The Wolf's Surrender. Sandra Steffen

body strained as if being guided by inner wisdom fueled by some ancient knowledge.

      Grey went on automatic pilot. Since he had no blankets or sheets or towels, he removed his white dress shirt and the cotton T-shirt underneath, for later use. The sounds Kelly made now were guttural, her breathing labored as he reassured her and told her she was doing great. A nearly bald head crowned. Soon, a shoulder emerged. He didn’t know where Kelly found the strength to keep pushing. She was so tired, and God, the pain…

      But she pushed again, and an unbelievably tiny child was born into Grey’s hands. “I’ve got her.”

      “Her?”

      “It’s a girl.” His throat closed up tight.

      The child was warm and moving. Using his T-shirt, he cleaned the baby off as best he could. It caused her to start to cry.

      “What’s wrong?” Kelly whispered.

      “Nothing that I can see. I don’t think she likes to have her face washed.”

      That tiny, mewling cry grew stronger as he wrapped her in his starched white shirt. Carefully, he placed the tiny bundle in Kelly’s shaking arms. The baby stopped crying.

      And Kelly started.

      She hadn’t shed a tear through the entire ordeal. Now she cried, big, fat tears rolling down her face. “She’s beautiful.”

      The baby was bald, wrinkled and red. She needed a bath. “Not just beautiful,” Grey whispered. “She’s perfect.”

      Kelly sniffled. “I need to call my mother.”

      Grey handed her the cell phone. She pushed speed dial, and, lo and behold, the phone worked. She told her mother all about the birth. Of course her mother freaked and insisted Kelly hang up and call 911 immediately.

      And miraculously, this time that worked, too.

      Grey took the phone from her. “This is Judge Grey Colton. I’m in my chambers on the second floor of the courthouse, with Kelly Madison. She’s just had her baby. We need an ambulance and some paramedics up here, now. I’ll stay on the line. Try to disconnect me and I’ll see you in court.”

      Feeling her eyes on him, he glanced at her.

      “Even without your shirt, you’re formidable.”

      She wavered him a woman-soft smile that went straight to his head. He barely managed to hold the phone to his ear.

      “Was it worth it?” she whispered.

      At first he thought she was referring to delivering her daughter. But then she said, “Was climbing onto that barn roof worth it?”

      A lump came and went in his throat. “I can still remember the view.”

      “That’s what I thought.”

      She pressed her lips to her daughter’s cheek. “Why is it that the most worthwhile things in life always come with the greatest risk?”

      Their gazes locked, and something nearly tangible passed between them. She leaned back and closed her eyes, drawing the baby closer.

      He wished he had a blanket to cover her and the infant. Those paramedics had better hurry up and get here. “Yes.” He spoke into the phone. “I’m still here. Yes.” He answered a few questions, gave a few details, which he followed up with one succinct order to hurry.

      “Help is on the way,” he said.

      He looked at Kelly. She and the baby were both asleep.

      Chapter Two

      “Judge?”

      Grey looked at the paramedic standing at the front of Kelly’s gurney. The man looked back at him expectantly, prompting Grey to reply curtly. “What is it?”

      “You need to move to one side so we can get the patients loaded into the ambulance.”

      Grey got out of the way.

      The icy drizzle had stopped and the clouds were breaking up. Although the temperature had risen into the forties, there was still a damp chill on the late-afternoon air. It hadn’t taken the paramedics long to arrive. Obviously well trained, they’d handled the rest of the delivery and cut the cord. They’d taken Kelly’s and the baby’s vitals. After giving each a cursory examination, mother and child were deemed stable and healthy and ready to transport. They were wrapped in warm blankets then lifted onto the gurney. Next, they were wheeled out to the ambulance waiting just outside the back door.

      The little entourage didn’t draw much attention. Traffic was practically nonexistent on the street out front, and other than Kelly’s car parked in the middle of the parking lot, and Grey’s sport-utility vehicle sitting in his reserved space near the building, the lot was deserted.

      “I should go with you.” It wasn’t the first time Grey had made the suggestion.

      She smiled tiredly. “You’ve already done more than I will ever be able to repay.”

      Repay?

      “Excuse us, Judge.”

      Grey stepped aside, again.

      What did Kelly mean, repay? She’d done all the work, suffered all the pain, and with barely more than a whimper, too. He’d helped deliver her baby, but had been useless ever since the paramedics had arrived. He’d been all that was between Kelly and total aloneness. Now he was in the way.

      That didn’t keep him from sticking close to the emergency vehicle while the paramedics got her and the baby secured, warm and comfortable inside. Any second now, they would close the doors. And then what? And then, nothing. His responsibility was over. End of story.

      The first door clicked shut.

      Grey slid his hands into his pockets for lack of a better place to put them. His feet were rooted to the pavement.

      “Wait!” Kelly exclaimed.

      This was more like it. Giving the paramedic a brief nod and an uncustomary smile, Grey eased closer to the open door. “Yes?”

      Weak and beautiful in the gray light of the dreary afternoon, Kelly nuzzled her daughter’s tiny head, then said, “Thank you. From the bottom of my heart.”

      Grey felt a strange, swooping pull at his insides. He couldn’t seem to speak, so he simply nodded.

      “We’ll take it from here, Judge.”

      He stepped aside for the last time. The paramedic closed the other door. The ambulance pulled away, leaving Grey standing alone in the parking lot in a puddle of melting ice, shivering, bare-chested inside his overcoat.

      The wind blew through his hair, seeping through his clothing, reminding him that he couldn’t stand here forever. Coming to his senses, he strode past Kelly’s locked car, to his shiny, all-wheel-drive vehicle. His job was done. This episode was over.

      It was time for him to go.

      He wasn’t sure where he was going even after he’d gotten in and started the engine. Perhaps it was the adrenaline rush, but he couldn’t bring himself to simply go home. He considered paying his cousin, Sheriff Bram Colton, a visit at the sheriff station. The two men were friends as well as cousins, Bram on one end of law enforcement, Grey on the other.

      The golden-brown brick station came into view. For some reason, Grey drove right on by. He was always welcome at his parents’ house. Lately, Tom and Alice Colton had been feuding. A visit with them inevitably ended up with Grey’s father saying, “Grey, tell your mother that…”

      And Grey’s mother saying, “Grey, your father can speak to me himself, and until he does, you can tell him what he can do with his suggestion…”

      No. Grey was in no mood to deal with his parents today. What then?

      He