Sandra Steffen – A Bride Until Midnight / Something Unexpected: A Bride Until Midnight (страница 7)
Summer stuck her head inside room four. The hospital bed took up the majority of the narrow cubby; monitors and IV racks competed for space with an efficient-looking midwife.
“Hey,” Summer said, drawing Madeline’s gaze.
From her pillow, Madeline gave Summer a weak smile. “Hey yourself.”
Summer looked at the third woman in the room. In her late thirties, Talya Ireland had exotic gray eyes and five shades of brown hair beauty salons would love to replicate. If there was an ounce of Irish blood in her as her name suggested, it wasn’t readily apparent.
While Talya studied the blood pressure printout and fussed with a switch on the IV, Summer sidled closer to the bed and studied Madeline. The two of them were identical in size, yet today Madeline seemed slight and pale and smaller somehow.
“How are you feeling?” Summer asked.
On a shuddering breath, Madeline said, “Oh, Summer. All these sounds and smells and people scurrying around. I used to work here, but this morning all I could think about was the day Aaron died.”
Summer took Madeline’s hand. Madeline and Aaron Andrews had been childhood sweethearts and inseparable until nearly two years ago when a motorcycle accident cut his life tragically short. Madeline had been with him when he’d taken his last breath in a hospital room similar to this one. It was only natural that the horrors would come back at a time like this.
With a sniffle, Madeline pointed to the thin wall between her room and the room next door, from which came another creak and a muffled moan. “Are they doing what I think they’re doing?” she asked.
Nobody could make Summer smile like Madeline.
“Are you blushing?” Madeline asked.
Smoothing the sheet at her patient’s waist, Talya said, “Summer is such a lady.”
“Take that back.” But Summer knew she was smiling again. Friends made life so rich.
“We’re talking about you,” she said to Madeline. “And you haven’t answered my question.”
“I’m scared and shaken but better, I think.”
Sinking to the edge of the bed, Summer sighed. “You’re really okay?”
Madeline nodded. “Talya wants me to stay off my feet for a few days.”
“At
“And the baby?” Summer asked quietly.
“I’m not far enough along to have an ultrasound, but Talya is guardedly optimistic that my pregnancy is still viable and will continue to be so for a good long time.”
Talya said, “Sometimes spontaneous bleeding occurs early in a pregnancy. It isn’t normal, but it isn’t altogether uncommon, either. It’s possible her placenta has attached a little low in her uterus. If that’s the case, I’ve seen it spontaneously move up a little to a safer holding place. Right now all we can do is wait and see.”
A nurse who used to work with Madeline bustled into the room. “Here’s your lab results,” she said, handing the report to the midwife. “Hi, Madeline.”
Talya read the report. “Your beta levels are elevated. That’s a good sign.”
The moment she grinned, Summer jumped to her feet. “I’ll get Riley.”
“I’ll go,” Talya said. “I like to deliver good news.”
With a swish of the curtain, she was gone, only to pop her head through the folds again. “Those sounds coming from your neighbors? Two twelve-year-old girls texting their grandma in Spokane.” She made a tsk, tsk, tsk sound with her tongue. “I know what’s on your minds.” She pointed her finger at Madeline. “None of that for you until I see you again in my office.” She winked at Summer. “You are under no restrictions.”
An instant later the curtain fluttered back into place. In the ensuing silence, Madeline burst out laughing. It was music to Summer’s ears.
“I’ll call Chelsea and Abby,” Summer said. “We’ll contact the caterers, Reverend Brown and everyone on the guest list.” Since there hadn’t been time to follow normal wedding protocol, most of the invitations went out via email, so it wouldn’t be difficult to send another. “We’ll tell them the wedding is being postponed for a few weeks.”
Madeline was shaking her head. “I want to talk to you about that.”
Summer had known Madeline for more than six years. This stubborn streak had begun to emerge
“What is it?” Summer asked.
“I have a favor to ask.”
“The answer is yes.”
“You haven’t heard the request,” Madeline insisted.
For years Summer had wanted to repay Madeline in some small or profound way for taking her under her wing when she’d first arrived in Orchard Hill. “No matter what it is, I’ll do it.” She studied the mischievous glint in Madeline’s eyes, another quality that had only recently come out of hiding, and posed her next question more haltingly. “What is the favor?”
Madeline crossed her ankles beneath the sheet, fluffed her pillow and tucked one hand under her head. When she was comfortable, she told Summer what she had in mind.
By the time Talya returned with Riley and Kyle in tow, Summer and Madeline had everything worked out and their plan in place. Summer gave her best friend a warm hug, told Riley goodbye and skirted around Kyle, who still had time, if he hurried, to catch his plane.
She smiled to herself as she walked out into the gorgeous May sunshine. Madeline was right. Everything was going to work out just fine.
Harriet Ferris never did anything halfway.
When Summer returned to the inn, the sassy redhead was talking to a man Summer didn’t know. She wore violet today, her slacks, her blouse, her earrings, even the broach on her collar, were a shade of her favorite color. Five feet two in her two-inch purple heels, she rested her elbows on the top of the registration desk and cast Summer a friendly smile. “This is Knox Miller checking in.”
The missing K. Miller was here at last.
“Isn’t Knox the most masculine name you’ve ever heard?”
Harriet didn’t flirt halfway, either.
It didn’t matter that he wore a wedding ring and had a receding hairline and expanding waist. Harriet didn’t discriminate when it came to men.
For his part, Knox was flattered and kind. He explained that he was a day late due to a family emergency, chatted for a few more minutes and accepted Summer’s welcome to The Orchard Inn.
After he left to join the crew hired to begin restoration of the old train depot, Summer filled Harriet in on Madeline’s condition. In return, Harriet relayed the messages that had come in during Summer’s hour-long absence. Mentally she calculated the time it would take to launder the guest towels, dust the hardwood floors, pick a bouquet of lilacs for the dining room table and plan tomorrow’s breakfast. In the back of her mind, she thought about Madeline’s request.
She also wondered if Kyle had managed to catch his flight.
As if thoughts really did manifest into reality, the front door opened and Kyle walked in. Once again she had the distinct impression that nothing escaped his notice. It reminded her that she needed to stay on her toes with him.
“I left the inn ahead of you,” she said. “And yet you arrived at the hospital before I did. How?”
He took his time removing his sunglasses, took his time replying. “I have a genetic predisposition to catch lights green and to bypass construction zones. I guess you could say I always get where I want to go.”
Summer knew there was no logical reason to believe Kyle was referring in any way to sex, but
“Are you trying to get rid of me?” he asked.
“You evade a lot of questions,” Summer said.
“We’re alike that way,” he countered.
Harriet looked up from the computer where she’d been checking out her new profile online and watched the exchange. Still sharp as a tack, she raised pencil-thin eyebrows at Summer as if concurring. Summer definitely needed to stay on her toes with this one.
“I didn’t go to the airport because I decided that meeting my future sister-in-law was more important than catching a plane,” Kyle said. “My brother’s a lucky man. I don’t think Madeline’s midwife likes me, though. What’s her secret?”
He was looking at Summer in waiting expectation, but it was Harriet who said, “Tayla doesn’t like men. That’s not a secret, though. I mean, she dates men on occasion, but she doesn’t wholly trust the lot of you. And for your information, Summer doesn’t reveal our secrets. She’s a saint that way.”
He met Summer’s gaze. “You have a lot of fans.”
“I have a lot of friends.”
“Talya,” he said thoughtfully. “It’s the name of the Greek muse of comedy.”
“You know the Muses?” Summer asked, thinking of the nine sister goddesses in Greek mythology presiding over song, poetry and the arts.
“As a writer, I’m well-acquainted with the muses.” He leaned his elbows on the registration desk, the action bringing his face closer to Summer’s. “How do
“I studied mythology in college.”
“What college?” he asked.
Summer didn’t like answering questions about her past. Luckily Harriet liked to be the center of attention and saved Summer the trouble of trying to reply without revealing anything pertinent.