Trusting Love, page 5
Pink tinged her cheeks as she made room for the inner tube, reminding him of the wholesome touch of innocence that had first attracted him to her when they’d met at Samaritan Hospital. It was that quality that had prompted him to ask her roommate, Kate, out, rather than Autumn. Kate was more of a party girl. He knew she wouldn’t expect anything long term and that observation proved true. Contrary to the scuttlebutt that had spread through the Labor and Delivery wing, his breakup with Kate bruised her ego far more than her heart.
Autumn had struck him as a long-time kind of woman, and he’d known they both were at Samaritan temporarily. That thought had made it easier on him when she’d turned him down when he’d asked her out. He’d known that his timing wasn’t right, but there was something about Autumn that had compelled him to ask anyway.
“There.” She stepped back, causing him to jump out of the way.
He hadn’t realized how close together they were standing.
She waved over the cleared-out spot next to the beach bag. “I have to pick the twins up from daycare on my way home and take them to their swim lesson at the lake. Anne has a web conference after her class this morning.”
Jon bit back a smile, getting a bittersweet kick out of the easy way Autumn went on about her family without knowing she was doing it. He lifted the tube into the car, and she closed the hatch.
Autumn got in and started the vehicle. “The visit is up in Schroon Falls. If you’ve driven Route 9 from the medical center in Saranac Lake, you’ve gone through it.”
“No, I’ve always taken the interstate.”
“The Northway is a lot faster.”
His mind went back to Friday when the drive to Crowne Point had seemed interminable on the interstate Autumn called the Northway. “I take it your visit this morning isn’t off the interstate.”
“Right, but unless time is a real factor, I tend to avoid the Northway. I get that from my dad. He never takes a highway if he can take a byway. It drives Anne crazy sometimes.”
He could see that. In the case of these home visits, unnecessary time on the road would mean less time with that patient or another patient or in the office. “But you take the interstate when you’re called for a delivery.” He figured that was a given.
She shrugged. “It depends. We usually have time.”
Jon shifted in his seat. She seemed so nonchalant about it. As he was all too aware, a birth could be a life and death situation. Of course, rural Upstate New York wasn’t rural Haiti. He looked out the window at the mountain rising to his right. But it wouldn’t be unusual for a home-delivery patient’s house to be an hour from lifesaving equipment at the birthing center or the medical center in Saranac Lake.
The natural break in their conversation drew out into a lull that made the drive time drag. Might as well check in with the office. He pulled out his smartphone and touched the mail app, tapping the side of the phone while he waited for it to open. It took a moment for him to notice the no-signal icon in the right-hand corner.
“Do you often have trouble getting reception around here?”
“All the time,” Autumn said. “It doesn’t matter which service you use.”
“That could be a problem.”
“If you need to make a call, I’m sure Megan would let you use her house phone. We’ll be there in five minutes.”
“It’s not important. I was trying to check my office e-mail. What I meant was for being on call.”
“It can be challenging. No one around here depends solely on a cell phone. Kelly and I give our expectant parents our home landline numbers and our cell numbers, in addition to the office number. If I’m at Dad’s or Aunt Jinx’s or a friend’s, I’ll often set my cell phone to forward my calls there to make sure I get them. Of course, the birthing center’s off-hours answering service has all of our numbers.”
Jon couldn’t imagine giving his former practice’s service a friend’s phone number or any of his family members’ numbers, even if he were close to them. It seemed unprofessional. “I guess that’s the best you can do. A pager service wouldn’t work any better.”
Autumn’s expression hardened. “It isn’t that big of a deal. People get a hold of us. Neither Kelly nor I have missed a birth yet.”
He couldn’t shake the thought that they could, or he could, and of the possible consequences. His cousin had died because she didn’t have a doctor at her birth to manage the complications. “I’d better call the phone company and have the landline connected.”.
“Good idea. The house we’re going to is right up here.” Autumn turned left on Peaks Hill Road and followed it to the end, stopping in front of a small boxy house.
He looked at the solar collectors on the roof. “Your dad’s work?”
She wrinkled her forehead in puzzlement. “Oh, the collectors. No. Dave, the new father, said he’d bought the system online and installed it himself. He’s interested in talking with Dad.”
Jon’s gaze went from the gleaming collectors to the blistered peeling paint on the cottage and the dip in the wooden step to the front door.
“Ready?” she asked, swinging her door open.
He followed suit and stepped out of the car, walking around to meet her at the trunk.
She clicked the hatch open and grabbed her stethoscope from the EMT bag and a black and white pull-behind suitcase with pink hearts and a cartoon cat on it.
He tried to keep a straight face.
“Hello Kitty.” Autumn nodded at the bag. “My sister, Sophie, picked it for my last birthday. She thought my brown one was too dull.”
“That one isn’t dull.” He let the smile spread across his face and received a matching one from Autumn. His heartbeat ticked up a notch. He pulled his gaze from her and perused the trunk. “Need anything else?”
“Yes, can you grab the scale? It’s there under the inner tube.”
He reached under the tube for the scale, glad to have something to occupy his attention. Seriously. Undone by a smile. He’d thought himself too jaded for that.
Autumn walked ahead of him to the house. He placed his foot on the step gingerly, feeling it give a bit from his weight. She knocked on the screen door.
“Hi.” A teenager in a baggy t-shirt and cut-off sweatpants swung the door open for them. She pushed a strand of hair from her forehead. “Sorry about how I look. I don’t have anything else that fits comfortably. And I am not going to wear maternity clothes.”
This was the new mother?
Autumn laughed. “Someone should have told you that.”
“They did.” She grimaced. “But I didn’t believe them. I exercised and watched what I ate the whole pregnancy.”
At second glance, the girl didn’t look quite as young. He was just used to the 30- and 40-something professional woman he tended to see at his last practice.
“So, who’s your friend?” The girl motioned to Jon.
Evidently, Autumn hadn’t called ahead to tell her he was coming along.
“I’m sorry,” Autumn said. “Megan, this is Dr. Hanlon from the Ticonderoga Birthing Center. He’s interested in learning more about Kelly’s and my home-birth practice.”
The grin left Megan’s face. Autumn should have cleared his coming with the mother. And he should have thought first before he’d decided to come. A free birther wouldn’t welcome an obstetrician tagging along. And he couldn’t stay without the mother’s agreement.
“I don’t have to stay if it makes you uncomfortable.” Of course, he had no idea what he’d do for the two hours Autumn had said the visit would take.
A gusty wail sent Megan rushing from the room before she could respond, leaving Jon and Autumn in the middle of the room facing each other.
Autumn spoke first. “I should have called and cleared your coming with Megan.” But she’d been too peeved at Kelly for suggesting she take Jon.
“Yes, you should have.”
Autumn tensed. Even if she was in the wrong, he didn’t have to agree so readily. She waited for him to lecture her on medical protocol as she’d heard him do more than once during their time at Samaritan.
“You can unclench your hands.” He smiled the killer smile that she’d insisted to the other nurses at Samaritan had no effect on her. “What do you propose we do?” he asked.
Autumn relaxed her hands, warming at his acknowledgement that she was the person in control here. Except she wasn’t in control, nor was her reaction to Kelly’s suggestion Jon come on the visit very professional. “Let’s leave it up to Megan. We should respect her wishes.”
“Definitely,” he agreed.
“There you go. All nice and dry,” Megan crooned as she returned, patting her son on the bottom.
Autumn held out her hands and took the baby from his mother’s arms. “Looking good,” she said, holding the little boy so that Jon could see him.
Jon rocked back on his heels and nodded slightly in the direction of the baby.
She wasn’t sure what that was about.
“Isn’t he perfect?” the new mother asked looking from Autumn to Jon and back to her son.
Autumn drilled her gaze into Jon’s. If he wanted to observe the visit, admiring the baby would be a good start in getting Megan to agree.
Jon cleared his throat. “He’s a good-sized boy, and his color looks healthy.”
Autumn resisted the inclination to roll her eyes at Megan. “I apologize for not checking ahead to ask about bringing Dr. Hanlon.”
“Jon,” he said, turning his smile on the young mother.
Her expression softened. “That’s okay.” She turned to Jon. “You’re just here to observe, right?”
That was it? One smile from Jon and Megan was fine with him being here? Autumn focused her attention on the infant in her arms, looking into his blue eyes as if he could give her an answer.
“That was the idea,” Jon said, his tone light and, to Autumn’s ears, flirtatious.
What’s wrong with me? she silently asked the baby. Jon wasn’t flirting and, if he was, why should she care? The infant scrunched his face as if he were going to cry. Right. It was Jon’s attitude. She continued her unspoken conversation. The fact that he obviously thought his good looks were a balm to the situation. And that it seemed to be true.
“Is Dave going to join us?” Autumn asked.
“No, he got a call for work last night, framing a new camp on the lake.” Megan hesitated. “We figured it was okay for him to go, since you’d be here this morning, and I’m sure Mom will stop by this afternoon on her way home from work.”
Autumn caught Jon’s thin-lipped expression before Megan did. He must not approve of Dave not being here. While it was nice to have someone to help with a newborn, from what she’d seen, Autumn was sure Megan would be fine by herself for the day.
“Dave does construction and lawn care during the summer,” Megan said as if she had to explain. “We’ve had so much rain this year that he hasn’t had a lot of work.”
Autumn glared at Jon before turning to the new mother with a cheery, “Let’s take a look at this guy. Can I use the changing table in the bedroom?” Autumn had used the beautiful maple table to examine the baby following his birth.
Megan gazed sideways at Jon. “Ah, the bed isn’t made. We went back to sleep for a while after Dave left for work.”
Autumn forced a laugh. “We’re here to see you and the baby, not to check on your housekeeping. I’ll wash up in your bathroom and meet you in the bedroom.”
“Okay.” Megan stepped toward the bedroom.
“Jon, can you bring the scale?” Autumn pointed to where they’d left it by the door when they’d come in.
“Yeah, sure.”
Megan already had the baby on the changing table when Autumn joined her and Jon. She started undressing him. “This is a really cute onesie.”
Megan beamed. “Yes, don’t you love the little blue and yellow elephants? I bought it at the Hazardtown Community Church bargain shed. Mom said newborns outgrow things so fast, we should get as many things as we could there.”
Autumn placed the baby in the sling of the scale Jon was holding ready. A frown marred his handsome face. “I know what you mean. Gram saved all of Aunt Jinx’s clothes. She’s only eight years older than I am. Dad didn’t have to buy me anything new himself until I was ready for kindergarten.”
“My sister gave me some things, too. But my nephew’s hard on clothes, hard on everything.”
“Do you want to record the weight?” Jon asked. “Seven pounds, fifteen ounces.”
Autumn reached in the messenger bag slung over her shoulder for her iPad and came up empty. “I left my iPad at the office.”
“I have some paper in the kitchen,” Megan said.
“No need,” Jon said. “My note pad is in my back pocket.”
Autumn knew she had no reason to be irritated with Jon being prepared, but she was, probably because she was unprepared.
He held the scale with one hand and reached around for the pad. “Here you go. Do you need a pen?”
“No, I have one.”
“That’s seven pounds, fifteen ounces,” Jon repeated.
Autumn pressed the pen to the pad and wrote the baby’s weight.
“You can check his birth weight when you get back to the office,” Jon added.
Autumn wanted nothing better than to tell Jon the baby’s birth weight, but she couldn’t remember whether it was seven pounds, thirteen ounces or fourteen ounces. She was Megan’s health care provider, not Jon. Well, Kelly was, actually, since she’d done the delivery. Autumn had assisted as the delivery nurse. A moment of darkness pressed on her. She could have done the delivery. Kelly had offered.
“He’s gained two ounces since Saturday,” Megan said.
The new mother’s words put Autumn back on task. She finished her notation and picked up the baby. “Sounds like the nursing is going well.” Autumn placed the baby on the changing table and examined him, noting his length and other vitals.
“No problems. He’s eating about every three hours.”
“Good. And the belly button is healing well.” Autumn checked the baby’s reflexes and redressed him. “You’ve made an appointment with your pediatrician?”
“With our family practitioner, Dr. Aikens, for a week from this coming Friday.”
Jon’s eyes narrowed. “Not a pediatrician?” he asked.
That was true to form. One thing Autumn had learned about him at Samaritan was that he favored using specialists, even if they weren’t called for.
“Dr. Aikens is great with kids,” Autumn said. “My stepmother and aunt both take their kids to her.”
Jon was going to have to learn that practicing at the Ticonderoga center was going to be different than the suburban downstate practice he’d been with before coming here.
Autumn picked up the baby. “Let’s go into the other room to talk. I want to go over a few things with you.”
Autumn and Megan sat on the couch and Jon took the recliner across from them, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees. The baby started fussing rubbing his face back and forth on Autumn’s shoulder. She patted his back.
“He may be hungry.” Megan reached over and took him. “I guess not,” she said when he showed no interest in eating but continued to fuss. “Maybe if I walk him. That’s what Dave’s been doing when he’s fussy and doesn’t want to eat or need a diaper change.”
“I have a better idea,” Autumn said. “Dr. Hanlon, would you do the honors?” She took the baby back from Megan, stood and walked him over to Jon. His eyes widened as she handed the infant to him.
“You could walk him outside. He really likes that. Here’s his sunhat.” Megan picked up a little blue hat from the table next to the couch and handed it to Autumn, who put it on the baby.
“All set,” she said.
Jon rose from the chair slowly and walked gingerly to the door, as if he were afraid he was going to break the baby.
At the sound of the door closing behind him, Megan took her hand from her mouth and laughed. “I’m sorry, but it looks like he doesn’t have much experience with babies.”
“At least not after they’re born,” Autumn agreed. She went over the information she needed to cover with the new mother, conscious of Jon’s frequent passes by the front door to check on their progress. “That covers everything. Walk out with me to relieve Dr. Hanlon.”
Jon met them at the bottom of the porch steps. “I think he’s asleep,” he said, his voice low and gruff.
Megan reached up and took the baby from his shoulder.
“Either Kelly or I will be back on Wednesday about the same time,” Autumn said.
“See you then.” Megan went inside.
Jon helped her carry the equipment to the car and stash it in the back before opening her door for her. He climbed in the passenger side and turned to her.
She braced herself for his critique of the visit.
His blue eyes glowed. “I’m really impressed.”
CHAPTER 5
Autumn sucked in a quick breath. She hadn’t expected that.
“But I have a few questions,” he said.
She released the breath and pasted a smile on her face. “Go ahead.”
“Can I have my pad back?”
He was going to take notes? Her momentary euphoria evaporated. She pulled the pad from her bag, tore off the page she’d written the baby’s vitals on and handed it to him.
Jon had his pen all ready. “Doesn’t it bother you that she’s not taking the baby to a doctor for almost two weeks?”
“No. Kelly and I take responsibility for mother and baby for the first two weeks. The whole family, actually.”
“I see.” His tone was quiet without the air of superiority that sometimes crept in.
To collect herself before she responded, Autumn hit the ignition. The engine purred to life. “It’s part of what I trained to do.” She swallowed. The only thing she no longer felt confident about was the main event—the birth—the core of what made her a midwife.
