He wanted to do that, too, so he carried her out of the barn to his truck. Fortunately, he’d left the keys in it. He held her against him as he pulled open the passenger door. Then he tried to ease her onto the seat, but she clung to him for a moment, her body trembling with fear and perhaps with pain.
He wanted to take that pain away from her. “You’re going to be okay,” he said.
She settled onto the seat, and he stretched the belt across her and clicked it in to secure it. He was going to drive fast, and he wanted to keep her safe. Her and them. He touched her belly and it felt so hard. “They’re going to be okay…”
But he had no way of knowing that for certain. He could only hope.
She covered his hand with hers and squeezed. “Thank you.”
She was so scared but still so sweet. She would be a great mother; she couldn’t lose her babies. And he had to do whatever he could to make sure that she didn’t.
* * *
The sharp painreceded to a dull ache in her side, but the panic remained, pressing down on Trish’s lungs, making it difficult for her to draw deep breaths. She might have hyperventilated if not for Brett taking one of his hands off the steering wheel to hold her hand. Something about the strength and the warmth of his grasp lent her strength, so that she was able to breathe evenly, deeply, again.
And the pressure eased on her chest and on her stomach.
She knew he had no way of keeping his promise, of making sure that she and the babies were okay. But somehow she believed that he would, maybe from how fast he drove the distance between the Four Corners and Willow Creek Memorial Hospital.
When he pulled up to the lobby doors, she didn’t want to let go of his hand. She didn’t want to let go of him. He was the only thing keeping her from all-out panic.
“We’re here,” he said. “Help is here.”
But he had been the help.
She was feeling better now.
“Let’s get you into the ER,” he said, and he pulled his hand free. Then he was out of the truck, rushing around the front of it and pulling open her door. He leaned in and unbuckled her seat belt. And then he moved his arms around her, lifting her out of the truck.
She could have walked, but her legs felt weak and she was afraid of the pain returning. So she wound her arm around his shoulders instead and held on.
Leaving the passenger door open, with the keys in the ignition, he rushed toward the glass doors of the lobby. “Help! We need help!” he called out.
“Brett!” a beautiful young woman exclaimed. She wore scrubs with a stethoscope dangling around her neck. Her strawberry blond hair was pulled up in a clip, and her green eyes were wide with surprise as she hurried over to the two of them. A medical ID dangled from the pocket of her scrubs.Dr. Livvy Lemmon.
And for some reason Trish felt a rush of relief. She wasn’t sure if it was just because this woman was a doctor or if because this woman, who knew Brett, was his sister and not someone he might have dated had he ever left the ranch. But his brothers had already told her how he rarely left the ranch.
The Four Corners was his life.
“What’s going on?” Livvy asked.
“I think she’s in labor,” Brett answered for her. “She doubled over in pain back at the ranch.”
“You’re having contractions?” Livvy asked.
“I… I…thought so…”
“How far along are you?” she asked.
“Thirty-three weeks,” Trish replied. She saw how the doctor looked at her stomach. “With twins.”
Livvy nodded. “Okay. Sometimes twins want out early. They don’t like sharing that space. Let’s check you out.” She gestured behind her, and an older woman rushed forward pushing a gurney. “This is Nurse Sue,” she said. “We’re going to take care of you. And you are?”
“Trish,” she replied. “Trish Dempsey.”
Livvy sucked in a breath, and her green eyes widened even more. “Oh.”
So Livvy knew about her. Knew about the lawsuit over the will, no doubt.
