Marriage for Her Baby. Raye Morgan

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СКАЧАТЬ of. We’ve just got to tie up a few loose ends, and I’ll be taking custody of her.”

      As close to her as he could. Yeah, next door was pretty close. Pure, cold, electric panic was beginning to shiver through her system. It couldn’t be. Could it?

      “You said the mother is out of the picture,” she repeated. Her voice sounded so strange and her mouth was so dry. “Permanently?”

      He looked at her curiously, as though wondering why she cared. “Yes. She died in a car accident.”

      “Oh. I’m so sorry.” Her words came automatically, but her hand rose and covered her mouth. Inside, she was screaming.

      “Me, too.” He shrugged. “But I really didn’t know her very well. And now I’ve found she left me this wonderful gift.” He shook his head. “Life is crazy, isn’t it?”

      “Yes.”

      She had to go. She had to get out of here. Maybe she was taking this completely wrong, but there were too many things that seemed to lead right to her situation—to her baby. It couldn’t be. Oh, please, don’t let it be …

      She began to gather her clipboard and purse, preparing to make her escape.

      “You know the neighborhood pretty well, don’t you?” he was asking.

      What? She blinked at him. It was almost as though he was speaking a foreign language. But she took a deep breath and forced herself to settle down and translate to her frightened mind.

      “I … I’ve lived here for three years, but I traveled a lot on business. So, no, I guess I can’t claim to know the neighborhood really well. Why?”

      “I was just wondering if you knew a woman named Sara Darling.”

      There it was—as though a huge gong of doom had been rung in her head. It was still ringing, echoing back and forth, deafening her. This was it. Everything she’d been dreading was coming down on her and she had to go. She began to tremble uncontrollably. She looked around, ready to run.

      But at the same time, she couldn’t give it all away. She couldn’t let him know. She needed time to get away. So she tried to smile.

      “Sara Darling?” Sara could hardly get the name out of her dry mouth. “I, uh, well, no, I …”

      Ordinarily she would be laughing and explaining how he’d had her name wrong from the beginning, and that she was Sara Darling herself. But that didn’t happen. She couldn’t let him know who she really was. The shock of his question had pierced her heart and it was going to take some time to right herself again.

      “She’s supposed to be living next door to the house I rented,” he went on, “but I’ve been there for two days and I haven’t seen a sign of her.”

      “Oh.” Calm down, Sara, she was telling herself. You’ve got to make it through this. Calm down.

      She had to go. She had to get out of here. Her heart was pounding so hard, she was sure he had to hear it.

      “Hey, I’m sorry,” she said quickly as she slid out of the booth. “I just remembered something I have to do. Thanks so much for the pie. I’ll … I’ll see you around.”

      She didn’t stop to see how he took her sudden departure. She just went, walking quickly through the tiny café, then breaking into a run as she hit the street.

      By the time Sara reached her sister’s house at the top of the hill overlooking the ferry landing, she thought her lungs would burst.

      “Sara, what is it?” Jill called, seeing her entrance from the kitchen where she was baking. “What on earth is the matter?”

      She rushed out to greet her and Sara clung to her, trying to catch her breath.

      “Where’s Savannah?” she choked out as soon as she could speak.

      “In her bed. She’s still taking her nap.” Jill frowned. “Honey, she’s okay. What’s wrong?” “Nothing. I just … nothing.”

      Jill shrugged, searching her face. “Well, go ahead and check on her, but I just was up there getting the twins ready to go outside and play and she was snoozing away.”

      Sara nodded and started for the stairs.

      “Oh, you had a couple of phone calls,” Jill called after her. “One was from the Children’s Home Agency. They wanted you to call back right away.”

      Sara turned to look at her. “Did you write down the number?”

      “Of course. It’s right by the phone.” Jill frowned. “Sara, you don’t look good. What’s the matter?”

      Sara held up her hand. “I’ll tell you later. Right now, I’ve got to call the agency.”

      “Sure.” Jill nodded, though she still looked concerned. “I’ll be in the kitchen. I’ve got an order of Bundt cakes that need to go out by six.”

      Sara waved her off, turned to the phone and found the paper with the number on it. She dialed it quickly and got through to a real live agent almost immediately.

      “We’ve been trying to get hold of you for the last few days,” an agent named Linda told her. “You really must keep in better contact. If you’re going to be away, you must let us know.”

      “Sorry. I’m sorry. I’ll take care of it next time.” Sara tried to stop her heart from racing so wildly. “Is there … is there something wrong?”

      There was a pause and it nearly killed her. She put her hand over her heart and waited, trying to keep her breathing even.

      “Well, I’m afraid something has happened,” the woman said at last. “You’ve been doing so well with your quest to adopt little Savannah.”

      “My … my sister’s child,” Sara said, as though that was going to help her win.

      “Yes, of course. But you see, there is a problem. Her, uh, her biological father seems to have turned up.”

      Sara closed her eyes and fought back the urge to vomit. The very thing she’d been afraid of from the beginning now filled her with a terrible dread.

      “Are you sure?” she said, her voice raspy, her throat tight. “How can we know he’s telling the truth?”

      “DNA tests are being performed. We’ll know the facts soon enough.”

      Soon enough. Soon enough. What was the woman talking about?

      “But … I’ve done everything. I’ve met all the standards. I’m in the process of adopting her right now… .”

      “You do know that a DNA match will be determinative, don’t you? If he can prove that he is her father, well, there’s not much we can do.”

      Sara couldn’t speak. She rocked back and forth, holding tightly. Tears were streaming down her face.

      “Now СКАЧАТЬ