Page 4 of Christmas Secrets

“I said, I’m going to wait in the truck where it’s warm until the SUV is out of the snowbank. “It’s really cold out here. Then I’ll go on to Inverness if there’s no damage and ye can drive it home.” She blew on her fingertips through the gloves and he knew the insidious cold was creeping into any seam and crack it could find.

“Of course, honey, let’s get ye into the passenger’s side.” He walked her around the truck, opened the door for her, and helped her get settled. Then he grabbed the blanket he kept behind the seat in case he got stuck somewhere and wrapped it around her upper body and legs. “There ye go, snug as a bug in a rug.” He grinned down at her and dropped a kiss on her rosy, upturned lips. Dottie was such a beautiful little thing, his heart and soul. He berated himself mentally for suspecting subterfuge on her part. “Are ye still feeling like driving into town? Do ye want me to take ye in?” he asked, solicitously.

“Nay,” she blurted out. “I mean, I’ll be fine. Ye have work to do and I wasn’t hurt, just shaken up.” She reached up and patted his cheek, then nibbled on his lips. “Ye are so good to offer to take time out of your work, darling, but I can’t let ye do that. Life on a sheep station is demanding and schedules have to be kept fer the livestock. I understand completely, and I’ll be back before ye know it.”

Ben’s heart swelled but he narrowed his eyes at her in a stern gesture. “Be extra careful on the roads, I don’t want ye caught in a snowbank between here and home,” he said firmly. “The truck has new tires and 4-wheel drive, so ye should be alright. But if ye get stranded, ye could freeze out there. Text me when ye get into town, and keep me informed when ye head back.”

“I promise,” she replied.

Ben eyed her carefully, feeling like something was amiss but he couldn’t put a finger on what it was. Her bright smile seemed a bit too bright suddenly, as if she didn’t want him to accompany her into town. That prickly feeling between his shoulder blades didn’t usually lie though. Warning, premonition, whatever you want to call it, he’d had it enough times to know something was off somewhere. Then again, this was his Dottie. She wouldn’t lie to him. Mayhap, she was just up to Christmas secrets.

“Good girl,” he growled, his tense shoulders relaxing. One more peck on her lips and he turned to meet Joe and Bubs arriving with the winch.

Chapter 2

Dottie was undulatingher hips in tune to some smoky-feeling, sexy music when her cell phone buzzed in her pocket. She glanced at Toni, her instructor, with an uneasy look. The one thing the sinuous, dark-haired woman insisted on was no cell phones during her classes. However, since they were old friends and the class was finished at the end of this piece, she slipped out of the line and retreated to a corner just as the closing refrains were playing.

Slipping her cell phone out of her pocket, Poppy’s number clearly lit up the faceplate as the phone buzzed in her fingers.

Lucerne’s baby!

Frantically she punched the button to take the call, praying it was good news and not the other way around. They had all been worried about the birth because Lucerne’s mother had almost died while having Lucerne. Even when you take every precaution, the worst can happen, and Dottie was a worrier.

“Hiya, Poppy,” she rasped into the phone. Is everything alright? Are Lucerne and the baby okay?” Fear crept up her spine, threatening to take her breath away.

“Yes, he is,” Poppy replied eagerly, her step-mother-in-law’s American accent washing over her ears. “He was just born a few minutes ago and they are both splendid. Lucerne is exhausted of course, she’s been in labor since 3:00 this morning, but Darro the third is healthy and came out screaming his displeasure for being booted out of the oven.”

Dottie slumped with relief. “So, it is Darro and not Aisling then? Good to know.”

Darro and Lucerne had names picked out for a boy or girl ahead of time. A son would be named after Darro and his father before him. A girl would be named after Lucerne’s American mother, Rhonda. Aisling was a favorite name of Lucerne’s from Celtic origins meaning dream or vision, so a daughter’s name would be Aisling Rhonda MacCandish.

“Angus, Jamie, Pauley, Ainsley and I will be headed to Neamh after appropriate pictures and such have been taken, but I knew you would be waiting to hear. Angus is calling Ben and we are all spreading the word while Darro growls at the doctors when they don’t look after Lucerne quick enough. And of course, he’s pleased as punch with his healthy son. The little guy was 10 lbs., two ounces, and 22 inches long.

They only allowed two in the room with Lucerne during the delivery, so it was mostly Pauley and Darro. Lucerne is really taken with Pauley as her step-mother and they have bonded well,” Poppy rambled on. “Her father was in and out, but I think he felt it was more appropriate for Lucerne to have another woman in there. She tried for the natural birth and it didn’t work too well. She finally gave in and had an epidural, but she suffered more than I would have, I tell you.”

Dottie nodded her head as she listened to Poppy’s excited chatter about the events of the day. She wouldn’t be going for a natural birth, no way. She watched one of her friends give birth once and that had told her all she needed to know about pain in labor and delivery. No, thank you. Bring on the drugs, she didn’t intend to suffer any more than she had to when the time came.

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