Unexpected Hope (Book 2 in the Red Valley series)

Chapter 20

Dark eyes watched from the wood line in the east pasture, as two horses galloped from the barn. He did not have to wait long to find out if one of them was using the saddle he'd worked on. A low chuckle rumbled from his chest as he watched the woman struggling with her horse. Well, well, well, it looked like she was the lucky one that got the saddle he'd worked on.

He watched as the woman's horse bucked and reared, finally throwing its rider. Satisfaction filled him as her scream was suddenly cut off when her horse kicked her. If memory served him right, she was expecting. Well, she had been. Maybe the horse had killed her. It would only be fair. After all, Levi had killed his son and Alicia. Others may believe the lies Levi told about how his wife and son died, but he knew the truth.

At first, he'd been furious when Alicia had told him she was pregnant, but the idea had slowly grown on him. Then she'd told him how Levi was going to keep the baby, divorce her, and send her packing back to her father. That's when he decided they should run away after the baby was born, just the three of them. Unfortunately, they never got the opportunity because somehow, Levi had managed to kill both of them. He'd get even though.

He could not take his eyes off the scene unfolding in front of him, not even fifty yards away. It was killing him to not know what was going on right now. He would just have to wait to hear about it in town. He turned around, going back the way he'd come. There was a poker game calling his name.

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Doc Baker set his black medical bag on the foot of the bed, reached in and pulled out his stethoscope. He walked to the bed with the intention of pulling the covers back to examine her, but stopped when he noticed her bare shoulders.

"I didn't see the point in putting a gown on her. I knew you would need to examine her, and I didn't want to risk hurting her." Levi replied to the questioning look Doc had given him. The doctor's eyes moved to the pile of clothes on the floor near the bed. A sheepish look crossed Levi's face as he replied "I cut them off of her. It was just easier."

"You might want to wait outside while I do my examination." Doc said to Levi.

"I'm not leaving. You do what you need to, but I'm not leaving this room."

"Another one." Doc grumbled to himself when he saw the mulish look on Levi's face. Sliding the stethoscope around his neck, he reached down, gently running his fingertips around her back and side of Hope's head. Levi had been right; she had a huge knot on the right side of her head. Slowly he checked each of her limbs, then her ribs for any breaks. Finally, he put his stethoscope in his ears and placed the other end on her chest.

Her heartbeat was strong, that was always a good sign. He moved down to her lungs. Those too, sounded good. The moment they'd all been dreading had finally arrived. Slowly he moved his hands to her stomach, gently pressing here and there. Then he listened for what seemed like an eternity.

Levi was just about to go insane as he watched the older man with his wife, praying for a miracle. It was all he could do to keep his emotions at bay. "Tell me again what happened." Doc said as he continued to examine Hope.

Again, Levi repeated the events of that morning. Each word becoming more difficult than the last, as visions of his wife laying unconscious on the ground assailed him every time his eyes closed. "How was she laying when you got to her?" Doc Baker asked, as he once again listened to her stomach.

"What is it with all these questions? All I want to know is, if my wife is going to live, and if we will be able to have any more children?" His question was filled with emotion. He felt a hand lightly touch his arm, and turned to see Grace Weston standing beside him, offering support. He'd actually forgotten that she was still in the room.

"Her heart is strong, I've found no broken bones, and her lungs are clear. I am worried about the blow to her head; however, I really don't think it was a direct hit."

Relief filled his body. "So, she will be all right?"

"I believe so. Although, I don't know how long she will remain unconscious."

"And, will we be able to have any more children?" Levi asked quietly.

"Well, I'm fairly certain that you will. My guess would be in about four months."

"You mean we should wait that long before we try again." Levi asked his heart beginning to pound. It was a terrible thing to lose this child, but the knowledge that there would be more in the future, made it bearable.

"No, that's not what I mean." Doc Baker said.

"Then what do you mean?" He was becoming frustrated with his friend and doctor.

"I would say that they should be here in about four months." He said with a huge smile.

"They?" Levi drew his brow together in question.

"They, as in twins."

"You mean the baby is going to be all right? She didn't lose it? But how, I don't understand."

"My boy, that is why I kept asking you how she fell, and what happened. You said that she didn't land on her stomach, but her side. That is the only thing I can think of."

Excitement coursed through him! "What! Wait, twins, like you said Anne was having?"

"Look, I told her that I could only hear one heartbeat, but she was either having twins or a big baby. But in this case, I definitely heard two here."

"Are you positive? I don't want to tell her when she wakes up that everything is okay, if you're not sure."

"Levi, the only way I can be one hundred percent positive is when they get here. But until then, I can only tell you what I heard just now. Two strong heartbeats."

A soft knock on the door drew their attention. "I'll get it." Grace said as she walked across the room, opened the door, and walked outside. A few minutes later, she stepped back inside and walked over to where the men were still talking. "Levi, Cole needs to talk to you in the barn."

"I'm not leaving Hope; it will just have to wait."

"You really need to go and talk with him. They found something you need to see. I'll sit here with Hope until you get back."

Reluctantly, Levi went to see what Cole wanted to show him. A few minutes later, he was walking into the barn. "What was so important that I had to leave my wife's bedside?" He asked more than a little frustrated.

Tuck turned around at the sound of his boss' voice. "Come over here and look at this." He said as he walked over to Whinney's stall. "Look at these." He pointed to two puncture wounds on the horse's back.

"What in the hell is that, and how did they get there?" Levi asked, as he got a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"I also found these imbedded in the underside of the saddle."

Levi looked down to see two tacks about an inch long in Tucks hands. "I saddled Whinney. How could those have been in the saddle? I would have seen them."

"Calm down. I was here when Tuck found them, and the only way he found them was because of the wounds on the horse's back. We had to really look for it. So, there's no way you could have seen it when you saddled the horse." Cole said, doing his best to put his friend's mind at ease. He knew how he would feel if the shoe were on the other foot and he did something that hurt Grace.

"Who's been in the barn? I want every man to account for every minute of their time for the last two days. I'll be in the house waiting for Hope to wake up." He turned to leave but stopped at Cole's voice.

"Levi, how is Hope?"

He turned back around to answer his friend, a genuine smile on his face. "Doc said that Hope should be fine and he said that we're having twins."