Jana Leigh (3 page)

Mark
"Emo" Plater had been his best friend and partner on the SEAL team.  How the fuck had he screwed up so bad?  Brin was his sister?  Ice was sure he would have noticed if he had made that big of a mistake.  It blew his mind that he could have slept with his best friend's sister, not have known it and gotten her pregnant.  Jessie had always used protection, but apparently it didn’t work, which pissed him off.  Not that he had a child, pissed that he wasn't there for everything a couple would share in pregnancy. 

He had watched Marie as she grew with his friend
’s child.  Jessie had been envious at the time, wondering what it would feel like knowing you created a life.  He had missed all that, and Brin had been alone.  There was no way her parents were helpful.  The only thing they cared about was appearances.  Jessie wouldn't let them hurt her or their child with their poison. 

He
vaguely remembered his best friend's sisters.  Granted one was younger and had been in middle school when Jessie first met her.  She had been the 'unexpected' baby for Mark's parents.  Cynthia was probably in college by now.  However, Brin, the other sister, had been quiet and studious, the only thing Jessie could remember for sure was that she wore glasses and had brown hair, not that Jessie hadn’t found her a little attractive, it was just his best friend's sister, making her off limits so he never paid close attention them.  Jessie remembered Mark being so proud of Brin when she received a scholarship to med school.  It was all he talked about for weeks when she started.  His sister was only two years younger than Mark.  They were close.

Jessie
"Ice" James was always careful, his mother lectured him so many times about ‘wearing a raincoat’ it had practically become his mantra when he went out at night.  He repeated it time and time again in his head so he wouldn’t get in this situation.  He remembered the hot girl, she had been the life of the party.  He remembered staring at her, watching every move she made. 

She
had been like a magnet and he was drawn to her.  As she walked around the room Jessie had stalked her, watching to see how she dealt with people.  He had been waiting to see if he even stood a chance with her, if she were alone.  When he finally approached her, she had been alone.  One of his greatest regrets was never actually getting her number or her name.  Now he knew why, she had been his best friend's sister.  She had to have known who he was.

Jessie felt the anger rise in him
.  Had she played him?  Like maybe she was pissed at Emo and decided to get back at him by sleeping with his best friend?  His mind wandered to the possibilities until he felt someone slap him on the back of his head.

He opened his eyes and Drake was driving, listening to the radio quietly.  When he looked out the front window he wanted to laugh, Drake was so going to get a ticket if they were this far already.  The Colora
do border was only thirty miles away.

“
Hey, asshole.”
He heard Emo say in his ear and jumped.  Drake looked at him sideways and frowned.  Shaking his head, he turned around.  Drake looked in the review mirror, and then raised an eyebrow.

“
Emo,” was all he had to say and Drake laughed. 

“
Hey, I have every right to haunt your ass, MY SISTER!”
Emo roared.

Jessie shook his head and replied
, “For once and for all, I didn’t know, she never told me her name.”

“
Just sad, dude,” Drake shook his head and laughed.  “I mean, not only did you get wasted and have sex with some random chick, but Emo’s sister.  Man, that's like a huge no-no.  Even I know that shit.”

“
What about Alex, Sable was Wolfman’s sister,” Jessie argued.

“
Please, they met after,”
Emo said rolling his eyes. 
“What the hell are my parents going to say, you know how they are?  She was probably running from them in the first place.  Mom and Dad probably made her feel like shit, and told her she'd ruined her life, blah, blah, blah.”

Je
ssie groaned, he knew that part was true.  When Jessie met them for the first time, all he could think about was how white and sharp her father's shirt was.  It looked like it had just come out of the package.  In fact, Jessie had thought so until the next day when the man was wearing a blue one just as starched.  Men in the military know their starch too.  Jessie would take his uniforms in every other week, hand them to the older woman who ran the place he went to and said ‘Extra Starch’. 

Their uniforms
were crisp and cleaned every time he needed them.  They had an image to project, pride in the military.  The men showed it by making sure they looked and showed their love for their Branch of Service.

Mark and his father had actually argued that weekend ov
er his choice of careers.  His father didn’t like Mark being in the service when he had so much more to offer the world.  Jessie had frowned and when his friend exploded, Jessie carried him out of the house and down the driveway, all the while his friend was seething and yelling at his father.  It was one of the last times they had spoken.  Their relationship became very strained.  Mark wouldn't have gone home the last time, but for his sisters.  He knew there were times he snuck back into town and saw them without contacting his parents.

When he was killed, Jessie called once from the hospital.  Mark
's father had hung up on him but not before he told him the family blamed him and the Team for Mark's death.

“
I will fix it,” Jessie said with determination.

“
You better.  Drake has the letter in case your plan goes south!”
Emo muttered and then faded away.

Jessie frowned and looked at Drake, “
You have Emo’s letter?”

“
Huh, no way.  I would not do that, man,” Drake argued.

“
Emo just said that you did,” Jessie growled.

Drake shrugged, “
There is the bag.”

Jessie pulled up the duffel and opened it, sure enough on the top of the cloth
es lay a tattered letter.  He pulled it out, closed his eyes, and groaned, “Why me?”

Grant Prime looked around his office and groaned, so much to do.  When he arrived in the small town in Louisiana, he hadn’t know what to expect.  Grant graduated from Veterinary school six years ago, and went to work in Dallas, Texas.  The city was too big, having grown up in Texas, but in a smaller town, he thought he could deal with all the hustle and bustle of city life.  He couldn't have been more wrong. 

Pampered pets, pampered owners, and more importantly, pampered single w
omen who thought because he was a veterinarian he was rich had put a damper on the entire experience.  So Grant sought for a small town that would welcome him with open arms.  What he got was a quirkily little town he had grown accustom to.  Melancholy Township, Louisiana, was the perfect town if you were up on all of your gator reading.  Not that the town was still called Melancholy, the townspeople didn’t think the name suited their community, so the Mayor along with several of the more prominent business owners went to a company and asked if they could use their name, since everyone in town loved their products.  The company had been thrilled, and allowed them to name the town Smith and Wesson Township, Louisiana.  He still shook his head when he actually said the words aloud, or he had to mail something.  Grant wished he could count the number of times he received funny mail after he sent something, people wanting t-shirts etc., just to prove the town really existed.  That was the biggest business they had, sending out stuff to prospective tourists.  Of course, Grant figured it was the perfect place to start a clinic, he had been right.  Now, his office had three vets and clinicians, everything was going pretty good.

The day started like any other day, Grant woke
and drank his three cups of coffee while answering emails for the business from home.  Then he would work out in the small home gym he set up, his short blonde hair and blue eyes seemed to be a draw to the local women, which was why he kept his six foot body in shape, so he could run when they tried to catch him.  The local women called him ‘Doogie’ because his baby face made him look so much younger.  He had recently begun not to shave for a few days at a time, giving his face that rugged look with the hopes they would stop calling him that.

This morning he had looked in the mirror and decided he wasn
’t going to shave yet, maybe if he grew one of those beards like the guys on that duck show, the women would stop using the nickname.  Now that he had partners, he didn’t have to be there at the crack of dawn every morning like he had when he first started.  This morning was not the norm.  First, he dropped his cup of coffee on the table and it ran over all his papers he had strewed across the small cozy bungalow he bought a year ago. 

It had only two bedrooms, and the previous owners had gone with a tropical theme, one Grant had still not changed, the ocean blue rooms were growing on him.

The phone rang and Grant should have known better than to pick the damn thing up.  It was obvious to him after he answered.

“
Doc?!”  He heard Jabo, the local tour guide into the swamps to see gators, as he yelled in the phone at him.

Why the man insisted on
calling him doc was beyond him.  The only thing he could think of was when his dog went into labor and Grant was called to his house because the hound dog was having problems.  He noticed Jabo talked about the dogs as if they were his kids. 

“
Hey, Jabo.”  Grant sighed.

“
Can you get to the house, we have a situation.  I need you there, I am on my way, had to wait for a tour guide to replace me,” Jabo yelled and Grant could hear the panic in his voice. 
Had to be the dogs
, he thought and began gathering his bag.

“
What is going on?” Grant said briskly, walking out to the car and plugging the phone into his speaker.

“
Doc?!” Jabo yelled crackling up. 
Damn cell service
.

“
I am here, WHAT IS GOING ON?”  Grant said putting his car in reverse and speeding toward his patient’s home.

“
Sassy…pain…thinks there is blood…”  Jabo said and Grant pushed down on the accelerator.

The phone clicked and Grant frowned.  Blood? 
Can’t be good
, he thought and went as fast as he could until the Fremont house came into view.  Jabo and Sassy Fremont had been high school sweethearts according to Sassy, Jabo swore time and time again that he had not remembered her until he woke up one morning and she was there.  Then of course, Jabo had a few concussions.

As he pulled into the drive, he
breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the dogs in the front yard, lazing in the sun. 
What the hell?
he thought when he got out of the car,
where was his patient
.  Shit, if Jabo had another gator out back Grant was going to kill him.  This would be the fourth time this year.

Grant walked up the drive and heard Sassy crying
. 
Shit
, he thought and knocked on the door.

“
Damn it, I am coming!” Sassy yelled and he heard her sniff.  “Doc, thank God,” she said when she opened the door.

Grant looked at her tear-stained face and instantly felt bad for thinking everything he had on the way over. 

“Hey, Sassy, Jabo called, said you had a problem?” Grant said gently.

The half
-blue, half-pink truck roared into the front yard, almost taking out the gate.  Grant sighed when he saw Jabo jumping from the cab and running around to the stairs in a panic.  Grant thought it could possibly be by the way he was dressed, in hip water boots and a flannel red and black shirt, that made him look slightly demented.  Of course, he would never tell him that.

“
Damn it, Jabo.  Why did you bother the doc?  I told you my water just broke, we have hours and hours!” Sassy yelled.

“
He is the
Doc
,” Jabo argued.  “I am not having a baby on the side of the goddamn road like those people we keep seeing on the news.  Hell, I just got new upholstery done, I haven’t got the plastic to lay out, woman.”

“
Plastic, this is your kid, who gives a shit about a truck!” Sassy screeched.

Grant tried to ease back and leave now tha
t Jabo was here, he could take over.  What the hell had they called him for?  He was a vet, not an obstetrician.  If he could have been a magician he would have disappeared, this kind of thing made him uncomfortable.

“
Doc, check her and see if she is crowning,” Jabo said.  “If she is we will call the ambulance.”

Grant felt his face go red and then it should have taken a strange shade of green.  There was no way he was going to put his hands anywhere near her vagina.

“Uh, I don’t think that is wise.  I mean…I know what an animal feels like when they are crowning.  Babies are a whole nuther story.”  Grant grimaced.

“
The parts are still the same,” Jabo argued.

“
You are not going to have the Doc sticking his hand up my crotch and checking nothing.  I swear you are a bastard,” Sassy said and reached in the door, grabbed her purse, and swung it wide.  Both of the men ducked, then Grant watched in fascination as Sassy slammed the door and waddled down the stairs yelling at Jabo the entire time about how insensitive he was. 

He just stood there frozen as Jabo led her to his car, a decked out 2013 Dodge Charger. 
What the fuck, that was custom interior
, he thought and then realized as he stood there protesting in his mind, Jabo settled Sassy in the back seat and was waving at him to hurry up.  Damn it, this was when he questioned moving to a small town.

“
Doc, we gotta hurry, she said the contractions are coming fifteen minutes apart, that is bad isn’t it?” Jabo yelled as he rounded his car and opened the door.  Grant paused, closed his eyes, and took a second to gather himself.  He was going to have a coronary if he allowed himself to think.

Grant slid into his seat and almost laughed.  Jabo was wearing his hipster boots and was having trouble bending down that far.  Fi
nally they were settled and Grant pulled onto the main road, fifteen miles to the hospital, and then he could drop them off, and be on his way.  He wondered briefly if they knew how to tuck and roll, then he would only have to slow down.

“
You know, I would never have been in this situation if it weren’t for your sorry ass.  I told you I needed a car in case I went into labor with your child.  But no, you had to have that fuckin' truck painted!” Sassy yelled and then held her stomach as another contraction must have hit.  “You had better have told the doctor to have that epidural thingy ready and waiting.  I wanna be numb and gorgeous when she comes out to meet her momma.  Not like that one show on the TV.  You know a Baby Story or something like that.  Those women look like they have been rode hard and put up wet.  I swear if I look like shit, I am gonna shoot you.”

“
Woman, will you shut up, the men are trying to concentrate up here,” Jabo ground out.

Grant wanted to laugh again.  Sassy and Jabo were the perf
ect couple.  She looked like a pint-size cheerleader who looked like she swallowed a watermelon, with her blonde hair and blue eyes.  Make that Annie Oakley, since she carried a shotgun most days.  While Jabo was built like a linebacker, and had a little beer gut. 

He figured if he remained silent
that they would forget he was here.  Of course, nothing ever went like planned when it came to something like this.  Grant saw an SUV parked off the side of the road.  A woman was in front of the car leaning against the hood with her head down.  She must have broken down.  Grant slowed the car.

“
Doc, what the hell are you doing?!” Jabo yelled.

“
She is stranded,” Grant argued.

“
Well call someone to come out here, Sassy is in labor!” Jabo yelled.

Grant rol
led his eyes, slowed, and that was when he saw the woman in question was also pregnant and there was no way he would leave her here.  Putting the car into park, Grant slid out of the car and said, “Ma’am, do you need some help.”

The most gorgeous woman he
had ever seen looked up with a tear stained face and nodded her head.  She had long curly, blonde hair that he wanted to run his hands through.  Shit, she was pregnant, married, and Grant was thinking how sexy she looked.  He walked toward her and when she stood, he wanted to wrap his arms around her and say it was all going to be okay. She was small, and Grant felt an urge to protect her.

“
I am sorry,” she cried.  “I went into labor, and pulled over when my water broke.  I am in early labor, but I can't drive,” she said desperately.  “Do you know where the closest hospital is?”

“
Course he does,” Jabo yelled out of the window.  “Sassy is having a baby right now too, jump in, lady, we will get you there.”

Grant groaned.  “
My name is Grant Prime, I am the local Veterinarian.  My friends went into labor and called me.  Can I get you to the hospital too?  Do you want me to call your husband?”

The woman snorted
, “My name is Brin Plater, I am an MD, I was on the road trying to locate someone my brother wanted me too.  I don’t have a husband or a baby daddy, so ya, I could use a little help.  If you want my resume you will have to wait for it,” Brin said and sucked in a breath as a small contraction struck her.

“
Sorry, just wanted you to know I was not a mass murderer,” Grant said quickly.  “Let’s get you to the hospital.”  Grant pulled his phone out and called 911 to let them know where they were and that they were en route to the hospital.  Brin sighed thankfully and he felt like he won a huge prize.  What the hell was going on with him? 
Now I'm attracted to pregnant strangers?

Jabo got out of the car and helped her into the backseat with Sassy
, where both women began chatting about what was going on with them.  Jabo threw in if they had to give birth in the car, at least they had an MD and a vet.  Grant caught Brin’s look of surprise in the rearview mirror.

“
Well, I don’t deliver babies but I did do a round in the birthing ward.”  Brin laughed.  “I know the mechanics.”

“
See, Sass, everything is gonna be fine.  I told you I knew what to do,” Jabo said.

“
You dumbass, called the local vet and picked up a hitchhiker in labor, how the hell do you plan that?” Sassy demanded and they were back in hell.  Jabo and Sassy argued while Grant watched Brin try to follow the conversation. 

“
So where is the daddy?” Sassy asked Brin and Grant listened intently.

“
I’m not sure, he doesn’t know yet.  He is in the military, and got hurt, as far as I know he is recuperating somewhere.  That is why I was on the road, one of the guys in his unit mom lives only an hour from here.  I thought I would make it to her house,” Brin said grimly. 

“
Oh, honey, it's okay, we can help you.  Now who is the name of the woman, we can call her if you know her number.  Heck out here there isn’t too many townships, everyone knows everyone.  I can just call Bob, the owner of Bob’s Bank, he likes to track people down, thinks he is a private dick as well as the local money holder,” Sassy said.