Righteous Lies (Book 1: Dancing Moon Ranch Series) (20 page)

"Sorry to
cut this short," Maureen said to Grace, "but we need to leave right
now for your doctor's appointment."

The last thing
left to do before flying off later that afternoon. Pick up the certificate from
the doctor, clearing her for flying. He'd already checked her earlier in the
week and given his approval, but only with the stipulation that he could check
her vital signs the day of the flight, at which time he'd turn the certificate
over to her.

The days leading
up to the marriage had been impossibly busy. Besides taking time off to apply
for the license, Jack had a plethora of ranch work to take care of before
leaving, so Maureen helped Grace with the hospital arrangements by going online
to the Hackensack University Medical Center and downloading the forms for
pre-admission, along with forms from the laboratory that would process the cord
blood, and which would allow the obstetrician at the hospital to collect the
baby's cord blood at birth, along with Grace's blood, for the tests required by
law before transplantation. Because Susan was already registered, the hospital,
on learning about the mix-up at the fertility clinic, were accommodating in
making the changes to include Grace. So after completing the forms, a return
fax assured Grace that preparations would be in place for her arrival, and Jack
took care of the financial end. At the time they were filling out forms, it
seemed odd seeing the name, Grace Jean Hansen on the forms, but Maureen filled
them out in anticipation of the marriage going through...
 

On leaving the
doctor's office, Grace tried not to dwell on her fear of flying. She was a
logical woman. And there were statistics. And Jack would be there, which didn't
keep the plane in the air, but possibly would keep her from shaking and
sweating and hyperventilating, and going weak all over and passing out from
fright when the thing lifted off the ground.

It wasn't as though
she'd never flown. She had. But on their return trip from Italy with her
parents, they'd crossed the Atlantic in a storm, and the jet started shaking
and rattling and suddenly descending thousands of feet. Through it all, the
wings had been flapping like a bird’s. Then there was the seat belt light that
kept flashing on, and the captain's voice announcing they were experiencing a
little turbulence, nothing to be concerned about. And
that
was when she really got alarmed. Of course he'd say that. Why
send passengers into a panic when they could splash down into the Atlantic in
blissful ignorance...

"You ready
to go?" Jack asked, from his stance in the doorway to Grace's bedroom. She
looked up. She'd never seen him dressed for travel. Still all cowboy, but
instead of worn jeans and an equally worn shirt and scuffed western boots, he
wore dark brown western-cut slacks, a tan shirt with pearl snaps, and dress
boots that looked like they were rarely worn because they had a slight sheen to
them. It didn't surprise her that Jack wore no tie, even though she'd seen a
collection of braided leather bolas with varied clasps in his closet. No doubt
gifts over the years. Jack was not a silver-clasp-bola kind of guy.

"I guess
I'm as ready as I'll ever be," Grace said. "I just wish they made a
runway that would stretch from Portland to New York. But at least the flight's
non-stop and we'll be flying at night, so I won't have to look down and see how
far away the ground is."

Jack walked
over to her and straightened the collar of her maternity top, which seemed a
husband-like thing to do, and said, "Stop worrying, honey. The weather's
fine all the way across the country. How do you feel?"

"Fine,"
Grace said, although she wasn't absolutely sure the tightening in her belly was
from worry about the flight, or because Jack was standing in front of her with
his hands on her shoulders and looking at her. He kissed her on the forehead
then, and her belly tightened again...

So it was
Jack's nearness that made her belly do funny things...

"Has she
left?" Grace had definitely not intended to ask Jack about Lauren. Nor did
she want to know the details.

"Honey,
Lauren's my ex-wife. She killed my son. She means nothing to me."

"She was
at the hot springs pool with you." Definitely not something she intended
to bring up now. She had enough flutters and other feelings in her stomach without
adding anxiety over what went on in the natural hot tub with Jack and Lauren.

"She took
the horse she used to ride and tracked me there," Jack said

"Were you
in the pool when she found you?" Grace asked.

"Yes."

"Were you
naked?"

"Yes."

"Did she
touch you?"

"Yes."

Tears filled
Grace's eyes. "You didn't have to marry me, Jack. I was okay with things
the way we were. But I'm not okay with this. She killed your son. How could you
have sex with her? I would have taken care of you, although I understand that
it would have been a lot better doing it the right way than—"

"Grace, stop!"
Jack said, in a
harsh voice. "Nothing happened. Lauren caught me at a bad time. I was
sitting in the pool thinking about you, about how much I liked... well, holding
your breasts, if you really want to know, and I got hard. When Lauren came in I
got out of the pool and she assumed it was because of her. She put her hands on
my chest, and I shoved them away and got dressed. I told her I planned to marry
you, then got on my horse and started back to the ranch. She followed on her
horse, trying to convince me to take her back, and that was that."

"Then you
told her you were marrying me before you told me," Grace said, as the
realization dawned.

"I was
already thinking about it when I was up on the mountain earlier. Then at the
hot springs pool, I knew getting married was right."

"Because
you were aroused," Grace said.

"No,
because my mind cleared enough while I was sitting in the pool listening to the
sounds, to know what I wanted. Honey, you're my wife now. Don't complicate
things." He grabbed the bags from the bed and headed out to the SUV, where
Maureen was waiting to take them to the airport. Sam and Susan were already in
Portland, since they'd been staying with Susan's parents. The trip to New
Jersey came up so suddenly, they wanted to be close to the hospital where they
could get Ricky's medical records together, and be nearby if he needed another
transfusion. They'd also be flying on different planes since Maureen had been
unable to book them on the same flight, although they'd all be leaving Portland
at the same time.

On the way to
the airport, Maureen and Jack discussed what Greg planned for the lawsuit
against the clinic, but Grace was barely aware of what they were saying, until
Jack reached between the front seats and squeezed her hand, and said, "You
want to eat before we board?"

"No, my
stomach's kind of—" definitely another pain. Not a contraction... exactly.

"Kind of
what?" Jack asked, turning around further.

"Just
nerves," Grace said. She glanced between the seats at the clock on the
dash. A little over eight minutes since the last pain. But she'd been doing a
lot of handwringing over the idea of flying, which was enough to make her stomach
clench...

At the airport,
they met up with the others. Susan hadn't spoken to Grace since the night Grace
told her she'd be having the baby in New Jersey, and she doubted if Susan and
Sam even knew she and Jack were married. Which was confirmed when they were
standing in a circle together before going to their individual gates, and Susan
spotted the wedding rings. "You're married," she said, in a plodding
voice. She looked at Jack for an explanation. It was obvious, her alliance was
with Lauren.

"Yes,"
Jack said. He took Grace's hand. But when Grace looked at him, she didn't see
the face of a man who was overjoyed about being married. She saw the face of a
man who was resigned to it. In time he might grow to love her, but for now she
was his wife, only because she was the mother of his son.

Sam shook
Jack's hand and patted him on the back. "Mom mentioned something about you
planning to marry, but we were so busy with Ricky it didn't sink in. I'm happy
for both of you." Then he said to Grace, "Welcome to the
family," and gave her a sincere hug.

While Jack and
Sam were discussing last minute ranch issues to pass on to their foreman, Susan
said to Grace, "Things have been pretty overwhelming these past few days,
but thank you for doing this. You're giving my son a chance at life."

"He's a
special little boy," Grace replied, finding it difficult to cozy up to
Susan. Ever since hearing the venomous argument between her and Sam, and seeing
Susan in action, knowing she was a manipulative, self-centered shrew, who had
no attachment to the child she was carrying, Grace didn't even want to be
around the woman. And now, Susan was her sister-in-law.

"Yes, he
is special," Susan said. "It's been a rough three years trying to
find a bone marrow match, and when the cord blood transplant idea came up, we
knew we had to do it."

...I'm stuck with this because you talked me
into it...

"It's
funny," Grace said, "I got the impression from Jack it was Sam's
idea."

"Well, Sam
was the one to suggest it," Susan said, "and Jack was willing to help,
even after losing his own son."

"I'm
sorry, Susan, but Jack didn't really lose him, as though the baby died of an
illness. Jack's wife killed him," Grace said, aggravated by Susan's
rationalization.

"I
know," Susan said, "and I'm not trying to excuse Lauren. But she's
been my friend for years, and she's not that kind of person. Everything was
distorted in her mind—" she stopped when Grace grunted and pressed her
hands to her belly. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Just a
little knot in my stomach. I don't like flying." Grace glanced at a clock
on the wall above the check-in counter. Eight minutes since the last one...

A voice came
over the PA announcing their flight.

"We need
to get going," Jack said, breaking away from Sam. "We'll see you in
New York."

On the plane Grace
took the aisle seat so she could go to the bathroom whenever needed, and Jack
sat beside her. Seeing her hands clutching the armrests, he unlatched her
fingers, took her hand in his, and said, "Soon we'll be above the clouds
where it's smooth and you can sleep. We'll be in New York for breakfast."

Grace gave Jack
a nervous smile and said nothing. But in her head, she was repeating to
herself, like a mantra,
a lot of things
could happen but nothing will
...

Breathe in...
and out... in... and out... in... and out...

"Whoa,"
Jack said. "You're not having contractions are you?"

Grace shook her
head while continuing to breathe in and out until the pain passed. "Just
trying to settle my nerves."

"Everything's
going to be okay," Jack said in a confident voice that didn't do squat for
Grace's nerves. "In less than twelve hours we'll be checked into the
Hilton and you'll be able to enjoy a few days in luxury before Adam
comes."

After the
passengers filed on and took their seats, the PA boomed out the pilot’s welcome-aboard
message, the seat-belt light came on, accompanied by the whine of engines, and
the plane taxied to the end of the runway. There it stopped for a few minutes,
then the pitch of the engines' whine grew higher, the plane raced down the
runway, picking up speed, and in an instant, the nose rose and the plane lifted
off, soaring upward into the air at a sharp angle. As it continued to rise, it
vibrated and bucked and quaked. Grace let go of Jack's hand and shoved her arm
into the curve of his elbow and clutched with both hands.

"We'll be
out of this in a minute," Jack assured her, covering her hand with his.
Before long, the plane leveled off and began cruising smoothly and the seat-belt
lights blinked off.

Grace released
the breath she'd been holding...

And another
pain started.

Trying not to
alert Jack, she smiled in a kind of grimace, and said, "This is
better."

"Yeah, you
can close your eyes now. It'll be smooth flying until morning."

Maybe not,
Grace thought as she glanced at her watch. And they still had five hours to go.

...first babies can take hours...

She made her
first run to the bathroom...

On her return,
Jack grabbed two pillows from the rack above and put one under Grace's head,
then arranged his own and shut his eyes. Grace also closed her eyes, even
managed to drift off a little, when suddenly the plane began to shudder and
things started rattling, and it felt like they'd dropped several hundred feet
before leveling off and continuing on a bumpy course. To Grace's alarm, the
fasten seat-belt lights came on, and the flight attendants quickly took their
seats. At once, Grace started shaking, and her heart started racing, and her
muscles felt weak.

"It's
okay, honey," Jack said, taking her hand. "Just a little turbulence."

"It feels
like we're about to drop out of the sky," Grace said, her voice anxious.

"Not a
chance," Jack said. "These things are designed to withstand a whole
lot more than this. Hurricane hunters fly into the eye of hurricanes and stay
there for hours taking readings. This plane's designed to do the same
thing."

Grace said
nothing, distracted momentarily by another contraction, stronger yet, and
holding longer. But not unbearable. Just breath-catching.

The plane
stopped shaking, the seat-belt light went off, and between contractions Grace
made her next run to the bathroom, then returned to her seat and closed her
eyes again...

Much later, hours
in fact, Grace awakened in the semi-darkness of the cabin and saw Jack staring
at her. "What's happening?" he asked, in a worried voice. "You
were moaning."