’re having fun.”
“I am.” She caught a glimpse of Baz dancing with Jolene. As always, her friend was talking a mile a minute. “It looks like your brother’s having fun, too.”
Cam laughed. “I figured it’d be good for him to get out of the house.”
Hallie danced with Donny Hanson, and the mayor, and then again with Jake. Baz kept his distance, and she was grateful for that. It annoyed her that she was aware of his location at all times, and, whenever she looked in his direction, she met his steady, gray gaze.
Some forty-five minutes before midnight, she was back on the dance floor with Jake when she realized Baz was with someone new. The flamboyant blonde wore a pink dress that must have been painted on. She was voluptuous without being fat, sexy without being pretty. Long, suntanned arms twined around the veterinarian’s neck, and she was pressed up against him as if she’d decided to make a rubbing of his body.
Tension raced through Hallie. Jake must have felt it. “Something wrong?”
“Just getting a little tired.”
“Let’s sit this one out.”
She let him lead her back to the table, but she couldn’t seem to take her eyes off the long, red-tipped fingers threading their way through Baz’s rumpled hair.
“Hallie?” Jake sounded concerned. “You’re practically vibrating.” He pulled her into a comforting embrace and she buried her face in his shoulder.
“I’m so sorry.”
She felt his big hand cuffing her head. “I understand, honey. Sometimes it just hits you like a Mack truck. You can’t help the way you feel.”
He really was the perfect man. And she was an idiot.
On the dance floor, the blonde had changed positions. She was still plastered against Baz, but her fingers were unbuttoning his jacket. Ugh.
“I’ll be back,” Hallie told Jake. She headed for the refreshment table where Jo was helping herself to a glass of punch.
“You’re flushed,” her friend said.
“Just thirsty.” She gulped down two cups of a liquid that had probably started out as lemonade, but was now about ninety percent rum. “Who is that woman Velcro-ed to Baz?”
Jolene had been born in Eden and knew everybody in town. “Diane Cobbs. Pastor Cobbs’
daughter if you can believe it. She went to school with Baz. Her name’s Diane Sanderson now. She’s just moved back here after a divorce.”
Jolene gasped. “Am I seeing things or is her hand really inside his shirt?”
How could Baz make a spectacle of himself in front of the whole town? How could he do this to Sharon? How could he do it to his family?
How could he do it to her?
“It’s like she’s got her claws into him,” Jo went on. “Literally. If she shoves that boob up any higher, it’ll be in his mouth. I wonder if he can tell it’s an implant. You’ll have to ask him tomorrow at the clinic.”
Hallie didn’t feel capable of asking anybody anything. Her blood pressure shot through the roof as she watched Diane rub herself against her partner’s crotch.
“Real subtle,” Jolene muttered.
“Real slutty,” Hallie said, loudly. Too late she realized the music had stopped. A pair of silver eyes locked onto hers, heat exploded in her veins. It was the final straw in a day of bad straws. She threw off the habits of a lifetime of propriety and charged across the dance floor until she reached the couple. She wedged herself between them. Diane, not expecting what amounted to an attack, fell back with an outraged bleat. Baz gave her a cool, superior smile.
“Is there a problem, Halliday?”
She glared at him.
“The Outlaws have a reputation in this town. A reputation that does not include lewd behavior in public.”
“What are you talking about?” Diane’s face was flushed. Hallie realized she had heavily indulged in the punch. “We were just dancing. Not that it’s any business of yours.”
“Dancing, my ass. You were fondling my business partner.”
Baz’s dark brows lifted in surprise, and Diane snickered. “Well, honey, you’ve gotta admit he’s one helluva package.”
Hallie drew in a breath, prepared to issue another scalding reprimand, but a strong arm came around her waist and pulled her back. “Let go of me, Basil. You should be ashamed of yourself,” she sputtered as she tried to wriggle free.
“You’re drunk, Hallie. You need some fresh air.”
For an instant she thought he was going to take her outside. Instead he signaled his brother. “Get her some air. Or coffee.”
Cameron reached for Hallie, and the barracuda zoomed back into Baz’s arms. Hallie couldn’t stand it anymore. “I don’t need air or coffee. I need you to take me home.”
“I’m busy.”
“Well, too bad. I feel sick.”
“Maybe you’re pregnant,” Diane said. “Dancing and booze always made me sick when I was pregnant.”
Hallie couldn’t move. Jealousy gave way to a paralyzing sense of despair. She was aware of people moving and things whirling around her, and then she felt a strong arm around her waist.
“You know,” Baz said, with a sigh, “sometimes you are nothing but trouble.”
The next thing she felt was the sting of sleet on her cheeks. It felt cold and good. He stuffed her into the front seat of Cam’s Mercedes.
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I don’t know what on earth got into me.”
“No big deal. It was just a drunken rant.
Happens all the time on New Year’s Eve.”
“It’s never happened to me before. That’s the last time I drink punch at a public function.” How could she face her friends and her clients in the coming days? Everyone would think she was a rude, jealous, lush and they’d be right.
The engine roared; the big vehicle slipped and slid as Baz cleared the parking lot and made his way to the country road. He drove slowly, but the heavy sleet had already coated the surfaces and the car kept fishtailing.
“Shit,” he muttered.
The driving conditions didn’t even figure on Hallie’s radar screen.
“There is one thing you should be prepared for. Everyone in Eden now thinks you’re pregnant.”
Before she could recover from the shock, he added to it. “Even when they find out you’re not, they’ll still know we’re sleeping together.”
“Oh. My.God.”
He shook his head. “There’s nothing as efficient as the Eden grapevine.”
For the first time Hallie saw some drawbacks in small town life. She wished she could click her strappy red, sleet-soaked heels and disappear.
She stared out the window. “It’s sleeting.”
“I see your brain hasn’t totally gone on strike.”
The words were dry, but his tone was mild.
“I’ll fix this,” she assured him. “I’ll make sure everybody knows I’m not pregnant, and we’re not a couple.”
“Honey, no one’s gonna believe you. Hell, even I don’t believe you. I can’t believe there’s anyone who hasn’t seen the sparks between us.”
“Diane Cobbs Sanderson?”
“Well, maybe one person.”
She buried her face in her hands. “I can’t believe I was accusing you of impropriety then I took your family’s good name and stomped on it. I am so sorry.”
“It’s not the end of the world.”
He was right. She was acting like a ninny. She took in a long breath and let it out. “I’ll just tell everybody who asks that I had an aneurism.”
&nbs
p; “Or, we could handle it another way.”
“What way _—a murder-suicide pact?”
“We could get married.”
The Mercedes hit a patch of black ice and spun three hundred and sixty degrees. Hallie didn’t even panic. She knew Baz could straighten out the car and she was right. She made a mental list of all the reasons she couldn’t marry him.
She waited for a feeling of disgust. She searched for words of rejection. She thought about how she’d felt tonight when she’d seen that barracuda Diane all over him. She might as well face it.
She wasn’t going to get over Baz Outlaw. His persistence was wearing her down because she didn’t really want to say no.
Baz’s heart pumped at twice the normal speed.
He’d agreed to dance with Diane Cobbs in hopes that he’d get a little rise out of Hallie, but he hadn’t expected a complete meltdown. He considered it a very hopeful sign. But he wanted much more than a sign. He wanted her signature on the bottom line.
She was humiliated now and vulnerable. This was the time to seal the deal. “It’s the best option,” he pointed out.
“I’ve given you my reasons for why it won’t work,” she said. But her protest had no teeth.
“Look. It’s obvious there’s still something between us. Remember the Jacuzzi? And tonight you practically self-combusted on the dance floor.”
He pulled into the triple-bay garage and stopped the car.
“It was that octopus. It was just really annoying to see her hands all over you.”
“That’s because we belong together. Come on Halliday, this is the only thing that makes sense and you know it.”
She didn’t answer him. She shoved open the door and headed across the courtyard. The sleet had hardened the snow left over from an earlier storm.
Her feet made loud crunching noises as she strode toward her apartment. He realized they’d forgotten her boots. Her feet had to be ice cubes.
She was inside, and he was half way up the outside stairs when his cell phone rang. He cursed, softly. They were right in the middle of delicate negotiations. He hauled it out of his pocket. “Basil Outlaw.”
“Dr. Outlaw, this is Ralph Meadows. Blue’s in labor and she’s having trouble.”
“Hang on. I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
Hallie stuck her head out the door. “Is it Blue?”
“Yeah.” He headed back toward the garage.
“Wait, I’ll come with you.”
He glanced at her dress coat, her thin dress and her heels. “In that?”
“Yes.”
Minutes later, still dressed for the ball, they were in the pickup sliding down Walnut Street.
Chapter Ten
The temperature was around ten degrees, but Ralph’s face was slick with sweat. It was also leached of color.
The foal was presenting feet first. Not a good position as that left the wider part of the animal, the head and shoulders to come last. Sometimes they got stuck. Hallie said a little prayer for the beautiful mare and her baby.
Baz examined Blue with strong competent hands. She was so grateful he was there. Her own birthing experience consisted of observing a black lab produce eight healthy puppies without any human intervention and catching a few episodes of A Birth Story on the TLC channel.
Oh yeah. And watching Gone With The Wind.
Hallie knelt in the straw and stroked the mare’s velvety face.
“Helluva time to call you, doc,” Ralpha apologized, when Baz removed his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his tuxedo shirt.
“No problem.”
Baz positioned himself and began talking to Blue. His voice was deep and calming even as he reached inside her to grab a small hoof. He pulled and Blue whinnied in pain.
The birth seemed to take forever. Hallie forced herself to stay calm so she could convey that sense to the laboring mother. She wished she could get a progress report as the minutes rolled by, but she didn’t want to interrupt the man who, she could hear, was grunting softly with the effort of his task.
“Hallie,” Baz called out, “when I give the signal, push on her belly.”
Hallie scrambled into position. She was aware of Baz, one foot braced against the wall of the stable, ready to pull hard, as if the colt were stranded in icy water instead of inside his mother. She examined the ripples undulating across Blue’s belly, and she chose what she prayed was the right spot. When Baz called out she pushed with all her strength, wincing when the mare bellowed in pain.
“I’ve got two hooves,” Baz said, between his teeth. “Same thing again.”
While Hallie waited for the signal, she heard a new sound. She glanced to her right and saw that Janie had joined them. She was wrapped in a Hudson Bay blanket. Her face was white and drawn.
She dropped to her knees.
Oh no, Janie was in labor, too.
“Tell Ralph. He can call an ambulance.”
“Not until the foal’s delivered.”
That would be too late. It probably was already too late. Hallie infused her voice with as much authority as possible.
“Please, Janie. Call 911. Use the cellphone in my purse.”
The young woman nodded. While she placed the call, Hallie sent up a fervent prayer that both Blue and her baby would survive. Janie had enough to handle without knowing that she and Ralph would lose their farm. She calmed a little when she heard Baz’s confident voice.
“Now, Hallie.” She pushed down on the heaving belly again.
“Push again. I’ve got everything but the head.”
She pushed. “Once more.” She threw all her weight onto the mare. There was another equine howl and then Ralph’s awed voice.
“It’s a colt!”
Ralph, Janie, and Hallie stared at the little guy as he stumbled to his feet.
“Congratulations,” Baz said to the humans.
Then he spoke to the mare. “You did a great job, mama. You were very brave.”
Tears pricked Hallie’s eyes. No wonder she loved this man. In that moment she knew it was time to stop lying to herself. She’d been mortally wounded with the infertility report, but like Baz said, it wasn’t really his fault. In any case she couldn’t give him up.
She’d stop short of tying the knot, though. A good, full-blown affair would have to be enough.
When his time in Eden was over, they’d separate for good. But for the next three months, she wanted him in her bed. Her blood warmed just thinking about it.
She’d tell him on the way home.
Ralph couldn’t stop thanking Baz, and he couldn’t stop admiring his new acquisition, so he didn’t notice when Janie clutched her belly and dropped to her knees.
Hallie crouched down with her and put a comforting hand on her back. “How close are the contractions?”
“It’s all one pain. It never stops.”
Not a good sign.
“Hang on,” she told Janie. She dropped to the hay next to Baz. “We’ve got another situation on our hands.”
Baz looked past her and eyed the crouching woman. Understanding dawned on his face. “Ralph,” he said, coming to his feet, “Janie needs to get to the hospital. Carry her to my truck.”
Hallie put her hand on his arm. “No time for that. She called an ambulance, but it’ll take Chester most of an hour to get out here.”
“On second thought,” Baz said, “why don’t you just carry her into the house.”
Ralph gaped at his wife, writhing on the hay.
“Omigod, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Blue comes first.” She groaned.
Ralph was having trouble shifting gears, but before Hallie could urge him to move, Baz scooped up the woman in the blanket. He strode across the farmyard while she buried her face in his muscular chest. In that moment, Hallie would have given anything to be Janie Meadows. Appalled at her self-centered thoughts, she sprinted ahead and tackled the situation. From the strength and frequency of the groans, she didn’t
think there was time to get Janie upstairs.
“Settle her on the sofa,” Hallie directed.
“What can I do?” Ralph asked, anxiously, as Janie grabbed his hand and squeezed.
“We need clean sheets and towels and boiled water.” Hallie looked at Ralph’s white knuckles. He clearly wasn’t going any place.
She heard Baz shut his phone. He knelt by Janie. “Okay, here’s the situation.” He used the same voice he’d used with Blue, and Hallie fell in love with him all over again. “The ambulance is on its way. Meantime, I don’t want you to worry. Hallie and I are doctors. We’ll take good care of you and Ralph, Junior.” Her eyes were glazed. Ralph yelped as she squeezed his hand. “Will you let me take a look to see how far you’ve dilated?”
“Could Hallie do it?”
Baz hesitated an instant then he rose. Hallie knew he was concerned. He probably figured she’d never seen anyone’s dilated cervix before.
“I can do it,” she assured him.
She peeled the blanket off Janie and pushed the nightgown up to her waist. The opening between her legs was the size of the top of a peanut butter jar _—with pink flesh inside.
Hallie gasped. “I can see your baby’s head.
“You’re completely dilated. You’ve gotten through the worst part.”
“It feels like the worst part is still going.”
“I know. Just hang in there. As soon as we get the water and sheets, you can start to push. Ralph do you have a pair of sharp scissors you could sterilize?”
“Scissors?”
Baz strode into the room with a pile of clean sheets. “I’ll find ’em,” he said. “I’ve got water boiling in the tea kettle.”
“Good thinking.” She smiled at him, and he smiled back.
“Hallie? I need to push,” Janie gasped. “Is it time?”
“Almost. Try panting.” She demonstrated and Janie followed her lead. “Good. That’s it.”
For a twenty-year-old woman stuck in a snowstorm with a couple of veterinarians and a zombie for a husband, Janie was doing great. Hallie prayed this birth would be simpler than the last one.
At least the baby’s head was in the right position.