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Gripping my stomach, I grabbed the keys to the store and then walked outside and locked up. Leopold wasn’t due to come in until this afternoon, but I couldn’t stay here without being checked out. It was only a two-minute walk to Dr. Ponts’ office, but it took me three times as long to get there.
The one time you needed someone to be lingering on Main Street, and it was empty. I’d never seen it empty before. There was always someone sitting on one of the few benches scattered around, but today, there was nothing.
Sweat started to bead on my forehead as I opened the door to Dr. Ponts’ office, my body reacting to something which it knew was coming. I slammed the door shut behind me and leaned against the wall, screwing my eyes closed as it happened again.
“Dr. Ponts!” I shouted, but it sounded more like a gasp because the agony was taking my breath away.
Heels clicked along the floor, and then Dr. Ponts was in front of me, saying things I couldn’t understand and ushering me into her room. All I could concentrate on was taking air in and out of my lungs and wishing the pain would disappear.
“Belle,” Dr. Ponts said, moving some hair out of my face. “Sit down.” She helped me into a chair, and I kept my gaze focused on the floor, and the pain subsided slowly. “What happened?” she asked, crouching in front of me.
“I…” I pulled in a deep breath. “That was the third one in the last thirty minutes.” I grasped on to her arm, trying my hardest to stay calm, but I felt anything but that. “What’s happening? Is something wrong?”
“Concentrate on breathing,” Dr. Ponts said, her blue-eyed gaze connecting with mine. “In and out. That’s it.” I focused all of my attention on breathing as she did the motion with me. “Okay…how many times has that happened?”
“Three,” I repeated, now feeling a little calmer.
“Did you time them?” I shook my head in the negative. “All right, let’s examine you and see what’s going on.”
I nodded and let her help me over to the bed in the corner of the room. My mind was a whirl of thoughts as she pressed on my stomach and then did an internal examination. All I could think about was what would happen if something was wrong. Who would I lean on? Who would be there for me? And, most importantly, who did I want there. I vetoed that thought right away because the one person I wanted beside me would never be there. He’d never see his baby being born. He’d never hold his baby. He’d never see his baby grow up. He’d miss it all.
“Let’s move you back to the chair,” Dr. Ponts said, helping me up into a sitting position. Her voice made me focus on the here and now, and not on the darkness my mind veered to. A quick look at the clock on the wall told me twenty minutes had gone by, and the pain hadn’t come back, and when she said, “You’re experiencing Braxton-Hicks,” I knew what she was talking about. The books from the library had come in handy, even if it was only for this one time. And although I’d read about them, it didn’t make a difference to the decision I’d made. The shock of reality had hit me at full force.
“So, it’s just practice?” I asked, needing her to confirm what was happening.
“Yes.” She sat in the chair next to me and placed her hand on my arm. “Go home and rest.” The second she said rest, my body sagged. Tiredness was already taking over my body before what had happened, but now I was utterly exhausted. “Have you closed the store?”
“Yeah. I need to call Leopold.” I bit down on my bottom lip. I was sure he wouldn’t mind, but he’d need to get there to open it back up as soon as possible.
“Okay. How about you call him from here, and I’ll drive you home?”
“I can walk,” I told her as she handed me the handset to her landline.
“No.” She brooked no room for argument with the way she stared at me, and I wondered if that was how she looked at her kids when she was putting her foot down. “I’ll drive you.” She didn’t wait for me to answer before she walked out of the room. Even though I’d been prepared to put up a fight, I was glad I didn’t have to walk back to the cabin.
I dialed Leopold’s number, and he answered on the second ring. “Leopold,” I whispered, feeling tears coming to the forefront again. I was overwhelmed with everything, and although the people I’d gotten to know in this town were comforting, it was nothing compared to what I’d have from home. “I had to close the store to see Dr. Ponts.”
“What? Are you okay? What’s happened?” I gave him a quick rundown of everything. “She’s right. Go home and get to bed. I’ll come and check on you after I close up later.”
“Okay,” I murmured as Dr. Ponts walked back in the room with her purse in her hand and her keys in her palm. She reminded me so much of my mom at that moment, and I couldn’t deny that I wished she were here with me and not hundreds of miles away. “Dr. Ponts is back. I’ll speak to you later.”
“Okay. You look after yourself, you hear?”
I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. “I will.” I ended the call and placed the handset on the desk. I swayed a little as I stood slowly, and I knew she was right. I needed rest, more now than ever. “Thank you,” I said to Dr. Ponts, and she graced me with a small smile.
“Of course.” She hooked my arm through hers, letting me lean on her. “Now, let’s get you home and in bed. You and the baby need rest.”
Chapter Four
BELLE
I wasn’t sure what woke me, but my eyes burst open, and my heart was racing, causing my body to be on high alert. Was I having Braxton-Hicks again? Drifting my hand over my stomach, I waited with bated breath, but after a few seconds and no pain, I realized it wasn’t that. Frowning, I glanced around the darkening room and wondered what had woken me, but I couldn’t pinpoint any one thing. I groaned and tried to roll over, but my pillow fort kept me in place, not letting me move. Dr. Ponts had made sure I was as comfortable as I could be when she’d brought me back to the cabin earlier that day before she’d left me to rest. Curtis hadn’t been awake because he’d worked late last night, but she said she’d leave him a note after she’d essentially tucked me in my bed.
“Curtis?” I called, staring out of the window. The day was turning into night, but there was still a little light coming into my bedroom from outside. I had no idea what time it was, but my stomach rumbling let me know it wanted food.
Footsteps echoed throughout the cabin, and a couple of seconds later, my bedroom door opened, and Curtis’ smiling face appeared. “Hey,” he greeted. “Want me to put the light on?” I nodded and placed my hands over my eyes to ready myself.
“What time is it?” I asked, sensing the light coming through the cracks between my fingers. I slowly pulled my hand away, letting my eyes adjust to the now bright light.
