The Whippoorwill Trilogy - Sharon Sala Page 0,321

the space and the loneliness, but with everyone back and noise being made, everything felt right and safe.

Watching Robert Lee as he followed Delilah out, then as they both returned carrying firewood, she felt a great sense of satisfaction. Delilah put down her load and left the room, as Robert Lee set about stirring the embers in the fireplace before adding dry logs. She knew he was uncomfortable around her, and when she was honest with herself, admitted she was a little uncomfortable around him. His presence in the house was going to change everything. Whether it was for the good of her odd, little family still remained to be seen. All she knew was, she didn’t want to see him ride away.

Rain was coming down in earnest when she felt the first stirring of pain. It began in the low of her back, and then rippled around her belly like a belt that was being pulled too tight.

“Oh,” she grunted, and clasped her hands against what had once been her waist.

Robert Lee stood up from the fire and turned around.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe it was just a—”

The second wave of pain hit her in the same place, only harder.

“Oh lord,” she said, then took a slow, deep breath. “I think it’s the baby.”

Robert Lee felt as if he’d been sucker punched. All the air went out of his lungs as his knees went weak.

“Don’t move,” he cried.

She grimaced. “I’m not accepting any dances in the near future, if that’s what you’re worrying about.”

He shot out of the room, calling Alice’s name. Moments later, they came back running.

“Get her upstairs,” Alice said.

Robert Lee picked Letty up in his arms.

“I can still walk,” Letty said, but no one was listening. Moments later as another pain tore through her, she was glad that she’d been ignored.

He got her to her bedroom just ahead of the women. Once he laid her down, he was shooed out of the room. His last glimpse of Letty, she was waving a hand in Delilah’s direction with a determined jut to her chin. Like everything else she did, she was already taking charge.

After that, time seemed to stand still. He carried his things into the extra room off the kitchen, trying not to think of what was going on upstairs.

There wasn’t much to unpack. A straight razor and shaving cup—a couple of changes of clothes—and a mirror with a crack up the left side. He set a wooden box on the floor behind his bed then toed it under. It contained extra ammunition and the equipment he used to clean his weapon. All in all, it was a poor accumulation of goods considering his age and the places that he’d been. He couldn’t help but worry about what hanging his hat under this roof would bring to the table. All he knew was that he had to be careful. The last thing he would ever want to do was hurt Letty—and yet he was here, where the opportunity to do so would constantly be presenting itself.

It took less than ten minutes to lay claim to the room. It wasn’t nearly long enough to keep his mind off of her and the impending birth. As he paced the floor in front of the parlor fireplace, he kept thinking of Eulis. He should be the one pacing here—relishing the upcoming addition to his family—not rotting in a pine box in the back yard.

Thunder rumbled loudly overhead, followed by a sharp crack of lightning. He flinched as the momentary flash lit up the room, but once it was over, he realized how dark it had gotten outside. He lit an oil lamp and then a candle, set one on the table, the other on the mantel, and then poked at the brightly burning fire for lack of anything else to do. The storm had hastened nightfall. If only it sped up the birth of the baby, as well.

One hour flowed into a second, and then a third. Once as he was passing the foot of the stairs, he heard a low, anguished moan. The sound ripped through him like a knife to the heart. He stood there, listening—waiting—praying for a signal that her suffering would soon be over.

It didn’t come.

Five hours, then six came and went. Alice came downstairs, her face flushed, her hair hanging around her cheeks in tangled wisps.

“Go get Dr. Warren,” she said.

Robert Lee froze.

“Is something wrong?”

Alice wrung her hands. “I don’t know. It’s just that