Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 132834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 664(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
I glanced at the weather outside, added things up in my head, and didn’t like the answer.
“Is it just your back?” I probed.
“Yes,” she said, in something close to a snap. Very un-Hope-like.
Abruptly she stopped, looking down at the floor. Liquid dripped between her feet. “Is that—?” she asked in a thin, hesitant voice.
“Yep,” I said, hopping to my feet. Dammit. I liked being right, but not about this.
“I thought it would be a flood,” she said, still staring at the growing puddle between her feet.
“Sometimes it is. And sometimes it drips out, and you think you peed yourself,” I said. “Ask me how I know.” Hope gave me a faint smile.
“Is your bag packed?” I asked.
“It’s in Griffen’s car,” she said.
“Great. He can meet us at the hospital.” I slid my arm around Hope’s waist. Looking at Finn, I said, “Can you drive?”
“On it,” he said immediately. “I think Scarlett is in her workroom. I’ll let her know we’re going and ask her to take point on things here. Meet me in the garage.” Lifting his phone, he added, “I’ll call Griffen.”
“Thanks,” I said, relieved to have all that taken care of. Guiding Hope to the door, I asked, “You okay to get to the elevator?”
I only had my experience with Nicky to go on, but I knew we could be hours away from the baby coming, or it could be a lot sooner than that. We had to get to the hospital.
She nodded. “I’m all wet.”
“I know. It happens. I’ll grab towels from the linen closet upstairs on our way out. The hospital isn’t far.”
I didn’t mention the sleet. The hospital was a quick drive from town, and in normal weather, Heartstone was a short trip from town. But in sleet, all bets were off. Town to the hospital should still be manageable, but the mountain roads between Heartstone and Sawyers Bend were narrow and steep, with sharp drop-offs on the downhill side.
I pushed out of my head all the ways this could go wrong.
Finn was waiting when the elevator doors opened, a stack of towels in his arms. “Scarlett said Tenn is already on his way back with the kids. I’m still trying to reach Griffen.” I took the towels, letting him help Hope to the Jeep. One look at those huge, knobby tires, and I had a flash of relief. Thank god he didn’t drive a sports car.
We got the towels spread out in the back seat, and Hope settled in. I slid in beside her. “I’ll keep trying Griffen,” I said. “Everything is going to be fine. Finn is a great driver, and this is the perfect vehicle to get us to the hospital.” I had no idea if Finn was a great driver, but I realized I had complete confidence that he had it under control.
I squeezed Hope’s hand as we backed out of the garage, Finn making the three-point turn at a glacial pace. The gleam of the asphalt chilled my gut. Ice. Hope curled forward, her arms curving around her rounded belly, her body suddenly tight. Seconds later, she eased, wilting into me.
“Was that a contraction?” she asked, her eyes a little wild and more than a little scared.
“The first?” I asked.
Hope nodded. “I’ve had the little ones, the Braxton Hicks, but not like that.”
“We’ve got time,” I reassured her, pulling up the clock app on my phone and starting the stopwatch. I flipped back to the phone screen and dialed Griffen. Voicemail. I left a message, trying to sound calm, like this was no big deal.
On the inside, I was worried. What were we going to do if the baby decided to come quickly? What if we crashed? What if—
I stopped myself. I couldn’t catastrophize. I could do this. We could do this.
Finn’s eyes briefly met mine in the rearview mirror, concern heavy in his mossy green gaze before he focused back on the slick asphalt. We were still inching down the long, winding drive to the main road, the gates to the estate in the distance.
In my mind, I pictured how far we had to go. We’d been in the car for only five minutes, but the Manor was still in sight. We had to get down the drive to the gates, then down the mountain to town, and then through town and the resulting traffic that always happened when we got weather like this.
We were in the mountains but also in North Carolina, which resulted in a funny crossover of people who had no idea how to drive in the bad weather that we got far more often than our neighbors in the lowlands. Town would be filled with fender benders and traffic. Meanwhile, Hope and Griffen’s baby had clearly decided it was on the way.
I tried Griffen again. I’d already left a voicemail, but I wanted to hear his voice, to make sure he knew it was time to get his ass to the hospital. He was going to lose his mind when he found out Hope was making the trip on dangerously icy roads.