Page 94 of His Tenth Dance

If she had, she would have to walk to the neighbor’s house to get in touch with her husband, and right now, Lindsay couldn’t even imagine getting up off the barn floor.

She pressed the button on the side, and praise all the stars in heaven and God above, the phone lit up.

She noted the time—eleven twenty-three—even as her first contraction abated. She and Keith had taken a birthing class, and she knew she needed to keep track of how far apart the contractions were, and when they had started.

Tears trickled out of her eyes as she continued to fight for breath and send a text at the same time. She wasn’t sure where Keith would be at this very moment, and he worked about fifteen minutes away from the farm.

“You can make it that long,” she told herself right out loud.

She watched as her text got delivered. When it didn’t immediately change toRead, Lindsay tapped to call Keith.

The call connected in the middle of the second ring. “Hey, sweetheart,” he said. “What’s going on?”

“Keith, I f-f-fell,” she said, stuttering over the words. Everything inside her shook, and Lindsay felt like she was going into shock.

“You fell? I’m leaving right now.”

A sob wrenched its way out of her throat. “I’m in the barn,” she said, sucking in a new breath. “I finished with the mobile chicken coop, and then I couldn’t get it to move. Something was stuck, but I don’t know what, and I pushed on it so hard. When it rolled away, I toppled after it.”

“I’m on the way,” Keith said.

“My water broke.” Lindsay sniffled, hating that she was crying over this. She and Keith had been waiting for this babyfor a while now, and she wanted this to be the happiest day of her life, not one where she turned into a blubbering mess on the barn floor.

“I had a contraction,” she said.

“I’ll be there in ten minutes. Stay on the line with me.” He somehow knew that she couldn’t talk, and he filled the space between them with words.

She continued to weep quietly, and she groaned when she had a contraction. By the time Keith’s footsteps ran toward her in the barn, she’d had two more contractions and managed to get herself to a seated position.

“Let’s go, sweetheart,” he said.

He helped her up, but Lindsay paused and said, “Just give me a second. My head is swimming.”

He gave her the time she needed and then helped her to the truck. He dashed back inside and emerged with the baby bag she’d packed earlier this week. Keith gripped the wheel hard as he drove them toward the hospital. He’d already mapped the route and driven it a couple of times.

As another contraction struck, she reached over and gripped his hand. He’d been her strength, her anchor through so much.

“Hold on, baby. We’re almost there.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it as the contraction calmed.

“We have to decide,” he said. “What do you want to name him?”

They’d thrown names back and forth for months now, especially once they’d learned she would be having a boy.

“I think Nash,” she said. “It’s a good, strong cowboy name. Nash Lewis Whettstein.”

“It’s perfect,” Keith said.

Lindsay prayed that her baby would be perfect as well. “What if I hurt him?” she asked.

“He’s coming right now,” Keith said. “One fall isn’t going to hurt him that much. He’s been in there for nine months, and he’s fine.”

“He’s early,” Lindsay said next, feeling completely wild and irrational.

“We just get to love him on this side for longer,” Keith said.

“Thank you for letting me use my maiden name,” she said, as she had no brothers and no other way for her branch of the Lewis family to continue.

“Thank you for making me a daddy,” Keith said. Only sixty seconds later, he pulled up to the emergency bay doors. “Stay here,” he said, and jumped out.

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