Special Delivery (Mountain Meadow Homecoming 1) by Laura Browning

them, protective order or not. If so, they hadn’t ever been to Mountain Meadow. Folks in this part of Virginia didn’t take to people who flashed their cash.
    * * * *
    Just as Holly suspected, the phone company cut service Wednesday. They’d told her the last time she’d called a partial payment wouldn’t be enough. She rubbed her back as she returned to the couch from her latest trip to the bathroom. She had the radio tuned to one of the local stations for some background noise because, with no satellite and no cable, they got almost no television reception in the hollow where they were, even with the box to convert the digital signal.
    Her forced inactivity drove her bananas. Used to working, she made a list of baby items she still needed, but all she did was frustrate herself when she realized she had neither the time nor the money to be ready for her daughter’s arrival.
    Jake stopped by Thursday with another box of food in hand. Without Tyler as a buffer, he swallowed, and after he handed the box to her, he took his cap off and slapped it against his leg a couple of times. She was relieved when he mumbled something again about chopping wood and hurried outside.
    The window gave her a great view while he worked. He made it look so effortless, and for him it no doubt was. There wasn’t an ounce of flab anywhere on him. Holly bit her lip and let the curtain fall into place. He was handsome, but she had no business looking at him. She had no business looking at anyone. Still, she twitched the corner of the curtain again, drawing some comfort from the smooth swing of the ax. She was disappointed when he just stuck his head in the door and mumbled a good-bye.
    What did she expect? She’d been pretty bitchy to him. Holly bit her lower lip. This wasn’t who she was or what she was like, but after the mistake she’d made about Spence, trusting anyone else was nearly impossible, even someone like Jake.
    Jim Tarpley brought Tyler home most of the week. On Saturday, he stepped into the house for a minute to say hello.
    “Susie had me bring this box of baby clothes and whatnot. We kept items around when our grandchildren were tiny, but most of them are in their teens now, and she thought you might could use it.”
    Holly smiled in genuine pleasure. “Thank you, and please thank Mrs. Tarpley, too. You’ve been such a help.”
    His eyes twinkled when he smiled. “Anything we can do, you just let us know. Tyler’s a hard worker, and we’re real fortunate to have him with the holidays coming. You let us know if you need anything, you hear?”
    Holly smiled. Tarpley waved his good-bye and shut the door behind him.
    While Tyler did his homework, Holly went through the clothing, blankets and small toys. In addition, several items appeared brand new. Baby wipes and powder, diapers, a bulb syringe, and a couple of bibs. She blinked back tears.
    They had met some nice people since they came to Mountain Meadow. Folks like the Tarpleys, Doc, even Jake. Maybe things here were different. Jake called it being neighborly. Until Spence, Holly had trusted in the basic goodness of people. Then he opened her eyes to reality, but maybe that was Spence’s version of reality. Her eyes drifted to the full wood box. Somehow, she bet Jake’s reality was a lot different. And given a choice, she wanted Jake’s version.
    After Tyler went off to bed, Holly doused the living room lamp and settled on the couch. She now slept half-propped just to find some comfort and still be able to breathe. Even so, she was getting far less sleep than she needed. By Tuesday morning when Tyler set off for school, she was achy and lethargic.
    “Pay attention to the weather, Tyler,” she told him as he started out the door. “They keep calling for snow.”
    He waved at her. “I will.”
    Just after noon, Holly realized the weather wasn’t her biggest problem. Her labor had started. The first hard pains hit about the same time the snow began to cascade in