«I’m so glad you’re here, Jessi.»

«So am I.»

It was only partially a lie. For Willow’s sake, Jessica was glad to be present. No woman should have to face the dangers of childbirth alone.

Yet Jessica had hoped never again to go through the agony, terror, and wrenching futility of childbed again.

«Did you eat breakfast?» Jessica asked.

«No. I had no appetite.»

«Good. Your body has more important things to do than deal with biscuits and bacon,» Jessica said briskly. «Where do you keep clean linens for the bed?»

«In the chest at the foot of — oh!»

«What is it?»

No sooner had Jessica asked when she saw the unmistakable marks of wetness spread down Willow’s skirt.

«Your water has broken.»

«Yes, that’s it, of course.» Willow smiled tremulously. «Silly of me to be frightened. I forgot that would happen. What a goose I am.»

Jessica hugged Willow and stroked her golden hair as though she were a child.

«You’re not a goose. ‘Tisonly natural to be a bit worried, especially with your first.»

For a moment, Willow clung to the smaller woman, then she stepped back and straightened her spine.

«It’s probably just as well Caleb isn’t here,» Willow said. «He’s so worried that I’ll suffer the same fate his sister did.»

Jessica remembered the night Caleb had carried his sleeping wife from the living room. His face had been as hard as stone, yet the emotion in his eyes had made Jessica’s heart turn over.

She is my life.

Jessica had wondered then what it would be like to hold a man’s love so deeply. She would have moved heaven and earth and taken on Hell in order to have Wolfe look at her with such emotion.

Yet Jessica knew it wouldn’t happen.

We’re all wrong for each of her.

Wolfe was half right, but only half. He was the right man for her.

She just wasn’t the right woman for him.

With an effort, Jessica put her own turmoil aside. Taking Willow’s hand, she led her to the bedroom.

«I’ve been meaning to have Wolfe talk with Caleb about this,» Jessica said, «but I never found the proper moment. It’s been discovered that childbed fever can be prevented if the doctor washes his hands with soap and hot water between patients.»

«Truly? Why would that make a difference?»

«I don’t know. Yet washing is a simple enough thing to do. And while I’m at it, I’ll see that the bed linens are clean, that your gown is clean, and that the rest of you is clean for good measure.»

Willow smiled slightly. «If it works on hands, why not on other things, is that it?»

«Exactly,» Jessica said. «Here, let me help you out of your clothes.»

«I can manage.»

«I can manage better.» Jessica smiled at Willow and began unfastening her skirt. «There’s no room for modesty at a birthing. What will happen, does, willynilly, without so much as a by your leave. And by the time it does happen, neither one of us will have a thought in our minds but getting the job done.»

Willow let out a long breath. «You’re always surprising me.»

«You mean I’m slightly less useless than Wolfe would have you believe?»

«What nonsense. I could have shaken Wolfe by his ears for his bad temper. You can no more help the circumstances of your birth than he can.»

Jessica smiled rather grimly and said nothing.

«What surprised me,» Willow said, «was that you knew nothing about, er, the physical side of marriage, so I assumed you were reticent about physical things and probably horribly embarrassed by them as well. But you’re quite practical about births, aren’t you?»

«I spent my first nine years on a country estate. Dogs, sheep, cats, horses, pigs, cows, rabbits, the whole lot. They all conceived and gave birth with the regularity of the sun rising.»

«Particularly the rabbits?» Willow suggested with a slight smile.

Jessica laughed. «Those blessed bunnies were the only crop that never failed, rain or shine.»

«I’m glad you’re not a city aristocrat,» Willow admitted. «I’ve never attended a birth, but I believe I’ll need you, if only to be reassured that someone is here to care for the baby if I’m too tired at first.»

Jessica’s determined smile almost slipped. She had never had the luck to deal with a live birth, but that wasn’t something Jessica was going to mention. At the moment, keeping Willow’s spirits up was all that mattered. Talking of difficult births and dead babies was the last thing she needed.

«Now, lean on me while you step out of your skirt and petticoat,» Jessica said.

Working quickly but without the appearance of haste, Jessica got Willow washed and dressed in a clean gown. The bed was prepared by stripping off the old linens, putting a tarpaulin over the mattress, and then putting on clean linens. By the time Willow crawled awkwardly into bed, another contraction had come. It, too, wrapped fully around her body.

There was no doubt that the labor was real.

«I’ll be right back,» Jessica said as she tucked the covers beneath Willow’s chin. «If you hear the rifle, don’t worry. I’m calling in the men.»

«No. I’m fine. I don’t need them.»

«Willow, what do you think Caleb would do to the person who kept him from you when you were in need?»

Tears brightened Willow’s eyes. «But the mares need him more than I do.»

«Wolfe will help the mares. He loves horses as he loves nothing else on earth.»

«Except you.»

Jessica smiled sadly. «Tree That Stands Alone doesn’t love me. He cares for me, that’s all, and it’s more than I deserve.»

«Nonsense,» Willow said.

«No. Simple truth. Everything Wolfe said about me last night was true. I forced this marriage against Wolfe’s wishes. He wanted a Western wife like you. He got an aristocrat who didn’t even know how to comb her own hair.»

Jessica smiled at the look of shock on Willow’s face. «’Tistrue, I’m afraid,» Jessica said. «The hairbrush was as foreign in my hand as a gold coin in a beggar’s grasp.»

«Dear Lord,» Willow whispered.

«But I’m learning, thanks in large part to you.» Jessica smoothed her hand over Willow’s hair. «Rest. You’ll need your strength to bring Caleb’s baby into the world.»

Willow turned and looked out the window. Nothing showed but trees bent and writhing in the wind.

«They won’t be able to hear the rifle,» she said calmly. «They’re upwind of us.»

Silently, Jessica agreed, but she went to the porch anyway. The wind sucked the door handle from her grasp and sent the door slamming back upon the wall. The air was icy. Shivering, she raised the carbine that had been a present for a wedding that should never have taken place. The gold and silver inlay smoldered in the subdued light of the storm.

She fired three spaced shots, waited, then fired three more spaced shots. Shivering violently, she lowered the carbine and retreated to the house’s shelter. After a brief struggle, she managed to shut the door once again, closing out the icy wind.

For a long moment Jessica stood alone in the living room, gathering herself for what was to come. Then she went to work.

Ignoring her trembling hands, she scrubbed her sharp darning scissors, wrapped them in a clean towel, and set them on top of the pristine receiving blankets Willow had prepared with such love. The thought of wrapping up one more tiny corpse sent a wave of sick despair through Jessica. She had seen the baby clothes and carefully made cradle. She had seen Caleb’s love and Willow’s pleasure when he held his hand on her womb and felt their baby move.

Please God, let this baby be born alive.

The wind battered the house, sending a chill through Jessica. Quickly she gathered a book and a chair and went back to Willow.

«It seemed to help Mother if I read to her,» Jessica said with a calm that was wholly false. «If that doesn’t appeal, I’ll just sit quietly until you need me.»

«Please,» Willow said quickly, her voice strained, «read.»

«Try not to hold your breath when the pain comes,» Jessica said gently. «It only makes it worse.» Jessica beganreadingAMidsummer Night’s Dream.

Time went quickly, marked off by contractions that became closer together and harder, until only a handful of minutes came between. The demands of birth took Willow’s body, made it rigid, and dragged low sounds from her.

«Try not to fight it,» Jessica said quietly. «Birth is stronger than any of us. We can’t conquer it. We can only share it with the babe.»

Very slowly, Willow relaxed despite the continued grip of pain.

«Here,» Jessica said, taking a piece of leather strap from her pocket. «Put this between your teeth.»

Neither woman heard the front door open. Nor did they hear Caleb’s voice calling for Willow. Jessica’s first realization of Caleb’s presence came when a pair of riding gloves hit the floor at her feet and a large masculine hand reached past her to Willow.

«No!» Jessica said fiercely, blocking the hand with her body. «Wash yourself first. Nothing dirty must touch her or the child or you’ll risk fever.»

Caleb grabbed the fallen gloves and left the room in a rush. When he reappeared he was dripping water, smelling of soap and wearing nothing but a pair of clean breeches. He dressed quickly.

Willow let out a low sound as the contraction peaked. When her eyes opened, she saw Caleb fastening his pants. Almost guiltily, she let go of Jessica’s hand, spat out the strip of leather, and concealed it beneath the covers.

She wasn’t quick enough. Few people were when it came to hiding things from Caleb’s golden eyes.