Searching For Sarah (The Sarah Series Book 1)

by Julieann Dove

“Darlin’, don’t be alarmed.” Aunt Heidi’s voice rang in my ears.

  I raised my head higher, looking around. Paper crinkled underneath me. I was in a doctor’s office.

  “How…what…” Before I finished, a man walked in carrying a tablet.

  “I see you’re up. That was a nasty fall you had. Can you remember anything? How many fingers am I holding up?” He held up two fingers. His blue pen was pressed in his palm.

  “Two.” I looked at Aunt Heidi, trying to piece together how I got there. “The last thing I remember is being at my father’s tombstone.”

  “Honey, it was a good thing we were there. We saw you go down and then you didn’t move. Your Uncle Pete had to carry you to the truck, and we drove you here.”

  “Seems you hit your head. It was only a slight concussion. You should be okay with a few Tylenol.” The doctor scratched something on the tablet. I could see medical pamphlets jammed in his white coat pockets.

  I pulled at my shirt sleeve. My arm felt cold. I looked down to see a patch of taped cotton.

  “Ah, yes. That’d be my overzealous nurse, Lisa. She’s new, and patients tend to excite her. Seeing as we only usually get older ones, and they’re here for blood pressure checks typically.”

  “What did she do to me?” I looked at the bandage as if she’d bit me and left fang marks.

  “What she’s famous for. She’s doing a blood workup. We’ll have the results of your cholesterol and liver function by the end of the week. Don’t worry, it’s no extra charge. It’ll be billed to your insurance.”

  “Uh, okay.”

  “Well, I’ll get her home. I’m sure she’s tired.” Aunt Heidi rose from the chair in the corner and unfolded my coat from her lap.

  I stood and pushed my arms through the sleeves. I needed to get home and get to the medicine cabinet for that Tylenol and a tall glass of wine. This seemed to be a banner year for me. Nothing would surprise me, I’m afraid.

  “I know you hate to do this, Sarah, but I feel as though your dad would’ve wanted it this way.”

  I looked at Jim Myers, his rough hands torn open by the cold weather and horse straps he’d held since he was a kid. Dad told me Jim ran this farm before he even knew how to shoe a horse. Jim’s hat lay on the table beside the papers we were reviewing.

  “I don’t know the first thing about running a farm, Jim. Dad did all of it. You know how he took the horses and cows to market.”

  “No one expects you to do it, Sarah. Now you know me. I know I’ve known you all your life. Jeffrey wouldn’t want to burden you with this stuff. And I can handle it. I might not be a young whippersnapper, but I know the lay of the land, when the cows need milking, and the horses need tending to. You’re leaving it in good hands.”

  I wanted so badly to call Sam. To ask whether what I was doing was right. He had a head for business; not me. But then that would mean talking to him, and I wasn’t ready for that. It’d been almost a month since we talked last. He had Sophie call me, and I told her how much I missed her. She said she’d gone to the park with Gennifer and the girls, so I figured Sam was working an angle to get back together with her. It hurt hearing that she was still there. How could he be keeping company with the woman who never would commit, and I did so quickly? I really thought I knew him, and I thought he was telling the truth when he said he loved me. Or did I just want the family life I never had so much that I overlooked all the warning signs and dove headfirst into the convenience of hearing him ask for my hand in marriage?

  “Well, give me the pen and I’ll sign it.”

  Jim handed me the pen and I signed over the farm to him. He was sixty-seven and never owned anything other than his pickup truck and a few horses Dad let him keep in the barn. The house he rented a mile down the road was practically paid for by his monthly wages, but the McGhees would never hand it over to him. As I figured it, this was justice. He paid just under market value for it with the money Chuck Wimbly loaned him, and I was going to rent a place in town. Just until I knew what I was going to do next.

  “Sarah, is that your phone?” Aunt Heidi asked.

  She was there, wrapping up some dishes from the cabinets. We’d spent the last two weeks going through Dad’s things. She helped pack up the room I was never allowed in as a child growing up. For Mom’s journals, we transferred them to a box that I taped shut and thought about reading some other day. Some day when I could understand why she’d give birth to someone she might never be able to raise. Without Dad here, I never felt more alone.

  “It’s in the master room. Could you go pick it up for me? I’m waiting for a call from Dean Jenson’s nephew. He’s going to tell me the time he can haul my stuff over to the new house.”

  I signed my name on the dotted line and smiled at Jim. I knew Dad would’ve been proud to have him take on the farm. And Jim said I could come back anytime I wanted to visit. Mustang was staying, and I knew I’d be back for many visits.

  “Hon, it’s someone from the doctor’s office.” Aunt Heidi handed me the phone, and scrunched her nose.

  “Hello?”

  “Sarah Keller?” said the unfamiliar voice.

  “Yes. Is there something wrong?”

  I thought it was something dealing with Dad. I was getting calls from the bank, the post office, and the funeral home for the past month concerning him.

  “I’m sorry to be calling so late.”

  I looked at my watch. “It’s only three o’clock.”

  “No, I mean since your visit.”

  “My visit? Who is this?”

  “You came in a few weeks ago with a concussion.”

  “Oh, of course. That. Is there a problem? I feel much better now.”

  “The blood work we ran, it came back that your cholesterol levels are within the normal range, your liver is great, and that you’re pregnant.”

  My brain stopped at that second. Pregnant? I held out the phone and looked at it as though it was a crank caller pranking me. Or worse, a wrong number. Who was this again?

  “Ma’am, are you there?”

  “Yes. Yes.” I repeated it and shook my head. It was stuck. Like a record, the needle playing in the exact same spot.

  “Would you like Dr. Matthias to prescribe you prenatals, or are you taking over-the-counter ones? We have an awesome one that deals with the DHA of the unborn baby. Marissa Hutchins says her baby came out practically able to read after she took them for eight months.”

  All I could hear was a voice on the phone. And all I could see was Aunt Heidi staring at me. Pregnant?

  “That would be great. I’ll come in tomorrow.”

  “For the prescription?”

  “Sure.” I pressed off the phone and laid it on the table. Jim got up and hiked up his pants. His gold, five-inch belt buckle blinded me.

  “I’ve got to get the calves in for feeding, Miss Sarah. You take your time in finishing packing. I’ve got my things coming this weekend.”

  “Okay, Jim.” I stayed seated, feeling the gut punch of what that pesky nurse just told me. How dare she take blood without my consent, and then call me with news like this.

  He tilted his hat at Aunt Heidi and walked out the back door.

  “Girl, you look like you just saw Jim Morrison walk through the room. Are you okay?”

  My eyes focused on hers. “Grab a glass of wine, Aunt Heidi. Pour a double because I can’t drink one.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Seems I can’t drink for the next few months. I’m creating a life.”

  Aunt Heidi dropped the glass she was holding, and gasped.

  Just when I didn’t think the world could throw me anymore curveballs, I was lined up perfectly for the one that just might take me out.

  A Reason To Stay

  The Secret He Keeps

  The Finding Amy Series

  Waking Amy

  Leaving Amy

  Finding Amy

  nn Dove, Searching For Sarah (The Sarah Series Book 1)