Love on the Horizon (A Northern Woods Novel) (10 page)

A nurse entered the waiting room
to let Nick know that he could see his daughters. They all stood up quickly and
followed the nurse down the hallway leading to the nursery.

“Only the father may enter the
nursery,” she told the others. If you’d like to wait here, I’m sure he’ll bring
them over to the window where you’ll be able to see them. They’re still very
small and need to stay in the nursery for the time being.”

Nick washed up and put on the
facemask and hospital gown given to him. When he was ready, the nurse placed a
tiny bundle in his arms. He gazed down at her with a look of joy and
contentment. As he moved over to the window to show everyone, the nurse
followed with the other. Two angelic little girls appeared before them, each
with a head full of beautiful jet-black hair. They looked exactly like their
mother. He was so proud, and he raised his head with a smile while his family
gathered closely, to see the two new family members.

When he returned from the
nursery, Art shook his hand while John and Elena each gave him a hearty hug.

“Those are the most beautiful
little girls I ever did see, but how you gonna know which one’s which if
they’re identical?” Art asked, and shook his head with a grin. “Boy, you’re
going to have your hands full with this pair of cutie pies. Have you chosen
names for the little angels yet?”

“No, we haven’t even had time to decide.
Listen, Art, will you call Bess for me? I’d like to hurry into ICU to see
Mariah.”

“Sure, Son. You give her my love.
I’ll visit as soon as they allow me to.”

Nick hurried down to ICU, while
the others waited in the lobby.

Mariah was still sleeping when he
pulled a chair alongside her bed.

“Oh sweetheart,” he said, then
took her hand in his and kissed her palm. He gently pushed a few loose strands
of hair away from her face. “Our little girls are so, so beautiful. They look
just like you, honey. I don’t know whether you can hear me or not, but I hope
with all my heart you can. We have the most precious babies I’ve ever seen. I’m
so proud.”

Suddenly Mariah’s eyes opened
slowly, and a gentle smile appeared on her beautiful face. Nick quickly pushed
the button to notify the nurse outside the door.

“Oh sweetheart, it’s so wonderful
to see those lovely eyes.” They seemed to be clear and observant.

The doctor rushed in and two
nurses followed close behind. “Please step back, sir. We need to examine her.”

Nick moved into the corner of the
room, where he was able to look on. He watched as they carefully checked her
heart monitor, her vision and blood pressure.

“You’re looking great, young
lady,” Dr. Wisenberg said with a smile. “Are you in any pain?”

“Only a splitting headache,” she
replied and softly touched her left temple. “Are my babies okay?”

The doctor motioned for Nick to
return to her bedside. “Here, I’ll let your husband tell you all about those
little ones. While he’s doing that, I’ll arrange for a private room. As soon as
we get you settled, the twins will be able to join you for a short time.”

“Thank you so much, Doctor,” Nick
said with a smile and shook his hand.

He turned back to Mariah and
gently kissed the bruise on her swollen forehead. He took her hand and
interlaced their fingers.

“Honey, those babies are so
beautiful, and they’re identical twins,” he told her with a grin. “They’re
almost as lovely as you.” Nick watched as she tried to control her emotion, and
he could tell that this time they were
happy
tears that fell from her
eyes. He reached over to the nightstand and grabbed a tissue to blot her wet
cheeks.

“They’re identical? Oh Nick, I’m
so excited to see them. What are we going to name them? We haven’t even chosen
their names yet.”

“Let’s wait until you see them,
sweetheart. A couple of names came to mind as soon as I set eyes on them, but
I’ll let you decide when they bring them into your room.”

They both heard the sound of
wheels rolling down the hallway and in through the doorway.

“Which will be very soon,” a
nurse replied, as she entered and a doctor followed with a gurney.  You’ll be
on your way, in the minute it takes to transfer you onto this bed on wheels,”
she said, and winked at Mariah.

Once settled in her private room,
the nurses left them alone, telling them the babies would be in to see them
shortly.

“How are you feeling,
sweetheart?” Nick asked, while they waited for the nurse to appear with their
daughters.

“Tired, but very happy,” she
whispered softly.

At that moment, a nurse entered
the room, with a bassinet before her. She moved it next to the bed, locked the
wheels, then lifted two little bundles and placed one at a time into each of
Mariah’s arms.

“Oh my,” she said softly. She
gazed at Nick, who’d been watching as she bubbled with joy and love in her
eyes. “Angels, they’re beautiful little angels; how do the names Angela and
Allison sound?” She looked up at Nick, and he nodded in agreement.

“We’ll call them Angie and Allie
for short,” he said with a smile, then bent down and placed a loving kiss on
top of each tiny head. “These are the three most beautiful women in the world.”
He thanked the Lord that all of them were safe and healthy.

Nick looked up when a nurse
tapped lightly on the door and entered.

“I think this would be a good
time for the babies’ first feeding and time to bond, Mariah. I can help if
you’d like.”

Nick ran the back of his finger
along a cheek of each of his women, and said, “You go ahead, honey. I’ll tell
your family you’ll be ready for them to visit after you’ve taken care of the
girls. In fact, I’ll walk down to the cafeteria with them while we wait.”

“She’s becoming quite tired, so I
recommend that your family members visit for only a short time,” the nurse told
him. “They’ll be able to return during visiting hours tomorrow, when she’s had
some rest.”

“I agree,” Nick said. “I’ll buy
them lunch and we’ll be back in a few, sweetheart.”

Mariah nodded as she looked down
and admired her sweet little angels.

* * *

Nick sat next to Mariah while the
babies slept soundly in their bassinet. Friends and family noticed how tired
Mariah was, and they didn’t stay long.

“I’ll head home soon myself,
Mariah. Nicky will want to see the pictures of his little sisters, and I do
have to check on the ranch. Art said everything was under control, but I hate
to leave it all on his shoulders.”

A nurse entered the room to take
the twins back to the nursery.

“The doctor wanted them to remain
there for the night, so we’ll be able to keep a close watch on them,” she
whispered, careful not to wake them.

When the nurse left with the
girls, Nick looked down at Mariah and noticed a disturbed look on her face.

“What’s wrong, honey?”

“Nothing.”

“Do you remember anything at all
about the accident?”

“Only the discussion with Anya in
the café. Once we got in her car, I don’t remember a thing.”

“What did you talk about in the
café?”

Mariah looked down at her lap and
pulled on a thread in the hospital blanket.

“Mariah? What’s wrong?”

“Anya told me you were very
flirtatious with her when she came into your office. She said you couldn’t take
your eyes off her. She also said she was with you when you had that flat tire
and that was why you were so late.” Mariah kept her head down until Nick
noticed tears run down her cheek.

He placed his forefinger under
her chin and lifted her face, so he could look into her eyes. With his other
hand, he pulled a tissue from the box on the table and gently blotted her
tears.

“Oh honey, she wasn’t telling you
the truth. You know that don’t you?”

When he saw that she refused to
look him in the eye, he continued.   

“Mariah, there’s no way on earth
I’d make a pass at her or anyone else, for that matter. She was lying to you. I
told her to leave my office and practically threw her out the door. Art had
been about to walk in and she almost knocked him over. As for the tire, Anya
had approached my truck and when she discovered who it was, she stopped to ask
if I needed a lift. I told her no thanks; I already changed it and was about to
throw the flat into the back of the truck. I’m sure she saw that, because she’d
pulled up right behind me.

“Sweetheart, I’d never flirt with
anyone else. You mean the world to me. You, Nicky and now Angie and Allie are
the most important people in my life. I’d be insane to even
look
at another
woman.”

Mariah finally looked up and a
cry of relief broke from her lips.

He leaned down to wrap his arms
around her. “I love you Mariah,” he whispered into her hair.

“I love you too. I shouldn’t have
listened to her. You were right when you told me she’s an evil person. Another
thing, I’m not sure if she actually said this, or if I dreamt it, but I thought
I heard her say, ‘Don’t worry Mariah, I’ll take extra good care of Nick for
you.’ I really don’t know if she’d have the nerve to say something like that,
Nick.”

“You lay back and get some sleep
while you still can, honey. The girls will be awake and calling for you again
soon. I’ll return in a few hours.”

He placed a kiss on her cheek,
and she immediately drifted off to sleep. He pulled her blanket up to her neck,
admired her for a moment then grabbed his jacket from the chair. He quietly
opened the door, stepped into the hallway and headed for the elevator. His eyes
darkened like angry thunderclouds, and the nurse looked up in concern when he passed
her desk. He approached the elevator and grabbed the door as it was about to
close; he stepped inside, his face a glowering mask of rage.

Chapter
Seventeen

Early Monday morning Nick and Art
were sitting in the office, finishing their pot of coffee.

“I’ve been talking with Billy.
I’m sure you know that he has over an hour's drive, to and from his residence.”
Art nodded. “Well, Mariah and I have decided to go through with the plans on
that new house we’ve longed for. The business has been building up nicely and
now with the twins, we’re more than ready for a larger home. We’re going to put
Bess in the west wing.”

“That sounds great, but what’s
that got to do with me? I hope you’re not asking me to help build that mansion
you’ve been dreaming of.”

He looked up at Art then burst
out laughing. “No, Art. We want to offer you the house we’re in now. When the
new one is completed, we thought you and Lillie might like to move in. If so,
I’ll approach Billy. He may want to settle in the cottage. That way, we’d have
our veterinarian here at all times, if he’s willing, that is.”

Art pantomimed wiping sweat from
his forehead. “You had me worried there, Son. I’m not gettin’ any younger. I
don’t think I’d do very well as a construction worker at my age. It does sound
like a plan. Maybe I’ll even be able to talk Lillie into selling her house in
Huntington and moving in with me permanently.”

Nick raised his eyebrows. “Think
there might be a wedding in there somewhere?”

Art’s mouth twisted wryly. “Oh
no, you don’t. You know me better than that – both of us for that matter. We
don’t want to ruin a good thing.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that line
before.” Nick shrugged his shoulders in mock resignation. “Just thought I’d
ask.”

Art leaned forward in his chair
and looked him in the eye. “You ought to know you’re not going to get anywhere
in that department. Now I’m outta here. I’ll have Lillie clean the cottage up
so it looks like new for Billy,” he added when he stood to leave.

“Uh huh… you’ve kept that place
spotless since the day you moved in ten years ago. You’ve never made Lillie do
a thing, except cook your meals, unless you wanted it cooked on the barbeque.
With that, you’ve always insisted no one touches the grill but you.”

Nick threw back his head and
laughed loudly while he watched Art grit his teeth, trying not to snort.

“Well, I’d better head out to the
barn. The men should be here soon,” Art said.

His broken kneecap had completely
healed, and he was back to work. Nothing can keep that man down for long, Nick
thought when he watched him walk to the door.

“Soon as Jake arrives, send him
in here, will you?”

“Sure thing… but Nick?”

“Yeah?” He looked up from his
desk.

“Go easy on him. You can bet that
she hasn’t told him the truth, and even if she has, it wasn’t his fault, it was
hers. Doggone it. He thought he landed himself a real princess. He wouldn’t
listen to a word we said.”

“I know. I’ll make sure he knows
exactly what she did and everything she said to Mariah. Furthermore, I’m going
to tell him about the scene Anya tried to pull off when she came into my
office. He won’t like it, and I’ll try to break it to him calmly.”