Sadie just shook her head, not wanting to believe that anyone could care about her. No one would ever be able to love her.
“I’m such a mess, Dylan. I’ve done so much wrong, and I’m not sure I can make it right.”
“Sadie, you were under a spell. I know that sounds crazy, but believe me, we all were witness to it. Whatever happened wasn’t your fault. You didn’t do it.”
“But I think I did,” she whispered, tears streaming down her face.
Dylan held the woman against her shoulder, her taller frame almost doubled over. She rubbed her back, rocking her much like she did with Joey. They stayed there for a long time, not saying anything. She just needed to cry, and Dylan was going to let the woman do that.
“Sadie? It’s dinner time,” said Ham from behind them. She sat up slowly and nodded, wiping her eyes. When they stood and turned, Ham could see the pain in her eyes. She looked at all the people in the cafeteria, and he knew she was about to run.
“You know what,” said Dylan, “maybe you two should have dinner alone. You could use our cottage. I’ll have one of the staff bring you a couple of plates over there. When you’re done, maybe you’ll feel like joining us for dessert. I made chocolate pecan pie.” Ham smiled at her, then looked at Sadie.
“That sounds great, right, honey?” he asked.
“Yea. Sure.”
Dylan watched as he walked toward their cottage, holding Sadie tightly to his side. She could feel the woman’s pain and confusion, and it was overwhelming. She felt her emotions suffocating her, and she just shook them off and went back inside.
When dinner was done, and they gathered for dessert and games, Dylan watched as Ham and Sadie walked back toward the boats.
“I’m starting to wonder if I’ll ever have my granddaughter back,” said Mary, standing behind Dylan. The young woman turned toward her and hugged her.
“I’ve discovered that anything is possible here. Anything.”
CHAPTER SIX
Ham sat outside the examination room while Sadie was inside with Gray, Lena, Ally, Claudette, and Gabi. They’d been in there for nearly two hours now, doing blood work, x-rays, ultrasounds, just about every medical test possible. Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on his knees and then looked to the left to see Angel, Wes, Jazz, and Marc walking toward him. Ham stood, wiping his palms on his thighs.
“Thanks for texting me, Ham,” said Wes.
“I wasn’t sure I should. I didn’t want to break her trust.”
“You didn’t break her trust, Ham. You were concerned for her, and rightfully so, obviously. Do you know why she’s seeing the doctors this morning?” asked Angel. He looked down at the floor, then rubbed his palms again on his jeans.
“It’s okay, Ham,” said Wes. “You don’t have to tell us anything. Hopefully, she will.”
Gray stepped out of the room, seeing all the men lined up against the wall. She looked at Ham with sympathy and reached out, patting his cheek.
“Gray?” whispered Wes.
“We’re going to take her back for a minor surgical procedure,” said Gray. “I think she’ll want to talk to you all before I do that.” They moved into the room, and Sadie just stared at them all.
“Wh-where’s Mom?” she whispered.
“I can get her, honey,” said Wes. “Do you want me to get her? She was going to come up a little later. We didn’t know what was going on.” She shook her head.
“No, don’t get her. Not right now.”
“Baby, tell me what’s wrong,” said Wes. “I’m your dad. I just want to make it all right, and I don’t know how to do that.”
Her hands began to shake, and she reached for Ham, who immediately knelt beside her and gripped her hand between his two huge ones.
“Did you tell them anything?” she asked quietly.
“He said nothing,” smiled Marc. “I was about to take him out back and beat him up if he didn’t tell me what was wrong with my favorite niece.” She gave a small grin and shook her head.
“I did this,” she whispered. “All of this is my fault.”
