Amish Country Box Set: Restless Hearts\The Doctor's Blessing\Courting Ruth (39 page)

On an impulse, she went to the computer and began clicking through some of the travel sites that featured Hawaii. She’d always thought the rolling hills, fertile fields and pristine
white farmsteads of the Amish made Hope Springs a beautiful place. It paled in comparison to the exotic beauty of the islands embraced by the blue-green sea.

What man in his right mind would give up a home and a practice there to relocate to this wide spot in the road? No, she might wish he would stay but he wouldn’t. This wasn’t the kind of medicine he wanted to practice. She understood and respected that to the fullest. Phillip would leave in a few more weeks.

Unless Harold asked him to stay.

Was that what Harold had been thinking when he agreed to getting a partner? Was that idea the odd quality she detected in his voice? If it was, he might be in for a heartbreak as big as hers.

Fluffy chose that moment to leap onto Amber’s desk in search of some affection. Pulling the cat close, Amber sighed. It was time to stop denying it. She had fallen hard for Dr. Phillip White.

“Do you want to hear how foolish I am, Fluffy? I may not get stuck behind the sofa but I’m a fool anyway. I’ve fallen in love with Phillip. Stupid, huh?”

The cat meowed softly as if in agreement.

It was foolish. A wonderful kind of foolishness. She’d never felt like this about anyone. She suspected the attraction was mutual. Even if it were, it wouldn’t make a difference.

“He didn’t come here looking for a relationship, Fluffy. He’s doing his grandfather a favor, that’s all. He came out of guilt, not because he wanted to work in an Amish community.”

Fluffy remained silent this time.

“You’re right. I’m going to do myself a favor by forgetting we had this conversation.”

Raising the cat to look into his face, Amber said, “I hope you can keep a secret. I’m going to bed now and I’m not going to cry myself to sleep. I’ll save that for the night he leaves.”

It seemed like she’d barely closed her eyes when her doorbell began ringing incessantly. She glanced at the clock. It was a few minutes after three-thirty in the morning.

The doorbell chimed again. Slipping into her robe, she pulled it tight and padded barefoot down the stairs. It was likely that one of her expectant mothers needed her.

Turning on the porch light, she pulled aside the lace panel on the tall window that flanked her entryway.

To her surprise, she saw Elijah Knepp standing outside, his straw hat in his hand. She pulled open the door. “Elijah, what’s wrong?”

“It is Sophie. Her time has come.”

Amber’s heart sank. “Elijah, I can’t deliver her. Sophie must go to the hospital in Millersburg.”

His brows snapped together in a worried scowl. “We do not wish the hospital.”

“I’m sorry, but this is what Dr. White says must happen. Didn’t you get his message last week?” She couldn’t force anyone to accept medical care. She could only hope to persuade them to agree. “
Ja,
we got the message. But it is not what we wanted. If you say we must, we will. Her time is close.”

“Thank you. Let me grab her chart. The hospital will want it. Why don’t you leave your buggy here? I’ll drive you back to the farm and take both of you into the city. You can make arrangements for someone to get the buggy home in the morning.”

“
Danki.
I will unhitch Dobby.”

“You can put him in the side yard.”

It wouldn’t be the first Amish buggy to be parked in her drive overnight. She’d had a small area privacy fenced at the side of the house for such occasions.

Racing back upstairs to change, Amber wished with all her heart she could give Elijah and Sophie the kind of delivery
they wanted. Being able to do home deliveries again was the one good thing that would happen when Phillip left.

Perhaps the only good thing. She would to cling to that bit of comfort.

Chapter Nineteen

T
he ringing of Phillip’s cell phone woke him at a quarter to four. Picking it up, he mumbled, “Dr. White here.”

“Phillip, this is Amber.”

Her voice brought him wide-awake. “What’s up?”

“I’m on my way to Sophie Knepp’s home. She’s in labor. Her husband came to get me.”

He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Okay. What’s the plan?”

“I’m going to pick her up and drive her to the hospital. Why don’t you meet us there?”

“Sounds good. How long?”

“It’ll take me at least fifteen minutes to get out to the farm. I’d say we should be in Millersburg in forty minutes.”

“All right. I’ll meet you there.”

Hanging up the phone, he headed for the shower. He couldn’t be sure of his grandfather’s motivation for allowing Amber to do home births, but if it meant more hours of sleep, it wasn’t such a bad idea.

After a quick shower, he dressed and jumped into his car. He did think Sophie was a high-risk patient, but his conscience pricked him. She might not get to experience the calm, spiri
tual birth that he’d seen with Amber’s other home delivery patients. Even so, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Halfway to Millersburg, he dialed Amber’s number while he was stopped at a stop sign. It went straight to her voice mail. He left a brief message asking for an update, then snapped his phone shut and drove on. At the parking lot of the hospital, he placed another call to her number with the same results.

Why wasn’t she picking up? What was wrong?

Up on the OB floor, he checked in with the night shift charge nurse. The young woman in pink scrubs smiled at him brightly. “How may I help you?”

“I’m Dr. Phillip White. I’m expecting a patient soon. Nurse-midwife Bradley is bringing her in. What room is she going to?”

“This is the first I’ve heard of an admission, Dr. White.”

“Miss Bradley hasn’t notified you?” He glanced at his watch. It had been almost an hour since he’d spoken to her last.

“No sir, but we have room six ready. Can I have the patient’s name?”

“Sophie Knepp,” he replied absently.

“Do you have her chart with you?”

“No. Excuse me a moment.” He walked away from the desk and tried Amber’s number once more. There was still no answer.

* * *

Driving on the dark roads required all Amber’s concentration. In places it was rough and bumpy. It was easy to get lost on some of these twisting lanes. When they finally pulled up to the farmhouse, Mr. Knepp got out first and hurried toward the house. Pausing to grab her bag from the front seat, Amber noticed her phone on the car floor. Picking it up, she dropped it in her jacket pocket and followed Elijah inside.

It took her five seconds to see that Sophie was well into
her labor. Her face, sweat streaked and red from exertion, filled with relief when she caught sight of Amber. “The baby is coming.”

There was no way Amber was going to put her in a car and risk a delivery on the roadside somewhere between here and Millersburg. Smiling to reassure her, Amber said, “Hi, Sophie. It looks like you’ve done most of the work already.”

Sophie’s only answer was heavy breathing as another contraction took hold.

Pulling her phone from her pocket, Amber started to dial Phillip’s number, but her phone screen remained blank.

Surprised, she tried again. “This isn’t out of my service area. I should still get a signal.”

She tapped the phone against her palm. Nothing. She tapped it harder. Still nothing. It couldn’t be the battery. She’d put a new one in two days ago. Maybe it had broken when it fell out of her bag.

Sophie spoke up. “I do not want to go to the hospital.”

Amber shook her phone again. “I’m sorry, we talked about this. The doctor feels it’s best that you do.”

Sophie, wide-eyed, shook her head. “There is no time.”

Amber slipped her useless phone in her pocket, then took off her jacket and looked for a place to lay it. Elijah took it from her. She muttered her thanks and started laying out her things. Babies didn’t care what doctors wanted. They came in their own good time. This one was going to arrive very soon. She needed to get ready.

* * *

For another hour, Phillip waited by the hospital maternity desk, drumming his fingers, turning down offers of coffee and pacing. His first instinct was to rush out to the Knepp farm, but he knew he’d never find his way in the dark. He wasn’t sure he could remember the way in broad daylight.

He’d spent more time enjoying Amber’s company than
memorizing the twisting roads when they’d made prenatal visits to her clients. If he hadn’t been so smitten with her he’d be more effective now in tracking her down. That irony wasn’t lost on him.

When a second full hour had gone by, he couldn’t wait any longer. Something was up. She wouldn’t blow him off like this. Maybe she’d had an accident. His mind shied away from that thought, but he knew something had gone wrong.

Returning to the desk, he leaned on the counter and spoke to the charge nurse. “How do I contact the sheriff?”

The nurse dialed the emergency number and handed him the phone. When dispatch answered, he quickly explained the situation. After being asked to wait, he impatiently held the line, his fear growing by leaps and bounds. Finally, a man’s voice came on.

“This is Nick Bradley. You think something has happened to Amber?”

“She hasn’t shown up at the hospital, she’s not answering her phone. Did she call 9-1-1?”

“We’ve got no record of that. Stay at the hospital, Doc. I’m on my way. I’ll pick you up out front.”

* * *

Amber was loading her supplies in the back of her station wagon when she saw the flashing lights coming up the lane. Oh, dear. Phillip had pulled out all the stops to find her. At least she knew he cared.

When the sheriff’s car stopped beside her and an officer got out, she gave him a little wave. “Hi, Nick.”

She saw Phillip emerge from the cruiser’s passenger side door. Her heart did a funny little flip-flop at the sight of him. He was a tall, lean silhouette against the blood-red sunrise; she couldn’t see his face.

The sheriff said, “You okay, cuz?”

“I’m fine, Nick. Sorry you were sent on a wild goose chase.”

“When someone tells me my little cousin is missing, I don’t take that lightly. What’s the story?”

“Yes, Amber. What is the story?” Phillip asked coming up behind Nick.

“It was the weirdest thing. I called you on my cell phone and told you I was on my way here. When I arrived, I tried to notify you, but my phone didn’t work. I think it broke when it fell out of my bag.”

Nick gestured toward the house. “Everything go okay?”

“Sophie and her new daughter are fine. They were settling down to sleep when I left. Phillip, I was going to call you as soon as I got to a phone. Thanks for sending the cavalry after me. Even if I didn’t need it.”

He approached and stood close. Softly, he said, “I’m just thankful you’re okay.”

His voice vibrated with deep emotion. He held out his hand. She took it and he squeezed tightly, as if he’d never let go. Amber wanted to throw her arms around him and reassure him with a kiss. Having her eagle-eyed cousin observing them kept her from doing something so foolish.

Nick opened his cell phone and held it up. “I’ve got cell service here. I wonder why you can’t get it?”

“It wasn’t that I didn’t have service. The thing was dead. It wouldn’t work.”

Suddenly, her phone began ringing. Both men looked at her in surprise.

Amber dug it out of her pocket, her surprise equal to the men standing beside her. She opened the phone and said, “Hello?”

“Honey, are you all right?” It was Wilma.

“I’m fine.”

“I heard the sheriff’s office is looking for you.”

“They found me.”

“Thank the Lord for that. Where are you?”

Amber saw a scowl begin to darken Phillip’s face. “Wilma, I’ll give you the details when I get to the office. I’ve got to go.”

Closing the phone, she looked Phillip straight in the eye. “It was not working an hour ago. At least the delivery went off without a hitch. I told you it would.”

A remote expression turned his face to stone. “You had to do it your way, didn’t you? You had to prove I was wrong.”

“What?” Was he implying she deliberately didn’t take Sophie to the hospital?

“I never thought you’d risk her life to make a point.” Disappointment filled his voice.

Amber stood toe-to-toe with him. “If I planned to attend her at home, why did I call you in the first place?”

“Beats me, but it’s clear your phone works. I’ve seen people devoted to their jobs, but you take the cake, Amber. What if something had gone wrong?”

Anger sent her pulse pounding. Crossing her arms, she glared at him. “Nothing did go wrong, so I was
right
all along.”

“Whoa.” Nick stepped in between them. “There’ll be no bloodshed on my watch. It makes too much paperwork.”

Seething, she said, “Don’t worry, Nick. I wouldn’t waste my time trying to knock some sense into Dr. White. There’s no room in that brain with his overgrown ego taking up so much space.”

Phillip’s jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed. For a second, she thought she’d gone too far. When he spoke his voice was like ice. “Take the day off, Miss Bradley. We’ll manage without you at the office.”

“Fine. I’d love to.” Marching to her car, Amber got in,
slammed the door and started the engine. Her anger began draining away and tears rushed in to fill the void.

How could he think she would play such a trick on him? She pressed the heels of her hands into her stinging eyes to stem her tears. It didn’t help.

It had been such a beautiful birth. The calmness, the joy on their faces when they saw their little girl. From their rushed start to the peaceful finish, it had gone without a bit of trouble.

Phillip would have robbed them of one of the most precious moments of their lives because he didn’t trust
her
judgment. He didn’t believe in her skill. He believed she was capable of underhanded deceit and lying to his face.

Slamming the car in gear, she backed up to turn around in the narrow yard. When she had the car straight, she saw Mr. Knepp coming out of the barn with his oldest son. Each of them carried pails full of frothy milk.