Page 126 of Billionaire Lumberjack's Bargain

I pop my head into the bedroom quickly. “Water’s ready.”

Davey sits on the bed next to his mom, holding his hand over her stomach and giggling, apparently as the baby moves.

Camille smiles at him, thankfully in between contractions at the moment.

“I’m going to go make a few radio calls. I’ll be back.”

Her eyes meet mine. “Don’t take too long. I don’t think the baby’s going to wait.”

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

I’m disgustingly clueless when it comes to human birth, but the confidence in the way she says it assures me that’s the nurse in her talking.

All I can do is trust that and her.

* * *

CAMILLE

Leaning back in the tub, submerged in the warm water Dalton has kept at the perfect temperature for hours as my labor progresses, I watch him pace the small bathroom.

His bare feet barely make any noise as he moves, but the occasional worried sighs that slip from his lips speak volumes—even if he’s barely saying a word.

Laser-focused green eyes continuously rake over me, searching for signs of distress, then drift to the window that looks out over the burned barn. He stares at it for far too long, undoubtedly reliving the fiery nightmare he barely survived and the fact that we almost lost Davey.

He tears his gaze away with a huff and instead inspects the items laid out on the counter that we’ll need when the baby comes.

“Pops was right…”

Dalton looks over at me, pinching his bottom lip between his thumb and forefinger anxiously as his feet move almost absently across the worn floorboards. “About what?”

“That your pacing is making me nervous.”

He freezes instantly and winces. “Shit.”

Shoulders slumping, he moves over to the tub and lowers himself onto his knees next to it, exactly where I sat beside him in this exact position not so long ago.

So much has happened so quickly. It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that I didn’t even know Dalton James when I got pregnant with this baby he already cares about so much.

His hand slides over mine, the callouses so rough against my skin, despite the tenderness of the touch. “The last thing I want to do is make you nervous right now.”

I grin at him through the current discomfort and the intense pain I know is coming with the next contraction.

They’ve becomestrong.

And given how dilated I was the last time I had Dalton check…this baby isn’t waiting much longer.

He searches my face, a mixture of awe and affection filling his gaze. “How can you be so calm right now?”

I draw in a deep breath and release it, trying to formulate an answer he’ll understand.

It’s hard to explain the sense of calm that always settled over me during the busiest times in the ER, when most people would be frantic. I thrived in that environment. The fast pace. The life-and-death stakes. That’s part of what Dave always said made me such a “natural” at homesteading.

Though, I don’t know how he would have felt about that assertion had he seen the state of the place when Dalton arrived.

My savior…

I turn my hand to twine our fingers together. “I’m calm because I know there’s nothing I can do about the situation, I guess.” The water ripples around me with the shrug I offer. “I’m having the baby here whether I want to or not”—I squeeze his hand—“and Idowant to. This was always the plan, so it doesn’t scare me. Neither does the fact that the baby’s coming, whether it’s two weeks early or not. Nothing is going to stop this. And ultimately, I’m calm because I’m confident that you and Pops will do everything you can to make sure this goes as smoothly as possible. I know you’re here, and that makes all the difference in the world.”

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