Chapter Nineteen
Eddie
“Let me get that,” Bud York said as I tried to get a large box of produce off the back of the truck. “I don’t want you having the baby in the parking lot.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“Why isn’t Hollis doing this. You are far too pregnant to be hauling heavy produce around,” Bud said with genuine concern.
“Well, Jada is at the vet’s having a benign tumor removed today, and Hollis didn’t want to leave her. I didn’t want to skip the deliveries, so I figured I’d handle them myself.”
“Oh, I do hope Jada will be okay,” Mavis said as she approached us. She’d accepted Jada much faster than Hollis on account of Jada helping rescue Harris Clancy, but Mavis had eventually warmed up to Hollis.
Since Hollis and Jada were heroes, Silver Valley clamored to buy our produce. We still made regular deliveries to our best customers in the city, but the bulk of our new harvests went to York’s.
“She’s going to be fine,” I said. “She’ll just need a few days to recuperate. Thankfully, Hollis can afford to take the time to care for her because we’ve got the boys helping us at the farm.”
“Hollis is going to be a good father to your little one,” Mavis said.
I couldn’t believe the words came out of her mouth, but it felt good to hear. Hollis and I weren’t outcasts, and Silver Valley had grown into a real home for our new family.
The bells over the door of York’s store jangled and Sheriff Tyler walked into the store. “Good afternoon,” he said to me, but gave me a wide berth.
“Good afternoon, Bran,” I returned.
“Give my regards to Hollis,” he said and disappeared into the aisles of the store.
Things weren’t good between Bran and myself, but they weren’t bad either. He’d begun going to counseling, and Hollis had even gone once so they could talk things out with the therapist.
I’d been invited to go at some point too, but I’d decided to wait until I was ready. I didn’t owe him my forgiveness, but I knew he’d get it someday. Just not yet. I wanted to see that he was committed to changing for a while longer before I let my guard down. Besides, I had my own life stuff to worry about.
As I walked out of York’s, I tried to ignore the twinges in my lower back. I was glad that I only had the one delivery that day because the pain in my back was more than a twinge by the time I reached the farm.
“What’s wrong?” Hollis asked as I stepped out of the truck.
I was surprised that he was right there when I got home. The farm had become more of a complex over the last few months. New steel buildings had been erected on the land, and the indoor farm was one of the larger employers in town. Hollis was normally moving around, making sure the operation was running smoothly. He must have sensed something was up as he was standing at attention, waiting for me. Even though he wasn’t working that day, I thought he’d be at Jada’s side in the house.
“It’s just my back,” I said. “I thought I might have pulled it but the pain is coming in waves.”
“Oh my. What do we do?” he asked. “We have to get you to the hospital. Should I call an ambulance? You need to sit down,” he said frantically.
“Hollis, it’s okay. Omegas have been doing this since the beginning. Take a deep breath,” I said. “Why don’t you go get my bag?”
“Okay. Yeah. I can do that.”
While Hollis went up to the house to get my overnight bag, I found Colton in the main warehouse. “Can you go up to the house and watch Jada? Hollis and I have to go to the hospital.”
“Oh yeah, I can totally do that, Mr. Rivers. I’ll have my dad come by with Harris after work. We’ll all make sure that Jada is A-OK.”
The trip to the hospital was a blur. The pain came on much faster and stronger than I expected. Some Omegas give birth much faster than beta women, and by the time we pulled up at the Emergency Room, I was minutes from giving birth.
Harmony Elizabeth Rivers was born late on a sunny afternoon in the tiny Silver Valley hospital. The birth went well, and I was actually sent home the next morning.
Hollis and I returned to the house with Harmony to find Harris, Colton, and Mead sleeping in the living room with Jada. The guys didn’t wake up when we walked in, but Jada did.
She bounded over as if she hadn’t had surgery the day before and sniffed her new sister. Harmony cooed softly when Jada licked her cheek.
My heart swelled, and I couldn’t believe how much my life had changed since I showed up on Hollis River’s doorstep looking for a job. I’d found so much more.