“Wow. Alright, I think I need to take a breath.” He walks toward the couch, clutching his open palm to his chest. “I will not survive the same. I don’t think so.”
“Typical men.” Leila snorts, and I glance between them. Is she pregnant too? Because Archie looks positively terrified now, and it’s becoming worse and worse by the minute.
“Dare I remind you that you just hid outside?” Kenneth chimes in, getting a nasty look from his sister.
I laugh and walk toward the place where the magic of a new life just happened. I take one of the few clean towels that are left and start cleaning the floor. Because birthing anyone is a messy business.
“No, no, no.” Archie jumps from the couch and rushes toward me. “You deserve a rest now. You’re the star of the evening.” He helps me up to my feet by my arm.
“Freya is the star,” I correct him with a smirk.
“Alright, you’re the second star.” He turns toward Sheriff. “Ken, take her home and rub her feet. She deserves it.”
“She does,” he replies with affection and brings his hand around my shoulders. “Let’s go home.”
“Let’s go,” I reply tiredly and add mentally just to myself—wherever that is.
ChapterThirty-One
KENNETH
I drive us to my house because there is no way she’s staying alone tonight.
Neither am I. Witnessing my baby niece being born and seeing Josie welcoming her into this world did something to my heart, and now it aches.
Josie ditched the bloody shirt back at the cabin, and now she’s sitting in that dress with her hands hidden under her thighs. Her gaze is trained ahead, but I don’t think she’s focused on anything. I put my palm up on her thigh, silently asking for her hand. She releases her hand and places it into mine. I give it a gentle squeeze.
“I’m so proud of you, Josie.” My voice doesn’t waiver.
“Yeah?” She turns her sad eyes to me. “How is that? You barely know me.”
A ping in my chest. “You’re wrong. I might not know a lot about you, but I know you. I. Know. You.”
I feel her stare on the side of my face before she relaxes her hand in mine and leans back on the chair.
“Don’t ever doubt that for a second, Josie. You did something amazing today, and I don’t think anyone could ever forget that.”
“I was so scared,” she whispers after a pause. “I didn’t know what to do, I’m not a damn doctor.” I hold her hand, letting her talk her heart out. “I delivered foals, Kenneth. And sheep.”
“I mean, we’re all mammals.” I try easing her mind which earns me a stare.
“It’s not the same, Ken.”
“But you said yourself it was,” I remind her.
“Because you both were losing your shit, and the ambulance wasn’t coming. What did you expect me to do?”
“To fall apart along with us.” I give her a lopsided smile. “That’s what everyone would do.”
“Nah, Freya didn’t. You know why? Because she didn’t have anyone growing up. I couldn’t do that to her and leave her with you guys,” she sends me a funny look, “who faint at the sight of blood.”
That makes me pause. “Did you grow up alone too?”
“No,” she sighs, dropping her head back to the seat. “I have a big family, but they are very… shall I say one-minded. They wanted me to stay on the farm, marry a local guy, and spend my life barefoot in the kitchen with a belly forever swollen with child. Nothing’s wrong with that life, but it’s just not for me.”
I clamp my jaw tight the moment I imagine her in someone’s kitchen with someone’s child. Being happy with another man.
And I don’t like it. I don’t like the burning it causes in my chest or the mayhem it creates in my mind.
