Sarah and the Single Dad

by Deanne Anders

  Unlike most people, Sarah understood his concern for his son’s routine and his need to check on his son often. The couple of times he had tried to date, the women had not been that understanding. Sarah had taken him and Davey into her home and her life just the way they were. Was it because of the possible tie Davey had to her son, Cody? He knew that she had worried about that, had been afraid that he would accuse her of such things, but Sarah wasn’t like that. She was a genuinely good person. Maybe at first it might have been part of what drew her to him and his son, but he knew that she felt more for them now.

  The fact that he’d walked away from her tonight was a miracle. He’d wanted her more than he’d ever wanted a woman before, including his ex-wife. There was something between the two of them that made him forget everything but her. He’d never felt this deep a need, this hot a desire or this chaos of emotions that would not let go of him.

  Yet he’d walked away from her. And why? Because she had hurt his feelings by not being totally forthcoming with him? He couldn’t deny that hurt, but he knew it hadn’t been easy for her either. Whether or not it was Sarah who had donated Davey’s new heart or another family, there was no way to explain to someone what that gift had meant to his son. And now instead of thanking Sarah for that selfless act, he was sitting here alone in his room brooding because he hadn’t had the nerve to stay and see where tonight would lead the two of them. Yes, he did need to take the time to think about everything Sarah had told him, but what if this was the only night the two of them had to spend together? He had promised his son that they would live each day as if it was their last together, but here he sat spending his time worrying about things that were in the past. Was this how he wanted to spend his life?

  He looked over at the bed where a staff member had turned down the covers for him. He had no desire to climb in that bed alone. He had no desire to spend the night alone at all. He thought about going back to Sarah’s just to spend the time with her. Only he knew it wouldn’t stop at talking. They’d only skimmed the surface of the attraction they felt for each other and it had left the two of them wanting more. Besides, she had probably already gone to sleep.

  But what if she hadn’t? What if she was suffering through this lonely night just as he was? Making a decision, he grabbed the key card off the entry table and headed out the hotel door before he could change his mind.

  * * *

  He tapped on Sarah’s door quietly and waited. He would leave if she didn’t answer the door in a minute or two. If she’d managed to fall asleep, he didn’t want to interrupt her. But he heard the lock click and Sarah opened the door. She’d changed into a long sleep shirt, but her face showed no signs that she had been awakened.

  “Is something wrong?” she asked as she moved aside for him to enter the room.

  “No, nothing’s wrong,” he said. He looked through the door that led to the bedroom and saw the bed was undisturbed. Instead, he saw a pillow and blanket on the couch which looked out the window. Had she been spending the night watching the same lights go on and off as he had?

  “Then...” she asked, looking at him expectantly.

  “I couldn’t sleep,” he said as he motioned to the couch. “I take it you couldn’t either?”

  “No. But that doesn’t explain why you came back,” said Sarah. She had invited him inside, but she still stood next to the door.

  Had he made a mistake coming here? Maybe she had been glad he had left when he did and now here he was looking like a fool arriving on her doorstep in the middle of the night.

  Not able to stand the distance between them any longer, he walked back over to her and pulled her up into his arms. “I’m sorry I had to leave.”

  “I’m just happy you’re back. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you everything at first,” Sarah said as she rested her head on David’s chest.

  “What’s wrong?” David asked as he held her tight in his arms.

  “It changes things between us, you know,” she said as she buried her head deeper into his chest.

  Putting a hand under her chin he brought her eyes to his. “Sometimes change is good, Sarah, and sometimes it’s something we can’t avoid. If this isn’t what you want...”

  She answered him with a kiss, slow and hot that pulled against every bit of his control.

  “Can you feel it, too?” she asked him, her eyes feverish, telling him she wanted this as much as he did. He didn’t have to ask what she meant. There had always been something between the two of them since the first time they had met. Not that slow burn of desire that had been building over the last few weeks, but that connection they had felt immediately as their friendship had built into more. He didn’t understand it, nor did he want to at that moment, but he couldn’t deny it either.

  “Yes, I can feel it,” he said before bringing her lips to his.

  Her hands roamed over his body and heat spread through his veins with every touch. He palmed her breast then answered her moan with his own. His hand slid lower, his palm cupping her sex as she pressed against him.

  “I want more,” she said, panting as she arched against his hand. “I want you.”

  David loved the way Sarah responded to him and there was nothing he wanted more than her right now, but he didn’t want to make a mess of this.

  “Are you sure, Sarah?” he asked, “I don’t know where this is leading and I don’t want you to look back on tonight with any regret. Right now we can go back to just being friends, but once we cross into that bedroom things will change between us.”

  “No matter what might happen between us later, I want to take that chance. I want to be brave for once. I’m tired of being afraid of taking chances. For just a little while I need to feel alive. I want you to make love to me, David.”

  Picking her up, he carried her into the bedroom and laid her on the bed. He watched as she pulled the long shirt over her head then crawled across the bed to help him with his own shirt. The sight of Sarah in nothing but a small pair of panties overwhelmed him, making his fingers clumsy as they tried to work the buttons on his shirt until Sarah brushed his hands away. Opening his shirt, she pressed a small kiss to his chest and then started on the button and zipper of his pants. Unable to wait, he took her breasts in his hands and caressed them. Her skin was so soft. Bending down he took one nipple in his mouth and sucked.

  In one night he’d already become addicted to the taste of her, the perfect mix of Texas sugarcane and the spicy heat of a jalapeño. He heard a moan, but he wasn’t sure if it had come from her or him. He switched nipples then released it when she pulled away from him as she tried to push his pants down.

  Stepping out of his pants and briefs, he followed her onto the bed as she crawled backward to the top.

  “I’m really glad you came back,” she said. She reached out and ran a fingertip down his chest to his lower abdomen and stopped at his erection.

  “So am I,” he said. A shudder ran through him as her hands encircled him. He bent back over her breasts and took a puckered nipple into his mouth as his hands worked off her panties. He was already addicted to the taste of her.

  He parted the curls of her sex with one hand. He pushed a finger inside her and found her hot and wet. He ran his thumb over her core as she pushed against his hand. He heard the rustle of foil then tensed as Sarah rolled on the condom.

  “I want you,” she said as she raised her hips to him. “All of you.”

  He slid deep inside of her and caught her gasp with his mouth as he lowered his lips to hers. When he thought he couldn’t take any more, she took him deeper still. Her moans filling the room as she drove him to give her more.

  He tried to hold back, wanted to make it last, but the heat of her was too much. She opened herself to him, taking each thrust until he felt her body clench and spasm around him. He let her body take the control he’d held tight and let himself follow her over the edge.


  * * *

  Sarah quietly closed the door to Lindsey’s room so as not to disturb the sleeping girl. It seemed they were finally making some headway with the infection that had attacked her lungs. They’d managed to decrease her sedation to the point where she could respond to people in the room, but she was still sleepy the majority of the time.

  “How is she?” David asked as he came up behind her startling her.

  For a moment she was frozen remembering the day before that they had shared. They’d enjoyed a late breakfast in bed at the hotel that had quickly led to a languid few hours of love making that she wouldn’t be forgetting any time soon. It had been a magical weekend, but they both had their reasons for not wanting anything more. They had enjoyed each other and that was all. But why then did her heart still race when he looked at her the way he was right now?

  Sarah gave her head a small shake. What would David think if he realized where her mind had gone? “She’s doing better. Have you heard anything about when they are planning to take her off the ECMO?”

  “Dr. Benton spoke to the pulmonologist this morning and they’re hoping it will only be a few more days,” he said. “I made rounds last night before I left and I didn’t see her mother. I’ve spoken with Dr. Benton about my concerns about her being able to take care of Lindsey after a heart transplant.”

  Sarah stopped and stared at him. No, Hannah hadn’t been there all the time, but she’d explained to him before that Hannah had a job and had to split her time between the two places. Speaking with Dr. Benton could cause big problems for Hannah if the older doctor decided to take his concerns to the ethics committee or the social worker.

  “Look, I know that it seems as if Hannah isn’t here very much, but I have no doubt that she will be there for Lindsey after her transplant. She’s been taking care of her daughter by herself for a long time now. I realize you don’t know Hannah, but you need to give her a chance.”

  “I’ve just seen this before, Sarah. You see the best in everyone, but not everyone is willing to be there for their child when they need them,” he said. “Right now the most important thing for Lindsey is to have someone to take care of her. I just don’t see her mother doing that right now.”

  “You can’t judge everybody by your ex-wife, David. You have to see that. Hannah will be there for Lindsey. I know she will,” she said making sure her voice was too low for anyone else to overhear. She understood how hard it was for David to trust and maybe he saw something in Hannah that she didn’t, but the young mother deserved for him to give her a chance.

  “I hope you’re right,” he said before turning away from her.

  Sarah knew this went deeper with him than just Hannah. But she needed to make him see that most parents were not like his wife. He had made a good life for himself and Davey and he needed to let the anger of his wife go. He deserved better than to continue being burdened by her betrayal.

  Only as she’d stood there telling David that he needed to move on, she’d realized that she fought against moving on without Kolton and Cody every day.

  * * *

  It had been two days since he had spoken to Sarah except for when they were rounding on patients together and he was getting tired of it. Maybe he was being a little too hard on Lindsey’s mom, he had seen her come in the hospital the night before as he was leaving and from the uniform she wore he could tell that she had come from work. But Sarah’s insinuation that he was judging Hannah by the actions of his ex-wife were wrong. Weren’t they? He would never purposely do that.

  The two of them needed to get together and talk things out. The silence between the two of them was not good for their working relationship. Okay, he could be more honest with himself than that. The truth was he missed his conversations with Sarah. He missed the way her eyes would light up when she told a story about one of the horses on the ranch or how she’d listen to him describe a surgery in detail and never get bored.

  And he’d missed the feel of her in his arms every night since the one they’d shared at the hotel. He missed his friend and his lover and he didn’t like it one bit.

  Making up his mind to set things right with Sarah, he left the doctors’ workroom where he had been reviewing Lindsey’s X-rays and went to look for her.

  Spotting her at the end of the hallway he watched as she gowned up before entering the room. He looked down at the app on his phone and saw that the patient’s room she had entered was a readmission that Dr. Benton has asked him to check on.

  Noting the isolation sign on the door and remembering that he had seen that the little boy’s wound cultures had come back positive for a resistant bacteria, he gowned and gloved as he had seen Sarah do earlier before entering the room.

  Sarah looked up from where she sat beside the boy’s parents as she went over the paperwork on a clipboard in front of her, while the eight-year-old boy lay bundled in a blanket sleeping.

  “Hi, I’m Dr. Wright,” David said as he hunched down beside the mother. “You might not remember me but I assisted Dr. Benton with Bailey’s last surgery.”

  “Is Dr. Benton here?” the boy’s mother asked as she looked up from the paperwork she was signing. “Sarah says that Bailey is going to need to go back to surgery.”

  “Dr. Benton asked me to come see Bailey this morning, but he does plan on seeing him today.”

  “I’m glad you came in,” Sarah said. “I was about to text Dr. Benton, but you might want to call him yourself. I don’t think the doctor that transferred him back to us last night had looked at Bailey’s latest lab work. He’s showing signs of sepsis. Both his white count and his lactic acid are up.”

  “You don’t see a lot of this in children but it happens. We need to get him back into surgery. I’ll call Dr. Benton and see when we can get an operating room, but do you have a minute?” David said as he moved to the door to pull off the disposable gown.

  “Sure, just give me a minute to talk with Bailey’s parents. I’ve already discussed with them the possibility that he would need to go back to surgery,” Sarah said.

  David hung up after speaking with Dr. Benton to find Sarah exiting Bailey’s room.

  “Dr. Benton is on his way over from the office to talk with Bailey’s parents, then we’ll get him prepped for surgery,” David said as they both headed toward the nurses’ station.

  “His mom says he hasn’t had anything to eat since yesterday so that shouldn’t be a problem,” Sarah said. There was an awkwardness in their conversation that reminded him of the reason he had gone in search of her to begin with.

  “I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner with me and Davey tonight,” David said.

  “Dinner? Tonight?” Sarah asked stopping in the hallway and looking up at him.

  “It’s spaghetti night and I know Davey would love to see you. I know it’s a work night but I should be out of the operating room by five so it won’t be a late night.”

  David caught himself about to rub at the back of his neck then stopped. He had expected a simple yes or no from Sarah, it was just spaghetti after all, but by the look on her face she was taking the invitation more seriously.

  “So, is this like a date?” Sarah asked looking up at him.

  “A date?” He hadn’t thought of it quite like that, but he guessed it could be considered a date. “Is it okay with you if it is a date? I mean we won’t be alone, Davey will be there, but it could be considered as a date.”

  “What time?” Sarah said, though he could still see some hesitation which he could understand. Accepting that they were actually having an official date, with or without Davey as chaperone, was a step toward a change in their relationship that they might not be prepared for. The night they’d spent together had been more spontaneous where this would be an intentional agreement.

  “How about six thirty? I’ll text you the address,” he said as he went to his contac
ts on his phone.

  “Sure, six thirty would be great,” Sarah said as a nurse started toward them. “There’s Bailey’s nurse, I’ll give her an update on him. Good luck with the surgery.”

  “Thanks,” he said, then turned back to see the next patient on his list. He’d have to skip lunch to get finished before surgery if he hoped to make it out on time, but with the promise of spending time with Sarah and Davey tonight he knew it would be worth it.

  * * *

  Sarah looked around the kitchen and couldn’t help but laugh. Among the dishes and vegetables laid out on the counter, two handsome young men, one considerably younger than the other, were busy working together as if they were chefs on the latest television cooking show.

  “Do the two of you usually dress for dinner?” she asked as she took in Davey in his dress shirt and pants then turned to check out David as he stood chopping onions with his own dress shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

  “Davey insisted,” David said as he looked up from the cutting board and gave her a smile. “According to him, this is how you dress when you have company over for dinner.”

  “It’s when you have a girl over, Dad, and you’re supposed to tell her how pretty she looks,” Davey said in a loud theatrical whisper, then looked over at her with a mischievous smile.

  “My dearest, Sarah, you look lovely tonight,” David said with the same ridiculous theatrics as his son which sent Davey into a fit of giggles.

  “Well, thank you, Dr. Wright,” Sarah said, playing along with them. She was glad she’d changed into a nice dress after work though she was still dressed a lot more casually than David and Davey.

  “Nice kitchen,” Sarah said as she moved around to the other side of the large island.

  “Thanks,” David said as he raked the onions into a large pot. “I lucked out finding this place when I got accepted with Dr. Benton, especially since it came furnished.”