Stormy Passion Read online

  Dani followed him. On the front of the house were large brass numbers broadly proclaiming that they were at 699 Sandy Lane.

  Dani laughed. “I guess you don't want any more stray women making the same mistake I did.”

  Adrian pulled her into his arms. “Not since I've found the one woman I want.”

  She placed her hand on Adrian’s cheek. Power and virility radiated from him, and Dani’s pulse raced. “I love you, Adrian.”

  His mouth opened over hers, and the magic of their first kiss returned. Sinking his hand into her hair, his tongue plunged and caressed hers.

  Desire flamed between them and then she felt his need as it pressed against her. What heaven they would share once the baby came. Adrian shifted his attention to her ear, kissed her lobe, then whispered, “I want you, sweetheart.”

  “Oh, Adrian,” she murmured. “I want you so much. Oh!” A sharp pain struck Dani so fast she couldn't think. She clutched her stomach and clutched Adrian’s arms as a rush of warm water poured down her legs.

  “What's wrong?”

  “The baby,” she gasped, looking down at her soaked clothes. “I think the baby's coming.”

  Adrian swept her up in his arms. “It can't come yet!” He started up the stairs. “The doctor said it would be all right to come here.”

  “Babies comes when they choose, Adrian,” Dani gasped. “Not when we choose.” Another pain tore at her. “Oooo!”

  Adrian opened the door, taking her straight to the large bed. “Remember to breathe,” he instructed. He yanked the cover back and laid her carefully down. “Maybe I should go get Nettie.”

  “No! Don't leave me, please.”

  “But someone's got to deliver the baby.”

  “You can do it.”

  “Me?” Horror registered in his eyes. “I don't know anything about this.”

  “Well, I don't either!” She clutched at her stomach again. “Oh, God. Nobody told me it would hurt this much.” Dani groaned again. “Hold my hand.”

  She gripped his hand so tightly that Adrian thought she'd break the bones. God, the pain must be terrible. And he wasn't doing her a bit of good just staring at her helplessly. “Listen, Dani, breathe. Remember the puppy training. Take short breaths. That's it.”

  “The pain has gone now, but it will be back.” Dani tried to remember her Lamaze training. “I'm not sure exactly what to do, but I think I need to get out of these clothes and into something loose. And we'll probably need towels, sheets or something. Oh, Adrian. I'm so scared!” she cried.

  “Shush, sweetheart.” He sat on the bed and gathered her in his arms. “It's going to be okay. You've got to remain calm and leave everything to me. I promise I won't let anything happen to you. Let's get off these clothes before you have another contraction.”

  He moved to the closet and got one of his blue chambray shirts. “How about this? I think it will do the trick.”

  Dani gave him a half-laugh. “I got into trouble the last time I wore that shirt.”

  “I remember, he said, smiling. “Here put it on. You can’t get in any more trouble than you already are now.” He handed her the garment, but before she could slip it on she grabbed at another pain.

  “This is a bad one.”

  “Focus on me, Dani, and breathe.” Adrian waited for the contraction to let up, then he eased his wife back into the bed, helping her to quickly change her clothes.

  “I--I can't remember everything I learned, but I do remember the cord has to be cut. Wait, it's starting again.”

  “I'm right here. It's all right. As soon as this one is over, I'll get some scissors and string.” He felt her squeeze his hand. He'd give anything if she didn't have to go through any of this. “Good, that one is over. I'll be right back.”

  He was all thumbs as he frantically tried to find everything he thought he would need. If only he had time to get her to a hospital.

  “What little I saw of the house looks lovely,” Dani said as she tried to relax on the fluffy pillows.

  “Thanks. Do you realize that every time you've come here you have ended up in my bed?” Adrian joked, trying to keep her mind off the situation.

  Dani giggled. “I guess I do. Can't imagine why.” She gasped again. “Wait! Another one.” She regained her death grip on his hand.

  Hours went by with Dani's contractions getting worse all the time. Dani’s cries went from whimpers to gut-wrenching groans. Adrian felt useless.

  “I--I need to push!”

  “Put your knees up, sweetheart.”

  Adrian was beginning to think the baby was too big when, he finally saw the child's head. “Dani I see the head. Give me another push.”

  “I--I can't,” she wailed. “I'm so tired.”

  “Yes, you can. Come on, you can do it once more.”

  Dani gritted her teeth and pushed as hard as she could. The baby slid into Adrian's arms. What a beautiful baby it was. Quickly, he slapped the child on the rump to get it breathing and when he received a loud wail, Adrian cut the cord.

  What a perfect baby. He counted all he fingers and toes and smiled. They had just created perfection.

  “Would you like to see your bab--” Adrian stopped in mid-sentence because Dani lay completely still, her eyes closed. “Oh my God!” He felt for a pulse then breathed a small sigh of relief. His hand went to her forehead. She was alive, but exhausted and burning up with fever.

  He wrapped the baby tightly in a towel and up laid it in a dresser drawer, then raced to the store where he instructed Angus to radio his pilot.”Get a helicopter out here fast! I need to get my wife to the hospital. She might be dying.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Looking through the glass at his wife, Adrian impatiently waited for the doctor to finish examining her.

  “How is she?” Adrian asked when the doctor finally came outside.

  “Under the circumstances, you did the best you could do, but -- your wife is hemorrhaging. I need to go in and make some repairs.”

  “Surgery? Now? She's just had a baby.” Adrian’s voice sounded strange even to his own ears.

  The doctor nodded curtly, then with apparently no time to waste, turned to leave.

  Adrian grabbed the doctor's arm. “She will be all right, won't she?”

  “We'll do everything we can.”

  The next few hours seemed like the longest of Adrian’s life. He paced. He prayed. And then he paced again. Adrian almost wished he could cry, because he felt like he was suffocating inside.

  If something bad had to happen, why couldn't it have been to him? Dani was the sweet one. She only deserved the best. He ran a trembling hand through his hair. God, maybe he didn't deserve her at all.

  He had put her life in danger during the hurricane; she'd almost choked to death when he surprised her at the restaurant, and now this. He was the one who had insisted on taking the damned trip. It was all his fault.

  Adrian looked around and found he had wandered back to the chapel. Getting down on his knees, he began to pray. “Please don't take her from me. I know I don't deserve her, but please give me another chance. Please.” Finally, hot, wet tears slid down his face. Never did he think one person could mean so much to him.

  After awhile, Adrian pushed himself to a standing position and wiped the tears from his face. Feeling oddly relieved, he went back to the cold, stuffy waiting room.

  Finally, the doctor came through the doors, removing his green surgical cap as he came forward. He wasn’t smiling. “It would be best if we sit down.”

  Adrian stiffened. “I’ll stand.”

  “She came though the surgery. Seems your wife had a cyst on her ovary, and it ruptured during delivery. It’s likely the same thing would have happened at the hospital, so, it wasn't your fault.”

  Adrian let the breath out that he’d been holding.

  “How is she?”

  “She's in critical condition I'm afraid, and she’s lost a lot of blood. But she seems strong. With time and l
uck, she should pull through. She's weak, at the moment and is still unconscious.”

  “She'll pull through.” Adrian stated with firm authority. “Where is she? I want to see her.”

  “You need some rest, son.”

  “No! I need my wife.”

  “Look. She’ll be in recovery room until she comes out of the anesthesia. They monitor her for a while, and when she’s stabilized, she’ll go to a room. The charge nurse will let you know. Go get something to eat, or better yet, try to get some rest. You need your strength, too.” He reached into his pocket. “Here is a pager to carry. We’ll buzz you as soon as we put her into a room.”

  Adrian nodded and went to the cafeteria. He knew there was no way he could sleep. He placed the pager on the table next to his sandwich, but he couldn’t eat. Instead he drank a cup of black coffee and he waited. Sometime later the buzzer went off and Adrian almost tipped over his second cup of coffee.

  Adrian stopped at the nurses’ station. “Where is my wife?”

  The nurse glanced up at him with a patient frown. “And you would be?”

  Adrian smiled then, realizing these people had no idea who he was. “Adrian Massimino.”

  “Ah,” the nurse said. “I've put Mrs. Massimino in room 320.”

  Adrian wasted little time finding Dani’s room four doors down from the nurses’ station.

  Dani was much too pale, he thought as he stood by her bedside. Tenderly, he brushed a tendril of blonde hair from her cheek and began to talk to her about anything and everything. He held her hand while he explained his childhood and how he started his own business. Soon one hour led to three, and still he talked.

  “I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my job when you asked, sweetheart. But if you'll just get well, I'll never keep anything from you again.

  “Do you know we have a beautiful baby? You’ve got to wake up, so I can show you. We can't live without you, Dani. You must get well.” Adrian swallowed the lump in his throat. “I love you more than life itself. I don't want to go back to the way my life was before I met you. Fight, sweetheart. Do it for me. If not for me, then do it for the baby.”

  Adrian wasn't sure when he stopped talking, but it had to be somewhere close to dawn when he pulled a chair next to the bed and slumped down.

  Someone was shaking his shoulder.

  “Wake up, Mr. Massimino. You've been here all night.”

  Sleepily, Adrian raised his head and with a scratchy voice asked, “How's my wife?”

  “I checked her vital signs before I woke you,” the nurse said. “They’re better. See, look at her cheeks. They have color in them. Now, why don't you go wash up and see the baby. I bet you your wife will be awake when you get back.”

  “I--I don't want to leave her.”

  “You won’t do any of us any good with you passed out on the floor.”

  “Guess you're right. But promise me you won't say anything about the baby. I want to tell her.”

  The nurse nodded as she said, “I promise. Now, shoo.”

  Dani could barely hear Adrian's voice. Why was he babbling so about his childhood? She was so tired. Much too tired to open her eyes, but she had to try because she had to take care of the baby.

  “The baby!” Dani came straight up into a sitting position, a stabbing pain in her stomach made her cry out. Her head swam, but she fought for control while she ran her hand over her stomach which was very tender.

  However, she was no longer pregnant. Wait. She remembered having the baby, but she didn't remember hearing the baby cry. “Oh God, no!”

  A man in a white coat entered her room with a stethoscope draped around his neck. “I'm glad to see your eyes open. You gave us a bad scare.”

  “Where's my baby!” Dani looked frantically around the room. “Is something wrong? And where is my husband?”

  “Calm down, you’ll just upset yourself. And we don’t want you to pull your stitches.”

  “Stitches? What happened? And where am I?”

  “You're at Ocean Way Hospital. Your husband had you flown over here.”

  “My baby. What happened to my baby?” She clutched the doctor's arm.

  The baby is fine. Your husband has gone to get the baby,” the doctor said. He eased her back against the pillows. “Let me explain what happened.” The doctor filled her in on the events that had taken place while he made notes on his clipboard. “If your husband hadn't been such a quick thinker, I'm afraid you wouldn't have made it, young lady.”

  A nurse entered the room, carrying a vase full of flowers. You're a well-loved young woman. I had to practically push your husband out of the room this morning. Do you know he sat beside your bed and talked to you all night until he fell asleep sometime this morning?”

  “He did?” So she hadn’t dreamed about all that.

  “Yes, ma'am. It's plain to see how much he loves you.”

  “And he took care of you and the baby,” the doctor added. “I think you've got a good man. Someone you can always count on.”

  “Thanks to you both.” Dani shook her head, trying to clear the cobwebs between her and remembering. “But my baby--what did I have?”

  “Sorry, Mr. Massimino told me he wanted to tell you himself,” the nurse said with an apologetic smile.

  “Did I hear my name?” Adrian entered her room carrying a small bundle wrapped in a white receiving blanket. Dani couldn't stop the tears that gathered in her eyes.

  “I believe we have someone here who would like to meet their mother.”

  “If you'll excuse us. I don't think we're needed anymore,” the doctor, gesturing for the nurse to follow him out of the room.

  Dani held up her arms to take the tiny bundle. She pulled back the blanket to see a beautiful, olive skinned baby with a thick thatch of dark hair wearing a pink diaper shirt. She gazed up at her with wide, dark eyes. “She's beautiful.”

  “Just like her mother.” Adrian smiled down at her as he sat on the bedside.

  “Thank you, Adrian.” She leaned up stretching to kiss him. “You were there for us when we needed you most. I love you so much.”

  “Not half as much as I love you, sweetheart.” Adrian wrapped his arm around her, but had to pull back quickly when their bundle protested at being caught between them.

  “Sweetheart, I've taken the liberty of naming our daughter since we never got around to discussing that issue. I think you'll approve.”

  “Well.” Dani hoped she'd like his choice. “Tell me.”

  “Meet your daughter, Stormy Massimino.”

  “Oh, Adrian. It's perfect.”

  Without warning, thunder rumbled outside, and Dani glanced out the window to see that it was dark and rainy. Then she turned back and smiled at her husband. She knew where Adrian had gotten the name.

  “Yes, sweetheart. A beautiful new home, a beautiful new family, white sandy beaches, and it's going to rain like hell all weekend.” Adrian grinned.

  “September storms, God, how I love them!”

  Chapter One

  February 8, Hollow Ridge, N. C.

  Brenna Fox wiped the frosty window pane with a dishtowel and peered out at the fat snowflakes falling rapidly, almost as if they were dancing to their own tune while the radio behind her announced, “Cuddle up and snuggle under. ‘Cause we’re expecting snow . . . snow ... and more snow, folks!”

  Brenna smiled as she moved to the coffee machine and poured herself a cup of coffee. She couldn’t be more pleased with the forecast for fresh snow. It was something that every ski resort prayed for.

  Where most people thought of the icy stuff as a real bother, she saw it as beautiful and clean. She only had two rooms vacant at her Sleepy Hollow Inn, but with the forecast of new powder, they'd be booked by tomorrow. And she needed the money since her summer business had been so slow.

  Taking a seat on the stool, Brenna spread the newspaper out on the bar in front of her as her cook, Geraldine Spencer, washed dishes.

  “Whatcha plannin' for suppe
r tonight?” Geraldine asked as she wiped her hands on a dishtowel.

  Brenna smiled at her beloved cook. Geraldine's crisp white apron displayed stains from the blueberry pancakes she'd made this morning, and her gray-streaked hair was pulled into its usual bun. “How does a standing rib roast and boiled potatoes sound for a Friday night? And maybe turkey and stuffing for another choice.”

  “Easy for the cook.” Geraldine laughed.

  “I thought you might like that idea.” Brenna took a swallow of hot coffee, thinking of the first time that she had laid eyes on Geraldine Spencer. Brenna had tried to conduct her interviews professionally, and things had gone well until she'd met Geraldine. Brenna still wasn't sure who had interviewed whom that day ....

  Geraldine had marched up to the table where Brenna sat. At first, Geraldine hadn't said a word; she just stared. In spite of that, Brenna had sensed there was something she liked about the woman. Maybe it was her motherly appearance that drew Brenna, or her understanding, soft brown eyes, or the fact the woman was big enough to take on two men.

  Geraldine had cleared her throat and quickly told Brenna that she had nine children, been through two husbands, and there wasn't anybody going to tell her what to do.

  Evidently, she'd seen Brenna's startled expression because Geraldine broke out in a hearty laugh and said, “Hell honey, you're a greenhorn in these parts. The way I see it, ya going to be needin' lots of advice, and being as I was born and raised on this mountain, I can steer ya in the right direction. Besides, a hotel needs a cook and, honey, one thing I can do is cook.” She slapped her hand on the table, causing Brenna to jump and ask, “When do I start?”

  The only thing Brenna had managed to get out of her mouth that day was, “Tomorrow.”

  That had been three years ago, and now Geraldine was family.

  Geraldine shook Brenna's arm. “Where is ya head at this mornin'?”

  “Huh?” Brenna blinked several times before she realized she had been staring at Geraldine with and odd smile. “I'm sorry, I was thinking back to the first time I met you.”