The Problem Child (Emerson Pass Historicals 4)

She continued, almost as if she’d forgotten we were there and was talking to herself. “Our marriage was supposed to be built in trust. He’s been lying to me. And now he’s put us all in danger. I’ve read about these kinds of people. They kill men’s families when they don’t get what they want.”

I looked around the tastefully decorated sitting room. The soft colors and simple furniture reflected Shannon. Beautiful but understated. Uncomplicated. She’d always been that way, satisfied being a wife and a mother. Faithful to God, her husband, family. Made for motherhood. More than that, she’d glowed from the union between her and Flynn. She’d told me once that she never in a thousand years would have thought he’d choose her out of all the girls in the world who would have been happy to have Flynn Barnes’s attention. Or that he would settle down to family life. He’d proved her wrong, she’d said. Now, though? Had her fears become a reality?

“He’s reckless sometimes, but he’d never want to hurt you,” I said.

“But you see? He has. Flynn’s ripped out my heart. And for what? More money? We already have more than my father could ever have dreamt of. I’ve been grateful that Flynn wouldn’t have to work himself to death on a ranch as my father did. And here he’s managed to put his life in danger anyway.” Her voice shook with anger. She crumpled her handkerchief into a ball. “I’ve been sitting here thinking I never knew him. Not really. I was naive and stupid. He’s the boy I knew when we were children, not the man I thought he was.” A tear slid down her cheek. She dabbed at her face with the back her hand, obviously forgetting she still held her handkerchief.

“He’s made a terrible mistake,” I said. “People do. That doesn’t mean he’s not the man you think he is.”

“Thought he was. Past tense,” Shannon said. “And now your father’s going to have to figure out how to save us. Your father, who is the best man I’ve ever known, other than my own, will be in danger because of it. This whole town—everything your father worked for—is ruined. My husband brought evil to us.”

I opened my mouth, then shut it again. I’d had an identical thought last night. Flynn had brought bad people to us. “There’s always been vile men here, lurking in the shadows. Look at what happened to Louisa. Or Josephine and that awful man she thought she loved.”

“That was two bad men,” Shannon said. “This is a group of people. Men who run Chicago and terrorize innocent people. Do you think any of us will be free now? They’ll make every businessman in town bend to their will. Pretty soon everyone will be paying these mobsters just for the right to run their shops.”

“How do you know this?” Fiona whispered.

“I read the papers.” Shannon gestured to a stack of newspapers on the table where Flynn usually sat. “He reads them too. Voraciously. Now I know why. He was keeping up with the competition.”

My chest had tightened. I felt as if I couldn’t breathe. Dots danced before my eyes. Was she right? Had Flynn changed everything?

“Papa won’t let that happen,” Fiona said. “He’ll discover a way to drive them away.”

I clung to her words as if my life depended on it. Perhaps it did. Or, at the very least, our way of life.

Shannon grimaced and made a sound somewhere between a groan and as if someone had socked her in the belly.

“Shannon, what’s the matter?” Fiona asked.

Shannon’s face twisted in pain. “I’ve been having contractions on and off all morning. I think the baby’s coming. Get Louisa.”

Louisa arrived thirty minutes later.We’d reached her at home and she’d promised to come out straightaway. Theo, however, was doing rounds so she left a message at the hospital for him to come out to the house when he was able.

We helped Louisa out of her coat while we answered her questions. How long had she been in labor? How far apart were the contractions?

“If by that you mean the agonizing pain,” I said, “then it’s about five minutes.”

“We still have time then. Where is she?” Louisa asked.

“We helped her upstairs to her bedroom,” Fiona said. “Is that all right?”

“It’s as good a place as any.” Louisa was different in this capacity. Instead of quiet and shy, she was firm and self-confident. Soon, she had us fetching this and that, including clean towels and hot water.

“How long do you think this will take?” I asked Louisa at one point. She’d come out to the hallway to drink a cup of hot tea.

“One never knows,” Louisa said. “But I’d say it’ll take us into the night hours.”

“I’m going to take the girls home, then,” I said. “But I’ll leave Fiona with you.”

“Good, yes. Theo hasn’t yet called, so he may be a while. He had quite a few folks to visit this afternoon.” She explained that he’d collapsed into bed when he returned from taking care of Flynn. “He couldn’t keep his eyes open, so I let him sleep.”

“Can you do this without him?” I asked.

“Yes. These days I do most everything without him. He checks to make sure the babies are all right, but I look after the mother. Unless she needs stitches, which Theo has to do.”

My eyes widened in horror. Stitches. For where? I put that out of my mind, or I might faint right here in the hallway.

I gathered my sisters up and herded them out to the car. Once they were in the back seat, I told them why we were going home in such a rush. “Shannon’s going to have her baby.”

They nodded, solemnly. I glanced at them before backing out of the driveway. “Why the long faces?” I asked.

“Shannon will be all alone without Flynn,” Addie said. “Won’t she be scared?”

“Women have been giving birth for centuries.” I put the car in gear and headed down the rocky, slick driveway. “They don’t need a man to do it. Especially not someone as tough as Shannon.”

That seemed to satisfy them. Which was good because the jitters had taken over my faculties. What if Flynn didn’t make it? What would we all do then? If he did make it, what would happen to his marriage? I couldn’t fathom a divorce, but it wasn’t completely out of the question. There were women who divorced if there was justification, such as adultery or abuse. What about for a lie such as the one he’d told his wife through omission?

We arrived to the house a few minutes later. I walked the girls in, hoping to see Mama and Papa to tell them that Shannon was in labor. However, I found only Jasper at the desk in the sitting room writing down figures in a notebook.

He looked up as we walked in and stood. “What’s happened now?”

“We’ve come from Shannon’s. She’s going to have the baby. Louisa’s with her, and I’m going back but wanted to bring the girls home.”

“We miss all the fun,” Delphia said.