Possessed by Passion (Doms of Destiny, Colorado 9)

Her three husbands nodded in agreement.

“None of us will,” Bryant added. “Thank you.”

She smiled, leaving the happy family alone. She walked into the room where Dustin had taken Ethel, who was conscious.

“Doc, I’m just a klutz.” Ethel laughed. “That’s all this is. I lost my balance and fell. I’m not as young as I used to be.”

He grinned. “You’re just trying to convince me to release you, Ethel, aren’t you? Not happening. I’m going to keep you at least overnight.”

“Need any help?” Paris asked.

Ethel’s eyes landed on her. “Paris. Thank goodness you’re here. Will you please talk some sense into Doc? I’m perfectly fine. Just a little accident, that’s all. He needs to let me go home.”

Katy giggled. “She’s been like this since she woke up. How’s the baby? We heard the sweet cry.”

“He and mother are doing wonderful. He came into the world at ten thirty-two weighing eight pounds one ounce and at twenty and a half inches long. Quite the little cowboy.”

“He better be.” Ethel’s eyes welled up and she smiled. “Especially with his three cowboy dads.” She turned to Dustin. “When Patrick and Sam get back from their meal, I want you to release me.”

“How did you get them to leave?” Paris knew how those two could be.

“I didn’t.” Dustin pointed to Ethel. “She did.”

“They hadn’t eaten all day. I knew they needed their strength. Once they knew Doc had everything under control, I sent them away.” Ethel’s eyes narrowed, fixing on Dustin. “So now you have to let me go, Doc. I have to go and get a present for that baby.”

Paris shook her head. “Hold on, Ethel. You know Dustin is the best doctor in the state. You need to listen to him.”

Dustin turned to her, and in the sweetest tone he’d used in years to her said, “Thanks, Paris. Thanks for delivering the baby when I couldn’t. I knew you would be great. I had every confidence in you.”

Her heart skipped a couple of beats. Just when I’d made up my mind to leave, he starts being nice. “Any idea what caused this other than Ethel’s self-diagnosis of clumsiness?”

“That’s what it was, Paris.” Ethel’s feistiness was back in force. “Two left feet. Seriously. It will be a waste of time to run any more tests.”

“You better leave that to Doc, sweetie.” Paris looked at the monitors. Ethel’s blood pressure was a little low, but the rest of her vitals seemed normal.

“I suspect hypokalemia caused her to pass out, Paris,” Dustin said.

“That sounds terrifying,” Ethel said. “What is it?”

Paris touched her shoulder. “Nothing serious. Just low potassium.”

The dear lady sighed. “That’s a relief.”

“I’m still waiting on the results of her blood test,” Dustin said. “Ian had a flat tire, so was late getting in, but we should hear from him shortly.”

Ian Blue, one of the distant cousins of Shane, Corey, and Phoebe, ran the lab at the clinic.

She looked at Ethel. “What have you had to drink today?”

“You know me. I have to have my coffee.”

“What about water?”

“Don’t like water. Just take a sip in order to take my pills in the morning.”

“Mmm. What about yesterday? What did you drink and what did you do?”

“Drink? Same thing. Coffee, my liquid of choice. What did I do? Let me think. My two husbands and I went up to our little ranch. We worked on the barn. The outside has needed to be painted for some time. We would’ve finished today, but we heard that Amber was having contractions and decided to stay close by.”