Chapter 17 - Sarah LeavesThe call came from Cleveland.
Sarah’s mother had fallen.
Not seriously.
But she needed surgery and several weeks of help.
Sarah packed that night.
Alexander did not hesitate.
“Go.”
“What about the foundation?”
“I’ll handle the board.”
“The kids?”
“We’ll handle ourselves.”
Sarah looked at him.
“You sure?”
“No.”
“But go.”
Henry struggled.
Lucy cried.
Sarah hugged them.
“I’ll call every day.”
Henry crossed his arms.
“You promised you wouldn’t leave because you were scared.”
“I’m not.”
“My mom needs me.”
He nodded reluctantly.
“Okay.”
Sarah stayed in Cleveland for three weeks.
It was the longest she had been away from the Hayes house since arriving.
Her old bedroom at her mother’s home still had photographs of Lily.
Sarah spent the first night staring at them.
Her mother noticed.
“You talk about those children a lot.”
Sarah smiled.
“They’re impossible.”
“And Alexander?”
Sarah looked away.
Her mother smiled.
“That much?”
“Yes.”
Sarah sat.
“I’m scared, Mom.”
“Of what?”
“That I built a life around people I can lose.”
Her mother looked at Lily’s photograph.
“So did I.”
Sarah’s eyes filled.
“Would you undo it?”
Her mother stared at the picture.
“Never.”
Sarah cried.
Not because the answer surprised her.
Because she finally understood it.
Back in New York, Alexander struggled.
Breakfast burned.
Lucy refused to wear matching socks.
Henry forgot homework.
Alexander called Sarah too often.
On day four, she said.
“You’re calling more than the children.”
“That’s inaccurate.”
“I have records.”
“I’m checking on your mother.”
“My mother thinks you’re charming.”
“She’s correct.”
Sarah laughed.
At the end of three weeks, Sarah returned.
Henry ran first.
Lucy followed.
Alexander waited behind them.
Sarah hugged the children.
Then looked at him.
“You survived.”
“Barely.”
He held out something.
The homemade whisk microphone.
Sarah laughed.
“You kept it?”
Henry answered.
“Dad used it.”
Sarah stared.
Alexander looked furious.
“No.”
Lucy smiled.
“He danced.”
Sarah covered her mouth.
“I need video.”
“There is no video.”
Mrs. Doyle appeared.
“There is.”
Alexander closed his eyes.
Sarah laughed so hard she cried.
That night, after the children slept, Alexander took Sarah to the gazebo by the lake.
Small lights hung around the roof.
Sarah looked at him.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing dramatic.”
“That’s already a lie.”
Alexander reached into his pocket.
Sarah stopped.
“Oh.”
He looked nervous.
More nervous than she had ever seen him.
“Sarah.”
She shook her head.
“You’re terrible at this.”
“I haven’t started.”
“Sorry.”
He laughed.
Then became serious.
“You walked into this house for three weeks.”
“You stayed because two children asked.”
“You challenged me when everyone else avoided me.”
“You made my home loud again.”
“You made me want a future I thought I was done having.”
Sarah cried silently.
Alexander knelt.
“I don’t need you to replace anyone.”
“I don’t need you to save us.”
“I just want you beside us.”
He opened the ring box.
“Will you marry me?”
Sarah stared.
Then laughed through tears.
“You made a speech.”
“I practiced.”
“It was good.”
“Sarah.”
“Yes.”
His face changed.
“Yes?”
“Yes.”
He stood.
Sarah kissed him before he could put on the ring.
From behind a tree came a cheer.
Alexander froze.
Sarah turned.
Henry.
Lucy.
Eleanor.
Mrs. Doyle.
Vanessa.
Sarah stared.
“You all knew?”
Henry smiled.
“For two weeks.”
Alexander looked at him.
“You said you could keep a secret.”
“I did.”
“By hiding behind a tree?”
Lucy ran forward.
“Did she say yes?”
Alexander smiled.
“She said yes.”
Lucy screamed.
Eleanor cried.
Mrs. Doyle claimed she had dust in her eye.
Sarah looked at everyone.
A family she had once tried to leave because she was afraid to love them.
Now they surrounded her.
May you like
There was no escape.
She had never been happier.
