Chapter 36
Thirty-Six
“ Z eke!” Sam motioned across the corral to his ranch hand.
“Yeah, Boss?”
“We got a big storm coming in. I want you to make sure the horses are all back in the barn and everything is locked up tight, okay? Then meet me at my truck with a new roll of wire. We need to go to the south field and fix that hole in the fence. Might lose a few cattle to their wandering ways if we don’t.”
“Sure thing. I’ll let Derrick know the plan. You know Evie is still in the office, though, don’t ya?”
Sam shook his head. She needed to be up in the apartment, resting. But try to tell that to her. She’d jumped into overdrive trying to feel settled before the baby came.
“She’s so damn stubborn. I’ll make sure she’s done before we head out.”
Stepping into the office, Sam furrowed his brow. Evie was standing looking through the filing cabinet, but her hands weren’t flipping through files. They were resting on her back, massaging tiny circles into her muscles.
“Is your back bothering you?” he asked more gruffly than he meant to.
“Sam! You scared me.” He watched her hand fly over her heart. “Maybe don’t do that again unless you want to help deliver Jellybean here.”
“What do you mean? Are you in pain?” Sam could feel the color draining from his face, but if she was having contractions, he needed to get her into the town, and fast.
“No, no. But that panicked look on your face is a sweet payback for scaring me.”
“Jesus, Evie.”
“My back hurts, that’s all. I promise.”
He nodded, but wasn’t convinced. Walking behind her, he placed his hands beneath her belly and laced his fingers together.
“What are you do—” He lifted the weight of her belly and smiled as she moaned in relief. “Oh. How did you know that would feel so good?”
“I watched a couple of videos about massage during pregnancy the other night after I read to Jellybean. One of them showed a few positions that might help relieve back pain, and this one seemed to be a favorite of all the moms-to-be in the comment section.”
“You… you hate going online.”
“Yeah, but you’re worth it.”
“Please tell me you are going to show me what else you learned tonight?”
Maybe he shouldn’t be going out. Hadn’t he read something about storms bringing on labor? What if he was gone and something happened?
“I have to head out to the south field. There’s a break in the fence and I’m worried some of the cattle could get through if they get spooked by the storm. But I don’t want to leave you if you think you’re going to have more contractions. ”
Her hand patted his chest. “I’m fine, Cowboy. I promise. How bad is the storm supposed to be?”
He didn’t miss the way she nibbled her lip.
“Just a thunderstorm, sweetheart. Nothing to worry about.”
“I don’t want you out in it. Will you be back before it starts?”
“I’m going to try like hell to be. I want you to head up to the house, though. No sense in you being stuck in the barn once the rain starts. You can just put your feet up and relax for a bit with Mom.”
“I guess I could take some of these records up to the house to look over. Sebastian and Emma stopped by while you were busy this morning. He’s already gotten a few drilling proposals for us to look over. I know you aren’t sure you want to drill right now, but we can at least look them over. That way?—”
“No. Go up to the house and rest. Dr. Hayes said you have to limit stress. I expect to find you with your feet up eating bonbons when I get back.”
“I don’t like bonbons,” she laughed. “But I wouldn’t say no to your mom’s lemon cake.”
“I’m sure she’d be happy to make it.”
“I don’t want to be a pain. I’ll already be interrupting her day, forcing her to babysit me.”
“Nothing can happen to you or the baby, Bluebell. I won’t be able to focus on work if I’m worrying about you.”
“As long as you get back to us before the storm starts, we’ll be just fine.”
Sam pressed his head to Evie’s. “No working while up at the house. Just spend some time with my mom. Relax. And make sure you eat something.”
“Sure thing, Cowboy. Actually, forget the lemon cake. Do you think Sylvie has celery? I could go for some dipped in chocolate with flaky salt on top.”
He shook his head as his stomach quivered, watching Evie’s body waddle away from him with a sweet laugh on her lips.
“There’s still the section twenty feet down we need to get sealed up.” Zeke protested as Sam waved him off.
“And that calf needs to go up to the barn so we can make sure they aren’t sick. I rode Jasper out here for a reason. Take the truck back with the calf and call the vet. I’ll finish up here and head back on Jasper when I’m done.”
The rain poured down in buckets, both men soaked through to the bone.
“Make sure Derrick has finished with the horses and get the barn closed up. It’ll only take me a few more minutes out here to finish up this one section.”
“Evie’s going to have my hide if I leave you alone out here.”
“Yeah, well, she’s already going to have mine when I get back to the house. I told her we’d be done before the storm rolled in.”
“Oh shit. Yeah, you’re screwed, Boss.”
“How about you do something helpful and get that calf up to the barn? I’ll be right behind you!”
Zeke threw his hands up in the air and marched away from Sam. The fence had been more damaged than they were anticipating. He couldn’t leave until it was fixed without risking injury to his herd.
He wasn’t sure how much time had passed since Zeke left, but the rain was coming down even harder by the time he was finished. Jasper was pacing under the tree he was tied to.
“Alright, old man, let’s get back up to the house.”
The second Sam was up on his back, Jasper took off. The old grump was just as ready to be some place warm and dry as he was. Lightning lit up the sky and Sam swore, tightening his hands on the reins.
It was no use. The clap of thunder that sounded across the open field rattled his bones. Jasper spooked, and Sam only had a second of warning before he was falling towards the ground…