Page 173 of Sugar & Shadows

Then we ascended the slope, me hanging on to his back like we were kids again and were out riding through the forest together. The wind hit me, and I realized I was indeed wearing a T-shirt in a snowstorm.

I was not prepared for the commotion on the road. Half a dozen vehicles had shown up, along with several snowmobiles and what looked like half the town. Someone was passing around a thermos of coffee and Mrs. Fitzgerald rushed toward me and wrapped a rescue blanket around my shoulders.

“Where is she?” I whipped my head one way, then the other.

Jasper took my elbow. “In the rig. We’ve called it in. The hospital will have a fetal monitor waiting. They just have to take her vitals before we go.”

I jogged through the snow toward the ambulance, thanking and acknowledging the folks I passed. Walt and Harry were plowing the road back to Route 63 to make it easier for the ambulance, and several others were clearing the tree branches out of the roadway.

My heart swelled. This was my town. These were my people. And they were out here in the dark, braving the frigid temps in the middle of a snowstorm.

Sabrina was already giving the paramedics attitude.

“I’m fine,” she said as one strapped a blood pressure cuff onto her while another cleaned the cut on her forehead.

“She’s not.” I jumped into the ambulance and leaned down to kiss her. “You are in trouble,” I said, putting my hand on her stomach. “You drove into a damn blizzard.”

“To get evidence,” she argued weakly.

I kissed her again. “You could have died.”

“Says the man who jumped into a snowbank wearing a T-shirt.”

“To rescue my woman and my unborn baby,” I growled.

A feral grin spread across her face.

“Guys. Keep it PG, for Christ’s sake,” Jasper shouted. “Sit down, Gabe. If you damage my ambulance, I’ll make sure Ashburn bills you.”

I sat in the seat across from the paramedic and buckled the seat belt, and once Jasper confirmed the gurney was locked in, I clutched Sabrina’s hand and kissed her knuckles.

As we drove along the dark, bumpy roads, exhaustion hit me like a logging truck. Tears welled in my eyes as I examined the woman I loved, bloody and wrapped in blankets and strapped onto a gurney.

I pressed my lips to her knuckles again, unable to stop the tears.

“I thought I lost you,” I croaked.

“You found me.” She stroked my face with her free hand. “I was so scared, but I knew you would come.”

Chapter 46

Sabrina

Iheld my breath and fought back tears as the doctor set up the ultrasound. Since the moment I’d driven off the road, I’d only had one thought. The baby. Okay, two. I was fixated on my belief that Gabe would find me. And he did.

He sat next to me, pale and sweaty. It was late and the ambulance ride had taken a while due to the snowstorm. But they’d cleaned up my head, and while I was tired and a bit banged up, I was mostly just furious.

Furious with myself for even getting into this situation and furious with whomever had been driving that car.

The doctor moved the wand over my abdomen, and I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Look at that heartbeat,” she said.

And with a gasp, I opened my eyes. There it was, that powerful little organ flickering on the screen.

“Thank God,” Gabe said, squeezing my hand.

“One hundred and thirty beats per minute. That’s right where it should be,” she said. “I’ll do the measurements, but as long as you’re still not experiencing any bleeding, there doesn’t seem to be a concern. The fetus is still small enough to be protected by your pelvis,” she continued, clicking and measuring.