Read Online Neal (Golden Streak Series) by Kathi S. Barton - Free Book Online Page A

when Ryland tossed him his cell.
    “Call Sindy. Tell her it’s game time and
to come to the house. And Mom. Don’t forget to call Mom because—” Rayne touched
him as well with her other hand. “Christ.”
    “I want you to pull over and slide to
the back seat. You’re going to let your brother drive before you fucking get us
all killed. And stop barking orders. You sound like my stepfather.” She looked
at Neal. “Drive, and don’t make me have to smack you to keep you in line either.”
    He nodded, and as soon as the car
stopped, he rolled out and switched places with Ryland. When Rayne told him to
wait a minute, he simply sat at the wheel and waited for her to tell him what
to do. She looked at him in the rearview mirror as she sat behind him.
    “Neal, I need you to call for an
ambulance to come to us. Tell them what’s going on, that Mrs. Golden is having
contractions about two minutes apart.” He nodded, suddenly very calm because
she was. “Ryland, I want you to go around the car and lift your wife up and
take her to the side of the road. There’s a picnic table over there, and we’ll
use it.”
    “She’s not having a baby on the side of
the road.” Rayne grabbed him by the hair so quickly that she had him moving
back when he snapped at her.
    “Now you listen here, you overgrown
bossy prick, that baby is coming. We can have it right here in the car where I
might pull the wrong part from the wrong person.” She looked down at his groin,
then at Ryland’s face again. “Or you fucking do what I tell you and take her
over there. Now, big boy, or I carry her myself.”
    Bronwyn laughed. “I like you, kid. If
you promise to do this again to Ryland when he gets out of hand, I’ll be your
slave for life.”
    “I don’t want a slave. I just want to be
left alone. And when he lifts you out of here, you’re going to lose my hand.
The pain is going to hit you like a knife until I can get to you again.
Understand?” Bronwyn nodded and took a deep breath. When Ryland put his hands
under her to lift her, Bronwyn let her go with a cry. She looked at Rayne and
told her to hurry.
    By the time Neal had made the calls,
Rayne had Bronwyn on the table and her jeans pulled off. He tried to stay back,
but Ryland grabbed him. He didn’t think he’d ever seen his brother look so
terrified in all his life.
    “She’s having the baby. I don’t know what
to do.” Neal wanted to laugh; his big brother was falling apart, but then
sobered when he realized that when he and Rayne had a child he was going to
need someone too.
    “Do you have the baby bag in the car?” Ryland
nodded. “Get it and anything else you might find that will cover them up when
the baby comes. And water, if there is any water, then bring it too.”
    He went to stand next to Rayne and asked
her what she needed. “Open that first-aid kit and find me some scissors and
some string. If you can find some wet wipes, that’ll be great too.” She was
still calm, but he knew she was nervous. Her hands were shaking when he handed
her a half dozen wipes.
    Bronwyn screamed, and Ryland paled. The
man looked like he was going to drop over when Rayne barked at him to help his
wife breathe. Neal watched her as she moved from one task to the next, keeping
the mother and father calm while making sure that everything was going well
with the baby. When Bronwyn told her she needed to push, it only took three
really straining pushes and there was the baby.
    The police pulled up just as Rayne
handed the baby to Ryland. She had wrapped her up in one of the baby blankets
that had been packed in the diaper bag. She finished up with Bronwyn as the
first officer assisted. By the time the ambulance pulled up, Bronwyn and Ryland
were holding their daughter and the police officer was taking a statement. This
man seemed to know just when to back off.
    The medic said that everything was
perfect and offered Bronwyn something for pain. She refused him with a smile
and told him