Prince Charming in Dress Blues. Maureen Child

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СКАЧАТЬ stop calling me lady in that tone.”

      “What tone?”

      One blond eyebrow lifted into a high arch. “That tone that says, ‘calm down crazy person.’”

      He frowned and straightened away from the door. “That’s not what I meant.”

      She winced as another ripple of pain unwound inside her, this time rolling from the base of her spine all the way around her immense belly and back again. Not now, she silently pleaded with the baby. For pity’s sake, give Mommy a break.

      John took half a step forward and stopped dead. She still didn’t trust him, he knew, so she wouldn’t want him offering to catch her when she fainted.

      And she was going to faint, he thought. Or worse. His mouth dried up and his throat tightened. He’d watched a wave of pain overtake her. Could actually see it grabbing her, tensing her body. Her small, oval-shaped face went so white her pale-blond eyebrows actually stood out in sharp relief against their colorless background.

      His gaze dropped briefly to her swollen belly, and John frantically wished himself into the middle of a firefight somewhere. Hell, he’d take flying bullets, exploding mortars and hand grenades anyday…anything had to be better than being stuck in a tiny cabin with a woman about to go into labor.

      Just thinking the word labor sent his stomach on a sharp plunge to his feet. At last he understood the expression a sinking feeling. It was kind of like stepping unknowingly into the La Brea Tar Pits. Every move you made only sucked you in deeper. There was no escape. Just the inevitable. The only question was, how long would it take you to go down?

      “Are you all right?” he asked, hoping to God she’d say, Sure. Just a little toothache.

      “Do I look all right?” she asked, lifting her head long enough to slide him a glare that should have toasted him on the spot.

      “Actually,” he said, with an inward sigh, “no.”

      Her lips twisted into a mocking smile. “Gee, thanks.”

      Then she groaned and clapped one hand to her middle.

      All the air left John’s lungs.

      “C’mon, sweetie,” she murmured, smoothing one hand up and down over her stomach, “not now, okay?”

      “It’s labor, isn’t it?” he asked when he’d managed to suck more air into his body.

      She laughed shortly. “Well, I’ve never done this before, so I can’t be sure, but yeah. That’s my guess. I’ve been having a backache all day but the pain seems to be coming every few minutes now.”

      “Swell.”

      The little blonde shot him a bland look. “Gee, I’m sorry to inconvenience you.”

      Shame swamped him. Here he was thinking about himself, when this woman was about to make a new human being. Well, hell, you couldn’t blame a guy, could you? He’d come to this cabin for a little peace and quiet. Not to be the first Marine midwife in history.

      “I think you should take me to the closest hospital,” she said, scooting carefully off the bed.

      If only he could. “There’s a problem.”

      “Problem?” she echoed as she tried to slip her right foot back into a sadly misshapen loafer.

      “We’re not going anywhere,” he said and watched realization dawn on her face with each of his words. Damn, it cost him to break this to her, but better she know straight-out that he was as close to a doctor as she’d be seeing tonight. God help her.

      “What do you mean?”

      “I mean, the storm has turned into a blizzard. There are drifts of snow blocking the driveway, and I’m pretty sure the roads are in no better shape.”

      Her blue eyes widened, and she shot a quick look at the nearest window. Outside, the wind hammered at the glass like an angry old man demanding entry.

      “Well, find a snowplow.”

      “I don’t have one.”

      “What kind of mountain cabin doesn’t have a snow plow?”

      Pointless to wish for things they didn’t have, he thought. “I’ll mention it to Pete next time I see him.” Along with a few other things, like making sure the cabin was unoccupied before you lent it out.

      “There can’t be a blizzard,” she said, interrupting his thoughts and swinging her gaze back to him. “I’m having a baby.”

      Oh, man. He forced a smile he didn’t feel and told himself she didn’t need to see just how nervous she was making him. The thought of becoming an instant obstetrician didn’t exactly electrify him. But what choice did he have? Hell, what choice did either of them have? That baby was coming whether they liked it or not.

      And in this situation the baby had the last word.

      “Maybe we could call for help,” she said, waving the phone she still held in one hand.

      “Good idea,” he said and cursed silently for not thinking of it himself.

      “I’ll call 911,” she said to herself as she turned the phone on and dialed. “This is an emergency, right?”

      “Oh, yeah, I’d say so,” he told her. Heck, if he had any rocket flares, he’d be firing them about now.

      She held the phone up to her ear, and he watched eagerness fade into disbelief and then fear.

      “What?” he asked, not really wanting to hear her answer.

      “It’s not working.”

      “What do you mean it’s not working?” he asked, reaching for the phone.

      “It’s not dialing.”

      He took it, listened for a long minute, hoping the situation would change, then gave it up. That sinking sensation crawled back into his guts and he wondered if it was going to become a permanent part of him. “The phone’s dead.”

      “Oh, God.”

      “Don’t worry,” he said, and instantly told himself how stupid that was. Of course she’d worry. She was probably terrified. Having a baby during a blizzard, with the only help available a complete stranger? Those wide blue eyes of hers shone with a glimmer of unshed tears and just a trace of dread. Hell, he was just short of panicking himself. But even as that thought registered, he put it aside. Marines don’t panic, for God’s sake. Marines fight battles. And Marines win, by damn.

      She licked dry lips and gave him a quick, frantic glance. “Maybe it’s not labor. Maybe it’s gas.”

      “You really think so?”

      “No,” she said, shaking her head and rubbing her mouth with her fingertips. “Just wishful thinking. Oh, God,” she added in a soft, panic filled murmur, “what СКАЧАТЬ