Chapter 37
JACE
“ H oly fuckin’ shit, what do we do?” I hold on to both her arms as I look between us and see the puddle on the floor.
“Get me to the hospital, I guess.” She’s hunched over, gripping me tight, and looking like she’s in pain.
“Looks like the party’s over folks.” I hear Jamie start to round everyone up and while I try to keep Maddison calm, I glance around for Sawyer so he can drive us.
“Taylor, go find Sawyer,” I order as I shuffle Maddison over to rest on one of the bales.
“I thought they were those practice ones,” she tells me in between breaths as I lower her down.
“What do you mean? How long have you been having these practice contractions?” I stroke her lower back while the boys do their best to get everyone outside.
“Since this morning.” She grips the side of her stomach and moans. “They’re getting really bad, Jace.” I’m about to call her out for not saying anything before, but a bigger problem is on its way.
“It’s okay, sweetheart, you're okay.” Her mother stumbles over and sits on the bale beside her. “The drugs they have are fabulous. My advice is to go straight for the good stuff. Forget the gas and air.” I look up at Maddison's father when he rushes over and hope the way I raise my eyebrows tells him that she’s making things worse.
“Come on, Mary, Jace has this covered. Let's go inside.”
“Don’t be silly, Roger, our daughter’s giving birth. I’m going to be right here, by her side.” She takes Maddison’s hand in hers and when Maddison turns her head to look at me, she breaks into tears.
“Bad news, I can’t find Sawyer. But we’re finding an alternative.” Taylor must notice the problem because she immediately rectifies it.
“More champagne, Mrs MacKenzie?” She looks at Mary's empty glass.
“Oh yes, please, dear.” Mary hands it to her
“No worries, there’s plenty more in the house.” She takes hold of her arm and forcibly stands her back on her feet. “Let's get you topped up.” Leading her out she looks back over her shoulder at me and winks.
“I can drive you to the hospital, I only had a sip of champagne for the toasts,” Roger tells me.
“I don't think I can move.” Maddison shakes her head, not seeming to care that her father is right in front of her when she slides off the bale, onto the floor, and stretches her legs open. “Jace, he’s coming now. I can feel it.”
“ What? No…No, he ain't coming now, not here, you have to be in a hospital, darlin’.” I have to do something to stop myself from panicking because I’m supposed to be the calm one.
“Now’s not the time to fucking argue!” She grips at my shirt and starts bearing down.
“Stop doin’ that.” I look up to her father, hoping he’s gonna back me up on this.
“Roger, go find Dr West!” I yell at him.
“He already left.” Maddison pants as she clutches her stomach. Sweat is pouring from her skin now and she doesn’t seem to be getting much time to recover between contractions.
“Okay, Okay. Try Tabitha or Theo Briggs,” I instruct him.
“Theo Briggs is a vet.” She looks pissed-as-hell as she pulls on my sleeve and starts to scream.
“You ain’t giving me many options here, Baby Momma.” I look out the door onto the yard where a crowd has gathered.
“Just head out and ask for anyone who knows how to deliver a baby.” I send her father off before shuffling on my knees in front of her.
“Don’t worry, we got this.” I don’t feel like I got fuck all as I raise the skirt of her dress up.
“Jace, I need to push,” she warns me and when I hold up my hand for her to hold, she uses it as leverage and tucks her chin into her chest.
“Baby, I don’t think you should be doin’ that…Shit!” I see something bulging in her panties, and panic.
“Fuck, he really is coming.” I look up at her with wide eyes, not having a clue what to do.
“I need to get out of these panties,” she tells me, lifting her hips so I can tug at her waistband and drag them away.
“It really hurts, and I need to push. I can’t stop.” She starts to cry and not being able to see a way to make this better, drives me insane.
“Okay, okay, just bear with me.” I shrug out of my suit jacket and rest it under her ass, then loosen the stupid tie I’m wearing.
“I found someone.” I sigh with relief when Roger returns and when I look up and see Sheriff Hale, I haven’t got time to be irritated or disappointed. Right now, I’m a desperate fuckin’ man.
“You know how to deliver a baby?” I check, shifting out of her way and wrapping my arm around Maddison’s shoulder.
“I’m not trained but I’ve delivered one before. If I can do it on a subway, I can sure as hell do it here.” She rolls the sleeves of her dress up and crouches between Maddison’s legs.
“Wow, you’re almost there.” She smiles up at her calmly before looking back to Roger. “Is Lawrence West on his way?” she checks.
“Yeah, apparently, Jean called him back as soon as she realized what was happening.”
“That's good.” Hale nods as she places her hands on Maddison’s knees.
“Is there something wrong?” I ask.
“Not at all,” she assures me. “In my very limited experience, everything looks exactly how it should, but once the baby comes we have to cut the cord and deliver a placenta. Last time I did this, we had paramedics waiting at the next stop who handled it.”
“Okay.” I accept what she’s saying and take Maddison's hand.
“You heard her, you're almost there.” I watch her face screw up as she tenses her body and pushes again.
“That’s right, Madison, the whole head is out now, just take a breath.” Hale really sounds like she knows what she’s talking about and despite our differences, I can’t help feeling grateful that she’s here.
“Ya hear that? His head is here, you just gotta find a little more energy for the rest of him.” I slide the hair from her sticky forehead before I kiss her temple and when she starts to scream again, the grip she has on my other hand almost crushes my bones.
“That’s a good girl, keep pushing.” I use my free hand to rub her shoulders, trying to keep her motivated. When she flops her head back and sighs in relief, I look between her legs and see my son, right there in front of me. Wailing from the top of his lungs in Sheriff Hale's hands.
“Congratulations.” She looks up at me as she lifts him toward me, and I quickly shrug out of my shirt so I can wrap him up before I take him.
“Is he okay?” Maddison cries, and laughs, at the same time when I place him straight on her chest. I figure since she did all the hard work she should get to cuddle him first.
“He’s here.” I can’t stop looking at him. He’s so tiny and perfect, it takes my breath away.
“Well done, sweetheart, I’ll go tell your mother.” Roger kisses his daughter's cheek and looks at his grandson lovingly, before he rushes out the barn, while I wrap my arm around my wife and rest my hand on my little boy's chest so I can feel him breathing.
“Look what ya did.” I kiss her proudly.
“What we did,” she corrects me, and seeing the huge beam on her face makes all the sacrifices I ever made to keep this town safe seem worth it.
“Thank you.” I look across to Hale and she smiles as she uses the back of her slimy hand to brush her hair off her forehead.
“My pleasure.” She takes a calming breath as she looks at Maddison and my son, and despite knowing that she came to this town to take me down, I’m nothing but grateful to her, right now. “Besides, it looked like you had it covered.”
I draw my attention back to Maddison, whose eyes are fixed and besotted on the baby in her arms.
“He really is perfect, isn’t he?” She smiles as his little hand wraps itself around her finger.
“Did you expect anything less?” I hold them both in my arms and feel like the luckiest man in the world.
Lawrence West eventually arrives and takes care of Maddison, and we’re both relieved when he says there's no need for either of them to go to the hospital. Roger and Taylor manage to clear the yard and the house of any stray guests, even Jean, Daphne, and Eleanor, who were all lingering to get a first look. Roger brings Mary out to meet her grandson before they leave to stay in the guesthouse in town. I offered for them to stay here with us, but Roger insisted that tonight was just for our little family.
I thank Lawerence West as I carry our son across the yard in one arm while aiding Maddison with the other. Then take them both straight upstairs and draw her a bath. While she relaxes in the tub, I sit on the floor next to her with our son laid out on my knees, in front of me. I study every inch of him and play with his tiny fingers. I gotta say, I'm impressed with how strong his grip is. I tell him all the things I’m gonna teach him how to do while Maddison listens on and smiles. Once I’ve settled Maddison into bed and watched her feed our little boy, I place him in the crib beside her and when I turn back to her, she’s already fallen asleep.
“You let your mama rest,” I whisper to him before kissing her forehead and heading downstairs to lock up.
The house is silent, so I assume Kendra is staying at Taylor’s tonight and when I step into the kitchen and find Riley Hale sitting at my table, all those warm, cozy feelings, my chest has been holding for the past few hours, instantly chill.
She must have been home and changed because she’s wearing jeans and her leather jacket; and although I’m sure she knows all the things I’ve done, she doesn’t seem fazed or intimidated to be alone with me. In fact, she lowers her eyes from mine and gestures them to the seat opposite her, leaving me wondering how this bitch has the nerve to tell me to sit at my own damn table.
“Is this the part where ya tell me not to get close to that little boy because you're on to me?” I laugh at her sarcastically as I pull out a chair, spin it around and straddle it. She needs to know that if she’s gonna try and take me down, she’s in for the fight of her life.
“No.” She shakes her head. “ Actually, I’m here to ask you a favor.” Her words take me completely by surprise and after the day I’ve had, that's quite an achievement.
“You want a favor from me?” I check I heard her right.
“Let’s lay it out, Sullivan. I’m not an idiot, and I’m also not as straight as you think I am. This town has the lowest crime rate in the state. I know the reason for that and you and your friends are welcome to run whatever little corporation you need to, to keep it that way. All I ask is that you don’t play me for a fool.” I nod my head as I stare across the table.
“I didn’t come to this sleepy, little town to write speeding tickets or to take you down. I’m here for someone else's ass.” She pulls an old, faded photo from her purse and lays it out in front of me.
“That's Michael Gendry.” I glance back up at her.
“It is,” she tells me, waiting for my reaction. “So, can I count on you or not?” She cuts the silence when I don’t give her one.
“Getting into it with that family is real risky, why should I help you?” I stroke my hand over my mouth and when she places something else in front of me, I recognize it straight away. I had the damn thing in the glove compartment of my truck for four days
“Why do you have Billy McGee’s phone?” I question her, starting to get real suspicious.
“I’m assuming whoever killed him was looking for it when they went to his house. Given the evidence that I found on it,” she tells me, typing in his code to unlock the screen and spinning it around. She hits play on a video and, although the screen remains black and the audio’s a little fuzzy, I can still make out the words.
“You killed her, ran her off the road.” I hear a woman’s voice but don’t recognize it. “Michael. Speak to me. This is going too far.”
“That town is ours, we get the road, we get the power.” The next voice I do recognize, and it undoubtedly belongs to Michael Gendry.
“You can have the road, just reroute it, you're never going to get the Sullivan ranch. Jace Sullivan is as stubborn as you are,” the woman tells him. “None of this makes any sense, you stood more chance of getting the place while Marie owned it, now she’s dea–”
“But Marie never did own it, and neither will Jace…What if I told you that Marie Sullivan was really a nasty, little whore who cheated on her husband?”
I clench my fists as I hear that fucker talk about my momma.
“What if I told you that Keith knew, and ensured her bastard boy would never prosper from his family's legacy?”
“Michael?”
“The ranch belongs to Jamie, Jamie’s got no interest in cattle and horses. He’ll sell if the price is right.”
“Then why kill Marie, why would you run her off the road like that?” The woman sounds distressed.
“That was just payback, sweetheart.”
The video ends and when I look back up, Hale has a pitiful look on her face.
“So it wasn’t an accident. Those fuckers ran her car off the road!” I stand up and slam my fist at the table.
“Jace, I need you to stay calm because what I have planned won’t just hurt that family, it’ll end them.”
“I could end him, right the fuck now.” I go to head for the door but she somehow manages to get up and block me.
“And risk missing out on your son’s life? Be smart, Jace, you know the Gendrys, they’ve made a living out of pissing people off. They have security and people in high power.”
“So what do you suggest we do?” I look to her for answers.
“We take our time, drip feed them poison while we wait for the opportunity to strike.”
“And how do I know I can trust you?” I stare her in the eye.
“Because they took someone from me, just like they took from you…and I like this town. Once all this is over, maybe I’d like to start a family in it.” I back down when I see pain looking back at me.
“I may be the sheriff but I’m prepared to let you run this town however you want. But when it comes to that family, we do it my way.”
I nod back at her because, as much as I hate it, she’s right. The Gendrys are clever.
“I’ll leave you to inform your uncle and Eli…I’ll even let you break the news to my deputy,” she sniggers.
“I take it you’ve already spoken to Sawyer, is that why he left?”
“He wanted to call you but I told him I wanted to speak to you myself, first. With all that's happened, I figure that's a conversation you should have with him tomorrow.”
She turns as if she’s gonna leave.
“How did ya know about us?” I call after her. “That night you came into town You wanted us to know that you knew something.”
“Jace, I was watching this town for a long time before I stepped into it. I’ll be in touch.” She slaps my shoulder before she sees herself out and, although I’m mad as hell and want to string Michael Gendry up by his balls, I’m kinda relieved that Riley Hale is no longer my enemy.
“I heard voices.” My wife stirs awake as I step into the bedroom and when I hear stirring coming from the crib, I head straight to it and lift up our boy.
“It’s nothing for you to worry about. Go back to sleep if you want, I got this.” I smile.
“He’ll probably want to feed, again. Doctor West said newborns take little and often.” She sits up and unbuttons the front of my shirt she’s wearing to sleep in.
“Here.” I pass him over and sit down beside them, watching him latch onto her nipple.
“You getting jealous?” She smirks at me as he feeds from her.
“I can’t believe you're mine.” I ignore her question and say what's on my mind.
“Are you going all soft on me? I’m supposed to be the emotional one.” She laughs and I take hold of my son's hand in mine and wrap my other arm around her.
“No, I’m being serious. I don’t know what the hell I ever did right to deserve this but, right now, life’s feeling pretty perfect.”
“A wife and a baby all in one day, not a bad day at the office.” She looks up at me and beams. “All the time we were making him, and even while I was pregnant I kept wondering if I was crazy, but now he’s here I feel so whole.”
“Baby, you were never crazy,” I tell her. “You just got yaself caught by a cowboy, and he was never gonna let you get away.” I kiss my wife and thank whoever was lookin’ down on me the day this pretty, runaway bride ran straight to me.