Made For Another (Caroline Dawson Series - Book 1) (9 page)

"Here, honey. I'll take this card and these balloons. And this chocolate." The dyed-red haired woman interrupted her thoughts.

"Sure," Sarah told her, standing up and taking the items to the counter. "Looks like you have a new baby in the family."

"Yes, my niece and her husband. Actually, it's twins!" The woman gushed. "And they have my red hair!!"

Sarah smiled but held in her chuckle.

~ # ~

The week had gone by quickly, but Sarah was getting more and more anxious to see Bradley again. Now that she knew he liked her, and now that he had passed the Aunt Carrie test, she couldn't wait to get to know him better. Besides, that kiss at the car had been just too electric to ignore.

It was everything Sarah could do to wait patiently over the weekend. She kept hoping that she would hear from Bradley - that he was back in town early. She hadn't thought to give him her cell phone number, but she was listed in the phone book, so she kept hoping he would call.

She had gone to the police station on Monday to finish giving her statement, and other than making her all emotional again, that had been pretty easy. Chief Caldwell hadn't been available, so she'd spoken to Carl, one of the officers on duty.  He'd been matter of fact, and she was glad to have gotten that out of the way.

And, that was the most exciting thing that happened to her all week.

She'd spent the rest of the time attempting to keep busy by doing laundry, organizing her books and sorting through old magazines that she had been collecting. It was the start of the new semester, so her classes weren't very demanding. She had finished her assignments Friday night, and it was getting hard to find something to distract her. 

The weather was cooperating, so she took a long walk along the beach on Sunday afternoon. By Sunday night however, she was really anxious. She hoped Bradley would be back at work the next morning. It was hard for her to think about anything else.

On Monday morning Sarah showed up early for work. She was on pins and needles, anticipating what she was going to say when she saw Bradley, and excited about being with him again. 

By midmorning she was disappointed. She realized she'd have already run into him if she was going to see him that day. Maybe she'd misunderstood, or perhaps his parents had needed his help, requiring him to stay longer than he'd anticipated.

She would just have to be patient.  After all, he hadn't said it would be exactly a week.

Sarah hoped there hadn't been a problem with his folks. She knew how fragile parents could become as they got older. Even when they looked like the pillar of health. Her mom had only been in her late 40s when the cancer struck her down.

Mom was lucky to have good insurance (and to have Sarah to help her), but not everyone was in the same situation. 

She mentally berated herself for not making sure she had given Bradley her number before he left - and for not making sure she had his.

~ # ~

By Wednesday Sarah couldn't stand it any longer.  She needed to find out why Bradley wasn't at work. She hoped nothing had happened to him - or to his family - but she was starting to get worried and even a little depressed about not hearing from him. Without his phone number, there was no way to reach him.

"Clara, have you heard anything about Bradley? Like why he isn't here at work? I know he was on vacation, but wasn't he supposed to be back already?"

Clara looked at her sympathetically, "Sarah, I really couldn't tell you anything, even if I wanted to, and even if I knew anything."

"I know, Clara, I'm sorry. I don't want to put you on the spot, but I'm starting to get worried about him."

"Honey, why don't you go talk to Personnel. They'd be the ones who could tell you anything."

It was after lunch when Sarah couldn't stand it any longer - she was starting to imagine all kinds of strange and bizarre scenarios  -  so she headed downstairs to Personnel.

Florence was standing at the counter with a stack of papers next to her, filling out some forms.

"Hi,
Florence," she said, "I know this is a little unusual, but I need to ask if you've heard from Bradley Lindstrom? He told me that he was going on vacation but I thought he was going to be back on Monday."

Florence
looked over at her and hesitated for a moment.

"Sarah, I'm sorry. You know that I can't reveal personnel issues or give out private information." Sarah started to protest.

"Normally I wouldn't be able to tell you anything," Florence continued. "But Bradley doesn't work here any more."

What? Sarah couldn't have heard her right, "He doesn't work here? What happened?"

Florence shrugged, "All I know is that he called in on Monday to resign. He asked us to mail his last check to his P.O. Box. Sorry I can't tell you anything else."

Sarah felt her heart drop and she slumped into a chair. He quit? He called and quit? And he didn't tell her? He didn't even try to reach her?

Sarah was having a hard time thinking straight. They had seemed so good for each other. What had happened? Oh My God. There must be something else. She couldn't believe that he had been leading her on. That just didn't make sense. Wasn't he her soulmate?

First, he had put himself in danger to save her. And he had been so considerate to her afterwards when she had fallen apart emotionally. Was he lying when he said he'd had a crush on her? What about that kiss? Certainly that couldn't have been a lie?

Sarah buried her face in her hands, she had to figure this out. This wasn't anything like what she'd expected. She had to get to the bottom of what had just happened.

~ # ~

"Aunt Carrie, I just can't believe it. First Tony and now Bradley. Are all men just jerkwads?" Sarah knew that even Aunt Carrie's ex-husband Russ had turned out to be a bastard, doing everything he could to make Carrie miserable, especially at the end.

"Now Sarah, isn't that a little extreme?" Carrie was trying to calm her niece down. "I mean, don't you think you should give him a chance to explain?"

Carrie was trying to defend him?

"Explain? He called the hospital on Monday and quit! He hasn't even tried to call me. I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out what might cause him to do this. Why he would just disappear.

"Then I worried that something bad had happened to him or to his family. But I don't have any way to check. So, I keep going around in circles. I don't know what to think any more. I thought you told me he was conscientious!"

"Sarah, I also told you he doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve. Maybe he needed some time away? What did he tell you before he left?"

"You mean besides the fact that he had a crush on me?" she sounded hurt. "Only that he had to visit his parents in San Francisco and he would be back in a week."

Carrie poured a cup of hot cocoa and handed it to Sarah. It was Saturday afternoon, and they were sitting in front of a nice fire. The wind and rain outside seemed to create a buffer against the rest of the world while the fire kept them safe and warm.

Sarah was wearing a large sweatshirt and her merino leggings. She sat sideways, her stocking feet slung over the edge of the overstuffed chair directly in front of the fire. Carrie sat on the loveseat, her legs curled up under her with a light throw quilt on her lap.

They could watch the fire and still see each other. The flames cast a hypnotic trance, and Carrie hoped they would help to soothe Sarah, although she couldn't get Sarah to sit still long enough for them to have the effect she wanted.

"Look, Sarah, you can't ever really know what's going on for someone else. I'm sure he has his reasons. I know it's hard to wait, and it probably feels like it's been ages, but it's only been a week."

"Here's the thing. When he kissed me, it was like we were one person. I knew he was my soulmate. But my soulmate wouldn't just disappear without telling me where he was going, would he?" 

"Well, I don't know. Did you tell him you felt that way?"

"No. I didn't get a chance." Sarah sighed. "I wanted to tell him, but it didn't seem right to do that at work, so I was waiting until he came back."

Carrie watched her niece over the top of her coffee cup as she took a sip. Sarah was turning into quite a young woman. She still remembered how excited Sarah had been that time when she was seven or eight and had come to visit her in the hospital.

All she could talk about that day was the candy stripers... and now here she was, almost a nurse. She'd be a good one, too, once she gained a little more perspective. Carrie was glad she had this chance to spend time with Sarah.

"So you think he's your soulmate, but you've never told him? And you're upset but you don't know if he feels the same way about you?"

"When you put it that way it sounds immature and childish. But I know how I felt when he held me and kissed me. Maybe I can't explain it very well, but I can't imagine that he didn't feel the same."

"Sarah, honey, you have to stop torturing yourself. How can you expect someone else to understand what's going on for you if you don't share it with them?"

"I can't imagine he doesn't feel at least some of the same things I felt."

"So now you're expecting him to be a mind reader? Is that fair? You never shared your feelings with him but you expect he's going to feel the same way you do and you're angry when he doesn't act the way you think he should?"

Sarah sat looking at the fire for a few moments.

"No, you're right. That's why I came to talk to you. I don't want to second guess what's going on. I'm more worried that something bad may have happened to him or his family. Being alone has its drawbacks." She smiled wryly.

"I never told him. There's no way I should expect him to know how I feel. So here's my worst thought: what if he never comes back? What if I don't see him again?"

Carrie raised her eyebrows, "I doubt that will happen. I'm sure he hasn't disappeared from the face of the earth."

"Well I hope you're right, but at this moment it sure seems like that to me," Sarah sighed.

Monday. Again. This time getting ready for work wasn't as much fun.

It had been a long and emotional week. She had spent an exhausting Sunday trying to figure out a way to find out what had happened. She had thought long and hard about what she would do without Bradley in her life. She didn't want to think ab
out that as a possibility, especially since she was still convinced that he was her soulmate. But, what did that mean, really? Especially if she was the only one who felt that way?

She was still upset that he had disappeared so suddenly, but she wasn't feeling so abandoned or desperate after talking with Aunt Carrie.

Sarah hurried out the door. She'd been so emotionally drained that she had overslept - not something she normally did. She started the car and pulled out of the driveway.

It was such a relief to have someone like Aunt Carrie to talk to. Sarah was grateful that her aunt had chosen to move close enough that she could use Aunt Carrie as a sounding board when needed.

If Sarah had dared to talk with anyone at school or the hospital, it would probably have ended up in a "pity party".  But that wouldn't happen with Aunt Carrie. Even after a nasty divorce, her aunt wasn't anti-men. And if anyone had a right to resent men, it would have been Aunt Carrie. 

Sarah reached over and turned on the radio. This morning she wanted something to distract her. She surfed through several stations, looking for something besides the early morning talk shows. Music. It was time for music. Nora Jones. Okay, that would do for now.

Sarah knew there would be a huge hole in her life without Bradley. If he didn't show up soon, then she would just have to figure out how to find him. The Personnel office had his P.O. Box number, and she was confident that she could find a way to get that information. At that point, Sarah could either track him down or at the least, send him a note and ask what happened.   Even if they wouldn't give her the address, she could convince them to mail her letter to him.

She pulled into the hospital parking lot, jumping out of the car and heading for the entrance.

Everything had happened so quickly, and maybe she was fooling herself. Or maybe she was being overly dramatic? God, she hated whiners, and she certainly didn't want to be one. If he was truly out of her life, it was probably better that he had disappeared early on, instead of after she had fallen head over heels.

Like she hadn't already. So why did
this have to happen to her? Oops, she stopped herself. No need to think like a victim, there was always an option if you looked hard enough. Well, at least she had a plan now - such as it was. And that made her feel a little better.

~ # ~

Sarah had avoided the lunchroom for the past week. Too painful, she decided. But she had the slightest niggle of a headache, and a coke sounded like just the thing to make it better.  She grabbed one from the vending machine at the end of the hall.

Heading back to her Monday afternoon duties, Clara waved her down.

"Sarah, someone was asking about you,"  She said with a smile.