“I don’t know.” Matilda looked at Fliss, who was staring into the middle distance, lost in thought.
“What? Sorry? Oh—” She stared at the skillet as if she’d forgotten its presence. “I brought it up from the kitchen.”
Seth wished he could read her thoughts. “What were you planning to do? Fry her breakfast while she was in labor?”
“I didn’t know she was in labor,” she snapped. “I thought there was an intruder, and that was the only weapon at hand. I was getting ready to knock someone unconscious.”
Matilda gave a choked laugh. “I wish you’d done it to me. I could have done with the pain relief. And you still haven’t told me how you came to be here.”
“Hero found me on the beach.” She glanced at the dog, who thumped his tail, soaking up the approval with style. “I brought him home and found the door wide open and a mug and your phone shattered into pieces on the kitchen floor. I assumed you’d left the door open and someone had taken advantage. Then I heard you scream, so I grabbed the skillet.”
Despite her exhausted state, Matilda shot her a look of admiration. “I would have hidden in the closet and called 911.”
“So would most people.” Seth didn’t want to think about what might have happened had it really been intruders and Fliss had faced them armed only with a skillet. He made a mental note to talk to Chase about increasing security.
“I heard you moan and I thought they were hurting you.”
Matilda’s eyes filled. “You were willing to risk your life for me?”
“Hey, don’t get mushy.” Fliss looked alarmed. “I like a good fight, that’s all.”
Seth wondered whether this was a good moment to point out that Harriet wouldn’t hit someone with a skillet even if her life were threatened. She would have thought it through and measured the risks. Then she would have called 911 right away before even thinking of another plan.
Fliss rushed into action and then thought things through.
It had been one of the things he’d loved most about her. And the reason everything between them had unraveled.
She was glaring at him, apparently forgetting to maintain her sister’s identity. “What was I supposed to do? I heard a thump from upstairs, and then she screamed. I thought she’d been attacked, and when I got upstairs she wasn’t saying anything to me—”
“I couldn’t. I couldn’t breathe through the pain. It was agonizing. And intense. I wasn’t anticipating anything like that.”
Seth propped another pillow behind her, wondering if Matilda knew that her rescuer was Fliss, not Harriet. “Precipitate labor. You had no warning?”
“I’ve been having pains for days, but I thought they were normal pains. Then I was in the kitchen and suddenly the pain was overwhelming. I dropped my cup and my phone. Fortunately the pain eased long enough for me to get upstairs. I was going to call Chase from the bedroom, but then I was hit by another pain, and this one didn’t go away. Will the baby be all right? Has it hurt her being born so quickly?” Matilda looked anxiously at the baby and Seth took a look at her.
“She looks happy and content to me.”
“I was all set to go to the medical center. My bag is packed and everything.”
Seth heard the sound of wheels on the gravel. “Sounds like the cavalry is here, so you’ll be making that trip anyway.”
“It hardly seems worth going to the hospital now.”
“It’s worth it. I’ll call Chase and he can meet you there.” Seth stood up. “Does your daughter have a name?”
Matilda held the baby closer, the vision of a contented new mother. “Rose. Rose Felicity Adams.” She smiled. “Felicity, because if it hadn’t been for Fliss, I wouldn’t have got through it.”
There was a tense silence.
He met Fliss’s gaze, and she looked away quickly, as if she knew it was all over.
“Thank you,” she said. “I’m touched.”
Matilda smiled, oblivious to the bomb she’d dropped. “I’ve never seen you this emotional. Now you’re the one having trouble speaking.” She reached out and took Fliss’s hand. “Thank you. Will you take care of Hero for me until Chase gets here?”
“Of course. He can come home with me. He earned his name today. If it hadn’t been for him, I wouldn’t have come looking for you.”
There wasn’t time for any more conversation because at that moment the medical team arrived and Matilda and the baby were bundled into the ambulance.