Read Online Gold Hill by Claudia Hall Christian - Free Book Online Page A

Crazy,” Jill said. “She’s
with Samantha. They were trying to decide what she should wear when
she delivers. She’s in labor, right? And she’s trying on different
outfits with her best friend. I had to leave because it was too
surreal. Mike’s beside himself. He went for a run with
Jake.”
    “ Sounds weird,” Heather
said. “Was she mad we didn’t get all the cleaning done last
night?”
    “ No,” Jill said. “You
remember our housekeeping goddess, Rosa? She came early this
morning right after you left. She looked at the space and made some
calls. It’s now pristinely clean and they’re arguing over whether
to paint the walls today or wait.”
    Heather smiled.
    “ What I don’t get is who
is going to deliver this baby?” Jill asked. “Tanesha’s agreed to
help, but she could really get into trouble if something bad
happens.”
    “ Why doesn’t she have
Camila help her?” Heather asked.
    “ Camila?” Jill
asked.
    “ She’s the mid-wife Blane
works with,” Heather said.
    “ She’s the mid-wife Blane
works with,” Jill repeated. “What are you talking
about?”
    “ Oh, you don’t know?”
Heather asked.
    “ Know what?”
    “ Since we had Mack, Blane
has been working with a mid-wife team,” Heather said. “One of them
is really popular, everyone’s favorite. I don’t know if she’d have
time, but she likes working with Blane. She sees mostly poor women
who can’t afford to have their babies at the hospital. Blane helps
assess the women and then helps with the delivery.”
    “ How does Blane help with
the delivery?” Jill asked.
    “ With acupuncture,”
Heather said. “Don’t you remember he gave me some when Mack
came?”
    Jill shook her
head.
    “ No?” Heather asked. “I
thought he did. We’ll have to ask.”
    “ Maybe I’m slow today, but
you’re saying that Blane does acupuncture
for . . . ?”
    “ The pain,” Heather said.
“I’ve been to a few births. It’s amazing. No pain, no
tearing.”
    “ And Camila?”
    “ Oh you’ll love her,”
Heather said. “Does Val speak Spanish? I mean, she speaks English
but when she gets excited she’s all Spanish.”
    “ Celia made Val and Jacob
learn Spanish when they were kids,” Jill said. “I’ve been trying to
learn.”
    “ Me too,” Heather
said.
    “ I suck.”
    “ Me too,” Jill said. “You
think Camila would deliver the twins?”
    “ I don’t see why not,”
Heather said.
    “ Do you think we should
just . . . you know, set it up?” Jill
asked.
    The women looked at each
other for a moment while they evaluated what they knew about
Valerie and her situation.
    “ Let’s call,” Jill
said.
    “ We don’t know if Camila
has time today,” Heather smiled.
    “ Plus, she can always say
no. Do you think Blane will be up for it?”
    “ After shaking the
anesthesia, he seems fine,” Heather said. “He’s at work with Aden
right now. He wanted to work as much as he could
before . . . well, we don’t know what will happen
next. I’ll call him.”
    “ I love it when everything
works out,” Jill smiled.
    “ It’s what my heart
wants,” Heather took out her cell phone and started making
calls.
    “ Mine too,” Jill
smiled.
    ~~~~~~~~
    Wednesday morning — 10:15
A.M.
     
    “ I think this is really
best,” Valerie said holding up a short floral summer dress. She was
standing in the loft that served as her second closet above Mike’s
painting studio in the carriage house behind the Castle.
    “ Good thinking,” Samantha
smiled. “Just don’t wear panties.”
    Hearing a noise, Valerie
turned toward the door. Mike, Blane, and a small Latina woman were
standing in the doorway.
    “ Hi,” Valerie said. “We
finally decided on what to wear.”
    The small woman furrowed
her brow at Valerie and said something under her breath to Blane.
He nodded.
    “ Hey Sami, we think we’ve
picked out just the right color to paint the office space,” Mike
smiled. “Would you like to see?”
    Samantha flashed