“Momma,” Sarah said, entering the kitchen where Darlena was making dinner. “I’m going to my room to call Ben. Amber’s in her AirFort playing on her tablet, but would you listen for her while I talk to Ben?”
“Sure, Sarah. Of course. Come ‘ere and hug your momma.” Sarah did as Darlena asked and thanked God again for her family. “You got this, Sarah.”
“Thanks, Momma. I’ll be back in a few.”
Sarah headed down the hall towards her room and called out to Amber. “Amber, I’m making a call. You need anything, Mimi is in the kitchen.”
“OK, Momma!” Amber replied.
Sarah entered her room and closed her door. She punched in her code and went to contacts, and stopped.
‘Maybe I should wait until he’s home. I don’t want him driving upset. On the other hand, he might be upset if I wait. This is one of those things we don’t know about each other yet,’ Sarah thought to herself.
“Well, I’m gonna call. If it’s a mistake, I’ll know for next time.”
“Hey, Babe,” Ben said when he answered. There was a catch in his voice, and Sarah instinctively knew something was off. Wrong. Ben Reed was always steady. But he did not sound steady right now.
“Ben, what’s wrong?”
“I was going to talk to you about it when I got home.”
“Nope. Tell me now. I got news for you, too, that you probably aren’t going to want to hear.”
“You first?” he asked hopefully.
“Nope.”
“OK. I got a call today from Georgia. From Gerald Stevens. He said my ex was trying to get ahold of me and that I needed to call her because…”
Sarah gave him a few seconds to continue, and when he didn’t, she prompted, “Because why?”
“Because I have a seven-year-old son named Tristan that I didn’t know about,” Ben said in a rush.
Sarah leaned against her bedroom door and slid to the floor. A son. Ben had a son.
Thanks for sharing my book, Desert Rose!
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