Mary gulped. “Well…”
“Where is your ride?” He said each word slowly, as if he doubted her ability to comprehend the question.
And she was forced to confess, “Ida’s in St. Louis. Her sister’s been sick. And please don’t look at me like that. I do have a ride. It’s all arranged. It’s just…I’m not due for three weeks. Ida was going to be home before the baby came.”
He sat down next to her on the sofa and touched the side of her face, guiding a sweaty tendril of hair out of her eye. Funny, but it didn’t bother her at all that he did that. She found his touch comforting, somehow. It steadied her.
“Mary.” He said her name so gently.
She tossed the phone to the sofa cushions and let out a moan. “Oh, this can’t be happening. Not today. Ida’s gone. And I have a deadline…”
“Mary.”
She made herself meet his eyes. “What?”
“Do what you need to do. Get your stuff.”
“And clean up. Really, I have to clean up.”
“Fine. Do it. And then I’ll drive you to the hospital.”
She gasped. “Oh, no. It’s too much. You don’t have to. Really.”
“You won’t take an ambulance and your ride’s in St. Louis. Do not try and tell me that you’ll be driving yourself.”
“I’m not. There are, um, neighbors I could call. And there’s—”
“Mary. Stop.”
“Oh, dear Lord…” She just couldn’t think. But he could. He knew what to do. “Go. Get ready. And we’ll be on our way.”
Satisfied that he’d finally convinced Mary to let him take her where she needed to go, Gabe waited beside her through another of those grueling contractions.
“Help me to my bedroom?” she asked him when it was over.
“You got it. Where is it?” He helped her up again.
She pointed toward the dining area. “In there. Opposite the kitchen…”
He walked her back there to the door on the left that led into her room. She got a change of clothes and disappeared into the bathroom.
She seemed to take a long time in there. That worried him. When over five minutes had passed, he knocked on the door. “You all right?”
“Yeah. Fine. Don’t you dare come in.”
“You need to get going. Don’t fool around in there.”
“Gabe?”
“Yeah?”
“I hate you.” She muttered the words, probably thinking he couldn’t hear them. Then, louder, “Never mind.”
He smiled to himself. “Just move it along.”
Maybe two minutes later, she emerged wearing clean clothes and carrying a stack of fresh towels. “I thought we might need these—you know, in your fancy car.”
God, he hoped not. “Good thinking.” He took them from her.
“And I have a suitcase all ready,” she said.
“Where?”
“Under the bed.”
So he set the towels on the bedspread and got down on his knees to drag it out for her. “I’ll just take this stuff to the car,” he said, rising. He picked up the stack of towels and hoisted the old hard-sided suitcase in his free hand.
She hobbled over and got the big, red shoulder bag from where it was hooked on the back of an old rocking chair. “Diaper bag.” She slid it onto his shoulder.
“Back in a flash,” he promised.
She pressed her lips together and nodded, reaching out to grasp the back of the rocker as another cramp started.
“Mary…” He took a step toward her.
She made a frantic waving-off motion with her free hand. “Go. Hurry. I’ll be…” She groaned. Hard. “Fine…”
He made himself leave her, turning and racing through the house, pausing only long enough to set down the suitcase and throw open the front door.
Outside, the Escalade waited, gleaming in the sun. The sight of it stunned him. He’d climbed out of it such a short time ago, certain of his ability to bend the Hofstetter widow to his will and the will of BravoCorp.
Somehow, things had gotten away from him—gotten away, big-time. In his pocket, his BlackBerry started vibrating. He went to the back and lifted the hatch and tossed in the suitcase and the diaper bag.
Then he took out the phone and glanced at the display. It was his father. Eager for a report on his meeting with the widow, no doubt.
You don’t want to know, Dad. He let the call go to voice mail and was putting the device away when it started vibrating again. This time he didn’t even stop to glance at it, just tucked it in his pocket and carried the towels to the backseat on the far side, where he left them, neatly stacked. In case she ended up needing them—a thought that made his gut clench.
He sent a fervent glance heavenward. He wasn’t a guy who prayed much, but he prayed then. Just let us make it to the hospital before she has that baby. Just that. It’s all I ask…
He ran around the front of the car, across the dusty yard and up the front steps. Inside again, he found her waiting in the open archway to the kitchen, slumped against the wall there. She was panting, staring at the floor. But when she heard him enter, she looked up, wiped her sweating brow and forced a smile.
“Got my purse…” She touched the strap over her shoulder and smiled wider, a smile that wobbled only a little.
“Good.” He strode toward her. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Wait.”
He stopped in mid-step. “What now?”
“Brownie.” The dog sat by the sofa. At the mention of her name, she stretched and wagged her tail. “She has a doggy door, in the laundry room off the kitchen. But if you could check her water bowl and pour her some food.” She gestured weakly over her shoulder. “Food’s in the cabinet next to the sink…”
He detoured around her and did what she asked. The dog came right over to sniff the bowl and eat a few lumps of dry food. He petted her on the head and then put the bag of food back in the cabinet.
“Okay,” he said, shutting the low door and rising. “Time to go.”
He went to her and wrapped an arm around her, noting abstractly that the lemon and soap scent of her had changed. Now, she smelled like.. .cleanser, of all things, a sweet sort of smell.
They hobbled to the door and out. She stopped to lock it, and the storm door as well, then leaned on him as they went down the steps and out to the car. He had the door open and her up in the backseat before he remembered he’d left his briefcase where he’d dropped it, halfway under the table, on the kitchen floor.
Too bad. He’d have to come back for it later. Right now, the goal was to get Mary to the hospital. ASAP.
He got in without noticing he’d left his Ray-Bans on the seat. They snapped as he sat on them. He swore and pulled them out from under him. Both lenses had popped out. He tossed the pieces onto the empty seat beside him and started up the engine.
In the back, Mary groaned and panted. He waited until she seemed to quiet—which meant she was between contractions—before he asked, “Where are we going?”
A