Connections of the Mind (19 page)

“I can’t wait to see Rebecca.”

“What do you think she’s going to say?”

“I told you, she’s not going to be surprised.”

Lester drove slowly down the curving hills. “Seems like we’ve been here forever and yet not long enough.”

“I know. Funny isn’t it? Just a week ago, someone tried to kill Jeremy. Now, Rebecca’s going to school, and we’ve set a date for our wedding.” She reached across the console and took Lester’s hand. “Happy?”

“Very.” Lester took the turn onto Main Street. “What street did she say her apartment was on?”

Allison took the paper with the directions out of her purse. “Vine. 2345 Vine Street. It’s three streets after the traffic light at Carol and Main. There it is.”

Lester waited for traffic and turned left onto Vine Street. “How far down?”

“About six houses. There, the brick building. That’s it.”

Lester parked, and they hurried to meet Rebecca. Allison couldn’t wait to see her friend’s face when they told her the news.

Rebecca met them at the door. “I thought you’d be here earlier.” She looked at her watch. “Kind of late for you isn’t it, Les?”

“We kind of hated to leave. Waited until the last minute to check out,” Allison said.

“So, it’s back to work Monday for you. I don’t mind saying, I don’t envy you.” Rebecca held the door while Allison and Lester entered.

“Gee thanks, why don’t you rub it in a little. How are the classes going?” Allison looked around the small apartment. “Not as nice as the one in Parma, but not bad.”

“Yeah, but it’s only for eleven weeks. I made coffee; anyone want some?”

“I’ll have a cup,” Lester said.

Rebecca poured the coffee, and Allison fidgeted. Why wasn’t Lester saying anything? Why wasn’t he telling Rebecca about their plans?

“So…” Rebecca handed Lester the coffee and looked from one to the other. “What aren’t you two telling me?”

“What makes you think we’re not telling you something?” Lester said.

“Well for one thing, Allison looks like she’s about to bust, and you have that shit-eating grin on your face.”

Allison looked at Lester. If he didn’t say something soon, she
was
going to bust.

“Okay, sit down. We have some news.” Lester motioned to a chair and took Allison’s hand. “Allison has agreed to be my wife. We’re getting married in June.”

Rebecca clapped her hands. “I knew it! I told you you’d be engaged by time you left the cabin.”

“Actually, I agreed to marry him before we went to the cabin,” Allison said. “We finalized our plans while we were there. You will be my maid of honor, won’t you?”

“Of course, I will. This is so exciting. Do your parents know yet? You are going to ask her father’s permission, aren’t you, Lester?”

Lester groaned. “Crap, I forgot about that. No they don’t know. It’s not something you want to tell someone by phone. That’s why we didn’t tell you until now.”

Allison rubbed Lester’s arm. Poor guy, for all the self-confidence he portrayed, he really was insecure. “It’ll be fine. Heck, my dad will probably offer to pay you to marry me. My parents have been bugging me for a couple years to marry and give them grandchildren.”

“Grandchildren! Oh, my gosh, that would make me an aunt. Who would have thought two weeks ago, you’d be getting married, let alone talking about having kids.”

Allison smiled. “Something tells me it’s not far in your distant future, too.”

Rebecca blushed. “We’ll see.”

“Hey, is there something I should know about? Jeremy better ask me for your hand, if I have to ask Allison’s father, then so does he. I mean fair is fair, right?”

“There’s nothing you need to know at this point. He hasn’t popped the question yet. I’m sure you’ll be the first to know if and when he does.”

“I darn well better be. Listen, we have to go. You keep in touch. I still don’t like that you’re staying here.” Lester stood and kissed Rebecca.

“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me. You be careful going home.” Rebecca hugged Lester and turned to Allison and gave her a big kiss. “Congratulations, now we’re really going to be sisters.”

Allison squeezed Rebecca and suppressed a tear. “Yeah, but you’re going to be living so far away.”

“Hey, Les can always get a job here and so can you. Then we’d be close.”

“That’s not going to happen. I’d go crazy living in a small town like this,” Lester said.

“Why? It’s a great place to raise kids.”

“I’m sure it is, but I like the big city. Sorry, kid, much as I love you, no way would I move down here. Guess we’ll have to be satisfied seeing you on holidays and weekends. Unless you can talk Jeremy into moving to the city. They have cops there, too.”

Rebecca laughed and hugged her brother again. “I just don’t see that happening.”

“Okay, on that note, we’re off. I’ll call you when we get home, or Allison will. Be good; do well in school. We love you.” Lester took Allison’s hand, and she noticed a tear in his eye. She gulped back a sob and hurried out the door. She hated goodbyes.

Epilogue

“No!” Jeremy sprang up in bed. Severe pain stabbed his stomach. He doubled over and fell back on the bed. In a few seconds it eased, only to grip him again a few minutes later. He eased himself off the bed, when the pain lessened a second time. What the hell was going on here? Severe cramping gripped him again. He doubled over, clutching his stomach. “Rebecca!” Once the pain subsided, he grabbed the phone and dialed.

She answered on the first ring. “Jeremy, I was just about to call you. I'm in labor.”

Jeremy pulled his pants on one leg as he talked, holding the phone with his shoulder. “But the baby's not due for two more weeks.” He hopped around the room, trying to put his foot in the other pant leg. He fell against the bed, slid to the floor, and dropped the phone. “Damn it!” Hell of a time to be out of town.

“Jeremy, are you there?”

Jeremy grabbed the phone. “I’m here. I’ll be home in an hour. Call Dan to take you to the hospital.” Dan, hell Dan and his mother were still on their honeymoon. “Never mind Dan. Call Sally.”

“I already called her. Jeremy, calm down, I want you home in one piece. I’m sure it’ll be a while yet. Oh...” Jeremy heard the pain in Rebecca’s voice.

He got up and pulled his other pant leg on. “I’m on my way. I love you.” He slammed the phone down, grabbed his car keys and left.

A baby! They were going to have a baby. Him, a father. Jeremy couldn’t help grinning. He put his car in gear and pealed out of the parking lot. Two weeks early, weren’t most babies born late? That’s what his mother said before she and Dan left for their honeymoon.

“Don’t worry,” she had said. “We’ll be back in plenty of time. Most babies are born late, anyway.”

Hell, he should have known better. His baby wasn’t most babies. A sharp pain sliced through his stomach. Damn if this was what labor felt like, he was glad he wasn’t a woman.

“Hang on, Rebecca. I’m coming.” His voice in the quiet car startled him. Like she could hear him. He chuckled, who knew, maybe she could. He got to the highway and accelerated. Part of him was tempted to put on his siren, but he resisted.

His cellphone rang, and he flipped it open. “Hello.”

“Hi, Jeremy, it’s me, Sally. Rebecca asked me to call and let you know she’s at the hospital and doing fine. They’re admitting her and prepping her now.”

“Thanks, Sally. I appreciate it.” Jeremy let out the breath he had been holding. At least Rebecca was in good hands.

“Oh, and Jeremy, Rebecca said take your time and be careful. She’d like you to arrive in one piece.”

Jeremy laughed. Just like Rebecca to worry about him. “No problem, Sally. I’ll take it easy.”

“I’ll call you back when they let me in to see her, and she can talk to you herself. Okay?”

“Great. Thanks, Sally.” Jeremy flipped his phone closed and concentrated on his driving.

An hour later, he pulled into the hospital parking lot. When he hung up with Rebecca five minutes ago, she assured him it would be a while. He slammed the car door and pain sliced through his abdomen. He took a deep breath, let it out slow, and waited for it to subside. Funny, as long as Rebecca was on the phone, he didn’t feel the pains. He started to run, and another pain tore through him. Damn it, they were coming too quick. One right on top of another. He could barely walk, but he forced himself. He had to get to Rebecca; the baby was coming.

Taking another deep breath, he raced into the hospital and to the labor room. God, he hoped he wasn’t too late
.
He wanted to be there when their baby came into the world.

He pushed through the doors. “Bonnie, where’s Rebecca?”

“Quick, they just wheeled her into delivery.” Bonnie grabbed a gown and paper slippers from the bin and handed them to him. “Put these on and follow me.”

Jeremy pulled the slippers over his shoes and shoved his arms into the gown. Bonnie slapped a paper hat on his head and pushed a button to open the delivery room doors.

Jeremy hurried to Rebecca’s side. “I’m here, Becca.” He moved a strand of hair from her forehead and leaned down to kiss her.”

“I knew you would be. Ohhhh...” Rebecca groaned.

“Push, Rebecca, push,” the doctor said.

Within a couple of minutes, the doctor held up the baby. “It’s a boy.”

A boy. He had a son.

Rebecca gripped his hand. “We have a son.”

The doctor laid the baby on her chest. “He’s beautiful, Jeremy. He looks just like you.”

Jeremy brushed a tear from Rebecca’s cheek. He stared at his son in awe. What a miracle. This tiny baby, this little person was going to be totally dependent on him and Rebecca. He only hoped he’d be half as good a father as his own.

A nurse came and took the baby. “We’ll get him cleaned up now,” she said. “We’ll bring him back once you’re settled in your room.”

Rebecca held Jeremy’s hand to her lips and brushed a kiss across it. “Go call your mother.” Her eyelids fluttered, and before he had a chance to say anything, she had fallen asleep.

Jeremy left the delivery room and punched in his mother’s number before he even reached the outside. She answered on the first ring.

“Hi, Mom, just wanted to let you know Michael Daniel Marlin has entered the world. He weighed in at seven pounds twelve ounces and is twenty inches long. He has a head full of dark hair. Rebecca and Michael are doing fine.”

About the Author

Roseanne Dowell is an avid reader and writes various types of romance - paranormal, contemporary, and mystery. Her first book, Stranger on the Shore, released with MuseItUp Publishing in March. She also has 40 articles and short stories published in magazines such as Good Old Days, Nostalgia, and Ohio Writer and several online publications. Besides teaching writing courses for Long Story School of Writing www.lsswritingschool.com , she also taught two writing courses for the Encore Program at Cuyahoga Community College.

Roseanne lives in Northeast Ohio and where she enjoys life as a wife, mother of six, grandmother of fourteen and great grandmother of one.  Besides writing, Roseanne enjoys embroidery and quilting, especially combining the two.

Also by Roseanne Dowell at MuseItUp Publishing:

A Second Chance

Double the Trouble

May I Have This Dance

Stranger on the Shore

Dedication

This book is dedicated to everyone I love.

Acknowledgements

A special thank you to: Vanessa Johnson for allowing me to use her name as a character. Vanessa won a contest for a cameo spot.

Also Available at MuseItUp Publishing

Obsession

A Romantic Suspense Novel by Sally Royer-Derr

eBook ISBN: 978-1-927085-05-9

After her husband’s tragic accident, Joanna Dresden seeks to rebuild her life. She finds love again in the arms of a much younger man. But when evidence is presented that her husband’s death wasn’t an accident, but rather a calculated murder by a man willing to do anything to be with her, life takes an unexpected turn...

Connections of the Mind © 2011 by Roseanne Dowell

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.