Ladd Haven (37 page)

“
Can I hold her?” Annie
asked.

Casey moved hands and baby toward her
mother who, realizing the cord was still attached, seemed to think
twice. “It’s okay,” Casey said. “Take her.”

She did, ever so slowly drawing the
newborn close to her chest. Gazing down at her, Troy could feel a
swell of emotion gush from Mrs. Foster as she said, “She’s so
light. And tiny, isn’t she? But she’s two months premature,” Annie
said, concern gathering in her gaze as she answered her own
question.

“
We’ll get her checked out
at the hospital,” Cal reassured, “and make sure all is
well.”

“
Yes,” his wife echoed the
sentiment. She glanced up at him, concern not completely wiped from
her gaze. “We’ll make sure she has the best treatment
available.”

“
She’s gonna be fine,” Casey
said. “Thanks to her daddy.”

Mention of the word daddy zapped
through Troy like a bolt of electricity. Daddy. He was a daddy!
Everyone turned to him, igniting a hot rise to his cheeks. “I only
did what I had to do.”

“
You did a fine job, Troy.”
Delaney leaned down and planted a kiss on his cheek. “A really fine
job.”

Reaching a hand to cover the space on
his cheek, he rose. Mildly embarrassed, he replied, “Yes, ma’am.
Thank you.”

Cal clapped a hand to his shoulder.
“Wouldn’t have expected anything less.”

Troy pushed his hat back. “Thank you,
sir. I appreciate that.”

Delaney squatted by Annie, taking a
closer look. “Have you thought of a name?”

“
Cassidy Jo.”

Annie looked at Casey over the baby.
“Sounds strong and capable.”

“
Like you,” Casey said, her
voice whisper-fine.

Tears welled in her mom’s
eyes. “Like
you
.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“
Sweetheart,” Ashley said.
“I have a story to share with you.”

“
A story?” Confused,
Felicity glanced around the table to find all eyes on her in the
most disconcerting way. “What story?”

“
You know your grandmother
was my best friend.” Felicity nodded, momentarily distracted by
several rapid kicks from Emma Jane. Her mom had said as much
before. “The two of us go way back,” Ashley continued, “to our
elementary school days.” She chuckled, momentarily lost in a
faraway memory. “I loved her like a sister. She was my other half.
Closer to me than anyone in this world,” she added
fiercely.

Felicity began to relax. “Yes, I think
I remember my mom telling me.” Now that she was back in the fold of
family and well clear of Victoria Foster’s presence, the knots in
her stomach loosened. She could let down her defenses. Ashley and
her grandmother Susannah had been childhood friends. Ashley and her
mom were close, too. Like the mother she no longer had.

“
Well, when your grandmother
was young, she was real close with Ernie. Looked up to him like he
was a walkin’ angel, and I know he felt the same about her.” Ashley
nodded, as though confirming it as fact. “But Ernie was possessive
when it came to Susannah. He watched her like a dog with a bone,
wouldn’t let anyone get within two feet of her unless he approved
of them.”

“
Didn’t she mind?” Felicity
asked, trying to imagine Uncle Ernie behaving in such a way. For as
long as she remembered, he’d been twiggy, bony. How did he expect
to protect her if someone wanted to do her harm?

Ashley smiled, blue eyes shining with
affection. “Susannah adored Ernie and trusted him with her life. If
he said no to something, the answer was no. When Gerald Foster
started comin’ around, Ernie got a little crazy.”

“
Crazy?” Felicity asked.
“But why?”

Leaning forward, absently fiddling with
one of Emma Jane’s chubby feet, Lacy seemed as intrigued as she.
“Was Mr. Foster not a nice person?”

“
Aw, no,” Ashley said,
waving Lacy off. “Gerald was a fine young man. Ernie’s dislike
didn’t have anything to do with Gerald. Not really, anyway.
Gerald’s only crime was falling in love with the wrong woman and
wanting to spend his every waking moment with her. He and Susannah
were closer than two peas in a pod, walking to school together,
taking picnics by the river... But they were never more than
friends—at least on Susannah’s part. But Gerald,” Ashley sighed,
sliding a quick glance to Fran. “He was smitten.”

Fran nodded, a stark sadness entering
her eyes. “Deacon witnessed it personally. He lived two doors down
from Gerald and used to hear him whistling Dixie when he’d walk
past his house on his way home. Without fail he’d weave Susannah’s
name into the song and Deacon thought he was plumb
crazy.”

“
He was,” Ashley agreed.
“Crazy in love with Susannah.”

“
Why weren’t the feelings
mutual?” Felicity asked.

“
Susannah was sweeter than a
dog in heat, don’t get me wrong,” Ashley said with a swing of her
head, “and she adored Gerald. But she had a wild streak bred deep
in her soul that she couldn’t ignore. Soaked clear through, like
butter in a biscuit, you know what I mean?” Ashley nodded, as
though prodding her to agree. “Ernie saw it, too, which made him
worry all the more over the two spending so much time
together.”

When Ashley didn’t continue, glancing
to Fran like she was seeking permission before she spoke the next
words, Lacy beat Felicity to the question. “What?”

Ashley dipped her chin and glanced
between the two women seated across from her. Felicity and Lacy
held their tongues in anticipation. “Ernie thought Gerald had
takin’ to supper before sayin’ grace.”

“
Huh?” Felicity looked to
Lacy. “What does that mean?”

Lacy clamped her mouth closed, leaving
Ashley to reply, “He thought Gerald had stolen Susannah’s
virginity. Sent his blood a boiling, I tell you he nearly split the
man’s skull.”

Felicity gasped in unison
with Lacy who exclaimed, “I didn’t know that!” Fran nodded
solemnly. “Are you saying Ernie actually went after him
physically
?”

“
Yes, ma’am. Ernie took a
shotgun to Gerald but when the gun jammed, he cracked him over the
head with it.”

“
Oh my gosh!” Felicity cried
out, disturbed to learn her uncle had it in him.
“
Are you kidding me
?”

Ashley paused. “I wish I was darlin’
but I’m not. As God is my witness, I’m telling you the truth. Ernie
was mad enough to hunt bears with a hickory switch that day.”
Casting her eyes to the ceiling, she rolled out, “Well, don’t you
know Susannah nearly lost her mind over the incident. She shrieked
and she hollered, but Ernie didn’t listen to a word of it. He
stared her down like a varmint and said, ‘No more.’” Ashley brushed
her palms together before her. “And just like that, Susannah told
Gerald she couldn’t see him anymore.”

Felicity fell back against her seat,
stunned. Shocked, disappointed, but mostly stunned by the ferocity
of her uncle. She’d always known Ernie to be crusty and grumpy, but
she’d never thought him capable of physical violence. She had
discarded all his threats over the years as nothing but talk. Trash
talk, angry talk. Why, to think that Uncle Ernie could have killed
Mr. Foster was unbelievable! “So that’s why Uncle Ernie was angry
at my mom all these years. Because she married Gerald’s
son?”

“
Oh, Lordy, he was fit to be
tied! Refused to attend the wedding, despite Susannah begging him
for days. Not a chance in he—” Ashley flung a hand to her mouth.
She smiled sheepishly and said, “Well, you know what I mean. Ernie
wasn’t going and Delaney was marked from then on.”

“
I guess,” Felicity replied,
staggered by the level of hatred a man could hold in his
heart.

Yet never once did he direct
it at her. Never once did he raise his voice to her. Felicity
finally understood what her mother had meant all these years when
she said,
You’re special to
him
.

“
After the incident,” Ashley
said, resuming her story, “Susannah was miserable for a few weeks
but she let it pass. Like I said, she was never interested in
Gerald in a romantic light. She only had eyes for Harry
Wilkins.”

“
My grandfather,” Felicity
uttered automatically.

Ashley nodded. “The boy was nothin’ but
a hayseed plow boy, never wanting any more than a wad of tobacco
and a good time. He worked for a local farm, provin’ about as
useful as a back pocket on a T-shirt but Susannah didn’t see any of
it. Harry was a charmer. Reckless too, enthralling Susannah with
tales of his escapades.” Ashley fanned herself as though suddenly
warm. “Lord knows I tried to convince her otherwise. Gerald would
have made a good husband, a devoted husband. Harry on the other
hand was about as reliable as a dime store magic trick.” Ashley
shook her head. “But Susannah thought he was handsome and charming
and her heart was sewn to his.”

“
Did Uncle Ernie know about
him?”

“
Not ‘til it was too late.
Knowin’ the same fate would befall Harry as Gerald, Susannah ran
off and married the boy on her eighteenth birthday.” Ashley shot a
hard gaze toward Felicity and said, “I don’t like speakin’ cross
words against your kin, Felicity, but Susannah could have done a
lot better than Harry.”

“
Uncle Ernie wasn’t mad
about her marrying Harry?” Felicity asked.

“
It was too late. Susannah
had done the deed and he wasn’t gonna force her to annulment.
Remember, she was his whole world. And she was married, which meant
she was Harry’s responsibility.”

“
Didn’t Harry manage the
liquor store downtown?” Lacy asked.

“
Drank half the profits,
too.”

“
My grandfather was an
alcoholic?” Felicity asked, misery sinking into her heart. Was
everyone in her family a drunk?

“
No, darlin’ he wasn’t.
Harry liked his whiskey but he never let it get out of control. And
he was good to Susannah. Loved her with all his heart. Harry just
couldn’t hack responsibility, always looking for the next thrill.”
When Ashley’s gaze dimmed, Felicity felt it coming. “He died
playin’ chicken with a freight train. Tried to time it just right
but miscalculated.”

Felicity closed her eyes, warding off
visions of squashed metal and shattered glass. She had no idea her
grandfather died in such a manner.

“
Was he drunk?” Lacy asked,
cradling a wiggly Emma Jane close to her breast.

“
Not a drop. It was high
noon on a Monday afternoon. But old Harry never met a challenge he
couldn’t lick and thought he was invincible.” Ashley winked. “I
think that’s where your momma gets it from.”

Lacy’s cell phone rang. Fumbling
through the purse next to her, she snatched an aqua encased phone
and pressed it to her ear. “Hello?” Her expression morphed from
prurient curiosity to sheer horror. “Oh no!” Angling her head into
her phone, she sent a shocked look around the table. “In the barn?
No doctor?”

Felicity’s heart stopped. Who was she
talking about? Her mother? Troy?

Lacy burst into a giggle and squealed
to the table, “I’m a great aunt!”

“
What are you talking about,
child?” Fran demanded.

Ashley gaped. “Casey had her
baby?”

Casey had her
baby
? Felicity reeled—but she couldn’t
have—she was only seven months pregnant! Horrible thoughts and
images crashed in her brain. Was she okay? Why was she in a barn?
Where was Troy? Was the baby okay?

“
She had her baby in the
barn over at the hotel,” Lacy explained, phone planted to her ear.
“Cassidy Jo.”

“
Cassidy Jo?” Fran
asked.

“
That’s her name,” Lacy told
them.

“
Is she okay?”

Lacy nodded. “Baby and momma are both
fine. There’s an ambulance on its way to take them to the
hospital.”

“
Well, if that don’t put
pepper in the gumbo!” Ashley exclaimed. “We got ourselves a
barn-birthed baby!”

Nervous excitement sprinted through
Felicity’s stomach. She had a new cousin! Or did she? What would
Casey’s baby be to her? Felicity wondered as Lacy delivered a
blow-by-blow of the events. Casey’s car ran out of gas, she hiked
to the stables, never made it, felt cramps, Troy showed up and
helped deliver the baby. His baby. Troy helped deliver his own
child.

How incredible. How romantic! Felicity
leaned in and digested every word Lacy spoke.

Casey had a baby!

Chapter Thirty

Sitting in a chair, bedside, Troy
watched Casey as she held a well-bundled Cassidy in her arms.
Sitting atop the sheets of a hospital bed, the new Parker mother
was feeding her baby as she awaited official discharge. Swathed in
a lightweight blanket, marked by pink and blue stripes, the baby
sucked from a petite plastic bottle. Her lips moved rhythmically as
fingers wrapped around her momma’s thumb, holding it close. Troy
marveled at his daughter’s size. She was like a miniature human
being, a tiny person, yet she behaved the same as anyone else.
Cassidy drank, gazed at the world around her, wriggled and waved
arms and legs. And she smiled. Or what Casey claimed was a smile.
Troy wasn’t sure how much of a baby’s behavior was intentional or
instinctual but he knew one thing—Cassidy knew who her momma
was.