“Would you like for me to follow you and see you home? You may need some help.”
“No, ma’am. You seen more of Jack Turner than any other human has in twenty years or so. I’d be obliged if you was to forget what you seen.” He looked away shyly and said, “You seem like a real decent sort of woman, Miz Lockett.”
Lauren knew that he would resent the pity she felt inclined to show him, so she said, “Thank you. It has been a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Turner.”
He tipped his hat to her and rode away. She didn’t follow him so as not to invade the privacy he coveted. She waited until he was out of sight before she mounted her horse and rode back to the ranch house, after stopping once at the river to wash the blood from her hands.
She went into the kitchen and gathered up a basket of food, then returned swiftly to the riverbank across from the house growing out of the rock wall. She left the basket on the flat rock as she had seen Jared do. She didn’t tarry, but rode away without looking back.
* * *
As Gloria’s delivery date drew near, the women sewed and knitted, talking over names, deciding first on one and then discarding it for another. Elena happily announced one morning that she, too, was pregnant again. She radiated good health and energy, while Carlos wore a perpetually sappy grin. Lauren was touched by their obvious happiness with each other and their new home.
The Mendez baby chose the twenty-third day of January to make its appearance. Gloria had been listless since getting up that morning. She, Lauren, and Maria were sitting in the large living room near the fire enjoying a cup of midmorning tea when she clutched the arms of her chair.
“I think I’m going into labor. That’s about the third pain, and it’s the strongest.”
Lauren nearly dropped her cup, but Maria went to her daughter-in-law and supported her as they walked into the bedroom she shared with Rudy.
“Lauren, will you come help Gloria into bed, please?”
Lauren jumped in alarm, but she followed the other two into the room. At Maria’s instructions, Lauren turned down the spread and covers on the bed, and Maria eased Gloria down onto the sheet.
“I’ll undress her, Lauren, if you’ll go tell Elena to take care of the children for the rest of the day,” Maria said placidly. “Send word to Rudy by one of the vaqueros. They’ll know where he is. Then come back. I’m sure we can use another pair of hands.”
Lauren sped out of the room, grateful for any task that took her away from the birthing bed. She didn’t relish witnessing that secret rite which had killed her own mother.
Elena was elated, and assured Lauren that she would take care of the house and the children and would stand by if needed for anything else. Rudy came bounding into the house a few minutes later, looking gray under his dark features.
“Rudy,” Lauren cried. “I was counting on you to calm my nerves. I thought you’d be used to this by now. You look like a new father.”
He grinned abashedly. “I guess every time is like the first time. Is she all right? Can I go see her?”
“Well, I suppose so.” Lauren wasn’t sure what etiquette dictated in this instance. “Let me check.”
She crept into the dim room to find Gloria propped up primly in the middle of the bed talking amiably to Maria. Lauren hadn’t expected that. She thought she would find her writhing in pain. “Is it all right if Rudy comes in to see you?”
Gloria laughed. “It’s his fault I’m in this predicament, so I guess that entitles him.”
Rudy entered after Lauren bade him to and crossed to the bed in three long strides. He sat down close to Gloria and put both of his large hands on her abdomen.
“So by nightfall we’ll have another mouth to feed, hey?”
“I’ll be the only one feeding it for a while, remember?”
“I’m sure you can handle it.” He grinned and cupped her swollen breasts in his hands.
She swatted them away playfully. “Rudy Mendez, even at a time like this you’re a lecher. And in front of your mother!”
“She knows I take after my father.” He laughed. Then he leaned down and kissed his wife tenderly on the forehead. “I’ll be outside if you need me. I love you.”
Gloria kissed both his hands before he got up and left the room. Lauren’s eyes filled with tears and a lump in her throat prevented her from replying as Maria asked her to stoke the fire in the grate.
The afternoon dragged by. Gloria’s pains became more insistent, and Lauren watched in horror as the bed was flooded with water tinged pink with blood. She thought something was dreadfully wrong until Maria assured her that this was normal, and that the baby would be coming soon.
About an hour later, Gloria’s face twisted in pain, but with Maria’s gentle urging to push harder, she was delivered of a baby boy. Lauren watched as Maria drew him from his mother’s body and cut the cord that had bound them together. Her mother must have suffered in the same way to deliver her and the little brother whose birth had killed her. She felt a great loneliness for the woman she had never known. She wished she could remember telling her mother that she loved her. Surely she had.
Maria was wrapping the squirming, squealing baby in a warm blanket when Gloria cried out, “I don’t think that’s all!”