Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“That’s her?” Turner asked.
I nodded. “They tried putting her in a shelter. As you can imagine, that didn’t go over well. She won’t talk, but man can she scream. She grew up without technology and the people couldn’t get why she wouldn’t speak.”
“You tried other places, you said.”
“I didn’t personally. But those in charge went to a couple of communities. No one would take her. Even though they didn’t know each other long, she’s taken a liking to Tayla. I think because she feels as though Tayla understands what she went through, considering they’d locked Tayla up in her house.”
Turner nodded. “I don’t know if the council will approve it.”
“I don’t know what else to do. They will put her in a psychiatric hospital if you guys don’t take her. She didn’t like our place. Too many electronic things. She sat rocking in a corner. I don’t know what to do short of moving here myself. Tayla will not let this girl be harmed.” Not that I would.
He glanced at Serenity’s bare feet. “She won’t wear shoes. I don’t know if she ever has,” I added.
“Let’s go,” Turner said. He didn’t look confident.
This compound was quite different from the one in Utah. It was well maintained, and the homes were sturdy. I glanced back to see Serenity smiling. Though different, I suspected it was more familiar to her than any place she’d been so far.
We stopped at a building in the center of town if you could call it that. There weren’t stores or anything of the like. But this building was surrounded by all the others. A small group of people waited outside. Most were men, but there were two women with them. They were all dressed as if two centuries hadn’t passed. It was similar to an Amish community, but Bailey and Turner insisted it wasn’t. Similar but very different, they’d said.
Turner held a hand up, and we stopped. Serenity twirled around and stared at the sky as if she heard music. I took Tayla’s hand and squeezed, hoping for the best.
The group spoke in hushed tones and there was a lot of headshaking. Things got heated to a point. We overheard some of the conversations.
“What family would bring a single woman of age into their home?” a stern-faced woman said.
“She has nowhere else to go,” Turner countered.
“I’m sorry, but that’s not our problem. We feel for the girl, but unless someone is willing to marry her, we can’t take her in.”
Turner glanced over at us, then to Serenity, who danced as if at peace with the world and said, “I’ll marry her.”
Tayla
A commotion ensued, but I couldn’t focus on it as a sharp pain tightened my belly. I doubled over as my water broke.
I’d worn a dress similar to the one we’d bought Serenity for the ride over. It wasn’t exactly the style of the women in front of us, but it was modest in nature and covered everything from neck to toe. So my water breaking wasn’t a secret.
“Fuck,” Shawn said. Yeah, I hadn’t yet gotten used to calling him Matt, and he was okay with it. “We need to get to the hospital.”
I frantically shook my head. “Too late.”
His brows rose high. “How long?” he said, guessing that I’d had contractions for a while.
“The entire drive,” I said. That was from New York to Pennsylvania. We’d driven because putting Serenity on a plane, even a private one, wouldn’t have gone over well.
“You didn’t say anything,” he groused.
“I didn’t want you to worry and figured it would be hours.”
“Turner,” Shawn bellowed. “Get Bailey. Now.”
Everyone turned our way, and the women rushed over. “Okay, let’s get you inside,” one of them said.
I could feel the baby’s head crowning. So maybe I lied. It had started last night. I’d been so busy trying to keep Serenity calm that I’d ignored it. We had to go through so many hoops to get her from state care. It helped she was a legal adult. It didn’t help that she was mute and acting erratically. It had taken effort and highly paid lawyers to get to this point. I wasn’t going to spoil it by having a baby, or so I thought.
Inside, the women worked as one. They had a pallet on the ground and me on it before the next contraction hit. They tried to shoo Shawn out of the building, but he refused.
Not long after, Bailey appeared with her own newborn slung against her. She took my hand as another woman who’d come with her kneeled between my legs.
“Tayla, meet my mom. She’s an experienced midwife. You’re in good hands,” Bailey announced.
Shawn kneeled on the opposite side of Bailey. She nodded at him. “Time for you to be a papa,” she said to him.
Bailey’s mom had my dress modestly rolled up on my knees. The only people in the building were women, except for Shawn. I worried a second for Serenity, but after everything I’d heard about Turner, I knew she was in good hands.