wasn’t exactly something that was covered in his deputy’s manual. He was fairly certain that as far as his duties went, this was all brand-new ground he was crossing.
Slipping the metal tongue into the seat belt receptacle, he secured it. When he looked to make sure it would hold, that was when he became aware of the blood. There was a great deal more of it than there had been just a few minutes ago when Devon was struggling to push out her daughter.
Adrenaline spiked all through his veins. This was serious. Really serious.
He had to get this woman a doctor and fast or the baby in his arms was going to be an orphan before the sun set.
It took him a split second to make another decision. Running around to the rear of the truck, still holding the baby, Cody untied his horse. If he drove into town at a normal pace, the horse could easily keep up. But this was now a race for time. He intended to go as fast as he could. If still attached, the horse would be dragged in the truck’s wake.
He spared the stallion one look and shouted a command. “Follow the truck, Flint. Follow the truck! Town, Flint. Town.”
Telling his stallion the destination—a command he’d given often enough, except then it had been from the vantage point of a saddle astride the horse’s back—he raced around to the driver’s side and got in.
He didn’t expect Flint to keep up, but, with luck, the horse would follow and reach town sometime after he did. If the horse didn’t reach town by the time Cody would be able to look around for him, at least he knew that Flint wouldn’t just run off aimlessly. Cody had spent long hours training the stallion. He was completely confident that, since the terrain was familiar to both of them, the horse would eventually find its way to Forever.
Climbing into the cab, still holding on to the baby who was now whimpering, Cody awkwardly buckled himself in. A quick check told him that, mercifully, Devon had left the keys in the ignition.
He started the truck, stepped on the gas and they were off.
Driving with one hand while holding the baby against him with his free arm proved to be tricky and definitely not something Cody had ever even remotely prepared for. But he didn’t have the luxury of doubting that he was up to it or of looking around for an alternative method. There was no time for any of that. A woman’s life—Layla’s mother’s life—depended on him being able to handle both the emergency and the baby.
Cody felt like he was running out of time.
He spared Devon an apprehensive glance. She was still unconscious, but he did see her chest rising and falling. At least she was still breathing.
“You hang in there, you hear me?” he ordered Devon. How could he have missed that she was still bleeding? How could he not have seen all that blood soaking through her dress? he upbraided himself. “I’ve never lost a mother after she gave birth to her calf and I sure as hell don’t intend to start with you.”
Cody stepped down harder on the gas. He could see Flint trying to keep up in the rearview mirror, but the stallion was falling behind.
“I’ve got a feeling that you’re all this little girl has, so don’t even think of checking out. You’re going to live, you understand? You’re going to live! We’re almost there,” he told her, saying anything and everything that came into his head.
If he stopped talking, he was sure he was going to lose Devon.
“The town’s just over that hill. It’s not all that much to look at, but Forever’s got really good people. People who take you in and look out for you. They don’t care what your story is—although Miss Joan’ll ask. Miss Joan, that’s the woman who runs the diner. She’s like a mother to all of us. Acts all grumpy, but she’s got a heart as big as the state. She’ll make sure you’re warm and fed—she did with the four of us after our dad died. Did it so that it didn’t seem like charity because Connor, he wouldn’t have accepted any charity. Ever,” Cody said. “He’s way too proud. But Miss Joan, she always found a way to get around that. She’ll just melt when she sees this baby of yours, even if she tries not to show it. And she’ll give you advice you’ll think you don’t need—but you will.”
The road ahead was wide open and empty. One hand clutching the steering wheel, he allowed himself to look in Devon’s direction.
She was still unconscious. Her head was moving ever so slightly because of the vibrations caused by the increased speed.
Fear clawed at him. Fear that he wasn’t going to make it to the clinic in time.
“You’re not going to die, you hear me?” he told her. “I’ve never filled out a death report because of someone dying on my watch and I’m not going to start now. They’re too long. They’ve got to be at least nine, ten pages long. You can’t put me through that after I helped to deliver your baby, you hear me?”
Pushing down on the accelerator as hard as he could, he saw the outskirts of Forever rushing closer to him. It was just up ahead, within reach.
And then he breeched the city limits.
Keeping an eye out for any pedestrians and other cars, both of which were scarce, Cody tore straight through the center of Forever. The next moment, he was passing the town square, where the annual Christmas tree was always displayed.
Veering to the right and then to left, he didn’t slow down until he reached his destination.
He practically put his foot through the floor as he pushed down on the brake as hard as he could.
The tires screeched in high-pitched protest as they came to a halt inches away from the front of the clinic.
As usual, the waiting room of Forever’s lone medical clinic was very close to filled. It was the only available medical facility for fifty miles and the people of Forever were grateful for that. It wasn’t all that long ago that the clinic had stood empty, its last physician having moved away thirty years ago. There was something comforting about having someone to turn to because they felt ill, or just because a husband or wife had nagged them into availing themselves of an annual—or bi-annual—exam.
Startled by the combined, unnerving sound of screeching tires and squealing brakes, everyone in the clinic’s waiting room turned in unison toward the noise. As a rule, Forever was thought of by its residents as a sleepy little town that no one outside of the area ever really noticed and where nothing of consequence ever happened.
That meant that no one, either out of boredom or a sense of competitiveness, engaged in car races or harrowing displays of one-upmanship.
So when the teeth-jarring noise pierced the morning air, every patient within the waiting room, as well as the one nurse manning the desk, Debi White Eagle, instantly glanced in the direction of the bay window. The window looked out toward the front of the clinic.
“What the hell was that?”
Rancher Steven Hollis jumped to his feet, verbalizing what everyone else in the room was thinking.
The question didn’t go unanswered for more than a couple of quick beats. Almost immediately thereafter, the roomful of patients witnessed what all
