Righteous Lies (Book 1: Dancing Moon Ranch Series) by Patricia Watters Read Free Book Online Page B

Grace's doula, start coming to
birthing classes."
    "What's a
doula," Jack asked.
    "He
doesn't need to know because he's not going to be one," Grace announced.
    "You'll
need someone," Dorrie replied, then said to Jack, "A doula's like a
labor coach, usually the father. The doula reminds the mother to breathe right,
and he walks with her, and helps her change positions when she's in hard labor.
Come to the classes with Grace and you'll watch some movies and learn what to
do." She reached into the pocket of her lab coat. "Classes are every
Tuesday night. Here's my card with the address." She handed a business
card to Jack.
    Jack looked at
the card, and said, "I don't like the idea of Grace having the baby at
home. He's a big baby. What if she needs a caesarian?"
    "She
shouldn't," Dorrie said. "Obstetricians insist on having women on
their backs when giving birth, but a woman on her back has trouble pushing a big
baby out, but with an upright or squatting position, she can deliver a big baby
without problems. If there looks to be trouble, you can take her to the
hospital. But it's nice and quiet here, and the hospital's only twenty minutes
away."
    "I'm not having the baby here," Grace
insisted. "I'm only here for another week then I plan to go home and stay
there. Permanently!"
    Dorrie patted
her arm. "The best place for you is here, with Jack to look after you so
he'll be around when you go into labor, which could come early. You're not out
of the woods yet."
    Grace pursed
her lips and said nothing. But after Dorrie left, she said to Jack, "I
feel like you're taking over my life when in fact you've had no personal
involvement in this baby. I'm the one who's been carrying him for almost eight
months, and who went through morning sickness, and have back pains, and
premature labor pains, and who'll be going through hard labor and getting up at
night to breastfeed. All you did was supply a cup of semen, and from the looks
of you, I doubt it took more than a few minutes to produce." She focused
on his crotch, although she didn't realize it until she looked up to find Jack
smiling.
    "Actually
about thirty seconds," Jack said. And the smile broadened.
    His eyes went
to Grace's breasts straining beneath the gown, and for the first time since she
met him, Grace got the feeling that Jack was looking at her as something more
than simply an incubator for his son. To her alarm, she found the idea arousing.

CHAPTER 4

 
    Grace awakened
sometime in the middle of night to the sound of muffled voices coming from the
direction of the kitchen. She recognized the woman's voice as Susan, who
sounded inconsolable. Disregarding everyone's advice to stay in bed, she
slipped her robe over her gown and crept down the hallway to stand just outside
the kitchen.
    Through the
narrow opening in a kitchen door standing ajar, she saw Susan sitting on a
kitchen chair, with Sam crouched in front of her holding her hands, Jack pacing
the long room, a troubled look on his face, and Flo, the housekeeper, standing
in her robe and looking as if she was called in to be the referee in some kind
of family dispute, which she affirmed when she said to Susan, "It's a
terrible mix-up, but give it time. Life has a way of straightening things out.
The important thing is that your baby is healthy."
    "He's also
the child of a stranger," Susan said in a wavering voice bordering on
panic, as she looked up at Flo. "And that woman Jack brought here is carrying the child I should be having who might be
Ricky's cure. It's not fair. I don't want a stranger's baby." Gasps and
sobs stopped her tirade.
    Flo looked as
if she were about to say something more when Sam said to Susan, "Honey,
it's going to be okay. The baby's not the one we planned but he'll still be a
member of our family."
    "I got the
sperm of a dead man!" Susan sucked in a ragged breath, and continued in a
high-wavering voice. "I feel violated, like I've been raped. And that woman Jack brought here has a baby
that should