A Baby in the Bunkhouse. Cathy Thacker Gillen

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СКАЧАТЬ business, Rafferty shook his head. “No time.”

      No time?

      “Hang in there, Jacey.” His voice was as warm as his touch. “We can do this.”

      Suddenly, with him by her side…she felt as if they could.

      He remained focused on the task ahead. “I’m going to have to touch you.” He applied a very gentle counterpressure to her perineum that made her feel as though things were getting back into control, however slightly. “And you’re going to need to pant or blow through the contractions. Just don’t push. Not yet. I’ll tell you when.”

      Marshaling every bit of self-control she had, she fought through the excruciating pain and did as instructed.

      “I can see the head. It’s coming out…nice and slow…which is good. We don’t want to rush anything. Wait! I’ve got to unhook this loop of umbilical cord from around the baby’s neck.”

      Jacey sucked in a breath and went as still as possible, not even daring to breathe.

      “Easy does it,” he murmured as he gently worked the cord over the baby’s head. “Okay, we’re good to go,” he said with a smile. She felt the backs of Rafferty’s hands brush against her spread thighs as he took the baby’s head in both his palms. “Now push! We’ve got a shoulder…an upper arm…! Another shoulder and…a baby!” he declared triumphantly.

      Jacey felt a whoosh as the infant slipped completely free of her body. Another rush of fluid. Incredibly happy and at peace, she watched as Rafferty cleared the mouth of mucus and held the squirming, squalling baby aloft so she could see.

      A LUMP CLOGGED Rafferty’s throat as the baby let out one lusty cry after another. A cheer went up on the other side of the door that paired nicely with Jacey’s exultant cry as she met her infant daughter for the first time. “Hello, Caitlin, my sweet baby girl,” she whispered, happy tears streaming down her face.

      “Congratulations,” he said gruffly, pushing aside memories of another place, another time and life that had been cruelly taken away.

      He wrapped the pink, squalling baby in a towel and handed Caitlin to her mother.

      Too overwhelmed to do more than nod, tears of joy streaming down her face, Jacey cradled the newborn close to her chest. Forcing himself to rein in the feelings that threatened to overwhelm him, too, Rafferty returned to the end of the bed and concentrated on the task still at hand. Tears pricked the back of his eyes. Determinedly, he willed them away. “Anyone you want to call?” he asked in the most impersonal tone he could manage.

      Abruptly, Jacey went very still. “If you’re asking about a…husband…”

      He was.

      As reluctant as he was to imagine her with any other guy, he didn’t want her to be alone, either.

      “I don’t have one.”

      Rafferty should have figured that would be the case, given how independent she was. He checked, saw the afterbirth still attached to the umbilical cord, well on its way.

      He went to the door. Got the sterilized scissors and string from the cowboys on the other side. Shut it again. “Baby daddy then,” he prompted.

      Blissfully entranced with the quieting bundle in her arms, Jacey shook her head, replied softly, “Don’t have one of those either.”

      Rafferty checked out her left hand. Sure enough, it bore no wedding ring.

      Which meant what? The baby’s father had abandoned her? Died? Was around but chose not to be involved? Her expression gave no clue. And in fact, she seemed defiantly determined not to discuss it with him.

      He figured that was her right. He didn’t want to talk about his personal life, either. Still, there had to be somebody who cared, someone to notify.

      “Family then,” he insisted matter-of-factly. With the placenta out, Rafferty was free to tie off and then cut the umbilical cord. Finished, he tucked the towel in around the baby once again, keeping the newborn warm.

      “I’ve got a sister in El Paso whow as supposed to be my labor-and-delivery coach. I’ll call her after we get to the hospital.”

      Without warning, there was a thump thump thump of an approaching chopper.

      “Sounds like the Medevac team is here,” Rafferty said.

      Given the heart-wrenching memories that this experience had conjured up, it wasn’t a moment too soon.

       Chapter Three

      “Heard you and the baby were about to be released.” Eli Evans stood in the doorway of Jacey’s hospital room two days later. Hat held against his chest, he asked, “Mind if I come in?”

      Jacey smiled. “Please do. I owe you and your son and everyone at the ranch so much.” For the food and lodging, getting her car out of the mud, and most especially, for delivering her baby.

      Not that she’d seen or heard a word from the vet-school dropout who’d done the honors since the EMS had rushed into the bunkhouse and taken over.

      The sexy rancher hadn’t called. Hadn’t come by. Or sent flowers.

      And while technically she knew there was no reason Rafferty Evans should have, she’d privately hoped she would see him again. She thought they’d bonded during Caitlin’s birth, the way strangers who lived through an unexpected trauma together did.

      Obviously not.

      Rafferty wasn’t going to be around to see her through the transition into motherhood. He wasn’t going to help her ward off her overbearing older sister, Mindy, or be there to lean on in the days ahead. Even though for one brief, fanciful moment, Jacey had wished that were the case…

      Oblivious to her thoughts, Eli set a glass vase of flowers down on the table beside her hospital bed.

      “As far as the men are concerned, it’s the other way around,” Eli told her. “They haven’t stopped talking about that breakfast you made them.”

      Happy to be drawn back to reality, Jacey waved off the praise. “It was no big deal.”

      “To a bunch of hired hands who haven’t had a decent meal in months, it is. Which is why I’m here.” Eli paused to gently touch Caitlin’s cheek in the same way a loving grandfather might, then dropped his weather-beaten hand and stepped back. “I promised ’em I’d at least ask if you wanted a job as ranch cook.”

      Jacey blinked. Talk about providence! Loving the soft, sweet smell of baby, she held Caitlin closer to her chest. “You’re kidding.”

      Eli sobered. “No, Ms. Lambert, I surely am not. We’ve got fall roundup going on out there for the next five or six weeks. And seven men in need of three square meals a day. I understand you just had a baby and have got to have some time to recuperate. That you probably have a job elsewhere.”

      So he’d heard she had no husband to support her. That meant Rafferty СКАЧАТЬ