WindSwept Narrows: #7 Francine Kendall Read online

  “Now, Tansy…” Frannie told her firmly. “Push…good girl…” she took the cloth and dipped it again, swiping and leaving it set on her forehead. She glanced at May. “One more, Tansy…almost there…”

  Then the quiet little whimpers began at the same time Donovan felt the tension leave the young woman, her hands relaxing. He laid her palms on the table, watching and listening in stunned amazement.

  Frannie took the squirming, bloody little bundle, moving to a table that had been set up. He watched in admiration as she went through a thorough check, cutting the cord and neatly tying it off. The baby’s face was cleaned, breathing assured before the rest of the child was very swiftly and completely cleaned and laid on a small scale and measured.

  “Twenty-one inches and six pounds thirteen ounces,” Frannie called out happily, her smile beaming at the mother and then at Donovan. “A beautiful girl, Tansy,” she said with a wink, bundling the baby in a pink blanket and carrying her to Tansy.

  Donovan stared down at the little child, already in her mother’s arms. He watched as Frannie helped the new mother guide the baby’s mouth to the small brown nipple. He felt like he had witnessed something so new and special as the baby knew immediately what to do and began suckling.

  He helped Frannie lock the table a little higher and stepped to the side, just watching. May had been busy working on the mother, her hands gently massaging Tansy’s abdomen, then lowering the stir-ups and straightening the table. She added an extra blanket over Tansy and straightened up with a slight groan. She was older than Frannie by about ten years, but was beaming just as happily as the other two.

  “You’re all healthy and well, Tansy,” May declared, scowling at the two that suddenly burst into the tent.

  “Tansy!”

  “Liam! You missed it! But look…our baby girl…”

  “Jessie…help me clean this up,” May instructed a younger woman who had been part of the search party. “Try and stay off your feet a few hours, Tansy…okay? I’ll be back in a bit to check on you.”

  Frannie moved a small bassinet next to the gurney.

  “Thanks, Frannie…and thank you, Donovan,” May shook his hand and went in search of some hot tea.

  “We can go…take care, Tansy…” Frannie took his palm, her other holding the large tote on her shoulder. “Thank you. You did good…” She led him to a table and pushed him into a chair. “I think you need some coffee, Donovan…I’ll get you some…”

  She set her pack on the table and went to the vendor where May stood chatting, returning with a large mug of steaming coffee.

  “This might be stronger than you’re used to…” She warned, shaking her head when he tested it and took a long drink. “You’ve never seen a baby born before.” She sat next to him, her hands surrounding one of his on the table. He shook his head and let himself stare at her. He tried to think back to his original idea of how flighty she was compared to the woman he was coming to truly know.

  “Is she going to the hospital?”

  “What for? She isn’t sick, Donovan. May and I can sign the birth certificate,” Frannie said. “A couple hours and she’ll be good as new…a little tired…it does drain the energy away very quickly…she’s one of our better patients.”

  “A couple…” Donovan took another long drink. “I had no idea my hands could get that compressed…”

  “Women have strength men have no idea exists,” Frannie said softly. “You’ve seen so much death…now you’ve seen birth…probably long past due, Donovan.” She stood up and slowly took the apron off, folding it and sliding it into her pack. “May called me very early this morning….labor had started but she needed help turning the baby…” she sighed and stretched, pulling the band free that had been holding her hair and letting it tumble down her back. “Then we couldn’t find Liam…I was so glad to see you.”

  “I…I didn’t do anything, Frannie…”

  “Having someone with strength to hold her in that position and to hold her hands is very important, Donovan…it’s one thing she doesn’t have to focus on…one thing removed from the stress level…so she can breathe properly and focus on the pain and birth…” Frannie laid her hand over his. “It’s very important. Thank you.”

  “Alister was concerned that you didn’t tell him where you’d gone, but he guessed when Nancy told him you had your bag with you,” Donovan watched her face, realization dawning. She had simply forgotten. She wasn’t angry at them.

  “Oh, dear…I forgot…I left in such a hurry,” she quickly pulled out her phone and tapped out a message. “And I had this turned off…you called me? What did you need?”

  “You,” he answered immediately.

  “Oh…I…” Frannie met his gaze without hesitating. “I heard you talking with my father last night, Donovan.”

  “Ahh…and?”

  “I’ve thought about it a lot since then,” she lifted her tote when he tossed his cup toward the bin. Both her hands held the thick strap over her shoulder as she walked slowly. “I tried imagining what it had been like for girls in all the earlier centuries when they genuinely were property. Oh, I know there were those who fought it…and those who accepted the role of a father as a protector. What would you have done if he’d denied you?”

  “It’s kind of like a calculated gamble, Frannie, and I never make bets I know I’ll lose,” Donovan answered easily.

  “Hmmm…”

  “One of your friends told me yesterday that guys have been chasing you since you came of age at the festivals,” He glanced up to see she had been leading them to the event grounds. Several bands were warming up for the procession.

  “It’s fun here…but I don’t fit. I like my tower and my profession. This is a nice spot…” Frannie sunk to sit cross legged facing the field.

  “I think you would fit where ever you chose to, Frannie,” Donovan leaned back on his elbows, watching her. “I know how very important your father is to you…that’s really why I asked permission.”

  “He’s always let me be me, Donovan,” she said with a smile at him. “And he never considered what I do as mumbo jumbo,” she watched the color flood his face, turning to sit so she could look at him.

  “I apologize for that and I know I’m…I have a learning curve, let’s say,” he admitted cautiously. “I have a secret weapon if you’d put up a fight about spending time with me…” he saw interest immediately in her eyes. “I know where you’ve been spending your nights.”

  “You wouldn’t…” she said softly, staring into his blue eyes. She saw one brow arch. “How did you know?” His gaze went to her feet and she scowled. “Damn shoes…always the enemy…”

  “How did you know? About the nightmares.” He asked after a long, quiet pause.

  “I seem to have an affinity for the powers built up in bad dreams or nightmares,” she said quietly, fingers toying with the edge of her skirt. “People are composed of energy from several sources, it makes what some consider the aura surrounding them. You don’t stop making that energy when you sleep. It’s used to heal you and rejuvenate what you’ve expelled during the day. It’s also a big part of the power in nightmares, I think. I…it’s only…I’m only aware of it when people are really close to me, in my proximity. My father…Nancy and Tom when they lived in the house instead of their cottage…you…there’s a lot of strong energy when you enter into one of the nightmares. Anger, anxiety and fear…frustration…”

  “Is that how you got into my nightmare?” He saw the immediate surprise on her face, her head shaking slightly.

  “I can’t go inside your head, Donovan,” she told him firmly. “If I was in your dream, it’s because you put me there.”

  “I heard you talking to me, Frannie. I…you were in the last two…telling me it was up to me to let the dead go in peace…”

  “I said soothing words, yes, but I was lying beside you. I don’t have magical powers, Donovan,” she said with a broad grin. “You put me into your dream for some rea
son…”

  “You led me away from the house…one of the places…an informant had sent us…”

  She watched his eyes change color, a blue grey that dimmed a shade as his memories strengthened.

  “Maybe it was you leading me, Donovan. If you chose to put me there, then you chose to leave the memories in the house and go with me. I don’t have all the answers of why a dream goes in one direction or another. That first night, I knew the power and knew the oils I needed to make things calm,” she explained. “So I came to your room and…your body…you were trying to run, trying to escape something…it’s like the strength you shared with Tansy…I lay behind you and held you, sharing the calm in me…”

  “I’ve slept more this last week than I have without the pills in a long time, Frannie, thank you,” he reached up and took one of her hands, tugging gently until she lay on her back at his side, staring into the bright blue sky.

  “Why do you want to court me, Donovan?” Frannie brought her palm up, stroking along his cheek to the strands of hair at the side of his face.

  “Why? Because I like you. I like being with you, even when I don’t understand the things you do that…that are outside my…”

  “Conventional?” But she smiled when she said it, slim fingers gentle on his neck and urging his mouth to hers.

  Donovan heard conventional lectures in the back of his mind even as his mouth captured hers. They lay on a field of grass with hundreds of people around them, music and drummers fading to the background as he lost himself in Frannie’s magic. This time she let her tongue free to caress and tease, her teeth nipping at his lip before settling more firmly as if to heal.

  “This is not the place for this…”

  “Too unconventional?” She teased.

  “Too tight jeans,” he growled in return, sitting upright and trying to look casual about it, despite the hint of giggles from his side.

  “Oh, what is this?” Came a familiar voice.

  “Please…that’s my boss? Think there will be a scandal?” Cassidy asked with a wink at Frannie.

  “There’s no justice in the world,” Donovan declared.

  “No but there’s some damn fine ales…” Mac looked at Cassidy who shook her head and plopped down next to Frannie. “Be back…”

  “Hold up…” Donovan looked at Frannie. “Something?”

  “Water…please…”

  “Mind if I act a little shocked?” Cassidy asked when they were alone.

  “I think I am, too…I…I don’t think we fit, Cassidy,” Frannie said slowly.

  “And the thought of that makes you sad. If I hadn’t spent hours upon hours talking with Mac first, I don’t think I would have considered him a fit for me, either…not at first…there’s so many…social things to get past,” Cassidy tried explaining. “I think you fit, Frannie. Honestly. It’s about balance…for both of you. The whole yin and yang thing…”

  “Hmmm…I think he would fit better with some of the women in accounting,” Frannie said thoughtfully.

  “Frannie…”

  She sat up and crossed her legs, watching Mac and Donovan cross the grass toward them, each carrying their drinks. “Oh…we had a baby this morning!”

  Cassidy burst out laughing when Mac started choking on a swallow of ale, his gaze sweeping over Donovan and Frannie.

  “He’s so sweetly literal…I blame the zeros and ones,” Cassidy said, patting him on the back.

  “There’s Tansy and the new little girl now…and Daddy’s carrying one of those fold up chairs behind them…her first festival,” Frannie said proudly.

  “She’s not in a hospital?” Mac looked in pain from one to the other.

  “She’s not sick…she just had a baby,” Frannie said with a frown.

  “We’re women…we birth babies in the morning and clean house in the afternoon,” Cassidy announced. “Think of that next time you’re whining about having a cold.”

  “I have been put in my proper male place,” Mac grinned.

  “Does that mean you’ve finished your mid-wife course?” Cassidy asked curiously.

  “Almost…I should have my certificate by early next year. Which reminds me…I’ll be back. I have to find May and sign off on the birth and get her to sign my paperwork,” Frannie was up and dashing through the crowd before anyone could respond.

  “Umm…” Cassidy looked a little pained.

  “Um?” Mac took a look at her face. “Problem?”

  “Why is she looking like she’s in pain?” Donovan looked from one to the other.

  “What were you talking about with Frannie?” Mac asked carefully.

  “Us…people fitting…” Both of them looked over at Cassidy.

  “Okay…people fitting…and you aren’t sure whether or not it’s a girl thing to discuss…”

  “Frannie thinks there are girls in accounting that would fit you…” Cassidy said slowly, wincing at the mild curse that was set free. “Yeah…I kinda figured that would be your reaction…”

  “Frannie wants to set you up on a date with someone else?” Mac looked from one to the other and took a long drink from his ale. “Alright then…that’s new.”

  “It’s my fault…” Donovan tipped his cup up for a drink.

  “We’re guys…that’s not a surprise…” Mac answered with a casual shrug.

  “You’re very real world…politically correct,” Cassidy said carefully. “The things in life Frannie has chosen haven’t exactly been embraced by what we consider the modern world. She was telling me about some people in the little town they live in with some church that had branded her a witch…” She shrugged when both men looked at her in amazement. “Bonfire and everything. She pretty much ignores them…but that’s Frannie…when you have to fight for every inch in a world that doesn’t favor your choices, you’re very cautious about who you allow close. The last thing you want is someone who will tell you what you do isn’t a viable contribution to the world around you,” Cassidy said, speaking easily from her own experiences.

  “We’re off to explore and probably spend money,” Mac said, his palm offered to Cassidy. “Good luck, Donovan.”

  “Thanks,” he stood staring at the bands, finished his ale and tossed the cup into the bin. He turned around in time to see Frannie coming through the wide thoroughfare, the wind catching her hair and cloak sweeping behind her. He was the first to admit that this place, this woman, was far from where he would have chosen to be on a sunny weekend in November.

  “Hi…I saw Cassidy and Mac…they’re so good together,” her free palm was up and covering her lips. “I’m going to head home, Donovan. I was out here at four-thirty and I’m tired.”

  “Alright.”

  “I drove here, Donovan. You can stay,” she told him, eyes wide and honest. “I have my class all day tomorrow, so I’ll see you at dinner,” she went to her toes and kissed his cheek. “Thank you again for your help…it really was important. Bye…”

  Definitely not how he pictured the day ending, Donovan thought, wandering back toward the SUV. It didn’t surprise him that Frannie wasn’t at dinner that night, the frown on his face as he thought through a plan. He met the curiously arched brow Alister offered with a shrug.

  “A slight flaw in my plan,” Donovan supplied.

  “Ahh…nothing spurs a man on more than a challenge. Did she over hear us talking?” He asked casually.

  “She did. And that didn’t bother her…I think she was flattered, in fact,” Donovan said with a nod. “The flaw is she thinks I would be better suited to someone as conventional as myself.”

  “Oh. Well…”

  “Yeah, not what I saw coming, either, Alister,” he said dryly. “But the good news is, she hasn’t put up a stop sign.”

  “My daughter has a world all her own, Donovan,” Alister shared proudly. “It has life and death in it and I continually wonder how she manages it all, but she does…she even goes out of her way to invite it in at times. In Frannie’s world, your ha
ppiness is all that would matter to her.”

  “She’s got her wires a little crossed…and I’m a very good at uncrossing things.”

  Chapter Nine

  Donovan never knew if the nightmare would strike or not. He had an idea that since he’d spent most of the evening thinking about her and how she’d come to soothe him in the night, that the nightmare would make itself known to him. He’d had arguments about how she knew when they struck. It felt impossible. It felt unreal. It felt imaginary or magical. And that was what Frannie was battling in him, he realized.

  Believe in six impossible things before breakfast, came the quote from a storybook long lost in him memory, the last words he heard in his mind before sleep finally captured him.

  Frannie was more cautious, staying only long enough to have his body settle, to release his mind from the horrors he’d seen. She slipped away quickly, leaving the soft cloth on his forehead. She closed the door behind her, ignoring the ache that had begun to make itself known to her.

  She left the house before breakfast, driving through the quiet Sunday streets to the home of her instructor. Conversation, books, lessons, practical experience all rolled into a five hour block until Frannie was sure her brain would implode. She left her lessons with a glance at the clock on the dash.

  A few hours before her appointment with Rosa. She bit into her lower lip thoughtfully and tapped the address she’d found into the dash. With music playing, she quickly found the quiet street and the house at the end. She stepped from the Jeep and wiped her palms nervously on her sides, smoothing down her dress as she walked up the short concrete path. A modest four door sat in the driveway in front of the garage, distracting her enough for a conscience to ask if she knew what she was doing.

  Frannie closed her eyes and pushed the pearl button, holding her breath when the door opened. She pulled a bright smile in place and met a pair of startlingly blue eyes on a tall woman with silver blond hair that was bundled at the nape of her neck.

  “Mrs. Banner?”