Lover of My Dreams (36 page)

Paulette smiled and shook her head. “Actually, Roy has arranged for someone from our church to come in and spend time with me and do things for me while he’s at work,” she said, sniffing a little as she wiped at her eyes. “I feel like such a failure. I can’t even take care of the house or Roy or even myself or the baby.”

“Paulette,” Rachel stopped her, touching her hand gently. “Look at what you’re doing. You’re carrying a life inside of you. Do you know what a miracle that is? Do you know what joy you’re bringing Roy? Do you know what a wonderful mother you’re going to be?”

Paulette looked down at Rachel as she knelt before her. “You think so?” she whispered.

“Absolutely,” Rachel answered without hesitation.

Rachel stood and pulled a chair next to Paulette to sit down beside her. She watched her silently for a moment then reached out to pull at the end of her sleeve.

“You knew you were going to take a risk before you got pregnant, and you knew that you would have to be extra careful so that both you and the baby would be healthy,” Rachel reminded her. “Having a little help will make sure that the both of you will be around to enjoy family life with my crazy cousin.”

Paulette laughed and leaned back, rubbing her neck tiredly as she looked across the table at Rachel. “I guess so,” she finally admitted. She smiled and nodded and was glad to see that Rachel was smiling too.

“What about you?” Paulette asked her quietly, making sure that neither Roy nor Sam could overhear their conversation. “How are you doing? Do you feel okay?”

“I was sore for quite a while,” Rachel admitted quietly. “But I’m doing much better. See, the bruises are almost gone. You can barely see them anymore.” She offered her face to Paulette and turned to allow her to see the faint yellow hue along her cheekbones. “It will take a while to get through the days and the nights without thinking about what happened with Richard. Sometimes I can still feel him on top of me.”

Paulette reached out and held her hand. “What a slime!” she said vehemently.

Rachel burst out laughing. “My sentiments exactly.”

“Do you think you should talk to someone about the attack? How are you doing with the emotional part of it?”

“I’m not sure. It’s hard sometimes to stop thinking about it, but things have really changed this past week. I seem to have other things to occupy my time and my mind now.”

“I can see that you do.”

Rachel smiled, blushing slightly. “It’s so nice that we’re all together again,” she told her honestly. “Sam has changed though. He’s still the same guy and still teases me and all that, it’s just, I don’t know. He just seems so defeated.”

Paulette nodded and lowered her voice to speak so softly that Rachel had to lean forward to hear her. “That’s because of Allison,” she explained. “She really did a number on his self-esteem. I don’t know the whole story, but Roy was really mad when he hung up with Sam at Christmas.”

“Why?” Rachel whispered.

“Something about his father and his money, and Allison didn’t want Sam to leave the hospital.”

“But Sam and his father never agreed on anything,” Rachel shook her head, confused. “It had to be something more.”

“I think so, too,” Paulette admitted. “I think it was something personal. Sam has always been a deep guy. She had to have done or said something really awful.”

Rachel nodded as she gazed toward the living room where she could hear Roy and Sam’s deep voices. They had both cared for her when she was a kid, and they were still protective of her. She felt the same way about them.

“Did you kiss him yet?” Paulette’s voice startled her out of her thoughts.

“Paulette, you’re something else!”

“Well, did you?” Paulette asked. “Come on. You can tell me.”

Rachel smiled at Paulette as she rubbed her tummy absentmindedly. She leaned in toward her cousin’s wife, her shoulder touching Paulette’s as she paused inches from her ear to whisper her answer.

“Yes, I did.”

Paulette’s brown eyes sparkled with excitement. “How was it?”

Rachel laughed and reached out to touch Paulette’s shoulder as she leaned in closer to her. Paulette held her breath in anticipation.

“It was wonderful,” Rachel whispered. “He is so tender he makes me want to cry. I have to be careful because I know I’m going to get too involved and make things more than they are. I’ll be upset enough when I go back home.”

“You don’t have to go back,” Paulette told her seriously, leaning back to look at her. “Stay here. Roy and I would love to have you stay with us until you’ve found a place of your own and settle in. It would be great. Our baby will get to know his Aunt Rachel. You’ve always wanted to come back here to live anyway, and we would get to see you all the time instead of just in the summer. That way you’ll be able to see Sam, too, and maybe things will progress very nicely.”

“Paulette, don’t make things more than they are. For all I know I could just be a summer fling.”

“Sam isn’t the fling type, Rachel,” Paulette told her seriously, shaking her head. “I know his only serious relationship was with Allison and that was more than six months ago.”

Rachel looked at Paulette quietly and Paulette could see the sadness in her eyes. She reached out and touched her hand gently.

“What’s wrong, Rachel?”

“I’m afraid to hope for anything, Paulette. I think it would be best if I just enjoy what I can for now and go back home and be happy that I had a nice summer. I’ve never had any luck with men, you know that.”

“Not all of your dates turned out so bad,” Paulette insisted.

“Really?” Rachel smirked as she faced her friend.

“What about Ernie? He always supported your independence.”

“Sure he did,” Rachel agreed. “He encouraged the fact that I was able to support myself and bring in a comfortable salary. He was the master of Dutch treat.”

“But he supported women’s rights,” Paulette reminded her.

Rachel laughed a brittle laugh. She shook her head and leaned back to look at Paulette’s eager face. “Paulette, his famous quote to me was ‘You are woman, hear you roar, open your own damn door!’ Can you believe that guy?”

Paulette’s face registered immediate shock then she burst out laughing. Rachel couldn’t help but join in the laughter. The awful dating history that she had was certainly a great source of humor for them both now that she wasn’t actually experiencing it.

“Okay, I guess your dates really did stink,” Paulette conceded, wiping away the tears of laughter from her eyes as she spoke.

“That’s an understatement if ever there was one,” Rachel admitted, laughing. She was enjoying herself completely. She always had fun with Paulette. She was the sister she never had.

The oven timer rang, interrupting them. Rachel stood and opened the oven door. She grabbed for the oven mitts and put them on then reached into the oven to remove the roasting pan. She sniffed the delicious aroma as she set the pan on the top of the stove.

“It smells wonderful,” she said as she removed the oven mitts and placed them on the counter. “What dish do you want me to put the roast on?”

“The platter is in the cabinet,” Paulette told her, attempting to stand to get the plate for her.

Dizziness overcame her immediately, and she had to grip the table for support. She sat back down quickly and closed her eyes to stop the room from spinning. Rachel was beside her immediately.

“That does it,” she told her worriedly. “Don’t you dare move. I’m going to get Sam and Roy.”

She left the kitchen quickly and ran into the living room. Sam stood in alarm when he saw the panicked expression on her face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her quickly.

“Paulette,” was all she was able to get out before both men rushed past her to make their way into the kitchen.

She followed them and stood out of the way while Sam knelt beside Paulette and took her hand in his in order to check her pulse. Roy was holding a cold cloth to his wife’s face and rubbing her arm nervously.

“Sam?” he asked quietly.

“Rachel, get my medical bag from the truck,” he said quickly, taking control of the situation. He pulled his truck keys out of his jeans pocket and handed them to her, never taking his attention off of Paulette.

Rachel took the keys and ran from the house to go to Sam’s truck. She found the bag behind the driver’s seat and pulled it out quickly. She ran back into the house and found the living room and kitchen empty. Following the sound of voices, she made her way toward the bedrooms and saw that Paulette was now lying on her bed. Roy had climbed onto the bed to sit beside her and Sam was just settling her back onto the pillows. He looked up and smiled at her.

“Thanks,” he said, taking the bag from her and placing it on the bed, thankful that Rachel was there beside him. He opened his black bag and took out his stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. He placed the stethoscope in his ears and held the end of it to Paulette’s chest.

Rachel watched in silence, impressed by his calm and his efficiency. When he wrapped the cuff around Paulette’s arm and placed the end of the stethoscope to the hollow of her arm, Rachel stepped forward to kneel down beside him. If he needed help, she wanted to be there for him. She took the blood pressure cuff from him when he removed it from Paulette’s arm and set it on the bedside table.

Roy sat next to his wife and took her free hand in his own, kissing it lightly to try to comfort her. He was glad that Sam was there.

“Rachel, hold this here,” Sam told her quietly, indicating the spot on the side of Paulette’s abdomen where he had gently pressed the stethoscope.

Rachel reached out to hold the stethoscope in place and watched as Sam reached forward to place one of his hands on the left side of Paulette’s swollen belly and the other directly on the center.

“Are you bleeding?” he asked Paulette quietly, taking great care not to panic her.

Paulette shook her head. “No,” she barely whispered. She looked up at Roy with tears in her eyes. He leaned forward to kiss her forehead tenderly and held her hand tightly.

“The baby’s heartbeat is strong,” Sam told her as he concentrated on the tiny, fragile life beneath his hands. “I can’t feel any movement right now, but I don’t think there’s a problem.”

He removed his hands from her belly and took the stethoscope from his ears, nodding at Rachel to allow him to take it from her. Folding it, he placed it in his bag and handed the bag to Rachel. She took it from him and placed the blood pressure cuff inside it. Closing the bag, she set it aside and waited for him to continue. Her hand rested on Sam’s knee, unconsciously placed there in a need to touch him for confidence and reassurance.

“Your blood pressure is a little high,” he told Paulette calmly. “You’d better stay off your feet and rest. Call your obstetrician in the morning to make an appointment to see him sooner than your next checkup. I would advise that you to see him tomorrow. Roy, don’t let her do another thing that will jeopardize her health or the baby’s. Tie her to the damn bed if you have to, but don’t let her exert herself.”

“You heard the doctor,” Roy told her sternly, squeezing her hand tightly in fear. “Please, honey.” His voice was quiet as he pleaded with her.

“Whatever you say, Sam,” Paulette agreed, touching Sam’s hand gently. “Thanks.”

Sam nodded and rubbed her hand tenderly, reassuring her. Rachel stood and wiped her hand nervously down the front of her jeans. She turned to leave the room before anyone could see how worried she was. She didn’t want to make Paulette any more upset than she already was.

“I’ll check on the dinner,” she called over her shoulder as she left.

She almost ran to the kitchen and reached for the wet towel that still lay on the table where they had left it. She picked it up to place it over her eyes, trying to breathe normally to keep the fear from overwhelming her.

“Are you okay, Rachel?” Sam asked her as he entered the kitchen. She had her back to him but he knew that she was upset.

“I’m fine,” she said quietly, placing the towel on the side of the sink and calming herself as best she could.

“Are you sure?” he asked worriedly, stepping toward her and reaching out to touch her shoulder to gently turn her body so that she faced him.

Rachel tried to avert her eyes but Sam had already seen how upset she was. He reached out to touch her cheek gently, caressing it lightly, and she found herself undone by his tenderness. Before she could stop herself she leaned toward him and rested her head against his chest, unable to stop herself from holding on to him tightly. His arms encircled her immediately, holding her tenderly until she was able to calm down.

“Paulette has been through so much to have this baby,” she finally whispered. “I’m so afraid that something is going to happen to her or the baby.”

Sam held her silently. There was a lump in his throat as emotions welled up inside of him. He couldn’t have spoken a word if he had tried. All he could think about was Rachel pregnant with his baby. He would be just as worried for the health of his woman and his child.

Do not worry
, the angel Bernadette whispered gently within his mind.
Rachel will have no trouble when she is pregnant. Your babies will be healthy and strong, and Rachel will be safe.