Chapter One

911.

The numbers seemed to pulse on my pager, quickening along with my heartbeat. Abra only used the pager for emergencies, because sometimes I didn’t answer when she called my cell. I jammed my headset into my cell and dialed her number.

“Katima, thank God.” Her voice was soft but the words were quick, anxious. I rarely heard Abra sound anxious. “Where are you?”

“On my way to school,” I said. “Where are you?”

“I’m at Linda’s,” Abra said. “She’s in labor.”

“Is everything okay?” Linda was one of my favorites of Abra’s mothers. I had been working two afternoons a week at Abra’s Midwifery for over a year and had gotten to know a lot of the women. Linda and I had hit it off, sharing a love of rocky road ice cream and a hatred of reality TV. I had helped her plan her birth—the music, atmosphere, different birth options. I didn’t want her having complications.

“She’s doing beautifully,” Abra said. “But I’m not. Marion broke her foot, Sarah is at another birth, and Carmen isn’t picking up any of her phones or responding to my page.” Abra sucked in a breath. “I have no one to assist me.”

I eased down on the brakes of my Honda hybrid as I came to a stop sign. “Um, okay. But you’ve delivered lots of babies without an assistant.”

“I know. But Linda wants one so I need you to get to her house as fast as you can.”

“Say what?” I hit the gas too hard, jerking the car forward.

“I’ve excused you fr