She ran to the suite. “What’s wrong?”
Paula said, “My water broke. The baby’s coming early. I need to get to a hospital immediately.”
Her heart dropped into her shoes. “It’s two hours to the nearest one.”
Paula grimaced, either from a labor pain or from the truth of Tess’s words. “I know. I want you to fly me to Cheyenne. Can you do that for me?”
Tess took a deep breath. “Of course I can. You might have to give me a few instructions, but I can do it.”
“We have to go right now,” Paula said, her last words a groan.
Tess shrieked, “Miss B! Miss B!”
“What in tarnation—!” The housekeeper raced up the stairs, took one look at Paula, and knew. “Your time’s come early?”
“The baby won’t live without a neonatal ICU. I know it.” Tears streaked down Paula’s face. “My baby will die.”
Miss Betty patted her and made soothing noises.
“I’ll fly you to the hospital in Cheyenne,” Tess said. “We’ll get an ambulance to meet us at the airport.”
Between the two women, they half-carried Paula to the stairs, then paused, wondering how to get her down.
Rolf came to the foot of the stairs. “What’s happening?”
“The baby. Carry Paula down to my SUV. I’m flying her to the hospital.”
Rolf bounded up the stairs. He carefully lifted Paula in his arms and very slowly carried her down the steps. Tess flew around them and raced to her SUV, while Miss Betty ran off to gather a few essentials. Rolf took Paula out through the kitchen to where Tess brought her vehicle. He gently laid Paula across the large back seat.
Miss Betty handed Tess a bag of Paula’s things. Tess said urgently to Rolf, “Hop in. I need you to lift her into the plane.”
“I can walk,” Paula’s thready voice came from behind them.
“No,” Tess and Rolf said at the same time. They shared a glance of instant understanding. Love, trust, faith. Tess concentrated on her driving while Rolf called the compound and ordered the plane be pulled from the hangar. Ranch policy kept it ready to fly at all times.
“We have pilots with experience on the ranch,” he said. “I could find one in half an hour.”
“You know JD’s got the regular pilot. No time to hunt up someone else. Every second counts.” She stomped the accelerator as much as she dared without jostling Paula.
Rolf said, “JD could fly right back.”
She shook her head. “It’ll take too long. I don’t want my niece or nephew born on an airplane floor.”
From the back seat, Paula’s voice said weakly, “Niece. Her name will be Olivia.” She groaned.
At the air strip, Rolf placed Paula carefully in the passenger seat of the small plane. She gave him directions for calling ahead and alerting the medical team as well as calling JD.
Tess did the pre-flight check, trying to hide how nervous she felt. It was one thing to bravely claim she could fly and another to do it without an instructor. Paula would have to be her instructor today.
Paula told her what to look for, and Tess directed the ranch hand and Rolf to check the rest of the exterior.
“I’m starting takeoff,” Tess said, with a lump of fear in her chest. This had to go right.
“Radio your flight plan,” Paula said. “But go, anyway.”
Tess did as she was told. Despite her trepidation, the little plane nudged into the air without a protest.
“Now head due east,” Paula said. “Look at the compass. Keep your altitude over a thousand feet.”
Tess looked out the window. Paula said, “Look at the gauge, not the terrain. The gauge will tell you what you need to know. The time for visual is when we land.”
“I can do this,” Tess muttered.
“Yes, you can.”
Paula grimaced. A few seconds later, she moaned. “Don’t mind me. These are labor pains and no woman is dainty when she’s in labor.”
The plane ate up the distance. Tess began to breathe a little easier, but Paula was panting heavily now. She moaned whenever a new contraction hit. “It’s too soon, too fast,” she cried.
“Try to hang on,” Tess screamed. “I can see the airport. I’m getting a message from the airport controller.”
Ohmigod. Don’t panic, Tess. Only one person in this plane is allowed to panic at a time.
“Paula, help me. Remind me what to do.”
Between groans, Paula talked her through the landing routine. “Now the tabs. Good. Now the landing gear. Hear that the wheels are out. Check your altitude. Straighten up.”
The tower said “Ambulance waiting by runway two.” The voice gave the coordinates. Tess fought to bring the plane exactly into the right position.
“Come on, come on.”
“I have to push now.”
“Don’t push. Don’t push,” Tess cried. The tears were streaming down her own face now. “Just five more minutes. Please, Paula. Two minutes.”
“Oohhh.”
“One minute.”
Paula was beyond helping her. Tess must remember everything from what she’d been taught. Slowly, slowly, too slowly, she brought the plane lower. The landing strip runway appeared dead ahead. She took the plane down, easing back on the throttle.
Then they were on the ground without even a bump, although by now Paula was beyond feeling anything outside her own body. Her moans were continuous. Their tenor didn’t change with the whoosh of air and noise as Tess slammed on the brakes and stopped the plane.
Tess frantically begged the tower for the ambulance location.
“Turn left, one hundred feet. See it?”
“Oh, yes, yes, I do,” she babbled, finally feeling there was a chance. She taxied to a full stop and unlocked the door next to Paula and unclasped her seatbelt. Two EMTs jumped inside. They half-lifted and half-dragged Paula out.
“The baby’s coming! The baby’s coming right now!” Paula shrieked.
By the time she was on their mobile gurney, she was giving birth. The EMTs grabbed the baby and did their thing. Tess leaned against the fuselage, ready to faint with relief. She’d done it. What an adrenaline rush.
Paula had held on long enough. Within a minute, the EMTs confirmed, “It’s a girl. Four on the Apgar scale.” They bustled around the baby.
Tess rushed to Paula and kissed her. “You did it. You were so brave.”
“Is my baby all right?” Paula asked. Tess looked up, searching the faces of the EMTs for the truth.
The beefier EMT nodded. “She’s tiny and she needs a little help, but she’s looking good. One more minute and you can hold her.”
Tess was dazed, totally without the help of alcohol. She arranged docking the plane and her own transportation to the hospital, and called JD to tell him he was a father. All she got was voice mail so she texted him, too. No answer. When she finally remembered to call Miss B at the ranch, the housekeeper said JD was flying straight to Cheyenne and was only minutes behind her. He’d be there soon. At the hospital, Tess checked Paula in, called Paula’s doctor, and the rest. Finally, she found Paula in her room. Paula was lying propped up on the bed, now gowned and looking tired but happy.
“Have you seen her? Go look at her and report back,” she said.
Tess smiled and saluted. “Yes, Mom. Right away. Good job. You’re a mother now.”
Paula smiled faintly and made shooing notions with her hands. “Go see her.”
Tess arrived at the neonatal intensive care unit viewing window in time to see JD leaning over his infant daughter, a look of wonder on his face.
JD sat down in a rocking chair next to his infant daughter. Baby Olivia Selkirk was in one of those see-through plastic bassinets. She was hooked up to all kinds of monitors, but looking pink and healthy. JD lifted one of the tiny fists in his own hand that was missing two fingers. His long, tanned fingers examined the perfection of the baby’s miniscule hand. Were those tears on JD’s cheeks?
The tiny pink face was peace
ful. The baby was asleep.
Tess stayed where she was. JD finally kissed his baby girl goodbye and walked away from the viewing window.
Tess was waiting outside the unit when he emerged into the hall.
“Congratulations,” she said.
JD stopped still. “Thank you for saving my child.”
“Told you I could fly a plane,” she smirked.
“You saved Paula, too,” he continued soberly. “I don’t know how she would have stayed sane if she’d lost this baby. I take back every stinking thing I’ve said to you for the past four years. I’ve been a total jerk.”
She put her hands on her hips and smiled broadly. “I should whip out my phone and record you saying that.”
JD smiled, a rusty smile, but it was genuine. “I’ll gladly say it again. I’m sorry about everything. I’ll make sure you get your shot at running the ranch. If you’re crazy enough to want it, I won’t stand in your way. Word of a Selkirk.”
He enfolded her in his arms.
Epilogue
Two years later
“Tess! Turn this way, sweetie! Tess! How do you feel about getting nominated for Best Supporting Actress? Tess! Is this your first time at the Academy Awards?”
Tess tossed her long dark hair, the better to expose the borrowed fortune in diamonds around her neck. She smiled for the cameras wielded by the scrum of media reporters, and struck a pose to show off the pink designer gown that suited her perfectly. Tonight, all eyes were on her again. Live television and online updates would carry her image around the world, and to all her family back home. Whether she won or lost tonight, this was her moment of triumph.
“Tess, can you tell us how you feel?” asked a reporter for TV entertainment.
“I feel wonderful,” she said.
“And who is this with you?” the reporter asked.
Tess turned to gaze lovingly at the blond, tux-clad man by her side. “My husband, Rolf Pedersen.”
Proof she hadn’t screwed up this time around.
The End
A Note from the Author
Thank you for reading Cowgirl Rescue. If you enjoyed this book, please tell your friends, and consider reviewing it wherever you like to post reviews. Reviews give a special kind of peek into the book, something you're best qualified to do. Why not help other readers discover the Selkirk Family Ranch series? Visit my Amazon author page to post a review and learn about my other books.
Tess Selkirk's story starts in Captive of the Cattle Baron and heats up in Saving the Soldier. If you haven't read them yet, don't miss the fun.
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Also by Irene Vartanoff
Selkirk Family Ranch Series:
Captive of the Cattle Baron
Saving the Soldier
Romance:
Second Chance Reunion
Temporary Superheroine Series:
Temporary Superheroine
Crisis at Comicon
Women's Fiction:
Summer in the City
A Daughter's a Daughter
Cowgirl Rescue (Selkirk Family Ranch Book 3) Page 17