pronounced. His knee seemed to be bothering him more and more as the day dragged on, but the urgent purpose in his stride refused to concede to any pain. “Lily?”
“Oh, God.” Lily’s plea was a ragged, desperate cry. “I need to push!”
“Can you hold off for just a minute longer?” Nate asked, pulling a clean pair of latex gloves from the med-kit and adjusting Lily’s position on the bed.
“I’ll try.”
“The baby dropped, but he didn’t turn.” Jolene took hold of Lily’s hand and let her friend squeeze as tightly as she needed to. “Easy, Lily. I’m right here with you. Nate’s going to help us. Right?”
Flecks of doubt darkened Nate’s eyes, but they disappeared before Jolene could question him.
“You bet.” Nate sounded confident, focused.
Jolene nodded, absorbing his determination. His brand of serious looked mighty reassuring for a change. The practiced efficiency with which he donned a stethoscope to listen to the baby’s heartbeat, and palpated Lily’s rigid abdomen didn’t hurt, either. His brown eyes flicked up to hers and Jolene latched on to the strength she saw there.
“See if you can distract her a bit and help her relax,” Nate instructed her. “I’ll have to time this around her contractions.”
Obeying without protest, Jolene took a deep breath and tapped into her own strength. Nate sat on the stool they’d moved to the end of the bed earlier and went to work. Jolene dipped a washcloth into the bowl of cool water on the bedside table and wrung out the excess. Then she pressed the cloth to Lily’s lips and urged her to suck the moisture. She talked about the first thing that popped to mind, then kept talking, holding her friend’s hand, massaging gentle circles against her back and shoulders to distract her while Nate reached in to help the baby.
“Rocky’s turned out to be a real pain in the neck, hasn’t he,” Jolene said.
Lily closed her eyes and nodded. “That bull’s both a blessing and a curse. Won more prizes, sired dozens of the hardiest stock in all of Texas…” Her breath caught.
“Easy, Lily,” Nate urged, rubbing one hand against her belly. “Don’t push yet.”
“But I’m burning—”
“We’re going to get this guy lined up and then he’ll be out in no time.”
“Guy?” Lily’s eyes, damp with sweat and tears, popped open. “Is it another boy? I wanted—”
“Shh,” Jolene cooed, squeezing Lily’s hand and insisting her friend focus on her instead of the pain or any regrets about adding a fourth son to her rambunctious posse. “What makes Rocky such a curse?” Jolene grinned, demanding Lily’s attention. “Besides giving your ranch hands a workout.”
Lily grasped at the topic. “Rocky’s worth thousands of dollars to us. Did Deacon get him back? Oh Lord, if I lose him to this storm, Gabe’s gonna kill me.”
“Gabe’s only going to be worried about you and the baby.” Of that, Jolene was certain. Gabe and Lily Browning had been an old married couple the moment they got engaged. Devoted to each other in the way Jolene had wished her own parents had been in love, the way she wished she and Joaquin had been able to be. “If Rocky’s as smart and ornery as Deacon says he is, that bull will be just fine.”
“But a hurricane?” Lily’s breathing had quickened and gone shallow. She was desperate to push again. “Even that—” she winced “—damn bull…can’t survive on his own in those kinds of wind. He needs…shelter. We’ll lose—”
“We’ll find him,” Jolene promised, tuning in to Lily’s desperation and wanting to ease it in whatever way she could. “We’ll take care of Rocky. You just worry about your little—”
“Got it. Push now, Mrs. Browning.” Nate’s stiff order interrupted them. “Push if you can.”
“God, yes.”
Lily scrambled up onto her elbows. Jolene propped the pillows behind her and supported her back. “You can do it, Lily. Take a deep breath.” She held hers along with her friend. “Push.”
In just a few minutes, the thunder outside was drowned out by the wail of a newborn baby. Plenty healthy from the sound of things.
“Oh, God. Thank you, God,” Lily breathed. “How is he? Is he okay?”
Tears pricked Jolene’s eyes and she whispered a prayer of thanks herself. She tried to peek around Lily’s raised knees, but knew her first priority was to help their patient lie down as comfortably as possible.
Nate tied off the cord, suctioned the tiny airways and wrapped the infant in the clean towels Jolene had gathered. When he rose, the bundle looked tiny, yet infinitely secure,