The Firefighter's Twins. Heidi McCahan

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СКАЧАТЬ almost there. You do not want to have this baby in a golf cart, right? Everything you need is inside that ambulance.” Shay’s confident voice never wavered, but Natalie’s mind spun out of control with possibilities, making her mash down harder on the accelerator. They’d assisted guests with heat exhaustion, chest pain, sprained ankles...even the occasional broken arm. But a baby delivered in her golf cart? That was ten times worse than the corn maze. She gritted her teeth. Moving Maria was a horrible idea. Why did I listen to him?

      They reached the ambulance, and two EMTs jumped out, each securing blue disposable gloves on their hands.

      “C’mon, Maria. Let’s get you to the hospital.” Shay helped her from the cart and handed her off to the closest guy in uniform. Natalie got out and hovered behind them, catching pieces of their conversation. Something about the timing of the contractions and when her water broke—all the details she should’ve noted, had she not been so exasperated by this mysterious firefighter who happened upon the scene and took control.

      Despite her resistance to lying down or leaving without her family, they had Maria secured on the stretcher and inside the ambulance in a matter of seconds. Once her husband and daughter caught up and were on board, the EMTs slammed the doors and whisked her away, lights flashing but no sirens. Would they even make it off the property before the baby arrived?

      Shay watched them go and then turned to face her. His gaze narrowed. “Y’all need to reevaluate your emergency action plan. That could’ve been a disaster.”

      A terse response flitted through her brain. She tipped her chin up. “It could’ve been, but it wasn’t. I guess the good Lord was looking out for us. And Maria, too.”

      A muscle in his jaw knotted tight. “How many pregnant women visit your farm? You need to be prepared for more scenarios like this one.”

      She fixed him with a pointed stare. “We are more than prepared to handle a crisis. If you would’ve listened and let me execute our emergency action plan, we could’ve skipped the golf cart altogether.” Without waiting for his answer, she climbed back in the golf cart and drove away.

      “‘Y’all need a better emergency action plan.’” She mimicked his deep Southern drawl as she drove back toward the barn to smooth things over with Karen, if she was even still there. Who did Shay think he was, anyway, jumping in and taking over? So what if he’d helped avert a crisis. Did he have to be so smug about it? She made a mental note to email Chief Murphy later and ask who he’d assigned to serve on the fall festival committee and help with their service project. If it was Shay Campbell, she’d request Trent instead.

      This fall marked her family’s tenth season of offering a destination farm experience, complete with hay rides, the corn maze and several other creative opportunities to get kids outside. They took every reasonable precaution to protect their guests. She blew out a long breath. The last thing she needed was some arrogant firefighter telling her how to run her own farm...or her fall festival committee.

      * * *

      Shay watched her drive off, her honey-brown hair spilling between the skinny straps of her sundress. Despite the medical emergency, the curve of her bronzed, bare shoulders and delicate collarbone hadn’t escaped his notice. He’d always had a thing for sundresses and cowboy boots. Until Monica left. He’d stopped listening to the country radio station for fear he’d hear her latest hit single.

      Shoving aside the memory of his ex-wife, he jogged back toward the inflatables. Isn’t that where he instructed the other parents to take the kids? But when he got to the giant multicolored bounce house, the kids seemed older. Bigger. He scanned the faces of the adults hovering on the grassy area nearby. This was only his second week in Meadow Springs, but none of these ladies looked like anybody he’d met at the beginning of the party. Not that he had much time for small talk. He’d left the socializing up to his mother, while he kept a vigilant watch on the boys. If he looked away for an instant, Liam and Aiden toddled off, climbing something, touching things they shouldn’t—making his heart race. He’d lost focus once before, and it had cost his family dearly. He couldn’t afford not to be hypervigilant.

      He spun in a circle, searching for towheaded boys wearing denim shorts and blue and green T-shirts. Don’t panic. Mom can handle it. But this was their first birthday party that wasn’t limited to close family members. Would she remember to ask about the ingredients and double-check the labels? And could she deal with the tantrums if she had to tell the boys they couldn’t have any?

      “Excuse me.” He spoke to an older woman who appeared to be supervising the inflatables. “Do you know where the little kids from the birthday party went? A bunch of two-and three-year-olds?”

      She fluffed her short brown hair with her fingers and smiled, staring at him over the rim of her leopard-print sunglasses. “Shelby’s group?”

      “Yes, ma’am.”

      “They’ve gone on to the gazebo. They were afraid of the siren, so Shelby skipped straight to cake and ice cream.”

      “Where’s the gazebo?”

      She pointed behind him. “Go toward the pond and past the rubber duck races. You can’t miss it, hon.”

      “Thank you.” He weaved around couples with strollers, kids tugging on their parents’ hands and packs of teenagers staring at their phones. Gravel crunched under his tennis shoes as he made his way past the main building. The aroma of fries and hamburgers filled the air, making his stomach rumble. He’d worry about lunch later. His boys’ safety was his first priority.

      A line snaked out the door of the café. “Pardon me, please.” He eased between two women chatting in line, while two little girls chased each other in circles around their legs. Once he was past the crowd, a large white gazebo situated next to a pond came into view. A group of older boys cranked the handles on the water pumps nearby, their rubber ducks racing down the water-filled troughs. Aiden and Liam would love that. Maybe if they had time, he’d bring them over to check it out.

      Moms and dads mingled with the children in the gazebo, talking and laughing. A few glanced up as he joined the party. Walker and Harrison stood by a cooler with cans of soda in their hands. He’d thank them for their help with Maria in a minute, once he knew Mom had handled the cake situation.

      “Shay,” Mom called out from where she sat at the end of a long picnic table, Aiden and Liam across from her.

      “Da-da!” Aiden shrieked, his blue eyes gleaming. Frosting coated his fingers and ringed his mouth. The paper plate in front of him held a half-eaten slice of cake and a melting scoop of vanilla ice cream. Liam didn’t even look up, all his attention centered on loading his fork with the sugary treats.

      Shay’s stomach lurched. “Mom. The cake—” He raced to the table, reaching for the boys’ plates.

      “Sweetie, I scoured the labels and interrogated the poor girls serving it. It’s fine. No peanuts.”

      Aiden’s lower lip quivered, and he snatched the plate back, glaring. “Mine.”

      “We don’t know if it’s safe for you to eat, buddy. Let me check.”

      Mom sighed. “I promise I double—”

      Her words were drowned out by the sound of the boys crying. Not a little crying, either. The kind of sobbing that stopped all conversation.

      “Hey, СКАЧАТЬ