Free Cherished Beginnings by Pamela Browning

yellow zinnias.
    The temperamental brakes locked as she brought the minivan to a stop under the palmetto trees at the side of the O'Malleys' driveway, sending Xan's medical bag rocketing between the two front seats.
    "Hey," said a sleepy voice from the nether regions of the minivan, "a fellow can hardly sleep while you're driving so dangerously. I wish you'd learn to apply brakes as carefully as you deliver babies."
    Incredulously she swiveled in her seat. Her eyes met those of an indignant Xan Copeland, who was struggling to sit up on the cot in the back of her minivan and quite obviously stifling the urge to yawn. Judging from the way his hair fell so loosely over his forehead and from the half-staff look of his eyelids, he was just waking up from a midday nap.

Chapter 5

    "I won't ask you the obvious question," she said when she was able to overcome her amazement at finding him there.
    "Go ahead," he urged. Now he lurched toward the front of the minivan where he squeezed between the front seats and settled himself opposite her. His eyes twinkled mischievously.
    "Well, then," she went on, "suppose you tell me why you're sleeping in my car."
    "Because after I brought you home last night, I was called out to deliver a baby, and I didn't get much sleep. And because I found out I had a bag that didn't belong to me, which meant that you had mine."
    "And then?"
    "I spotted your vehicle in the real estate agency parking lot after I left my office at noon, and I thought I'd wait for you to return so we could exchange bags. I remembered you had a cot in here, so I couldn't resist the chance to nod off for a few minutes. How was I to know that you'd abduct me?"
    "Abduct you?" sputtered Maura.
    "It's a good thing it's my regular afternoon off or my office staff would be incensed. They don't like it when I disappear without a trace. By the way, what are you doing this afternoon?"
    "I'm going to the beach. Here, take your bag. I don't suppose you have mine handy?"
    "Indeed I do. It's at the foot of the cot." He paused. "Say, I'm going to the beach, too. I'll wait for you on the boardwalk. Can you be there in fifteen minutes?"
    She fixed him with an exasperated look. "Xan, I have serious thinking to do. I don't want to share my time with anyone, I just want to be alone."
    "And after I went out of my way to help you yesterday, too. How's the car running?"
    "Beautifully, thank you. I appreciate everything you did. How much was the garage bill? I'll write you a check."
    "There's no bill. It was only a broken fan belt. If you want to even things up, all you have to do is meet me at the beach. I'll try not to interfere with your mental processes. You can be as alone as you like. Just let me sit and look at you." He was flirting, heaven help her.
    "Xan, I don't see how I could possibly think things through if you're there," she protested.
    "I'm only proposing adding myself to you for an hour or two, nothing heavy. What do you have to think about, anyway?"
    "Setting up my practice in midwifery," she said in her own direct way, figuring that he wouldn't press her after that.
    "Good," he said. "That's exactly what I want to talk to you about."
    This surprised her. "Honestly?"
    "Yes. Let's go to the beach together. It'd be a chance for us to talk." He had dropped the flirtation and now seemed so sincere that she considered it. "There are some things that you should understand before you go ahead with these plans of yours," he insisted.
    "It's too late for you to change my mind. I'm going to establish a practice in midwifery in Shuffletown no matter what. I have financing and I've signed a lease."
    His heart plummeted. Still, maybe it wasn't really too late. "Then you'd better hear what I have to say about the Shuffletown community and why I know I'm right when I tell you that women are better off with hospital births."
    If he had thrown down a gauntlet, it couldn't have been more of a challenge. And if he wanted to tell her why he was in favor of