Route 66 Reunions (22 page)

“Tessa Rajena Stevens, do you take this man, Gerald Blake Donovan, to be your lawfully wedded husband?” The minister’s voice caught her attention.

She saw Blake through a sheen of tears and smiled. “Yes, I do.”

“Gerald Blake Donovan, do you take this woman, Tessa Rajena Stevens, to be your lawfully wedded wife?” The minister waited.

Blake cupped her face with his hand and caught the lone tear on his thumb. His smile held so much love, so much promise, as he answered, “Yes, I do.”

“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

Tessa had faced her past, and this was her reward.

“You may kiss your bride, Blake.”

And he did.

T
UNA
C
HIP
C
ASSEROLE

2½ cups crushed potato chips (any flavor), divided

1 to 2 cans tuna, drained

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup milk

1 can peas, drained, or 1 (1 lb.) bag frozen peas

Preheat oven to 350°. Spread 2 cups crushed chips in ungreased casserole dish. Spread tuna over chips. Mix cream of mushroom soup with milk and spread over tuna. Add peas and stir until casserole is mixed thoroughly. Sprinkle with remaining crushed chips (or French-fried onions if desired). Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until top is browned and bubbling.

This is a favorite at our house for using leftover potato chips. The chips don’t need to be fresh and it’s okay if they’re already crushed, because that’s the way they end up anyway. It never lasts long.

To my readers, especially to those of you who, like Sarah, have experienced the heartbreak and loss of giving a child up for adoption. I admire you for your sacrifice to provide not only life but also a better life for your child. Without two such wonderful young women, I would not be a mother. Also, to those adopted children, like Trey, who have wondered, “Why?” may you understand that adoption is not meant to be a rejection but a loving acceptance—not just once, but twice.

S
arah Maddox clutched the single-page letter to her chest as if it were treasure beyond price. Ignoring the work waiting on her desk, she again read the scrawl she could scarcely believe had come from her son’s hand. How could it be his, when the memory she’d carried for the last eighteen years was of a tiny, red-skinned infant, barely able to keep his eyes open? Even the yearly pictures his mother sent hadn’t erased the memory of his birth or the one time she’d been allowed to hold her baby. To count his fingers and toes and kiss his soft cheek before telling him good-bye.

She grabbed a tissue and blotted the tears blurring her eyes. For eighteen years she’d looked forward to this day. For the last several months she’d counted the time until she could meet her son. Now the wait was almost over. Today was March 17. Trey would celebrate his birthday with his parents today. Saturday would be her turn. Just two more days.

The intercom on her desk buzzed before Tricia’s voice spoke. “Sarah, I have a call for you from Dr. Jenson.”

“Oh wonderful.” Sarah jumped up from her desk. “Can you hold on just a minute?”

“Sure.”

Sarah stuck Trey’s letter in her lap drawer and slammed it shut. She hurried to the door, grabbing her purse as she went. In the outer office, she paused beside Tricia’s desk, mouthing the words. “Tell him I’m out.”

Tricia’s chuckle followed her across the room. As she closed the outer door, she heard her assistant speak into the phone. “I’m sorry, Dr. Jenson. Miss Maddox is not in her office.”

Sarah clutched her purse as she stood in the hall trying to decide where she could hide. When Dr. Harold Jenson asked her to the hospital staff ’s Christmas banquet last year, she hadn’t known he was divorced, and she was flattered. He was good-looking, with a successful practice, and drove a flashy sports car. Nurses often gave Sarah envious looks when Harold sought out her company in the hospital cafeteria or at hospital-related functions. Sarah liked Harold and enjoyed the attention, but lately he’d been pushing for a commitment she didn’t feel like making. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be involved in his problems with his ex-wife and their young daughter.

At the moment, she wanted to bask alone in the knowledge she would soon meet her son. She decided a few minutes in the cafeteria with a cup of coffee to start the day would be a good excuse for leaving her office and hurried down the hall to the elevators.

Sarah went through the line in the cafeteria, glancing over the dining room. She took her coffee to a small empty table. Two seconds later, her heart sank, as over the rim of her cup she watched Harold stride toward her, an indulgent smile on his face.

“I thought I’d catch you here.” He pulled out the chair facing her and sat as if she’d invited him. “I called your office. When your secretary said you were out, I figured you hadn’t had your morning caffeine yet.”

Sarah smiled. “You figured right. So why aren’t you treating the little ones today?”

“All in good time. Even pediatricians get a few minutes to chase beautiful women.”

Sarah shook her head. “I don’t see you chasing women.” She inclined her head toward a couple of nurses who walked past, giving Harold a quick appraisal. “There go two right now, and I didn’t notice you looking.”

Harold chuckled, his gaze meeting hers. “I saw a couple of nurses, but I’m looking at the only beautiful woman in the hospital.”

Sarah felt the color rise to her cheeks while she stared at her coffee. “I wish you wouldn’t say things like that.”

“Why not?” He reached across the table and took her hand. “I’ve told you how I feel, Sarah. I’d like for us to be more than friends. A lot more.”

“I know.” She slipped her hand from his and nestled it in her lap. “But right now isn’t a good time for me. I’ve got a lot on my mind. I’m still fairly new at my job, and it’s very demanding.”

“Personnel director.” Harold’s blue eyes smiled at her. “Sure, that’s a big responsibility, and I’m proud of you. I have no doubt you will do great. You already are. But there’s more, isn’t there?”

“There’s also my son.” Sarah watched his expression cloud. He didn’t approve of her upcoming meeting with Trey.

“That’s Saturday, isn’t it?”

“Yes, in the afternoon.”

“What about his father?”

Sarah frowned. “His parents will be with him, both of them.”

“I mean his birth father. Will he be there?”

Air rushed into her lungs at the thought. “No, of course not. Why would he?”

Harold’s voice softened. “He has as much right as you do, Sarah. Why wouldn’t he be there?”

The thought of Kevin Nichols showing up after eighteen years, shoving his way into her son’s life after what he’d done, filled Sarah with dread and a touch of anger.

“He won’t be there. He didn’t care when Trey was born, so why would he care now? I’m the one who was left with the decisions and had the baby. I’m the one who chose the adoptive parents and made arrangements to keep in touch with my son while Kevin finished out his senior year playing football and dating cheerleaders.”

Harold sighed and leaned back, keeping his intense gaze locked with hers. “People change, Sarah. That’s something you might want to consider. How old was this boy when you got pregnant?”

Heat filled Sarah’s face at Harold’s bluntness. She thought back to the teenage boy Kevin had been. To the love she thought they’d shared. The plans they’d made. Until they went too far and she’d been caught.

“He was barely seventeen when I told him about the baby.”

“Just a child.” Harold shook his head.

Sarah nodded, remembering. “We both were. He offered to pay for an abortion. When I refused, he walked away.” She looked up at Harold. “He offered to kill his own son. I hated him for years. I was scared; he was terrified. I haven’t seen him since before Trey was born.”

“That’s probably for the best.” Harold smiled at Sarah. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t mean to dredge up old memories. How about I make it up to you? I don’t have Katie this weekend, so let’s go out Saturday night after you meet your son. You can tell me about it then.”

“I don’t know, Harold.” Sarah forced a smile. “I may not be good company. If you want to call or come by the house, that would be fine.”

“Hey, I’ll take what crumbs I can get.” Harold looked at his watch and stood. “My break is over. Keep smiling, and I’ll see you Saturday if not before.”

Sarah watched him walk away. She took a sip of her now-tepid coffee and frowned. She needed to get back to work, too. Saturday would be here before she knew it, and that would be soon enough to go down memory lane.

Sarah had no trouble finding the shopping center Saturday afternoon. In fact, she arrived fifteen minutes early. Her hands trembled as she reached for her purse. She pulled Trey’s invitation out and read it through one more time before tucking it back and finding her hairbrush.

The car mirror reflected her long, straight hair as she pulled the brush through. According to his pictures, Trey’s hair had been blond like hers when he was little, but had gradually darkened, until now it was as dark as Kevin’s. With a sharp intake of air, Sarah pushed Kevin’s image from her mind and replaced her hairbrush. She unsnapped her seat belt and opened the door. Today was her time to spend with Trey. Kevin had no place in either of their lives. Not even in her memories.

She walked quickly across the parking lot and paused just inside the mall entrance to smooth her hands down the sides of her new black slacks. She pressed one hand against her fluttering stomach and looked around. Shoppers filled the large open area, as they hurried from place to place, ignoring her while she gathered enough courage to take another step. When several people brushed past to go out the door, she stepped out of the way and kept walking, although she was tempted to turn and follow them outside.

She’d looked forward to this moment for eighteen years and now that it was upon her, she would grab any excuse to hide from the one person she longed more than any other to see. Trey’s map said they would be waiting in the food court. Would she recognize the young man she still thought of as a tiny baby? If only he wouldn’t be disappointed in her. Or be ashamed of her.

Each year, beginning with his first birthday, as part of the agreement she’d made with his adoptive parents, she received a picture of her son and a letter telling of his accomplishments. She always kept the latest picture on her mirror, where she studied his little boy face until she would’ve recognized him anywhere. When another birthday rolled around and a new picture came, the old one found a special place next to the accompanying letter in her scrapbook dedicated to Trey. But even knowing Trey was now a young man didn’t erase the image in her mind of the infant she’d held such a short time before relinquishing him to the Millers.

Sarah stopped at the edge of the food court and saw him immediately. She focused her attention on the dark-haired young man walking toward her. Shock coursed through her at the remarkable resemblance to Kevin. A resemblance his pictures hadn’t captured. Or one she’d refused to believe. For a moment she didn’t see Trey Miller her son, but she saw the boy she’d given her heart to years before. The boy who’d taken all she had to give before trampling her love into the ground with his rejection of her and their unborn child.

Trey’s hesitant smile brought Sarah’s mind to the present, and she focused on his face while she forced a smile to her lips. “Trey?”

His smile widened. “That’s right, and you’re Sarah Maddox, aren’t you?”

Her name spoken with an impersonal tone, as if he were speaking to a stranger, caused a heavy weight to settle near her heart. But what did she expect from a boy who probably saw her as an interruption in his life? A boy to whom she was a stranger. She should’ve never insisted on meeting him. Why hadn’t she left well enough alone? She glanced to the side as the urge to flee pulled at her.

“Miss Maddox?” Trey’s smile faltered. “Is anything wrong?”

“No, nothing.” Sarah shoved her misgivings aside and again smiled up at her son. My, but she did have to look up at him. Never again would she picture him as the tiny baby who’d stared into her eyes so trustingly when she kissed him good-bye. “There’s just a lot to take in. Meeting you again, I mean.”