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It opened.
Otis Jameson poked his head out. "No room!" he growled, and shut it again.
Taggart started to knock again when Gus said, "Damn it, she's going to have this baby. Hurry up and get
this over with!"
As a showstopper, that was all it took.
Chapter 10
«^
She wasn't having the baby.
Not now! Not yet!
Shecouldn't be having the baby!
It wasn't due for six and a half weeks. Not until Valentine's Day.
It was the stress. Mary knew she had been working too hard. Thinking about the pageant, about the
songs, the plays, the kids, the livestock.
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About Gus.
She shot him a quick glance now as he drove hell-for-leather for Livingston. From the grim set of his
mouth, she knew he was worried, too.
"I'm not having it," she said, though whether to reassure him or herself, she wasn't sure.
He reached out a hand and without even glancing her way, took hers unerringly in his. He gave it a
squeeze. "I damned well hope not," he said roughly.
"If I do " her voice wavered " if I do & do youth -think I might l-lose it."
"You're not gonna lose it." His voice was gruff and hard and firm, and he flicked her a quick glance.
"You won't lose it," he promised. "We won't let it happen."
She didn't know why now, of all times, she believed him. But the sheer force of his determination
buoyed her weary spirit. She clung to his hand.
"No," she whispered. "We won't."
* * *
Gus hoped to God she believed him He wasn't sure he believed himself.
He wasn't nearly as confident as he tried to sound.
What the hell did he know about having a baby?
He'd played midwife to a few mamma cows over the years, but it could hardly compare. You didn't
have to help them with their breathing. And they didn't hang on to your hand as if you were a lifeline.
Oh, wow, Gus thought. Oh, God. Oh, wow.
Felicity had called the hospital to let them know Mary was on her way. Thank heavens the doctor was
already there when they arrived.
So was Cait. She gave Mary a hug and a smile and a thumbs-up sign. She took Gus by the arm.
"I'm just going to show him where to sign in," she told Mary, "and I'll be right back."
When she had him around the corner her smile faded. "What happened? How long has it been going
on?"
He tried to tell her. He tried to remember all the stuff she'd told them during class to notice. He relayed it
as best he could.
Cait listened. She nodded. She knew about Mary's circumstances now, knew this wasn't your
run-of-the-mill pregnancy. Mary had told her after the first class.
She knew Gus wasn't the father, but she seemed to understand that he needed to be there.
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"Okay, then." Cait squeezed his hand and her soft-blue eyes met his. "You ready?"
Gus cleared his throat, then nodded. "As I'll ever be, I guess."
She gave him a grin. "That's the spirit. You just keep her going. We're not going to let anything happen
to this little one." She gave his arm a squeeze. "Or Mary."
* * *
He was a rock.
Herrock.
Steady. Solid. Unflappable. Cool. Calm. Grace under pressure.
That was Gus.
"Steady now. Ride it out. Easy, easy. Breathe with me." He locked his hands with hers as he locked his
eyes with hers. It was as if there was no one else in the world.
No doctor saying, "Right, right. Just hold it now." Then, "Okay, pant. Pant. Now push. That's it. Push!"
No Cait saying, "You're doing fine, Mary. That's a girl. Steady, steady. That's it. You're doing it."
Mary knew she wasn't doing it. Not alone. Gus was doing it with her.
That's how it felt. As if she had locked onto him. As if she could hear only him. Respond to only him.
He was her strength. She hung on to his hands, she gripped his wrists. She might have snapped them
right in two at the last when the baby finally pushed its way into the world.
She sagged back and heard a whimper, a tiny cry. Frail. Then stronger. Lustier.
"It's a boy!" the doctor said.
And Mary and Gus looked at each other and wept and grinned.
* * *
All Gus could think was, it was a good thing it had just happened slap, bang one minute he was
holding Mary on a donkey and the next he was shooting down the road as if a mad bull was after him,
and the next he was holding on to her for dear life while she gave birth to this child.
This child.
It was here. Now.
Alive and well.
He looked at the tiny baby swaddled in a soft blue blanket and nestled in Mary's arms, and he could
hardly believe it was real hewas real.
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Sure he'd felt the baby move. Intellectually he had always known that inside Mary there was this & this
person & just biding its time, growing strong enough to meet the world on its own terms.
But he was so tiny, this person. So incredibly small. And so perfect.
Such a perfect child.
"He is a gift," Gus said gruffly, his throat tight.
The whole thing was a gift as far as he was concerned. Not only the baby, but Gus's being allowed to be
here, to share in this, was a gift one he had no right to, had certainly never hoped for, could not have
expected.
Gus had never felt very humble. He felt humble now.
Mary stroked the baby's soft, peach-colored fuzz that someday might be a head of hair. "He is," she
agreed softly. "Jonathan."
That was the name Ruthie and Jeff had picked.
"That's what it means God's gift," she told Gus, eyes shining.
"Kid's got a name longer than he is," Gus said softly. He stood up and moved to stand beside the bed, to
look down on them both. He bent his head and dropped a kiss on her forehead. "Should've named him
Mary's Gift."
Mary gave him a watery smile. "He'd get teased on the schoolyard, that's for sure."
"He could go by his initials. Nothing wrong with M.G. He could tell 'em he was named for a car."
"Like you?"
Gus grimaced. "I wasn't named for a car."
"I didn't think you were." She'd figured out pretty quickly that his middle name was Augustus. It was the
first name he couldn't bring himself to tell her.
"Not Dodge? Not Daimler?" she teased.
He shook his head.
"Are you ever going to tell me?"
"If you'll marry me." The words came out without him even thinking.
And it was as if the world had come to a stop.
Mary stared at him. She looked confused. And shocked.
And Gus, knowing he had said them at the wrong time and far too soon, could hardly retract them now.
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He had to press on.
"You know I want to marry you. I've told you I love you. I always have. I just didn't always know what
it meant. I admit I'm a little slow. Well, maybe I'm a lot slow. But when I figure something out, I've got it
for good. I've got this, Mar'. Do you believe me?"
She didn't answer. Her throat worked and she blinked rapidly. Her lips trembled and she bent her head,
so that her gaze was on the baby not on him.
No answer was an answer. And though he didn't want to, Gus heard it very well.
His gut twisted. He swallowed hard.
"It's okay. I understand." He forced the words past the lump in his throat. He reached out a hand and
brushed it lightly over her hair. "Rest," he told her. "Get some sleep. You've had a hard day."
Heart breaking, he turned and walked slowly out the door.
* * *
She wanted to say yes.
Mary knew as she watched him walk away that she wanted to marry Gus Holt. Wanted them to be
together forever. She wanted to call him back. But she couldn't. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]