Part of Your World(59)

I made confident eye contact with Hannah. “We’re pushing one last time and we’re going to make it a good one.”

I started my countdown. My fingers angled the baby’s shoulders expertly, and then in a rush of fluid and blood, I pivoted the baby into a perfect somersault delivery.

It was a girl. And my instincts had been right. The cord had just enough slack for the somersault. Not enough if I’d let her come straight out—and if I hadn’t been here, that’s how she would have come. Especially if Hannah wouldn’t let Doug help her.

The cord would have pulled taut, and they might not have gotten it off in time. The baby could have had brain damage. Cerebral palsy, epilepsy, intellectual or developmental disabilities. She might have died.

But she didn’t because I was here.

This is why I did what I did.

In moments like this I knew I was doing what I was meant to do. Moments like this made me know that no matter what Dad said, there was honor in my specialty—even if there wasn’t glory.

I quickly unwrapped the cord from the neck and placed the baby on Hannah’s belly and started rubbing the baby’s back. She cried. A good, strong cry.

I smiled. “Meet Lily.”



The ambulance showed up fifteen minutes later. I got the medics up to speed and handed off the patient. When I came out of the room, the whole town was no longer on the lawn—they were in the living room. Daniel stood when he saw me, and everyone looked at me expectantly.

I smiled and put my hands up. “It’s a girl.”

The whole house erupted into cheering. I got hugs from about three dozen people before Daniel saved me.

He hustled me into a corner and slipped his arms around my waist, beaming down at me. “So you don’t know how to peel potatoes, but you can deliver a baby?”

“What, like it’s hard?”

He laughed and kissed me. And I didn’t care that he did it in front of everyone either.

Hannah came out on a stretcher with a beaming Emelia next to her, and as soon as they were gone, the weirdest thing happened. The houseguests didn’t leave. They mobilized. They poured into the bedroom and started stripping the bed, there was someone emptying the dishwasher, someone turned on a vacuum. The smell of Windex and Pine-Sol drifted up around us. The front door was still open, and I could see half a dozen people outside pulling weeds and mowing the lawn. Person after person streamed in with foil-covered casserole dishes, and someone was stationed in the kitchen, receiving them and putting them into the freezer.

“What are they doing?” I asked, looking around at the activity.

“They’re doing what we do,” Daniel said. “We take care of each other.”

Something about it made me feel a little emotional. This was more than just a handful of their closest friends. This was a whole town. The whole town was here.

This wasn’t just a community. This was a family.

Popeye shuffled up to us, holding a toolbox. Even he was helping.

“Hi. How you feeling?” I asked.

He looked at me with one eye squeezed shut. “Nifty coincidence you’re here, wouldn’t ya say?”

He didn’t wait for me to answer. He gave Daniel a knowing nod and then hobbled off toward the garage, mumbling to himself.

“What was that about?” I asked, looking up at Daniel.

“Eh, he’s got this theory about the town.”

“What theory?”

He looked a little amused. “He says the town has a way of protecting itself. That it gets what it needs. He thinks you were here today because Hannah needed you.”

I wrinkled my forehead thinking about it. “Huh. I wasn’t actually planning on being here today.”

“Oh, yeah? What changed your mind?”

My parents were playing golf with my ex?

“The weather was nice,” I said instead. I tilted my head. “Hey, do you know how to make a quiche?”

He peered down at me. “Quiche? Yeah.”

“Will you show me?”

He shrugged. “Sure. We can make one tonight and have it for breakfast.”

I smiled. “I think I’m going to want you to show me a lot of things, Daniel. There’s a lot I need to learn.”





Chapter 23

Daniel



We were lying in my bed, the morning after Hannah’s baby came. It was eleven a.m. I had guests coming, but not until later today. Check-in wasn’t until three o’clock, so I got to hang out with Alexis in my underwear until she left.

We were napping—we’d been up all night.

I snuggled into her, nuzzling my nose into her neck. She made a happy groaning noise and rolled over, and the second I had her lips in reach, I kissed her.

We were exclusive.

I couldn’t stop smiling.

I knew being exclusive wasn’t everything. It wasn’t a title. It wasn’t boyfriend, girlfriend. But it meant I wasn’t competing with anyone else, not for her attention or her time. Maybe it meant she’d come down more—maybe she’d even ask me to visit her.

But most of all I was glad there was nobody else, because the idea of it made me feel fucking unhinged. I didn’t realize how much of a relief it was until it was off the table. I don’t think I allowed myself to think too much on the fact that she may be seeing other people because I didn’t feel like I was in any position to ask her not to.