Small-Town Brides (4 page)

“Is that it?” Rene said as she pointed ahead.

It was so dark that Clay could barely make out the snow-covered mound in the distance. “I hope so.”

He had expected to see a trail of exhaust coming from the vehicle. A man from these parts would know to keep the snow swept away from the exhaust while he kept the engine going with its heater. No one had kept the snow away from that car, though. “It might be a car that's abandoned.”

“Maybe someone else came along and picked them up,” Rene said as she leaned forward.

Clay didn't answer. Nothing had come down this road lately except his truck. Even if the tracks were filled in, the snow would have drifted differently after it had been disturbed. Maybe a vehicle had come from the other direc
tion and then gone back that same direction, but that was not likely. According to the hand-drawn map, Dry Creek was the nearest town or ranch. Anyone rescuing that family would have taken them there.

Clay hoped he was missing some logical explanation for what they saw.

The truck's headlights shone on the snow-covered car and Clay slowed as he came closer. The car was jackknifed in the road, so he could not drive past it, not even if he wanted to. None of the windows were wiped clear of snow, and he'd have to shovel snow away from the doors before he could open them.

He rolled down his window.

“Hello there,” he called.

He listened, but he couldn't hear an answer from inside the car.

“Someone must have picked them up already,” Rene repeated herself as though she was trying to convince herself.

Clay heard the worry in her voice. It was the same worry he felt. The family would be very cold if they were inside that car.

He switched the engine off. “There's no point in both of us going out in the snow.”

Clay was glad when Rene nodded and didn't argue with him. He opened his door and then turned to look back at Rene. He wanted to say something to ease her worry. “You know, it wouldn't hurt to pray.”

He did not wait for her to answer before he stepped down from the cab. He wouldn't have thought it was possible for the night to get any colder, but it had.

R
ene watched as Clay walked toward the half-buried car. The truck lights were off and she had to strain to see him through the dark of the night. He'd grabbed a shovel from the back of his truck and, within minutes, was bending to scoop up the snow, clearing it from the driver's-side door.

“Please, Lord, let them be safe,” Rene whispered in the stillness.
Listen to me, listen to me,
she pleaded silently.

There was a bitter chill in the air from when Clay had opened his door. She wished there was something more she could do for the family. Suddenly, she realized there was. She unbuttoned her coat and pulled the top blanket next to her before wrapping her coat back around her. At least one of the blankets would be warm in case the baby needed it. The small flashlight Clay had used earlier was on the seat, too, and she slipped that into her pocket.

The window was starting to film over and she used her mittens to wipe it clear. Thankfully, she could still see Clay's shape as he worked. Finally, he set the shovel against the side of the car. It looked to Rene like he had cleared enough snow for the door to open.

“Please, Lord,” she added as Clay reached for the door handle. She kept willing God to hear her even as her fears rose. It had been the same when she'd prayed for her mother's healing. She kept praying as the news from the doctors worsened. She had faith right up until the last wrenching moment. Then she had nothing.

Rene waited for Clay to turn and wave at her, letting her know that the car was empty. Instead, he bent down and crawled inside the car. Rene rolled down her window just a little so she could call out to Clay and ask him what he saw. She didn't get any words formed before she heard a woman's frantic scream.

Rene opened the door and climbed to the ground. Something was wrong inside that car.

 

Clay told himself he should have brought the flashlight with him. There was no light in the car. If he hadn't been so worried, he would have thought about that.

“It's okay,” he said softly into the blackness. “I'm here to help.”

The woman must have been in the backseat of the car because Clay couldn't see anyone in the front. Even if the night hadn't been so dark, the snow covering the car was so thick it would have blocked light from reaching the inside. Everyone back there must be terrified. He could see the dim shape of a bundle of blankets. She must be wrapped up in them.

“Are you okay?” Clay asked. He strained his eyes looking for other shapes, but he didn't see any.

He was listening to the woman's rapid breathing when he heard the door on the truck close. He moved to the edge of the seat so he could warn Rene to speak quietly.

He could barely see Rene walking toward him. He didn't need to say anything to her about not yelling. She was already humming some kind of a song. He could hear the woman's breathing start to calm at the sound so he moved farther into the car to let Rene enter also.

Rene slid into the front seat.

“Lullabies always make me feel better, too,” Rene said softly as she looked into the backseat. “Are you all right?”

“He's your husband?” the woman asked hesitantly. Her voice sounded young and scared. “He's not a bad man?”

Clay held his breath. He didn't expect Rene to lie, but it would be helpful if the woman trusted him. Marriage always seemed to make a man look safer to women. Since he needed to bring this woman and everyone else out of here, it would be easier if she wasn't afraid of him.

“I'll show you,” Rene said and soon there was a beam from a flashlight directed outside of the car. The strong part of the beam hit the snow, but enough light filled the inside of the car so the woman in the backseat could see them.

Clay reached up to tip his hat back. Rene knew what she was doing. Too much light would have made it impossible for the woman to see. The backseat was still dark. But in the half-light he could see Rene's face and she was smiling sweetly enough to reassure anyone.

“He is a cowboy?” The woman's tentative voice came from the backseat.

“He used to ride in the rodeo,” Rene announced, and Clay thought he heard some pride in her voice. “Won a lot of times, too. He's a strong man. You can trust him. I do.”

Clay had to remind himself that Rene was only saying these things to put the woman at ease.

“I need—ahh—” The moan that interrupted the woman's comment was sharp and deep.

“Are you okay?” Rene asked as she moved the flashlight up higher.

Clay could finally really see into the backseat. A young woman—he didn't think she was more than seventeen years old—was leaning against the door. The bottom half of her face was wrapped in a brown scarf, and the rest of her face was pale except for a scattering of dark freckles. She had blankets over her and a coat on top of that. All of the muscles in her face looked tight as though she were bracing herself for another shooting pain. He knew she was cold, but that should not be doing this to her.

Clay looked away from her to search the rest of the car once again. The most alarming thing to him was the people who were not there. There was also supposed to be a man and a baby. “Where's your husband?”

“He went for help,” the young woman said, taking shallow breaths again. “The baby—”

Surely the man didn't take the baby with him, Clay thought. Not even a fool would—and then it dawned on him. “You're not? I mean—the baby—”

He looked at the roundness of the woman's waist. At first, he thought it was just the way the blankets were bunched around her. Then he looked over at Rene. He saw the alarm rising on her face, too.

Whoa, Clay thought. This changed everything.

“You're not having a baby, are you?” Rene finally asked. “I mean
now.
”

The woman moaned again. “No, I told my Davy no. Not now. The pains are just worry pains. I'm not due for weeks. He didn't need to go for help.” She looked at Clay directly
for the first time. “You need to find him. Please, I told him he shouldn't go, but he wouldn't listen. He's a stubborn guy. We argued and I said awful things.”

Clay didn't blame the man for trying to get help. Anyone looking at the pregnant woman could tell she was in distress. A tear trickled down her face.

“Where was he going?” Clay asked, keeping his voice as calm as possible. Maybe the man knew this country and there was a farmhouse that wasn't on the map Clay had been given.

“He thought he saw some light,” the woman said as she pointed to the east.

“How long ago did he leave?” Clay asked.

“Not long. I don't know, but not long.”

“And a house?” Rene said softly. “Did he see a house?”

Clay was glad Rene was not scaring the pregnant woman by asking those questions with the urgency she must feel inside.

“He thought so, yes.” The teenager's breath started to come more rapidly again. “You don't think he—”

“Clay can find him,” Rene said quickly. “Just take a few deep breaths and relax. You can trust Clay.”

Clay opened his mouth and shut it again. Rene had to know he couldn't find a house if none was there.

“First, we need to move you into my truck,” Clay said to the young woman. “I'll have to shovel some snow away from this back door so we can get you out of this car. Just stay where you are and—” Clay looked around for inspiration.

“Well, talk to me, of course,” Rene added brightly. “I want to know all about this baby you're expecting. Do you know if it's a boy or a girl? Do you have names picked out? I've always liked old-fashioned names.”

Clay recognized Rene's chatty waitress voice. It was just what they needed.

Clay waited for Rene to slide out of the car so he could move past her. It wouldn't take him more than a couple of minutes to get the snow cleared and then he could open the back door and carry the woman to his truck. He'd feel better once they had her back at Dry Creek where someone would know if she needed to go to the hospital.

Once he was outside of the car, Clay picked up his shovel and began to dig. He moved one shovelful of snow and then another. He wasn't so sure how this night was going to end.

Rene could hear the sounds of Clay digging up the snow. She'd left the door open because there was no point in closing it. The air was as cold inside as it was outside.

It felt like an eternity had passed since she'd given her hand to Mandy to hold. That was the young woman's name. Mandy Smith. She had grown up in Minneapolis and was moving with her Davy to some small town in Idaho. He had work there.

“Where are you and your husband traveling to?” Mandy asked after a bit.

Rene gave the other woman's hand a gentle squeeze. “We're not really married.”

“Oh,” Mandy said and her voice lowered. “We haven't been telling people, but Davy hasn't married me yet, either. He wants to wait until we get to our new home. You're not pregnant, are you? It's hard when you're pregnant.”

“Oh,” Rene said then stopped herself. Now was not the time to list her worries about a man who wanted to wait to marry his pregnant girlfriend. “The thing is, Clay and I are just traveling together. We're not—that is—”

Rene couldn't hear the sounds of the shovel anymore.

“She's paying me,” Clay said from just outside the door.

“To tow my car,” Rene clarified. If she didn't know better, she would think Clay was teasing her. Maybe he was just trying to put Mandy at ease. It can't have been easy for her to tell them that she wasn't married. Rene didn't want to make a big deal about it, though. “Clay owns this tow truck and he was taking me to Dry Creek. It's strictly business.”

“We were planning to stop at Dry Creek for dinner,” Mandy said wistfully. “I heard some truckers in North Dakota saying they've got some really good hamburgers in the café there. Good pie, too. Blueberry.”

“If you're hungry, we have some warm milk,” Rene offered.

“It's in the truck,” Clay said as he reached out and opened the back car door. “That's where I'm taking you—so if you can, just slide yourself over here.”

Clay counted the little gasps Mandy made as she slid across the backseat toward the door he'd just opened. He wished he knew what her breathing meant.

The young woman made it to the open door so Clay could bend down and lift her up in his arms. Rene reached up and wrapped the blankets more securely around her. The snow had stopped blowing as much, but Rene still draped a corner of the blanket over Mandy's face to keep it warm.

Rene was holding the flashlight so Clay could see clearly to walk. He had to admit, she had been right earlier when she'd said she was good in emergencies. He was surprised, but grateful. When he got to the truck, Rene stepped in front of him to open the passenger-side door. There would be plenty of room for the three of them on the main seat.

Clay set Mandy on the seat and let go of her. “Don't worry. We'll get you to a doctor.”

“No,” she gasped. “You have to find Davy first. He'll be worried if he comes back and I'm not here. We can't leave until—”

Clay wished he knew more about birthing babies. Just enough so he'd know how much time they had. No baby deserved to be born in the cab of a tow truck. But then Mandy had said she was weeks away from her delivery date.

Clay reached up and flipped on his cab's overhead light. The young woman looked almost feverish.

“Please.” Mandy reached out her hand to Clay. “He's the father of my baby. I love him.”

This, Clay thought to himself suddenly, is what Uncle Prudy was so set on teaching him. The look in Mandy's eyes was more than any man deserved, especially one who hadn't even married her yet. Clay felt a sudden stab of envy for the man who inspired that kind of love, though.

“I can only look for five minutes,” Clay compromised with his common sense. “I'll take my high-beam flashlight and flash it in the direction he went. I might pick up something.”

It would take a miracle for the man to see the flashlight. Clay knew that, but it was enough action to give everyone some hope. He reached over to open the glove compartment.

“You're sure you'll be okay?” Rene asked him.

Clay looked down at her. She still held the smaller flashlight pointed to the ground at his feet, but it gave enough light so he could see her eyes. She might not be looking at him with love, but there was certainly concern in her eyes. He supposed that was something.

“I won't be long,” Clay said.

“Wait,” the woman inside the truck demanded, her voice strained.

Clay and Rene both looked at her.

“You can't leave without kissing each other,” Mandy said. She sounded a little frantic. “My Davy and I didn't kiss. And now he's out there lost and I didn't even kiss him goodbye.”