Going to the Chapel (16 page)

Refusing to feel sorry for herself,
Caroline drove straight to Chase’s. She tried his cell twice but
got his voicemail. He was just coming out of the house when she
braked to a stop.

“
Shane is all right. He’s with Mary
Lou,” Caroline announced as she slid out of the truck.

The look of utter relief that
claimed Chase’s features humbled her. He looked weak with
it...vulnerable. Caroline couldn’t remember ever seeing Chase that
vulnerable.

“
Thank God,” he
breathed.

“
He hadn’t gone very far, just down
to my house,” she explained for lack of anything else to
say.

“
Thank you for seeing him back to
the office.” His eyes looked suspiciously bright.

Caroline resisted the urge to
frown. Why wouldn’t she see after him? He didn’t have to thank her
for that. “I only did what anyone else would have done,” she said a
little more pointedly than she’d intended.

Chase blinked, clearly surprised at
her tone. “I didn’t mean that you wouldn’t. It’s just that I know
how you feel about him and—”

“
How I feel about him?” Anger crept
into her tone this time. “What’s that supposed to mean? He’s a
child, why would I hold your transgressions against
him?”

Chase tensed. She could see the
muscle jerking rhythmically in his jaw. “It’s just that I figured
you wouldn’t want anything to do with him. You kind of avoided him
when you were here last.”

Her anger mushroomed into fury. “I
didn’t avoid him. You kept him away from me,” she accused. “You
really are a piece of work, Garrett. You cheat on me, then try to
accuse me of being indifferent toward your child.” She pointed a
thumb at her chest. “I’m the victim, you know.”

“
I’m really tired of taking this
rap,” he said, his voice low, lethal.

Caroline made a sound of disbelief.
“Well, when you dance the dance you have to pay the fiddler, pal.
That’s life.”

“
I did
not
do anything wrong,” he said
hotly.

“
How can you say that?”

“
Because I did what I had to do,
not what I wanted to do.”

She flared her palms heavenward.
“Oh, excuse me, you got the
lady
pregnant, so you had to marry her.”

He stepped intimidatingly nearer.
“I did not get her pregnant.”

“
Come on, Chase, everyone knows
what you did.” She was shouting, but she couldn’t help herself.
“Why deny it now? Just because we made a mistake the other day
doesn’t mean anything has changed. Don’t worry, I’m on the
Pill.”

The look of hurt in his eyes shook
her. “Maybe it didn’t change anything for you, but it changed a
great deal for me. It’s time you knew the truth.”

She faltered. “What
truth?”

“
I’ve never told another living
soul,” he began, his voice hard, determined. “Shane is Slade’s
son.”

Caroline reached for the truck to
steady herself. “How can that be?”

“
He and Tiffany were...” He
shrugged. “She didn’t know she was pregnant until after Slade died.
It was bad enough that the whole town knew he’d gotten into drugs
and gotten himself killed, I wasn’t going to leave his son a
bastard, too.” Chase swallowed, hard. “I couldn’t. She threatened
if I didn’t marry her and claim the baby she would leave and we’d
never hear from her again. I did what I had to do for Slade’s
baby.”

“
Oh, my, God.” Caroline leaned
fully against the truck now. Tears rolled unhampered down her
cheeks. “You should have told me.”

Chase nodded. “I wanted to tell you
the truth when it happened but you wouldn’t return my calls. You
just left and never came back.”

He was right. Jesus Christ, he was
right. She shook her head. “I didn’t know.”

“
Of course, you didn’t know,” he
snapped. “You never gave me a chance to tell you. You just walked
out on me. You called the cops when I tried to explain in
person.”

A new blast of fury solidified her
wishy-washy emotions. “That’s just great. Blame it all on me. Like
it would have mattered if I’d listened to you.”

“
I did what I had to
do.”

He had. She wouldn’t dispute that
assessment. “I loved Slade, too,” she said quietly. “But that
doesn’t change the fact that what you did changed our lives. And as
much as I loved your brother, I’d be lying if I didn’t say it hurts
that you chose him over me.”

Chase started to say something
else, but she cut him off with an uplifted hand. “Don’t. I would
have done the same thing if I’d been in your shoes.” She threw up
her hands in defeat. “It doesn’t matter now anyway. Goodbye,
Chase.”

Caroline jerked the truck door open
and climbed inside. She had to get out of here. She had to
think...to cry. All these years she’d believed that Chase had
cheated on her. She’d envied the woman who’d stolen him
away...resented the child they’d conceived. And all along, she’d
been wrong.

So very wrong.

Chapter Nine

Caroline supposed that it was good
that she’d packed a number of nice dresses for what should have
been her honeymoon. Who would have thought that within less than
two weeks of her own doomed wedding day she would be attending not
one but two weddings. Hopefully this one would end on a happier
note.

Sonny Vann looked very sharp in his
dress blues. There was no best man or maid of honor. There hadn’t
been time for that kind of planning. There was just the minister,
the groom—Caroline turned to look toward the entryway—and the
bride, but it wasn’t time for her appearance yet. Melba, poised at
the organ, waited for her cue from the father of the
bride.

“
Caroline!”

She whipped back toward the rear of
the chapel at the sound of her name. Sherry’s father rushed up the
red-carpeted aisle, a look of abject fear on his face. Murmurs
undulated through the pews.

Caroline was standing before her
brain gave the order to do so. “What’s wrong?”

He seemed to suddenly realize the
spectacle he was making. He cleared his throat and murmured, “Could
you come to the bride’s chamber, please?” His voice cracked on the
last word.

“
Certainly.” Caroline moved around
the end of the pew to follow Sherry’s father. She didn’t miss the
suspicious look Chase tossed in her direction. Caroline ignored
him. If Sherry didn’t make this wedding, it certainly had nothing
to do with her.

The moment Caroline entered the
small bride’s room she knew something was wrong. Sherry was hugging
her stomach and rocking back and forth.

“
Are you having contractions?”
Caroline was at her side in two long strides.

“
Oh, yeah, big time.” She groaned
as another wave of pain washed over her.

“
How far apart?” Caroline could see
that the baby had dropped, even with Sherry sitting as she
was.

“
Not too close. About every ten
minutes.” She bit her lower lip and blinked back the tears. “I have
to make it through this wedding,” she whispered.

Caroline took her hand and smiled.
“As long as your water hasn’t broken, we’re in good
shape.”

Sherry’s expression screwed into a
mixture of skepticism and worry. “Well, it kindda did this
morning.”

“
When?” Caroline glanced at her
watch. It was four-fifteen now.”

“
About ten. But I didn’t start
having pains until about an hour ago. At least if I did, I didn’t
know it.”

“
I’m going to have to have a quick
look,” Caroline insisted.

“
Whatever you think, Doc,” Sherry
said nervously.

Fortunately a small bathroom
adjoined the room. Caroline quickly washed her hands. She had
Sherry lie back on the sofa and Caroline did what she had to do.
Once she’d washed her hands again, she studied the determined young
woman before her.

“
It’s going to be close, Sherry.
You’re dilated to about five centimeters.”

Tears welled in Sherry’s eyes. “I
need this wedding.”

Caroline took a big breath. “All
right. But if we’re going to do, let’s get it over with. No beating
around the bush.”

Five minutes later, Caroline was
back in her seat and Sherry was marching up the aisle. Caroline
watched Sherry’s expression closely for signs of pain or
discomfort. The minister, obviously prompted by the bride’s father,
barely took a breath between sentences.

“
I now pronounce you husband and
wife,” the minister announced in his deep baritone. “You may kiss
your bride.”

Sonny pressed his lips to Sherry’s.
Her cheeks glistened with tears of joy. Caroline breathed a sigh of
relief. She said a quick, silent thanks to God for giving Sherry
her wish.

“
Ohhhh!” Sherry doubled over
clutching her heavy abdomen.

Caroline rushed to the altar, Chase
hot on her heels.

“
I think this baby’s coming,”
Sherry said.

“
Sit her down,” Caroline
instructed.

Chase and Sonny quickly helped
Sherry to a sitting position on the slightly elevated area around
the altar.

“
Should we call the paramedics?”
Chase asked quietly.

Sonny busied himself comforting his
new bride, who was panting short, swift breaths.

“
Get some of the onlookers backed
up and I’ll have a look.”

Chase ushered the crowd back as
Caroline checked the situation.

“
Damn,” she murmured. The baby had
crowned. No wonder Sherry thought it was coming.

Chase knelt next to Caroline for a
report.

“
Call an ambulance,” she said
quietly. “This baby is coming now.”

Chase’s blue eyes widened.
“Done.”

He disappeared, but Caroline didn’t
have time to notice where he went. She had real work to do. “Okay,
Sherry, we’re going to have this baby now. Are you up to
it?”

Sherry nodded. She turned to her
new husband. “Hold my hand.”

With her father sitting on the
floor supporting her back and her husband at her side giving her
encouragement, Sherry Lands Vann pushed and panted as Caroline
instructed. A first-aid kit and a couple of clean hand towels
appeared at Caroline’s side.

“
Okay, Sherry,” Caroline said in
her firmest doctor’s voice. “We’re almost there.” The baby’s head
was out and Caroline wiped the little face and cleaned out the tiny
nostrils as best she could with one of the hand towels. “Now, one
more big push.”

Sherry grunted with the effort.
“That’s good, keep going,” Caroline prompted.

Slowly at first, as the shoulders
exited the birth canal, then in one quick move, the new baby boy
entered this crazy world with a shrill cry.

“
It’s a boy,” Caroline announced,
tears sliding down her cheeks.

From somewhere behind her, another
new mother handed Caroline a clean baby blanket from a diaper bag.
Caroline quickly wrapped the squirming infant in the blanket and
placed him on his mother’s chest. Caroline spread Sherry’s dress
back down over her legs as best she could. The distant sound of
sirens sent relief rushing through Caroline’s veins. She would feel
a lot better when these two were on their way to the
hospital.

“
You did good,
Caroline.”

Caroline looked around to find
Chase crouched next to her. He passed her a clean, dampened hand
towel so she could wash her hands. He smiled so sweetly that
another surge of tears brimmed over her lashes.

“
Thank you.”

He kissed her forehead. A gentle,
sweet kiss. “Let me take you home,” he murmured.

She nodded. Chase helped her to her
feet just as the paramedics burst through the door. Caroline waved
her goodbye to the new parents and followed the man she had never
stopped loving from the chapel.

~*~

Chase and Caroline sat in his Jeep
for long minutes after parking in her driveway. They didn’t speak,
they just sat there and allowed the silence to speak for them.
There was too much to be said, yet neither could find the right
words to begin. Chase didn’t have to utter the thoughts Caroline
knew he was experiencing—the exact same emotions she was
feeling.

Finally, when the tension grew to a
smothering level, Chase slid from behind the wheel and rounded the
hood to her side. He offered his hand and she accepted. The feel of
his palm against hers sent a tingle through her. He held her hand
as they moved toward the house. On the porch he paused long enough
to open the door and allow her to enter first. He closed the door
behind them and a new kind of silence settled over them.

Caroline lifted her gaze to his and
the need she saw there made her weak with want. She wasn’t supposed
to feel this way. She wasn’t supposed to still want him. She
definitely wasn’t supposed to still love him.