“If you don’t stop letting Hunter O’Banyon kiss you, you’re going to be as big as a barn,” Callie muttered, poking another snickerdoodle into her mouth as she measured the ingredients for a double batch of chocolate-chocolate-chip cookies.
The minute she’d arrived back home from her meeting with Hunter, she’d walked straight into the kitchen, put on her apron and started baking. Five dozen snickerdoodles, a double batch of sugar cookies and a pan of brownies later, she still hadn’t been able to forget how his lips had felt on hers. Warm, firm and deliciously male, his mouth could very easily be classified as a lethal weapon. At least for her.
Spooning chocolate dough onto cookie sheets, she wondered what there was about Hunter that caused her to abandon every ounce of common sense she possessed. All he had to do was touch her and she clung to him like a piece of plastic shrink-wrap on a hot plate.
She slid the pan of cookie dough into the oven and set the timer. Then, sitting down at the table while she waited on the cookies to bake, Callie stared off into space.
It wasn’t uncommon for a woman in her second trimester to find herself feeling more sensual than ever before, but she didn’t think her pregnancy hormones could account for the compelling attraction she experienced with Hunter. With just a look he could make her heart flutter. And when he touched her, she practically melted into a puddle at his feet. She hadn’t had that kind of reaction to Craig, and he was her baby’s father.
Lost in thought, it took her a moment to realize someone was knocking on her door. Hurrying to remove the pan of cookies from the oven, when she walked into the living room and opened the door, she found Hunter squatted down beside the steps. He had replaced the loose board with a new one and was pounding nails into the wood with no more than a couple of whacks with a hammer. She swallowed hard when she noticed how his bicep and the muscles in his forearm flexed with each blow.
“That should last a while,” he said, straightening to his full height. “And it’ll be a lot safer for you.”
When she finally found her voice, she nodded. “Thank you.”
He wiped the sweat from his forehead on the sleeve of his T-shirt. “Is there anything else that needs fixing or that you’d like me to take a look at while I’m here?”
“I can’t think of anything.” She motioned toward the door. “Would you like to come in to cool off and have a glass of iced tea?”
Smiling, he nodded. “That sounds like a winner.” He put the hammer and a small sack of nails in the back of his truck, then climbed the steps to Callie’s cottage. “It’s not as humid here in southwest Texas as it is in Florida, but it’s still hotter than hell.”
Callie laughed as they walked inside the house. “It’s late August. What do you expect?”
“Good point,” he said, grinning.
When they walked into the kitchen, she poured them each a glass of iced tea. “Having lived close to the Gulf all my life, I’m not used to all this dry heat.”
“Thank God for air-conditioning.”
“Amen to that.” She smiled as she placed her hand on her rounded stomach. “I’ve been hotter this summer than I’ve ever been in my life.”
“It’s no wonder you’re hot, with the oven on all the time.” Chuckling, he looked at the plates of cookies and brownies sitting on the counter. “I see you’ve been at it again.”
She smiled wanly. There was no way she was going to tell him that just the thought of him kissing her could send her into a baking frenzy.
He reached for a brownie. “What are you going to do with all this stuff?”
Thinking quickly, she shrugged. “Schools are always having bake sales. I thought I’d donate some of the things I’ve baked for their fund-raisers. And after the baby is born, I doubt that I’ll have a lot of time, so I’ve frozen a lot of what I’ve made.”
“Good idea.” He grinned. “I’m sure Corey will appreciate that.”
“I’m sure he will. He eats constantly but never seems to fill up.” She frowned. “Do all boys eat like they have a bottomless pit for a stomach?”
“Pretty much.” Hunter reached for one of the chocolate-chocolate-chip cookies on the baking sheet she’d removed from the oven earlier. “My mom said that once I hit puberty, I ate everything in sight.”
“I guess that’s something I have to look forward to.” Callie smiled at the fluttering in her stomach. It was as if the baby knew she was talking about him.
“You’re having a boy?”
She nodded. “That’s what the sonogram indicates.”
“When are you due?”
“Around the first of the year.” She turned to spoon cookie dough onto a baking sheet. “Of course, that doesn’t mean he won’t decide to come a couple of weeks early or late.”
“That would be anywhere from a week or so before Christmas to mid-January.”
She wondered why Hunter was taking such an interest in when she’d give birth, until it occurred to her that he would need to find someone to cover her shifts at Life Medevac. “I’m planning on taking maternity leave at Thanksgiving and being back to work no later than mid-February. Mary Lou suggested that I bring the baby to work with me and she could watch him when I go out on a call. Is that all right with you?”
He nodded. “But are you sure it’s a good idea to wait that long to take your leave?” He frowned. “I don’t mean to offend you, but won’t it be difficult climbing in and out of the helicopter when you’re that…far along?”
“No offense taken. I know I’ll be quite large.” She slipped the pan of cookies into the oven, then turned to face him. “If I see that it’s a problem, I’ll…take my leave earlier than…I’d planned.”
He took a step toward her. “Are you all right?”
Laughing, she nodded. “It’s just the baby moving. He seems to be particularly active today.”
“Does it hurt?” He looked and sounded genuinely concerned.
“No. If anything, it tickles.” She lovingly placed her hand on her stomach. “At this stage of pregnancy it’s like having a butterfly flapping its wings inside of me. Later on, I’m told it will feel like I have a prizefighter in there.”
“I’ll bet that does feel weird.” When the timer on the oven went off, he reached for a hot pad. “Why don’t you sit down and put your feet up?”
“I’m fine.”
Hunter pointed to one of the kitchen chairs. “Sit.”
He could tell she wasn’t happy about it, but while she sat down and propped her feet up in one of the other chairs, he removed the cookies from the oven. “Damn! That’s hot!” he cursed when the back of his hand touched the top of the oven.
She was at his side in a flash. “Let me see.”
Reluctantly letting her examine his hand, he tried to ignore how nice her soft palms felt holding his calloused one. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s already starting to form a blister,” she said, reaching for a bottle of some kind of clear lotion.
“What’s that?”
“Aloe vera. It will stop it from hurting and help it heal faster.” She flipped the top of the bottle open, then glanced up at him and grinned. “And don’t worry, it won’t make you smell like a flower.”
As he watched her gently spread the clear gel on the small burn, a warmth began to fill his chest. It had been a long time since he’d had a woman fussing over him. And whether it was wise or not, he liked the feeling more than he cared to admit.
“That should take care of it,” she said, closing the bottle.
Amazed at how much better it felt, he flexed his hand. “That stuff really works. Thanks.”
“Not…a problem.”
She sounded slightly winded, and he figured their close proximity had the same effect on her that it had on him. He was having the devil of a time trying to keep from taking her in his arms and kissing her senseless.
“I think I’d better be going.”
“How much do I owe you for fixing the step?” she asked, reaching for her purse on the table.
“I ate enough cookies and brownies to more than pay for the job.”
He edged toward the door. If he didn’t get out of there soon, he was going to take her in his arms—and that could spell disaster to his good intentions. And he’d have succeeded, too, if she hadn’t touched him.
“Hunter, stop being so darned stubborn.”
Her small hand resting on his forearm sent a wave of heat streaking throughout his entire body. Without a single thought to the consequences or that he’d promised himself he’d be able to keep his hands to himself, he pulled her into his arms.
“Darlin’, friends help each other all the time.” He kissed her forehead. “And they don’t ask for anything in return.”
She stared at him for several long seconds before she shook her head. “I’m not sure that you and I could ever be just friends. And right now I’m not looking for anything more.”
“That makes two of us, Callie.” He brushed her perfect lips with his. “But I think as long as we keep that in mind, we’ll be just fine.” He kissed her soundly, then forced himself to set her away from him and walk to the door. Turning back, he smiled. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow evening, friend.”
“Where’s Corey?” Callie asked when she arrived at work the next evening. “I didn’t see his truck in the parking lot.”
“He called to say he’d be a few minutes late,” Mary Lou answered as she opened the container of brownies Callie had placed on the table by the coffeepot. Removing a double-fudge-and-nut chocolate square, she took a bite and shrugged. “I told him that if we get a call before he reports for his shift, I’d give him a talkin’ to he won’t soon forget.”
Callie frowned. “It’s not like Corey to be late. Did he say what’s up?”
“He said he and his girlfriend were on their way back from talking to her parents up in Odessa. He should be here in about a half hour or so.” Mary Lou lowered her voice and leaned forward. “Can you keep a secret?”
“Of course.”
The older woman grinned. “Corey is going to be a daddy in about seven months.”
“You’re kidding.” Callie laughed. “He’s not much more than a boy himself.”
Mary Lou grinned. “I’ve always said he’s twenty-two going on ten.”
“What’s up?” Hunter asked, walking into the dispatch room.
Callie’s heart came to a skittering halt, then took off double time. If she’d thought he looked good in jeans and a T-shirt, it was nothing compared to the way he looked in his flight suit. The one-piece coverall emphasized the impossible width of his muscular shoulders and narrowness of his trim waist.
“Just some girl talk,” Mary Lou said, winking at Callie.
“Which one of us guys are you dissecting?” Hunter asked, grinning.
His comment had been for both she and Mary Lou, but when his gaze caught Callie’s, she felt warm all the way to her toes. If he wanted to, she had a feeling Hunter O’Banyon could charm a little old lady right out of her garters with that smile of his.
And he thought they could be just friends? She almost laughed. The way he was looking at her, there was a better chance of elephants roosting in trees.
“Don’t worry, big guy.” Mary Lou cackled. “We weren’t taking you to task for anything. This time.”
He arched one dark eyebrow. “This time?”
“We were discussing when Corey would show up,” Callie added.
Hunter’s skeptical expression turned to one of understanding. “Corey had some important personal business to take care of up in Odessa. He’ll be here as soon as he can.”
“You know what’s going on, don’t you?” Callie guessed.
“He came by yesterday evening to ask me and Mike what we thought he should do about the situation,” Hunter said, nodding.
“That little skunk told me I was the only one he’d talked to about it,” Mary Lou said, obviously put out that the confidence wasn’t as big a secret as she’d thought. “Just wait until I—” Mary Lou stopped abruptly when the emergency phone rang.
Callie listened as Mary Lou asked several questions in Spanish. Great. Corey wasn’t back yet and on the Evac II team he’d been the only one fluent in Spanish.
“Come on, Callie. We don’t have time to wait for Corey,” Hunter said, heading for the door. “As it is, we’re going to have to race the stork to the hospital.”
“Is it Juanita Rodriguez again?” Callie asked, thankful that Hunter had obviously understood Mary Lou’s end of the conversation and would be able to interpret for her.
He nodded as they climbed into the helicopter and put on the headsets that would enable them to communicate over the engine noise. “She’s definitely in labor this time. From Mary Lou’s questions, I could tell that Juanita’s water broke and she’s home alone.”
“Where’s her husband Miguel?”
“He’s in El Paso at a National Guard meeting this weekend. We can radio his armory and have him meet us at the hospital.”
While Hunter started the engine, Callie strapped herself into one of the jump seats in the back and listened to Mary Lou’s voice give the coordinates for the Rodriguez ranch to Hunter. They had about a fifteen-minute flight to reach their destination, then another thirty minutes on to El Paso. Mary Lou was going to stay on the phone with Juanita until they got there, and hopefully Baby Rodriguez would wait to make his or her grand entrance into the world until after they made it to the hospital.
When they lifted off, Callie began to mentally run through emergency birthing procedure on the outside chance that she would have to deliver Juanita’s baby, and it took a moment for her to realize Hunter had spoken to her. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
“I asked if you’ve delivered a baby before.” His deep baritone coming through the headset was oddly intimate and sent a shiver straight up her spine.
She gave herself a mental shake. Hearing Hunter’s voice through the headset was no different than when she’d communicated with George or Corey on a flight.
“I’ve delivered a few babies—one of them in the back of a taxicab when the E.R. doctors were busy treating victims from a bus accident.”
“But you don’t speak or understand Spanish?”
She sighed. “No.”
They fell silent, and in what seemed record time, Hunter was setting the helicopter down in a field next to the Rodriguez ranch house.
Removing her headset and unfastening her seat belt, Callie grabbed one of the medical cases containing sterile dressings, latex gloves and other medical supplies and hurriedly slid the side door back. She bent slightly to avoid the rotor blades, then, once she was clear of the helicopter, she jogged the short distance to the house. Fortunately the front door was unlocked, and she walked inside without so much as a second thought.
“¡Por favor ayúdeme!”
Callie followed the frantic cries and found Juanita in one of the bedrooms. Drenched in sweat, the young woman was practically hysterical and instead of working with the contractions she seemed to be fighting them.
“¡El bebé está listo!” Juanita repeated, clutching at Callie’s hands.
“What’s she saying about the baby?” Callie asked Hunter when he appeared in the narrow doorway.
“She said the baby is ready.”
“Tell her that I need to check to see how close she is to having the baby,” Callie said, slipping on a pair of sterile latex gloves.
While Hunter assured Juanita that everything was going to be all right, Callie checked to see how many centimeters the woman had dilated. “The stork is going to win this one,” she said, reaching into the medical case for clamps, a sterile drape and antiseptic. “The baby’s head is crowning.”
As she arranged the medical supplies she would need for the birth of Juanita’s baby, Callie listened to Hunter reassure the woman. She had no idea what he was telling her, but it seemed to calm Juanita as well as send warmth throughout Callie’s body. She’d always thought Spanish was a beautiful language and she didn’t think she’d ever heard a more sexy sound than Hunter’s deep voice flawlessly pronouncing the words.
“Do you have any kind of experience being a breathing coach?” Callie asked as she prepped Juanita for the delivery.
He shook his head. “No. We covered it briefly in EMT training, but that’s it.”
“You’ll do fine.” Using the two-way radio clipped to the epaulet on the shoulder of her jumpsuit, she advised the hospital in El Paso of the situation, then turned her full attention on the task at hand. “Tell Juanita to breathe, then show her how. She’s tensing up instead of relaxing her pelvic floor and allowing the baby to pass through the birth canal.”
“Respira, Juanita. Respira.”
When Hunter showed the young woman what he meant, she trustingly stared into his eyes and began to concentrate on doing as he requested. Once she stopped fighting the pain, she rapidly progressed to the pushing phase of the delivery. Moving into position to lift her shoulders when it came time to push, he continued to reassure her that everything was going to be all right.
“Todo será bien, Juanita.”
“Tell her to stop the shallow breathing and start pushing,” Callie said, showing the woman how to position her hands on her knees for leverage.
Encouraging Juanita to push with all her might, he supported her shoulders, and after only a couple of tries, the baby’s dark head emerged from the young woman’s lower body. Hunter watched Callie quickly and efficiently suction the infant’s nose and mouth before it was time for Juanita to push the rest of her baby out into the world.
With one more mighty push from Juanita, the baby slid out into Callie’s waiting hands. Without being prompted, the baby girl opened her mouth and wailed at the top of her tiny lungs.
“Mí bebé,” Juanita murmured tearfully.
“You have a beautiful daughter, Juanita,” Callie said, placing the baby on her mother’s stomach.
Awed by the miracle he’d just witnessed, the moment was so bittersweet Hunter couldn’t have pushed words past the lump clogging his throat if his life depended on it. Although he was happy for the Rodriguez family and their new addition, he’d never know what it was like to watch his own son or daughter come into the world. After losing Ellen and their unborn child, he never intended to put himself in the position of loving someone and taking the risk of losing them. He’d been down that road before and had barely survived. There was no way in hell he could go through that again.
“Hunter, could you please hold the baby while I get Juanita ready for transport?” Callie asked, breaking into his disturbing thoughts.
The last thing he wanted to do was hold a baby. He knew for certain it would only compound his sense of loss and regret that he’d never hold his own child. But before he could protest, Callie placed the baby in his arms. As he stared down at the red-faced little girl wrapped in a soft white blanket, instead of the sorrow he expected, Hunter couldn’t help but marvel at how small she was, how perfect.
Gently touching her little hand, he was thoroughly amazed when the baby curled her perfectly formed tiny fingers around one of his. “She’s holding on to me.”
“Babies do that,” Callie said, smiling.
He watched Callie and Juanita exchange an indulgent glance. Apparently there was no language barrier when it came to women’s opinions of men. It must be universally accepted that men didn’t have a clue about these things. But that was okay with him. Men didn’t understand women, so he supposed that made the genders pretty equal.
While Callie radioed the hospital to report a successful, complication-free birth, Hunter contemplated how they were going to get Juanita into the helicopter without Corey. He wasn’t about to let Callie lift anything heavier than her nurse’s bag or the baby, and the door and hallway were too narrow to get the stretcher into the bedroom. That left only one alternative.
“Are we ready for transport?” When Callie nodded, he handed her the baby. “You take your nurse’s bag and the baby while I carry Juanita to the chopper.”
“That would probably be best,” Callie said, lifting the nylon bag’s webbed strap to her shoulder. “You’d probably have to carry her to the front door before you could put her on the stretcher anyway.”
Telling Juanita what was taking place, Hunter scooped her slight body into his arms and carried her out to the helicopter. Once he placed her on the stretcher and Callie handed her the baby, Juanita and her new daughter both drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
The flight to El Paso was uneventful, and once they had Juanita and her new daughter safely checked in to the hospital, Callie and Hunter boarded the helicopter and headed back to the Life Medevac base.
“You did a wonderful job of calming Juanita down,” Callie said as she stared through the windshield at the vast blue sky ahead of them. Riding in the front seat next to Hunter on the trip back to Devil’s Fork, she enjoyed the view of the rugged Texas mountains that she missed when riding in the back with a patient.
“It didn’t show that I had no idea what I was doing?” he asked, grinning sheepishly.
Smiling, she shook her head. “Not at all. Juanita is young and had no idea what to expect when her contractions started. Factor in that she was home alone and miles away from help and it was no wonder she was frightened half out of her mind. You were able to put her at ease and that made it a lot easier for her.”
He shrugged. “I just did what I thought would help.” They were both silent for some time before he asked, “Who’s going to be with you when you have your baby?”
It was the last thing she’d expected him to ask. “Are you volunteering for the job?”
“Hell no.”
She laughed at his horrified expression. “But you’re a great labor coach.”
He grunted. “Only because Corey wasn’t there to take over for me. I’m the pilot, remember?”
“You’re also a certified EMT.”
“Only because my grandmother strongly suggested that it would be a good idea since I was taking over an air-ambulance service.” He shrugged. “Besides, whether or not you and the father of your baby are together, I’m sure he’ll want to be there when his son is born. He can be your breathing coach.”
A cold chill ran the length of her spine at the thought of Craig Culbertson being anywhere near her or her child. “I can assure you, he won’t be anywhere around when I give birth.”
“Maybe he’ll change his mind.”
“It’s not an issue.”
Hunter was quiet for a moment, then turned his head to give her a questioning look. “He doesn’t even know he’s fathered a child, does he?” His mouth flattening into a disapproving line, he shook his head. “Forget that I asked. It’s none of my business.”
She hadn’t discussed with anyone—not even her mother—why she’d made the decision not to tell Craig about the baby. But she needed to make Hunter understand, without divulging too many details, why she felt she had no choice but to keep her silence.
“Believe me, it’s for the best.” Placing her hand protectively over her son, she shook her head. “Even if I told him about the baby, he wouldn’t care.”
“Don’t you think you owe him the chance to prove you wrong?”
“No. He’s too selfish and self-centered to care about anyone or anything but himself.”
Hunter stared straight ahead and she could tell he was thinking over what she’d said. “There must have been some substance to the man or you wouldn’t have become involved with him,” he finally said.
Callie sighed heavily. “In the past several months I’ve spent countless hours wondering why I allowed myself to be fooled by his insincerity.”
She could feel Hunter’s intense gaze as surely as if he’d reached out and touched her. “And?”
“I came to the conclusion that he was the consummate charmer who was more interested in the chase than in a meaningful relationship.”
“I know the type,” Hunter said disgustedly. “Let me guess—he asked you out several times and you turned him down. That’s when he pulled out all the stops and did everything in his power to convince you that he was wild about you.”
“That’s exactly what happened. I became a challenge that he was determined to conquer.” She took a deep breath. “And like a fool, I allowed him to wear down my resistance and charm me into believing that we could have a future together.”
When Hunter took her hand in his to give it a gentle squeeze, a warmth like nothing she’d ever known filled her all the way to her soul. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, darlin’. It’s not the first time a woman has been taken in by a player. And it’s sad to say, but it won’t be the last.”
She knew he was right, but that didn’t make her feel any less foolish for allowing it to happen, especially since she was now facing motherhood alone. “Then you understand my reasoning for keeping my pregnancy a secret?”
“Not entirely.” He released her hand, then, remaining silent for several long seconds, he finally added, “Don’t you think you should at least give him the opportunity to redeem himself? I know if I was in his shoes, I’d definitely be angry if I discovered a woman had denied me the right to know my own son.”
Callie knew for certain she couldn’t take the chance of telling Craig. But she wasn’t ready to outline her reasons to Hunter. “He’d only view the baby as an inconvenience, and my child deserves better than that.”
“Do you ever intend to tell your son who his father is?”
“He’ll be better off not knowing.”
“Every kid has a right to know who they are and where they came from,” he said forcefully. His tone left no doubt that he felt very passionately about the subject. “He’ll grow up wondering if every man he passes on the street is the one responsible for his existence.”
“Why do you feel so strongly about this?”
She watched him take a deep breath, then slowly release it. Just when she thought he was going to tell her it was none of her concern, he spoke. “I grew up not knowing anything about my father, and it wasn’t until just recently that I even learned who he was—after he’d been dead for six months.”
“Oh, Hunter, I’m so sorry.” She began to understand why he felt it was so important that she inform Craig about the baby. “Your mother didn’t tell him about you?”
“He knew.” There was an edge to his voice. “He just chose to ignore the fact that he’d fathered three sons with three different women.” Hunter gave her a meaningful glance. “But the point is, they gave him the opportunity to know about us. He was the one who made the decision to stay out of our lives.”
“But she didn’t tell you,” Callie guessed.
He shook his head. “She had her reasons and she knew that one day I would learn who he was. But that didn’t make it any easier on me when I was growing up or stop me from resenting the fact that I wasn’t given the choice to know anything about the man.”
She could understand why Hunter felt the way he did, but her circumstances were different. If she told Craig about the baby, there was a good chance that he and his parents would try to separate her and her son the way they’d done that poor girl and her baby twelve years ago. And that was a chance Callie wasn’t willing to take.
“I will tell my son about his father when I feel he’s ready,” she said carefully. “But until that time we’ll be just fine on our own.”