«I know. Wolfe woke me before he left. He said something about the animals drifting in front of the storm. He was worried about the pregnant mares.»
«We haven’t had time to fence the horse pasture,» Willow said, frowning at the untamed land. «Ishmael, my stallion, has been keeping the mares safe. But he was raised in barns and paddocks. The country just south of here is wild and broken. If the mares are pushed there by a storm, we’ll have a devil of a time finding all of them. The wind is icy. If the mares begin foaling…»
Willow’s voice died. Saying nothing more, she stood in front of the window and watched the invisible violence of the wind.
Jessica went over and put her arm comfortingly around Willow. «The men will find your mares.»
«The mares, the cows, the yearling steers. We could lose everything to this damned wind. I wish I were out there working beside Caleb. We need every hand we can get. I feel so useless. I —»
Willow’s voice broke as she dragged harshly at air.
At first, Jessica thought tears had taken Willow’s voice; then Jessica felt the forerunners of childbirth’s primal contractions ripple through Willow.
«How long has it been going on?» Jessica asked urgently.
«The storm? Since last night.»
«To blazes with the storm! How long have you been having pains?»
«Off and on since midnight.»
Jessica’s eyes closed for an instant. When they opened, they were clear and very intent.
«Did you tell Caleb?»
«No.» Willow’s voice was tight, flat. «My mother told me that first babies are unpredictable. Labor can begin and fade and then begin again many times.» Willow took a deep breath. «We need to save our animals more than I need Caleb to hold my hand through false labors that could go on for days.»
Despite the brave words, Jessica could see the uneasiness in Willow’s wide hazel eyes. She would have liked the comfort of her husband’s presence.
«Is this the first time you’ve felt pains?»
«They’ve come and gone for almost two days,» Willow admitted. «But that last one was different.»
«May I?» asked Jessica, putting her hands on the mound of Willow’s womb.
Surprised, Willow simply nodded.
For a time, there was silence broken only by the wail of the wind. The more Jessica gently probed, the more fearful she became. The baby wasn’t moving. According to the books she had read, once the proper birth position had been achieved, even the healthiest of babies became quiet in the hours before labor.
So did babies that were no longer alive. Jessica had acquired that bitter knowledge watching her mother’s futile labors.
«Tell me when the next one comes,» Jessica said with a calmness that went no deeper than her smile. «In the meantime, you can finish hemming the receiving blankets you made.»
It was half an hour before another wave of contractions swept through Willow’s body. She looked up from the receiving blanket she had just folded.
«Jessi!» she called.
«Now?»
«Yes.»
Jessica dropped the pump handle and ran from the kitchen into the living room where Willow was sitting. When Jessica put her hands on the mound of Willow’s pregnancy, the muscles were quite hard. Frowning, Jessica probed carefully yet thoroughly. She had read enough about false labor to know that it rarely involved the woman’s body to this extent. Nor had the baby changed position.
After a long count of three, Willow’s muscles relaxed.
«The clenching — did it go all the way around your body?» Jessica asked, straightening.
«It began in back and then came forward,» Willow said, demonstrating with her hands.
«Can you stand?»
«Without my husband’s strong arm to drag me upright?» Willow asked dryly. «We’ll find out.»
When Willow was standing, Jessica bent and moved her hands over the swollen abdomen. The baby was definitely riding lower than it had been, though not so low as in the drawings in Jessica’s books showing women on the verge of labor. On the other hand, first babies were…first babies. Unpredictable.
Though Jessica waited and waited, she didn’t feel the baby move with any vigor at all. When she was certain none of the fear she felt would show in her eyes, she looked up, smiled, and spoke in a teasing tone.
«As your brothers would say, ‘Well, Willy, you’ve gone and done it again.’ The baby has dropped, it’s standing on its head, and it’s ready to see what the world is like.»
A small smile softened Willow’s pale lips. She took one of Jessica’s hands between her own and squeezed.
«I’m so glad you’re here, Jessi.»
«So am I.»
It was only partially a lie. For Willow’s sake, Jessica was glad to be present. No woman should have to face the dangers of childbirth alone.
Yet Jessica had hoped never again to go through the agony, terror, and wrenching futility of childbed again.
«Did you eat breakfast?» Jessica asked.
«No. I had no appetite.»
«Good. Your body has more important things to do than deal with biscuits and bacon,» Jessica said briskly. «Where do you keep clean linens for the bed?»
«In the chest at the foot of — oh!»
«What is it?»
No sooner had Jessica asked when she saw the unmistakable marks of wetness spread down Willow’s skirt.
«Your water has broken.»
«Yes, that’s it, of course.» Willow smiled tremulously. «Silly of me to be frightened. I forgot that would happen. What a goose I am.»
Jessica hugged Willow and stroked her golden hair as though she were a child.
«You’re not a goose. ‘Tisonly natural to be a bit worried, especially with your first.»
For a moment, Willow clung to the smaller woman, then she stepped back and straightened her spine.
«It’s probably just as well Caleb isn’t here,» Willow said. «He’s so worried that I’ll suffer the same fate his sister did.»
Jessica remembered the night Caleb had carried his sleeping wife from the living room. His face had been as hard as stone, yet the emotion in his eyes had made Jessica’s heart turn over.
She is my life.
Jessica had wondered then what it would be like to hold a man’s love so deeply. She would have moved heaven and earth and taken on Hell in order to have Wolfe look at her with such emotion.
Yet Jessica knew it wouldn’t happen.
We’re all wrong for each of her.
Wolfe was half right, but only half. He was the right man for her.
She just wasn’t the right woman for him.
With an effort, Jessica put her own turmoil aside. Taking Willow’s hand, she led her to the bedroom.
«I’ve been meaning to have Wolfe talk with Caleb about this,» Jessica said, «but I never found the proper moment. It’s been discovered that childbed fever can be prevented if the doctor washes his hands with soap and hot water between patients.»
«Truly? Why would that make a difference?»
«I don’t know. Yet washing is a simple enough thing to do. And while I’m at it, I’ll see that the bed linens are clean, that your gown is clean, and that the rest of you is clean for good measure.»
Willow smiled slightly. «If it works on hands, why not on other things, is that it?»
«Exactly,» Jessica said. «Here, let me help you out of your clothes.»
«I can manage.»
«I can manage better.» Jessica smiled at Willow and began unfastening her skirt. «There’s no room for modesty at a birthing. What will happen, does, willynilly, without so much as a by your leave. And by the time it does happen, neither one of us will have a thought in our minds but getting the job done.»
Willow let out a long breath. «You’re always surprising me.»