Page 103 of Where We Call Home

“She called me to get you,” Aspen said, her words hurried and frantic. “She didn’t want to scare you, but she said she wasn’t feeling right. Something’s wrong. I don’t know what, but?—”

She didn’t get to finish because I was already running.

My boots slipped in the mud, my legs burning as they pushed forward through the slick field. My truck was still parked near the fence line, and I barreled toward it.

“Rhodes!” Boone’s voice shouted after me, I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.

I reached the truck and yanked on the handle, only to realize I hadn’t unlocked it. “Damn it!” My hands fumbled for the keys, my fingers shaking as I tried to focus.

“What’s going on?” Boone had caught up to me, his breathing heavy as he stood just behind me.

I turned to face him, my chest heaving, rainwater dripping from my hair and chin. “It’s Theo,” I said, my voice breaking under the weight of her name.

The look in his eyes shifted instantly—concern morphing into alarm.

I didn’t wait for him to respond. I flung the truck door open and climbed in, slamming it shut behind me. My hands gripped the steering wheel tightly as I started the engine, my mind racing with every worst-case scenario imaginable.

I broke every Goddamn speed limit back to the house.

“Theo!” I yelled, barreling into the house. Dirty boots be damned, I didn’t give a fuck.

“I’m in here!” She called from down the hall in her bedroom. I strode in, my boots slamming against the floor. Coming to a halt when I saw her sitting, bent and holding her belly, I had to catch my breath.

She looked up, her eyes sad and turned down.

“There’s something wrong. I’m having these weird contractions and I’m scared.” She panted.

“It’s okay,” I said, stepping closer to her. “It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know who else to call,” she said between labored breaths, trying to push through the pain.

“Don’t you dare be sorry. I’m here,” I reassured, crouching down to be at her eye level. Her hazel orbs stared at me, a red tinge to the whites of her eyes like she had been crying. “What do you need from me? Do you want to go to the urgent care in town? The city? Theo, tell me what you need and I’ll make it happen.”

She thought for a moment, taking steady, practiced breaths like the ones learned from all those childbirth books.

Watching her now made me realize how out of touch I was for her to give birth. I silently hoped this wasn’t the moment because I desperately needed to know more. To know how to be able to help her through it.

Finally, she nodded and tried to stand.

“Urgent care,” she breathed and I swooped her up in my arms, carrying her out of the house and to my truck.

I didn’t waste a second as I pushed through the emergency doors, Theo cradled tightly in my arms. My heart was hammering, adrenaline coursing through me like a wildfire. Calm wasn’t an option.

Theo let out a quiet whimper against my chest, and guilt twisted inside me like a blade. I’d known something wasn’t right earlier, and still, I left her.

Never again.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a wheelchair against the wall. I didn’t care whose it was or what rules I might’ve been breaking. Nobody was going to stop me. Carefully, I lowered Theo into it and wheeled her toward the reception desk, my pulse a steady roar in my ears.

“Sir, you can’t just?—”

“She needs a doctor,now,” I growled, my voice sharp and edged with panic. I leaned across the desk, fists planted, daring anyone to argue. “She’s thirty-two weeks pregnant and in pain. Get someone here.Now.”

“Rhodes,” Theo’s soft voice cut through the fog in my head. She reached out, her fingers brushing against my forearm. “I’m okay,” she whispered, her eyes meeting mine.

Her touch, her voice snapped me back to reality. I blinked, realizing how I must’ve looked: wild-eyed, frantic, out of control. This wasn’t helping her. It wasn’t helping the baby.

I took a shaky breath and closed my eyes, forcing myself to count backward from five. When I opened them again, I straightened and offered the terrified receptionist a tight, apologetic smile.

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