Authors: Lynette Eason
TWELVE
N
ow that she had all eyes on her for a different reason, she wished she’d kept her mouth shut. But she hadn’t and they were waiting for an answer.
Before she could say anything, Jesse stomped into the house. “All right, Ms. Justine. I got the car ready for you, but it’s snowing again. If you’re going to the hospital, we gotta git.”
Justine crossed the room to take her daughter’s hands in hers. “I’ll be there for him, honey. Joseph would understand and want what’s best for you and the baby. Please don’t be stubborn about this. As soon as his parents get there, I’ll head home and try to bring Dylan with me to deliver the baby if that’s what we need to do. All right?”
Fiona’s eyes went wide. “Have the baby here? I know I said I might like to, but after those last two contractions, I’m officially joining the ‘I’m a wimp club.’ I think I want an epidural and every other kind of pain medication they’ll give me. I don’t think doing the natural childbirth thing is for me. I’m coming with you.”
She stood.
And a pained expression twisted her features. Grasping her belly, she froze, waited for the contraction to pass.
Then slowly lowered herself back to the couch. Tears filled her eyes. “You’re right. I can’t take the chance,” she whispered.
Abby looked at her watch ready to time the contractions once again.
Fiona looked at her mother. “What if you get stuck?”
“Well, at least I won’t have to worry about having a baby if I do.” Abby could see the woman’s angst. Go be with the seriously hurt son-in-law who may be dying or stay with the daughter who may have her first grandchild while she was gone.
Turmoil churned inside Abby. If she’d only left and kept going instead of allowing her heart to be swayed by Cal’s sweet words and comforting presence.
Mrs. McIvers studied the little girl playing in the den. “What do I do about Tiffany?” she wondered out loud.
“You can leave her here with us,” Abby found herself saying. “Zane will be down soon and if we need him to, he can take care of her.” Meaning if Fiona ended up having the baby, Abby wouldn’t have to juggle delivering Fiona’s child and watching Tiffany.
Soon, Justine was hugging Fiona goodbye and Jesse led her out the door leaving Cal and Abby to hover over Fiona.
Abby took another look at her watch.
Seven minutes since the last contraction.
She walked into the kitchen and poured a glass of water. Back in the den, she handed the drink to Fiona. “Here, drink this. You don’t want to get dehydrated.”
Curiosity overshadowed the intense worry in Fiona’s eyes. “Thank you.” The woman took a few sips, then asked, “Why didn’t you tell us you were a doctor? Why did you lie about your name?”
Abby flushed and sighed. “Because that’s what one does when one tries to run from the past. Unfortunately, I haven’t turned out to be very good at it.” A lump formed in her throat. “Which is why I believe Joseph is now hurt. I owe you all a huge apology,” she whispered.
Cal reached out and squeezed her fingers. “Will you tell us everything so we can help?”
Everything? She wasn’t quite sure about that. A glance toward Tiffany showed the little girl still engrossed in entertaining herself with a video game. “My sister, Keira, died.” She stopped, not wanting Fiona to know that Keira had died giving birth. Some things were better left unspoken. Cal knew that part of the story and he knew why she paused. He shot her a grateful look as Abby picked up with, “She died about three months ago. Long story short, my family blames me because I’m a doctor and couldn’t save her. Most of all, my brother-in-law, Reese, blames me. He threatened to…um…make me suffer the rest of my life.” Abby swallowed the tears that threatened to erupt. “That was him in the bus station the day I collapsed.” She frowned. “At least I think it was. I honestly don’t know if I was hallucinating or if I really saw him.”
As she recounted the story, Abby kept an eye on Fiona. Still no more contractions. A sense of relief flowed through her. Maybe the contractions would simply stop. So she silently prayed. And surprised herself by doing so.
But she realized God was drawing her back to Him. Showing her how much she needed Him.
Abby took a deep breath, Cal’s fingers still wrapped around hers giving her courage. “I never would have believed he could say something like that. He’s always been a gentle soul, but when Keira died, something inside him…changed. Hardened.” Died with her sister, she wanted to say. Instead, she shook her head. “I don’t want to believe it’s him.” Agony filled her. “But what else can I believe? He started showing up at my work, he would sit in his car and stare at me as I went into the grocery store and would be waiting when I came out. And after the restraining order went into effect, it got worse, believe it or not. I only saw Reese one time after the restraining order and that was the day before I decided to leave. I think he was trying to approach me, but one of my partners was with me and Reese didn’t attempt to come near me.” Abby’s voice trembled. “I finally couldn’t stand it any longer, so I ran.”
Cal’s jaw firmed. “Did you report him to the police?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“They said there was nothing they could do.”
Cal gave a disgusted snort. “Sure, there is.”
Not when it’s one of their own, she wanted to say. “I truly thought the restraining order would help, but it didn’t. Not really.” Abby remembered the judge Reese had complained about. The one he’d said was as corrupt as the day was long, but he just couldn’t prove it. It was the judge’s son Reese had arrested for drunk driving and wouldn’t make the charges go away when the judge had a fit.
The man had been happy to give her the restraining order against Reese Kirkpatrick. Abby felt about as low as a snake resorting to using an alleged corrupt judge, but she’d been at her wit’s end.
“Did he violate the order?” Cal asked.
“No.” And he hadn’t. But he hadn’t had to. His fellow cop buddies had picked up where Reese had left off and delivered his message loud and clear. They’d stopped her for every little traffic infraction, never writing her a ticket, but inconveniencing her enough that she became afraid to drive.
Cal frowned as his phone rang. “Excuse me. It’s Eli.”
He walked into the kitchen and Abby turned to Fiona. “I’m sorry.”
“Abby, you don’t need to apologize.”
Abby smiled her sadness. “Thanks.” She changed the subject. “How are the contractions?”
“Stopped, I think.”
“That’s good. The baby would be fine if he or she decided to come now, but maybe he’ll wait until after the snow stops.”
Fiona grimaced. “I have a feeling I should have gone with Mom and Jesse regardless of the contractions.”
Abby had that same feeling, but didn’t have time to dwell on it.
“I’m hungry,” Tiffany suddenly said. “Can I have a snack?”
Abby stood. “Sure, come on in the kitchen and I’ll slice you an apple.”
Once Abby had the fruit cut up for Tiffany, the little girl asked, “Can I watch a movie?”
At a loss for an answer, Abby looked at Fiona. Fiona nodded. “In the spare bedroom, there’s a television set up for her. She knows what to do.”
Tiffany skipped down the hall toward the room with her bowl of fruit clutched in both hands. Soon Abby could hear the video playing and Tiffany singing along.
Cal came back into the room, his frosty eyes on Abby. “Eli did a little checking. You left out a few details in your story, didn’t you?”
Abby’s heart dropped like a stone to the bottom of the lake. So, he now knew.
Cal stepped farther into the room. “You didn’t tell me that your brother-in-law was
Detective
Reese Kirkpatrick.”
Cal couldn’t believe he’d been so stupid. He’d known all along she’d been hiding something, but this blew him away. “You’re running from the cops?”
“No.” Her voice was even, no hint of emotion behind it. “Not
the
cops.
A
cop. One—” she held up her right index finger “—cop.”
Cal stared at her, his mind processing the information Eli had just given him. Her record was practically squeaky clean. No hint of any kind of illegal activity. Just one parking ticket.
As much as he hated to admit it, Cal knew it was possible her brother-in-law wasn’t on the up and up. His own sheriff had been arrested almost three years ago and now sat in a jail cell in Asheville. His good friend and fellow cop, Mark Sawls, had killed his own wife in a domestic violence episode.
But for the most part, Cal knew the majority of cops were honest, hardworking men and women doing the mostly thankless job because that was what they wanted to do, felt called to do.
And yet here was another cop being blamed for unethical, possibly illegal actions. It made him sick.
But was it true?
Abby had withheld a lot of information from them. She’d lied about her name, her background, who she was running from.
Then again, he could tell she was honestly scared of her brother-in-law.
Because a cop was after her and she knew she didn’t have a chance against him? It wasn’t a far-fetched idea.
The room echoed the silence surrounding him. Fiona clutched her cell phone, desperate for word from their mother about Joseph and looking stunned at the bombshell Cal had just dropped on her.
He knew what she was thinking. He knew if he could see into his sister’s mind, he’d see her picturing Brianne. And he was thinking about Mark.
Taking a deep breath, he knew he had to give Abby the benefit of the doubt. If he didn’t and he was wrong, she could wind up dead, too. And he couldn’t live with another woman’s death on his hands.
Abby sat, head ducked, hair swinging around her pale face. His heart went out to her and yet he felt angry at her reticence to confide in him.
She finally lifted her head. “Yes, he’s a detective. But more than that, he’s a very angry, bitter man who lost his wife.” She still didn’t mention the baby. “Now he has revenge on his mind and I’m the one he’s focusing on.”
The defeat in her voice stirred his compassion. And yet… “You really believe he wants to hurt you this bad?”
Abby paused and he could see the doubt flickering in her eyes. “I don’t want to think so.”
“But you do.”
“Yes.”
Before she could say any more, Fiona let out a low groan. The pain in his sister’s face nearly made him panic. He looked at Abby. “Is she going to have this baby now?”
Abby shot him a sour look. “Not if the contractions stop.”
“So make them stop.”
The look Abby and Fiona exchanged said his male input wasn’t needed—or wanted.
Tiffany came from the back bedroom. “Where’s my grandpa?”
Grateful for the distraction, Cal reached for the little girl and picked her up. Keeping one eye on Fiona’s clenched jaw, he said, “He’s out doing me a favor. Are you tired of your video?”
“Nope, I’m going to go finish it.”
Cal set her down and she went back to the room. He looked back at his sister.
When the contraction eased, Fiona leaned her head back and Abby looked at her watch. “How much time between that one and the last one?”
“Eight minutes.”
“So when do we start getting worried?”
Abby smiled, but Cal thought it looked a bit forced. “Not right now.” She patted Fiona’s hand. “You’re doing fine. We’ll time them and see what happens. You just lie here and relax.”
Fiona rolled her eyes and looked annoyed—and scared. “How am I supposed to relax? I’m so worried about Joseph and Mom and Jesse…” she whispered.
The phone buzzed in her hand and Fiona lifted it to her ear. “Hello?”
Cal wanted to tell her to put it on speaker phone, but she was listening so intently that he didn’t want to interrupt.
When she hung up, she bit her lip and looked at Cal. “That was Mom. She said the roads are bad.”
He tensed. “Are they okay?”
“So far. They’re having to go really slow and they got stuck once. Jesse managed to get them out so they’re moving again. She said it was a good thing I didn’t go with them.” She sniffed. “And she told me not to have this baby until she gets back.” A puff of laughter escaped her and Cal smiled. That sounded like his mother.
Abby rose. “I think I’d better stay close by, Fiona. Do you mind if I just sleep up here near you? In case you need something?”
“I can do that,” Cal said.
“No.” Fiona shook her head before Abby could respond. “You need to keep watch on the ranch and make sure that person after Abby doesn’t come back. You can stay here, but I want Abby up here, too.”
Cal thought about it and nodded. “It might not be a bad idea to keep you two together just in case.”
Abby gulped. “Just in case?”
He shrugged, not wanting to frighten them any more than they already were, but if someone, like Detective Reese Kirkpatrick, was determined to get at them, he wanted them watching their backs and keeping the doors locked. “Just a precaution.”
His phone rang again. “Hello?”