with dark hair worn long in defiance of his parents. He must have grown a good six inches since she’d seen him last, topping out at six feet, with wide shoulders and muscled arms. His hair was cut short, probably for the sake of convenience. But those eyes hadn’t changed. Deep-set and steady, they looked at her as if he was trying to see into her soul.
She had admired him when they were growing up, and had a major crush on him by the time they were in high school. She’d been crazy about his good looks, his serious gray eyes and the way his thick brows came to a slight peak as if he was gently surprised by life. Whereas the other guys she’d known had been jocks or cowboys, he’d been focused and smart. Apparently, he still was.
But he was also wrong.
“Giving birth is fraught with risks. Risks that are best handled in a qualified medical facility.” His voice was firm, as if he thought that stating his case strongly would have her immediately caving.
Not a chance. “Giving birth is a natural process, which women have been handling very well for quite a while now.”
“That’s true, but why take risks with women’s lives when excellent medical facilities and qualified personnel are available?”
“It’s not a risk and I am qualified personnel. I’ve been a registered nurse for ten years and a midwife for six. I’ve worked in every type of medical situation, every type of neighborhood you can imagine, even some pretty bad ones, which is why I know self-defense moves. Many times, a birthing center is the most affordable option for families, and you may not be aware of this, but Reston County isn’t exactly overflowing with wealthy people who can afford hospital births and care. Our new birthing center is the only option for expectant mothers since we don’t know when the hospital will be reopened, anyway.”
“It will be soon...”
“Besides that, more than ninety percent of this country’s births are in a hospital and we have such high maternal and infant mortality rates in the United States. It’s appalling.”
“I agree, but I can’t believe that dragging home births back from the past is going to improve the situation.”
“Which is exactly why they’re not being dragged back from the past. Nonhospital births are proven safe on a daily basis, both at home and in birthing centers across this country.”
He raised a skeptical brow. “Your birthing center has to have a transfer agreement with a hospital no more than thirty minutes away and a licensed doctor as medical director.”
“I’m working on both of those things with the hospital in Toncaville until you get the Reston County Hospital reopened.” She clapped her hands onto her hips. “And once our hospital is reopened, if you choose not to be the medical director for the birthing center, I’ll respect that and continue with a doctor from Toncaville—no matter how inconvenient that might be.”
He frowned, obviously not liking her tone. “You’ll have to be on duty twenty-four hours a day.”
“I know that.”
“You think one nurse-midwife is going to be enough for the whole of Reston County?”
“Of course not. I’ll be hiring other qualified personnel.”
“Good luck with that.” He jerked a thumb toward town. “I’ve got forty vacancies to fill in order to reopen the hospital.”
“I have my own sources for finding qualified people for the birthing center.”
“Oh? How? Did you send out flyers by Pony Express? Ask any of the locals who’ve ever helped bring a calf into the world to sign up?”
Gemma felt her temper heating up. Her chin, always ready to lead her into trouble, lifted. “I’ve hired people and will continue to hire people who lost their jobs when Reston Community Hospital closed eight years ago. My new employees are excellent, qualified people who live in this town and wanted to continue working here but couldn’t because their livelihood was snatched away. They’ve spent eight years driving to jobs in neighboring towns. They’ve missed their kids’ baseball and football games, school plays, band concerts, and birthday parties because they couldn’t make it home in time.”
Gemma watched emotions chase each other over his face—annoyance, anger and then shame.
Nathan’s eyes were fierce as he said, “And those people could have kept their jobs, continued to work here in Reston, if my father, the hospital administrator, hadn’t bankrupted the place and absconded with the money.”
ONCE AGAIN, HEAT rushed into Gemma’s face, but this time, it wasn’t from anger. She pressed her palms together and cleared her throat. “I wasn’t... I wasn’t going to say that.”
“You didn’t need to,” Nathan said, standing up. “Everyone in town knows it.”
Gemma stared at him in dismay. She hadn’t meant to bring it up. It had to be humiliating for him to return here, face the critics, try to make things right. “I... I’m sorry.”
The tight look on his face told her he wouldn’t welcome any more references to the issue, so Gemma cleared her throat and said, “Nate, good luck with the hospital.” She offered him a tentative smile, which he didn’t return.
Instead, he said, “Thanks. I’ll need it.” He turned toward the door and paused. “And thanks for the bandage.” Nathan left the way he’d come. She walked to the door and watched him jog away into the darkness, his white T-shirt leaving an impression in her vision long after he was out of sight.
Gemma stood for a moment with her shoulders drooping. She had known there would be opposition to the birthing center, but she hadn’t expected to start this battle quite so soon, and certainly not with Nathan. Her heart felt heavy with dismay and disappointment.
As she cleared away the basin and first-aid supplies, Gemma wondered why Nathan was back. Why was he reopening the hospital? The last she’d heard, he had an excellent job at a hospital in Oklahoma City. At least now she knew where he stood regarding the birthing center.
After a few minutes, she went back outside to finish planting her herbs, making sure they were firmly in the ground, each with a small trench around it. She could fill the trenches with water, or they’d catch the abundant rain they’d had so far this spring.
It was nearly midnight by the time she finished so she cleaned her tools, put everything away and went inside for a shower. By sheer force of will, she put Nathan out of her mind and focused on thoughts of the birthing center and the positive impact it would have on the women of Reston County.
* * *
“THIS WILL ONLY take a few minutes,” Lisa Thomas assured Gemma the next morning as she slid behind the wheel of her car and buckled her seat belt. “I can’t wait to see the Sunshine Birthing Center. It’s so great that you named it after your mom.”
“She’s pretty happy about it. I figured I owed her some kind of tribute for letting me bring home all those injured animals when I was little.” Gemma settled into the luxurious seat, so different from the utilitarian one in her elderly Land Rover. One of these days,
