Page 59 of A Soldier's Return

“Be careful,” Will said. “It’s still pretty nasty out there. I don’t like the idea of you going out in it, either.”

“I won’t let a little rain stop me,” she assured him. “See you soon.”

She hung up the phone as a particularly strong gust of wind rattled the windows of the old house.

She wasn’t eager to go out into the teeth of the storm, but she also wasn’t about to let her friend down. Not when Julia needed her.

He was having a delicious dream.

He and Melissa were walking through one of the dense ancient forests around Cannon Beach, her hand tucked in his. She carried a blanket in rich jewel tones and wore a sundress the same green as her eyes. Dappled light shot through the trees, catching in her hair.

She pulled her hand from his and raced ahead a little, turning around to look at him with that laughing, teasing smile that always stole his breath. He caught up with her and she wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him close, where he was safe and warm and loved.

It was magic here, with a peace he hadn’t known in months. He wanted to stay forever.

His phone jerked him awake and for an instant he was back in his residency, surviving on energy bars and rare, haphazard chunks of sleep.

He fumbled for it. “Hello?

“Eli. It’s Melissa.”

The discord of hearing the woman who had just been holding him in his dreams jarred him. Unlike the relaxed, warm woman he’d been dreaming about, her voice was strained and she pitched her voice above howling wind.

That same storm howled outside his father’s house. He had been sitting in his dad’s old recliner awake most of the night but must have eventually drifted off. He had a feeling he hadn’t been sleeping long.

Eli sat up, his surroundings coming sharply back into focus. Melissa was calling and she needed him.

“What is it? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“I’m not hurt. I’m fine. But Julia Garrett is in labor and apparently the storm has blocked the road between here and Seaside, as well as between her house and the clinic.”

“She was barely dilated this afternoon!”

“Tell that to her baby. Apparently it’s on its own schedule. Now she’s having contractions that are less than three minutes apart. I’m heading to their place now.”

“In this storm?” Fear for her washed over him like a twenty-foot-high swell. Anything could happen to her. She could get hit by flying debris, stumble into a downed power line, fall and injure herself in the deep, powerless darkness.

He couldn’t lose her!

“I’m fine. She needs help. Can you meet me there?”

He was already throwing on his shoes. “I only need five minutes. Be careful!”

“I know. Same to you.”

She hung up before he could argue with her and tell her to go back inside Brambleberry House, where she would be safe.

“What’s happening?”

In the light of a lantern, Wendell stood in the doorway, holding on to the walker he detested but still needed for stability. His father’s hair was messy, and in his flannel pajamas he looked his age.

“I’m sorry I woke you. Julia Garrett’s in labor, and apparently power lines are down between here and the hospital in Seaside.”

“You didn’t wake me. I can never sleep through storms like this. I’ve been in here fretting, wondering how long it would be before someone called, needing help. I didn’t expect it to be Julia. She’s three weeks from her due date.”

He wasn’t surprised that his father knew exactly when Julia was due, despite the fact that Wendell had been dealing with his own health issues and subsequent recovery for weeks.

“It was actually Melissa. Julia called her first and she was letting me know what was going on. Melissa is on her way over there and I’m going to meet her.”

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