Ryan's Place - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,72
impatient, but because she didn’t want him to see just how happy his explanation had made her. He needed to sweat a little longer for making her worry herself sick. He needed to understand that what he did—or didn’t do—mattered to her.
It was hours before they had another free minute. Maggie’s feet and back were aching from hauling the heavy trays around all evening, but it was a good kind of exhaustion, the kind that came from doing satisfying work.
She was just about to collapse into a chair and put her feet up, when Rory emerged from the kitchen, his face ashen.
“Um, you guys,” he said in a choked voice, “I think Rosita’s having the baby.”
“Now? In the kitchen?” Juan asked, racing for the door.
Maggie took one look at Rory’s panicked expression and stood up. “Sit before you faint.” She pushed him onto a chair.
He gave her a pained look and popped right back up. “I’m not going to faint. And nobody has time to sit. She’s in labor, and I do not want that baby born in my kitchen. Is that clear?”
Ryan patted him on the back. “Nobody’s going to have a baby here,” he said. “I’ve already called for an ambulance. Maggie, why don’t you go in there and make sure Rosita’s okay?”
She frowned at him. “Sure, when it comes to babies, you big, strong men want to leave it all up to us,” she grumbled, but she headed for the kitchen.
She found Rosita on the floor, clutching her stomach, her face contorted as another contraction washed over her. “How far apart are the contractions?” Maggie asked.
“Very fast,” Juan answered, clutching Rosita’s hand and looking dazed. He slipped into Spanish, then caught himself. “This is the second one since I’ve come in here.”
Maggie swallowed hard. That meant they had to be less than two minutes apart. Unless the paramedics arrived in record time, they were going to be delivering the baby here, after all. She knelt beside Rosita and took her other hand. Forcing a reassuring note into her voice, she said, “Don’t worry. It’s going to be okay.” She looked at Juan. “Tell Rory to get in here to boil some water. Tell Ryan to bring down all the towels he has upstairs.”
Within a minute the kitchen was bustling with activity. The last customers had been told to send the paramedics in the instant they arrived, but by the time that happened, Rosita’s baby—a boy with a full head of dark hair—was already slipping into Maggie’s hands.
“Oh, my. Look how beautiful he is,” she whispered, her eyes filling with tears as she handed him to the emergency medical technician, who made quick work of getting a lusty wail from him. She felt Ryan’s arm slide around her waist.
“Is everything okay?” she asked the EMT.
“Looks fine to me,” he said, grinning at her. “You might want to consider a new career.”
“I don’t think so,” she said shakily, then looked at Ryan. “The only births I want to handle from here on out will be my own kids.”
Her words brought a surprising smile to his lips. “We’ll have to talk about that when things settle down,” he said.
It didn’t take long for the paramedics to whisk Rosita and Juan off to the hospital.
“I need a drink,” Rory announced, his color finally returning.
“Buy one for everyone out there,” Ryan told him, his gaze on Maggie.
“Where are you going?” Rory asked.
“Upstairs. Maggie and I have things to talk about.”
Maggie felt her heart flutter at the heat in his gaze, but she shook her head. “Not before we toast the baby,” she insisted.
He looked disappointed. “One drink, then.”
She grinned. “I think a sip will do.”
He laughed. “That’s much better. By all means, let’s have a toast to the baby.”
Maggie looked into his eyes. “And to all the babies to come around here.”
Rory frowned at that. “Watch your tongue, woman. There are confirmed bachelors in the room.”
Ryan grinned at him. “Only one I can see.”
A huge grin spread across Rory’s face. “Well, isn’t that lovely, then? Congratulations, Ryan, me lad.”
“Hold it,” Maggie interrupted. “Has anyone heard me say yes yet?”
“Now that you mention it, I haven’t even heard a proper question,” Rory said.
“Some things are meant to be done in private,” Ryan retorted. “And in their own good time.”
Maggie promptly lifted her glass. “Here’s to the baby,” she said, taking a quick swallow of her drink before setting it on the bar and heading for the stairs.
“Seems a bit anxious,” Rory noted as