Even though her father was more than a thousand miles away, she braced herself. It didn’t matter how far she ran, his shadow followed her everywhere, like a persistent cloud hanging over her, blotting out the light.
And now James, the hottest sheriff to ever pin on a badge, wanted to talk to her. From the look on his face, it wasn’t soft kisses and softer words on his mind. She tried to rehearse some kind of explanation, but really, what was there to say? He’d find what he’d find, she’d tell him she wasn’t part of the family business. He’d believe her or he wouldn’t. But that cloud would linger, as black as a thundercloud.
When Iris returned to the café, Kim forgot her fears about the sheriff’s little chat and began to worry about Iris instead. She had been around plenty of pregnant women and assisted with more home births than she cared to recall, and, in her opinion, Iris wasn’t looking all that hot. When her boss gave her a tired smile she said, “Why don’t you sit down? You look tired.”
“Thanks.” Iris breathed in and out a few times shallowly. “Honestly, I don’t feel so good.”
There was one older gentleman in the café. He’d finished his coffee ages ago and his newspaper had dropped into his lap when he’d fallen asleep. She left him napping as he wasn’t bothering anybody. The only other occupant of the café was Eric, a budding screenwriter who seemed to spend a lot more of his time in the café that he did anywhere else. He could eke out a single cup of coffee longer than anyone Kim had ever seen, but Iris explained that he was part of her creative writing circle and she let him stay. He was tapping away on his keyboard, earphones plugged into his ears and if his cup wasn’t empty, whatever was left had to be stone cold. She said, “Why don’t we close early? There’s nobody here and I can drive you home.”
When Iris nodded in agreement, she knew she was right to worry. She hadn’t known Iris very long but it was clear the woman was a very hard worker and not the person to close her business early unless she had a very good reason. She helped her sit down, and patted her knee as though Iris were a hurting child, not her boss, and then she walked over to Eric. She had to wave her hand in front of his face to get his attention but when she explained that Iris wasn’t feeling well and they were closing early he looked genuinely concerned. He jumped to his feet and began packing up his equipment. “Is there anything I can do?”
She motioned to the sleeping gentleman. “Can you take him with you? I need to help Iris.”
“Done.” He glanced over at Iris and said, “You tell her, if there’s anything I can do, anything at all, to call me.”
She nodded, feeling ashamed of how uncharitable she’d been to a guy who was obviously very fond of her boss.
While Eric woke up the old man and got him to his feet, she went back to Iris who was holding her hands over her lower belly. She pulled up a chair close to her employer and said, “Should we call your doctor?” She wasn’t sure. Where she came from, calling the doctor was the last resort. Usually, the women handled these things themselves. Iris said, “I don’t want any fuss. I just overdid it today. I’ll go lie down.”
The bell tinkled merrily as Eric opened the door and ushered the older man out of the café, and then turned the Open sign over so it read Closed.
“All right. Let’s get you standing and I’ll take you home.”
Iris pushed up from the table and wobbled. As Kimberly reached out to help her, Iris moaned and her knees buckled as she fainted. Oh, no. Kim grabbed her and eased her to the floor. In horror, she noticed there was blood on the seat Where Iris had been sitting.
She stripped off her apron and made a makeshift pillow which she slipped under Iris’s head. Then she ran to the coat rack where a yellow sweater had been hanging ever since she started working here. She tucked the woolen garment around Iris’s torso and as she did Iris stirred and said, “What happened?”
“You fainted. How many weeks along are you?” Kim asked in a conversational tone. At least she hoped it was conversational and not filled with the mounting fear that consumed her.
“Almost thirty.”
Which was not long enough for the twins to have a great chance if they were born now.
As though she had picked up on Kim’s thoughts, Iris cried, “I’m not going into labor! I can’t be going into labor! It’s too early.”
Even though her instinct was to tell Iris that everything would be fine, Kim didn’t believe in lying. She said, “You sit tight, I’m going to call for help.”
She didn’t wait for an answer, but the way Iris was lying, with her arms wrapped around her belly and her eyes closed, Kim felt that she had gone inward. She raced to the kitchen wall phone and banged her fingers on the keypad.
“911, what is your emergency?”
“I’m at the Sunflower Coffee and Tea Company in Hidden Falls. I have a pregnant lady here who is bleeding heavily and losing consciousness.”
There were way more questions than she had the patience for and she wanted to scream at the woman to just send the damned ambulance right now, but she held it together and answered as best she could. The annoyingly calm voice on the other end said, “I am dispatching an ambulance to your location. Please stand by.”
“How long will it take?” She could hear the panic in her tone.
“We’ll get there as soon as we can, ma’am.”
She ran back out to the front. On the way she grabbed a bundle of tea towels and a bottle of water.
She uncapped the bottle and passed the water to Iris. “Try and drink a little water.” She felt that staying dehydrated had to be important and at least it would give them something to do. While Iris drank she said, “The ambulance is on its way.”
Iris nodded, looking pale and frightened. Kim had no idea how long it would take an ambulance to arrive. She began to wonder if she’d be better off bundling Iris in her car. She contemplated doing that when she saw a familiar and very welcome face at the door almost before his fist began banging. She jumped up and ran to the door, opening it to let James in.
He glanced at her and then at his sister lying on the floor. In a low voice he asked, “What happened? I heard the dispatcher over my scanner.”
To James she didn’t disguise the panic she felt. Keeping her voice equally low she said, “She’s bleeding, and she passed out.”
“Shit. Tell me what I can do to help?”
He seemed to accept that she was in charge of the situation and not he and so she asked, “How long will it take till the ambulance gets here?”
“Less than five minutes.”
“Then go talk to her. I’ll wait for the ambulance.” She nibbled her lip. “Should we call her husband?”
He nodded. “Did it on the way over.”
She watched as he strode over and dropped to his knees beside his sister. “Hey, what’s up?” He clasped her smaller hand with both of his.
Iris gave him a tired smile. “I’m not feeling so good.”
“Ambulance is on its way, we’ll get you feeling better real soon.”
As though he’d made the emergency vehicle appear, the sounds of the siren grew louder and within moments an ambulance pulled up outside. She opened the door and ushered in two paramedics holding a stretcher.
While they were examining Iris, James came over and stood with Kim. “Is she going to be okay?” She thought it was interesting that he deferred to her as an expert and also that clearly he was more worried about his sister than his prospective nieces or nephews. She said, “I don’t know. She’s bleeding, which is not good. It’s pretty early for those twins to survive outside of the womb. But miracles happen every day.”
He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “Thank God you were here and reacted so fast. Thank you.”
Even though she understood he had only grasped her hand in a moment of stress, she still liked the safe, warm feel of his hand wrapped around hers. She allowed herself a moment to enjoy that warmth and then eased her hand away. “All I did was call 911.”
He shook his head. “You kept her warm, you tried to keep her hydrated and you kept her company. I see a lot of emergencies, and those things matter.”
They stood together as the paramedics stabilized their patient.
As they lifted the stretcher and James pulled the door open for them, Geoff came running toward them, looking frantic. “That’s my wife! What’s going on?”
Even as James stepped forward, one of the paramedics spoke. “She’s stable, sir. But there’s some hemorrhaging. We’re taking her to the hospital.”
Geoff reached out to touch Iris’s shoulder. “I’m here, Babe.”
“Oh, Geoff, it’s too early. I’m so scared.”
“I’m here,” he said. “We’ll get through this.”
As they loaded Iris into the back of the ambulance, the same paramedic looked back at James and Kim. “We can only take the husband.”
James nodded. “We’ll follow in my truck.” He didn’t even suggest that Kim stay behind or get dropped off at her place. He assumed she’d want to be with Iris, shared his worry with her as though she were part of the family. Or at least a friend. And he was right.
She grabbed her bag and jacket and Iris’ things, locked the door and jogged along with him to his truck.
As they drove to the hospital, he said, “Iris is one of the most amazing people I know.”
“Yes.”
“She really cares about people, and she listens when anyone has a problem.”
She knew he was processing his worry in his own way so she let him tell her how great Iris was, agreeing with everything. “She does.”
“She’s going to be okay isn’t she?”
Once more, she refused to make promises she couldn’t keep. She said, “She’s going to the best place.”
“Thank God you were there,” he said again. He turned and his eyes burned into her. “I don’t know what would have happened it you hadn’t been there when she needed you.”