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Cat was waiting in the lobby when he walked in. The smile on her face and the sparkle in her green eyes told him the news even before she spoke.
“As of”—she paused to check her watch—“eighteen minutes ago, you are now the father of a healthy eight-pound, seven-ounce boy.”
He temporarily checked the rise of feeling within. “How’s Sloan? Is she all right?”
“She’s fine. They both are,” Cat assured him. “They’ll be taking her to her room shortly. You go ahead. I’ll call home to let them know.”
Eagerness was in his stride as Trey made his way to the hospital’s maternity section and the private room that had been assigned to his wife. Within minutes Sloan was wheeled into it. He was moved by how pale she looked. The winter months had taken much of the golden tan from her skin, but this pallor, he knew, came from exhaustion.
“Hi, Momma,” he murmured and covered her lips with a warm kiss that elicited only a feeble response. “I came as quick as I could.”
There was something darkly resentful in the look she gave him. “I called, but you didn’t answer.”
“I guess I didn’t hear the phone ring. It was in my coat pocket. I probably wouldn’t have answered, though. I was in the middle of pulling a calf. Gramps called, and old Jobe brought the news that you were on the way here. As soon as I got the little heifer calf safely into the world, I stopped by The Homestead to get your suitcase and take a shower. I knew they’d never let me into the delivery room, as filthy as my clothes were. But you didn’t wait for me to get here.”
“No,” Sloan admitted, finding some comfort in the knowledge that this time Trey had been where he said he would be. But it changed nothing in her mind.
“Are you doing all right?” His work-roughened fingers smoothed an odd strand of hair off her brow. “You look tired.”
Sloan readily accepted the excuse he offered. “I am. Have you seen him?” The mere thought of her son evoked a powerful tenderness within her, more profound than anything she had ever known.
“Not yet,” Trey replied. “The nurse said they’d be bringing him shortly.”
Cat walked into the room just as the nurse transferred the blanket-wrapped infant into Trey’s arms. The expression on Trey’s face when he gazed at his baby son made Cat pause. He looked incredibly proud and incredibly humble both at the same time. It was a sight that tugged at her heart.
Some slight movement betrayed her presence, drawing Trey’s glance to her. A father’s smile broke across his face. “Come say hello to your new great-nephew, Jacob Matthew Calder.”
PART THREE
The storm has exploded
over Calder land.
Now he has no choice
But to take a hard stand.
Chapter Twenty
Little Jacob Calder remained the center of attention as visitors streamed in and out of the room for much of the next day. Most were friends of the family, there to welcome the newest addition to the Calder family. To Sloan’s relief, none seemed to notice when she contributed little to the conversations.
The rare times when she found herself alone with Trey, she had only to plead tiredness and a desire to rest, and Trey would wander off to the cafeteria for some coffee, leaving Sloan free to make phone calls and put her hastily devised plan into motion.
In the early morning hours of the third day, her attending physician came by just as Sloan had privately signed the release orders she had arranged for herself. She wasted no time changing into her street clothes and requesting that her son be brought to her so she could leave.
The nurse looked at her with a bewildered frown. “Aren’t you going to wait until your husband gets here?”
Prepared for the question, Sloan replied smoothly. “He’s staying at a motel here in town. I thought I’d surprise him.”
“But—what about all these bouquets and stuffed toys?” the nurse protested.
“Why don’t you distribute them among your other patients,” Sloan suggested.
She wasn’t able to persuade the nurse to ignore hospital policy that dictated she be wheeled to the door. Which meant she had to suffer through another delay while a wheelchair was located and brought to her room.
After an interminable wait, she finally climbed into the rear passenger seat of a waiting taxi, her precious son in her arms. But she didn’t draw an easy breath until the driver pulled away from the hospital entrance.
Exactly twenty-five minutes past eight o’clock, Trey walked past the nurse’s station, carrying an infant carrier by its handle. With his attention focused on the open door to Sloan’s room, he never noticed the surprised looks he received.
