Page 99 of High Density

He’s the one who called the ranch twenty minutes ago to get someone to check on Sloane after he’d spoken with her.

“Fuck. I’ll be at least another forty minutes.”

“Head straight for the hospital,” I suggest. “Things are moving.”

“Fuck!”

In the background I hear Aspen starting to cry.

“Shit, I’m sorry, baby. It’s okay. Daddy’s not mad,” I hear him mutter at her.

“Focus on getting yourself and Aspen here in one piece. I’ll handle things on this end until you get here,” I assure him with more confidence than I feel.

“Promise. No matter what happens, don’t leave her alone,” he pleads.

“She won’t be. I’ll keep trying Ma as well.”

“I shouldn’t have left her alone so close to her due date,” he chastises himself. “But my sister flew in with her kids to visit Dad, and Sloane urged me to go. She told me Aspen was almosttwo weeks late. We were only going to be gone a couple of hours.”

“Is that Dan?”

I glance over at Sloane, who has her eyes open and looks alert and determined. She holds out her hand and I give her the phone.

“Listen to me,” she tells him sternly. “This is on me, but I’ll be fine. This baby’s gonna have to wait until its Daddy gets here, if it means I have to strap my legs together. You keep your damn eyes on the road and stay safe.” Then her voice softens. “I love you too. Tell Aspen I’ll see her soon.”

No sooner has she ended the call, when her face scrunches up as another contraction starts. Her phone slips from her hand and hits the floor at her feet.

I grab my own phone from the console and hit Janey’s number. She answers on the second ring.

“Miss me already?”

I can hear the smile in her voice. She does that a lot, and I find I do more than my share of smiling these days as well. She has that effect on me.

“I’m on my way to the hospital with Sloane. She’s in labor, and Dan’s on his way back from Kalispell.”

“Oh shit. How close are her contractions?”

“Close. Where are you?”

“At the feed store picking up a few things. Do you need me?”

“Yes,” I admit, feeling instant relief.

“I’ll be at the hospital in five.”

Don’t get me wrong, I’d be honored to step up for my friend and brother at the birth of his child, and I love Sloane like a sister, but I’m pretty sure they’d both be more comfortable if Janey held her hand in the delivery room instead of me.

She makes it in less, because she’s already waiting at the emergency entrance with a wheelchair when I pull up in front.

“I guess that little one is in a hurry,” she tells Sloane when she opens the passenger door. “Why don’t we get you inside and see what’s going on.”

Her calm presence instantly changes the dynamic for me. I may appear laid-back or even stoic, but that doesn’t always mean I feel that way, and I’m thankful when Janey takes over with confidence.

Growing up with a force of nature like my mother, I don’t think I could ever underestimate a woman’s strength and resilience, but watching Janey wheel Sloane into the ER is a good reminder why, in many ways, women are definitely the stronger sex.

I’m in the waiting room when Dan comes running in twenty-something minutes later with Aspen on his arm.

“What the hell? You—” he starts when he spots me.

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