Part 7 (1/2)

”I'm not sure you can make it.”

”Oh,Logan...” She wanted to be braver, but it was a cry of distress.

”Listen.” His voice was a soothing caress. ”Everything is normal. The baby's in the right position. You are

completely effaced. And you are fully dilated. Do you know what that means?”

”Ready to push, right? But how is that possible?”

”When it comes to having babies, almost anything is possible. And I don't think it's a good idea to ask

you to try and hold back for the time it will take to get you to the hospital.” He picked up the soap again and began scrubbing his hands for the second time. ”You might succeed, but you could slow things down and only make it more difficult in the end. Or you might not succeed. And you'd end up having the baby on the side of the road.It's better, I think, if we stay here-at least till help arrives.”

She'd been sweating a moment ago, now she was s.h.i.+vering all of a sudden, shaking all over. Logangrabbed a towel, dried his hands and turned on the s.p.a.ce heater in the corner by the door. Then he came back and began pulling towels off the shelf. He knelt, wrapped them around her, and rubbed at her shoulders to get the circulation going. ”Better?” ”A little.” ”Where's the phone number for your doctor-and the one for the main house?” She told him. He turned for the door. Absolute terror gripped her. ”Oh, G.o.d, Logan. Don't go...” ”I'll be right back. It won't be three minutes, I swear to you. And maybe I'll get lucky and get through on the cell phone.” She bit her lip and tasted blood-but she kept her mouth shut when he left her. A minute pa.s.sed. She knew because she counted the seconds. And then she didn't count anymore because the next contraction claimed her. She rose onto her haunches, grabbed the sides of the tub again and rode it as it crested and finally waned. ThenLoganwas kneeling beside her, wrapping a blanket around her. ”I got through. They're sending an ambulance. Forty-five minutes tops, they said. And Tess will be here in ten with the things we're going to need.” He bent over her. ”Do you want to get out of the tub?”

She stared at his lips, wondering why he was asking her that. ”I don't...”

He smiled at her rea.s.suringly and stroked the side of her face. His hand felt so good, so solid, warm and

real. ”This is a pretty big tub. You could just stay here, if you want, until Tess arrives with the things to get

the bed ready.”

She s.h.i.+vered some more, but not as badly as before. The little room was getting warmer. ”I'd like ... to walk for a bit.”

”Sounds good.” He helped her from the tub. Lacey clutched the blanket around her and they trudged back and forth in the short s.p.a.ce between the tub and the door-until another contraction doubled her over.

Loganwent down to the floor with her again. He whispered to her to breathe, not to push yet, just to wait a little while. She groaned and tried to do what he said, to hold back. At the same time, she wanted to shove him away, to shout at him that she was the one doing this and she'd push if she wanted to.

By the time the contraction pa.s.sed, she was sweating again. She threw off the blanket and asked for a clean sleep s.h.i.+rt.

”Where?”

”Top bureau drawer.”

He left her for the second time. She didn't mind as much as before. Some change had come over her.

Some strange, calm feeling. She would do this. She would get through this. She-and her baby-would be fine.

”Tess is here,”Logansaid when he came back. Lacey was kneeling on the rug again then, her forehead

against the rim of the sink basin. The only response she could give him right then was a groan.

He waited for the contraction to ease, then helped her up. ”Here.” He settled the s.h.i.+rt over her head and she put her arms through the sleeves. ”Tess is getting the bed ready and making the fire.”

”Don't need ... the fire. I'm sweating. Can't you see?”

He smiled and got a washcloth and wet it with cool water.

She sighed when he wiped her face with it. ”Heaven...”

Or it was, for a few too-brief moments. Then another contraction struck. She got through it, and then

two more after that, relaxing into them as if they were waves-waves that rolled in, rolled through her, then rolled away. They didn't seem to hurt so much as before, though in a way they felt stronger, more focused, more purposeful, somehow.

Finally, Tess stuck her head in the bathroom door. ”All ready.”

”Then let's go,”Logansaid.

They went into the cabin, where Tess had removed the curtain that separated the sleeping nook from the

rest of the room. The bed had only a white sheet on it, and a number of pillows. There was a stack of towels and one of the receiving blankets on the edge of the bed and a basin of water on a chair. When Lacey crawled onto the bed, the sheet crackled. Tess had thought to put plastic-a tablecloth or a shower curtain, probably-between the mattress and the sheet. She helped Lacey to arrange the pillows against the headboard, so she could lie in a semi-sitting position, asLoganwent to wash his hands again.

”Thirsty?” Tess smiled at her.

Lacey nodded. Tess had a full pitcher of water right by the bed. She filled a gla.s.s and Lacey sipped.

ThenLogancame back and examined her again.

She looked at his dark head between her spread thighs and couldn't help remarking, ”I feel so utterly