Maybe A Savior

Five

Chapter 5

Mount Lemmon Scenic Byway was the only paved road leading to the upper reaches of the mountain and the Santa Catalina Range. Summerhaven, a small, peaceful little town near the top, was where many travelers and summer residents went to get relief from the hot Arizona desert.

The Crawford's bought their cabin years ago when the summer months in the city grew unbearable and the thirty-degree difference in the mountain temperature made a pleasant change.

Brenda Crawford chose the cabin for two reasons; she would still be close to her family if, God forbid, anything happened to her during childbirth. And Rafe and Annie Freese owned a small horse ranch close to the top of the mountain. She wouldn't be so alone knowing they were close by.

Right now, she was wondering if that decision was the right one. She should've told Rafe and Annie she was on the mountain. But she didn't have the guts to see them when she was pregnant and unmarried.

Her water broke just before six o'clock in the morning, and she had the first contraction at six-o-one. She woke from a dreamless sleep and sat up in the bed, a deep fear running through her.

This can't be it. I still have another three weeks before the baby's due.

Brenda waited in the bed, ignoring the dampness growing cold beneath her, forcing herself to breathe deeply through her nose and exhale slowly from her mouth. Three minutes later, her stomach tightened up like one big muscle cramp, only more painful.

She lay back down on the bed, rolled on her side, and held her breath, waiting for it to ease. When it did, she slid slowly from the bed. She didn't know how much time she had until the next one, and she needed to get help. The cabin had no phone and there was not a single house within miles.

Brenda slipped the sodden nightgown over her head and dropped it to the floor. She wanted to wash up, but there was no time. Instead, she slid into her blue jeans and tied the rope she used as a belt around her swollen belly to hold them up. Then she grabbed the extra-large shirt from the bedpost and pulled it over her head. It would have to do. She ran a brush through her hair and pulled it up into a ponytail. She had no time to be picky about her appearance.

Her frustration mounted as she tried to get her hiking boots on over her swollen feet. She hadn't worn shoes for the past several months, only needing them to walk to Summerhaven for a few groceries or odds and ends. Now she could barely get them on.

Brenda started to cry as she fought with the boots. How could she be so stupid? What was she thinking, to lock herself away where no one knew where she was, where she had no access to the outside world, where Vince would never look for her?

Her tears turned to sobs as she thought of Vince. Her man. Her love. The light of her life. She wished he was here with her now. God, she missed him.

She had to force thoughts of him from her mind. Memories of Vince made her weak, and she had no time for that.

Finally, her swollen feet cooperated, and she shoved them into her boots. She glanced around the cabin, making sure she had blown out all the candles and the fireplace was cold. Then she stepped out into the oncoming daylight.

Thank God, it was still relatively cool. The mountain air caressed her face after the warmth of the cabin. She breathed deeply. She hoped she could make it to Rafe and Annie's. She prayed they would be home. She never told them she was on the mountain.

The prickly brush and weeds that had diminished the driveway bit at her shoes as she fought her way through them to the main road. She moved slowly, afraid to bring on more labor pains with the movement. She hoped there would be some traffic and she could hitch a ride up the mountain.