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I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. What kind of business were the men involved in that couldn’t be interrupted for something like this? Did I want to know? I’d heard more than one of the girls say that the club came first, but this was too much. I’d seen how the men were overly protective with their women, but it seemed that this situation contradicted what I’d learned.
“I can hear you thinking,” Lulu said between pants. Despite that, I could hear the humor in her voice. “It’s okay Harlow, really. I’m okay with this. What the men are involved with will protect the whole club. Demon needed all hands on deck for this. It happens.”
“And Brody is okay with this?”
There was a telling pause before she stumbled, “Well, um, ah, not exactly.” That wasn’t like Lulu at all. “We didn’t exactly discuss it. But the club comes first, and some of us women feel the same way.”
I still didn’t like what I was hearing, so I and asked, “Just what are they involved in?” I turned down her road.
Her chuckle came over the line. “You know I can’t answer that, honey. Club business.”
Yeah. Yeah. Club business. I’d heard that one before. Despite Lulu’s resistance to it, I fully intended to notify Brody that his wife was in the hospital having their second child. My instincts told me that he’d want to know if Lulu was in labor. I’d seen how protective he was over her, how attentive. I pulled into her drive. “I’m here.” I opened the door to exit the car, expecting Lulu to need help, but she opened her front door before I got there.
“Thank God!” she rushed out, handing me the small overnight bag she had clutched in her hand. “I don’t remember the contractions coming on this fast with Lilly.”
“Second babies are easier sometimes,” I smiled. I tossed her bag into the back as she settled herself into the passenger side. “Do I need to come back later for Buttercup?”
She shook her head, breathing through another contraction. When it was over, she said, “She went with Lilly last night. The kids love her.” She cast me a glance. “These contractions have really speeded up.”
Yes, I’d noticed. I smiled and backed out of the drive. “We’ll be at the hospital in ten. Why don’t you call them and tell them you’re on your way to the emergency?”
“Emergency?” came her startled response. “Why? Do you think something is wrong?”
“No! Not at all. Calm down.” I patted her thigh. “But this baby seems to be in a hurry to get here, and there’ll be more of a sense of urgency in emergency.”
She settled back with a sigh and rubbed her hand over her baby bump. “Thank you for coming to the rescue.”
“Anytime, honey. You may be doing this for me one day.”
We exchanged sly glances. “I know you can’t be pregnant. You and Doc haven’t been together long enough.”
“We haven’t consummated our relationship either,” I mumbled beneath my breath. “The man is so stubborn.”
“Set in his ways,” Lulu added. “I’m so glad you two found each other. You’re perfect together.”
“I can’t believe we let so much time get in the way of what we wanted, but the fact that Liam didn’t want to be a home wrecker or come between me and David speaks volumes for what kind of man he is.”
I saw Lulu nod out of the corner of my eye. “They’re all good men, Harlow. They cover their big hearts with an outer shell of broodiness and hardness, but once you break through that, all the rest is worth it. When those men love, they love just as hard.”
I could feel her eyes on me, and I turned to meet her eyes.
“Doc has been a mean-tempered bear for the past year. I knew he was attracted to you the first time I saw you two in the same room together. I couldn’t understand what was holding him back until I discovered that you were married. Knowing about his parents, it didn’t come as a surprise the way he kept his distance from you.”
“He told you about his parents?”
“Yeah.” Suddenly Lulu reached over and took me by the hand. “Doc and I were and are friends, honey. Once we began talking, we didn’t cross the line.”
“Except for that one time?” I bit down on my bottom lip the second the words passed through my lips. Lulu sucked in a deep breath, but she didn’t respond. It was really none of my business. Whatever had gone on between her and Liam had been long before I’d come on the scene. “Don’t answer that,” I said in a firm tone.
She couldn’t have answered if she’d wanted to, because she was clutching her belly and panting through another contraction. I had begun counting how far apart they were in my head and was glad when we finally pulled up to the emergency entrance.
“Wait here.” I ran inside for a wheelchair and announced that I was bringing in a woman who was in labor. I didn’t wait for a response. As I reached the car and assisted Lulu into the chair, two nurses rushed out to take her inside. “I’ll be right in, honey.”
I parked the car, grabbed her bag, and headed inside for what I knew could be hours of waiting until she had the baby. When I stepped back into the hospital, a quick scan revealed that they’d already taken Lulu back. I knew it would take a while to get her prepped and assessed, so I sank down in one of the lobby chairs and decided to use the time to make my calls.
Brody was first on my list, and it turned out that I had to leave him a message. I texted him as a backup, hoping that if he were somewhere where he couldn’t answer his phone, he could at least read a text. Assuming that Liam was with Brody I sent him a quick text, too. Then I phoned Bobbie, Raven, and Holly and asked them to notify the others. Seventeen minutes later, I got up and went to the desk to let them know that I was there for Lulu.
“Someone will let you know when you can go back,” the receptionist smiled, already dismissing me.
