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

him a look
of relief.
    “ I’ll be right back,”
Samantha leaned over to kiss Valerie’s cheek. “Love you
Val.”
    “ Okay,” Valerie smiled at
Samantha. She walked to Mike. He kissed her and left with Samantha.
“Hi Blane. How are you feeling?”
    “ Hi Val,” Blane smiled.
“This is my friend Camila. She’s a mid-wife that I work with.
Together, we’ve helped deliver more than a hundred babies this
year. I wondered if you might want her to help you with the
baby.”
    “ Sure,” Valerie smiled.
“When we get there, but I don’t think it will be for a long, long
time. I’d understand if you don’t want to wait.”
    “ Why don’t you let us take
a look?” Blane asked.
    “ Oh sure,” Valerie said.
“We can go to the office with Sami. That way I can help pick out
paint too.”
    An involuntary groan
escaped Valerie’s lips but her bright smile never faded. Blane
nodded to Camila and took Valerie’s left side. Camila took
Valerie’s right side. Together, they negotiated the loft stairwell
and started down the brick path to the Castle. Tanesha ran out of
the house to take Camila’s place. The midwife ran into the Castle.
She stopped to talk to Jacob and they rushed inside.
    “ I love this time of year
in the garden,” Valerie said. “Everything is so beautiful. You guys
want to stay out here for a while?”
    “ I think they’re pretty
anxious to get the paint color picked out,” Blane said.
    “ Okay,” Valerie said.
“Let’s come out when we’re done.”
    “ You bet,” Tanesha
said.
    They helped Valerie up the
spiral staircase and to the deck of their recently discovered
office space. Tanesha opened the door and Valerie stepped
through.
    “ Gosh, this is gorgeous,”
Valerie said. “Really perfect. Everyone did such a nice
job.”
    “ Hey Val,” Jacob said.
“Why don’t you come in here so that Camila can check
you?”
    “ Okay,” Valerie beamed at
him
    Valerie stepped into the
room. Before she could say or do anything, Jacob closed the door
leaving her in the room with the midwife. Valerie
panicked.
    “ Please,” Camila placed
her hand on the examination table.
    “ But . . . ”
    “ Your baby is ready to be
in the world,” Camila said. “Are you not ready for her?”
    “ I . . . ” Valerie blinked at the small
woman. She shook her head.
“I . . . ”
    “ Your brother thinks you
don’t want to lose your mother again,” Camila said. “Is this
true?”
    “ My mother came just a
couple of days ago and . . . ” Valerie’s eyes
welled with tears. “She . . . ”
    “ I love my Mother very
much too,” Camila said. “She came to me when I had my children. I
didn’t want to have them so I could spend more time with
her.”
    Valerie walked to the
examination table. With Camila’s help, she got on the
table.
    “ What was your mother
like?” Camila asked.
    “ My mother
was . . . is . . . smart and kind,”
Valerie smiled. “She worked really hard but she always had time for
me. She’d wake me up every day and was there every night when I
went to bed. When I left for college, she would call me every
Sunday to remind me to do my laundry. I never thought for a moment
that she didn’t love me, you know like most girls do. She was the
source of everything I did.”
    “ But she never smothered,”
Camila touched Valerie’s arm and she lay back on the
table.
    “ Right,” Valerie said.
“Everybody was jealous because I had such a great mother, and a
great Dad but Mom was . . . I mean everyone loved
her and . . . ”
    “ You can’t bear to say
good-bye again,” Camila said.
    “ My brother and Delphie,
you know about them?” Valerie asked.
    “ Delphinium is well known
to me,” Camila leaned over conspiratorially. “I sent my daughters
to her when they were going to get married. She talked my youngest
into waiting another year. Good thing too. Her boyfriend’s other
girlfriend got pregnant.”
    “ And now?”
    “ She’s with a