Page 7 of Her Snowbound Hero

Or not.

Chills racked her. The baby had to survive. Be okay. But if they couldn’t stop the labor and itwasborn tonight—Was she ready for this? The crying and feeding and supporting,raising.And later? If she managed to do all those things, no way was her baby going to drive at fifteen. And dating? Yeah, right. Samuel Tolbert had tried to feel her up at that age—and go a lot further. She’d kneed him in the nuts and walked home. No way would her son or daughter be anywhere near the opposite sex before they were twenty—at least!

“I can recommend a great mechanic. There’s nothing he can’t fix, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

She made a face. “Hate to tell you this, but if you drive this kind of vehicle and are still going to the shop a lot for him to fix things, your mechanic is a crook.”

Another chuckle. The man would make a fortune bottling the sound.

“Not Nick. He’s my brother and a good guy.”

There it was again. That tone of his was…sad. “Why do you say it like that?”

While he remained staring straight ahead Garret’s expression changed to one she couldn’t read. “Like what?”

“If he’s a good guy, why do you sound sad about it?”

“I guess because the family doesn’t see much of Nick even though he owns the garage in town.”

“Should I ask why you don’t see him…or keep my mouth shut?”

“It’s complicated.”

She squirmed, unable to get comfortable. Her back was killing her. “You two have a big fight over a girl?” Tension crept in, slow and sure, wrapping around her like a python, squeezing,squeezing,until she couldn’t breathe.

“It was nothing like that. Long story short, Nick went against the family wishes and dropped out of high school. Our parents, grandparents—everyone got involved from teachers to the guy at the feed store. And the more people talked, the more distanced and angry Nick became. Things have been tense ever since.”

“How long ago…was this?” She gritted her teeth and fought to focus on Garret instead of the pain.

“About fifteen years.”

“And they’re—oh—still upset?” She gasped out the words.

The Escalade slid to the left as they started across a bridge, and Garret slowed even more. She wanted to scream at him to go faster, but couldn’t take a breath.

Shaking, unable to fight the tears or the pain any longer and pretend she could do this with dignity, she released a low groan. “G-Garret?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t think we’re going to make it.”

GARRET GLANCED at his watch when the contraction finally released its hold. That one had lasted forty-two seconds. No way could he deliver a baby. A legal brief he could handle. A crisis involving multiple unions—a friggin’ walk in the park. But ababy?

Over the crunching precipitation, he heard Darcy moan, and glanced over to see relief etched on her pale, strained features. “Good one?”

“Oh, yeah.”

There were tears in her voice, one trickling down her cheek. Considering they were still miles away from the hospital, the sound and sight sent chills through him. Twenty miles an hour on a winding mountain road was getting them nowhere fast.

“Go on,” she murmured. “Please, tell me the story about your brother. It helps to focus on someone else.”

He looked at the road ahead of him, not liking the subject but willing to go along with the request. Whatever it took to get both their minds off the present predicament. “Nick dropped out as soon as he didn’t need our parents’ permission. They were disappointed and upset, and when they couldn’t get Nick to do what they wanted, they looked to me to get Nick to change his mind.”

“Why you?”

“I’m older than him and a good negotiator. Even as a kid, I settled the arguments in my family.” He smiled wryly, various scenes popping into his head. “I actually used to hold court about my siblings’ disputes. I’d hear the sides and make a judgment on everything from whose box of crayons it really was to who got to ride in the front seat. But this fight—It was huge. In the end Dad got frustrated and lost his temper. He and Nick are a lot alike that way. Dad told Nick he either had to stay in school or get out of the house.”

“The perfect words to make a teenager rebel.”

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