Sara nodded and started for the stairs.
“Oh, you had a couple of phone calls,” Jill called after her. “One was from the Children’s Home Agency. They wanted you to call back right away.”
Sara turned to look at her. “Did you write down the number?”
“Of course. It’s right by the phone.” Jill frowned. “Sara, you don’t look good. What’s the matter?”
Sara held up her hand. “I’ll tell you later. Right now, I’ve got to call the agency.”
“Sure.” Jill nodded, though she still looked concerned. “I’ll be in the kitchen. I’ve got an order of Bundt cakes that need to go out by six.”
Sara waved her off, turned to the phone and found the paper with the number on it. She dialed it quickly and got through to a real live agent almost immediately.
“We’ve been trying to get hold of you for the last few days,” an agent named Linda told her. “You really must keep in better contact. If you’re going to be away, you must let us know.”
“Sorry. I’m sorry. I’ll take care of it next time.” Sara tried to stop her heart from racing so wildly. “Is there … is there something wrong?”
There was a pause and it nearly killed her. She put her hand over her heart and waited, trying to keep her breathing even.
“Well, I’m afraid something has happened,” the woman said at last. “You’ve been doing so well with your quest to adopt little Savannah.”
“My … my sister’s child,” Sara said, as though that was going to help her win.
“Yes, of course. But you see, there is a problem. Her, uh, her biological father seems to have turned up.”
Sara closed her eyes and fought back the urge to vomit. The very thing she’d been afraid of from the beginning now filled her with a terrible dread.
“Are you sure?” she said, her voice raspy, her throat tight. “How can we know he’s telling the truth?”
“DNA tests are being performed. We’ll know the facts soon enough.”
Soon enough. Soon enough. What was the woman talking about?
“But … I’ve done everything. I’ve met all the standards. I’m in the process of adopting her right now… .”
“You do know that a DNA match will be determinative, don’t you? If he can prove that he is her father, well, there’s not much we can do.”
Sara couldn’t speak. She rocked back and forth, holding tightly. Tears were streaming down her face.
“Now don’t you give up hope, my dear,” the woman was saying. “The DNA might not match. And even if it does, he might decide he is unprepared to take on such a huge responsibility as raising a child on his own. But we do have to come to a conclusion, one way or another, before we can move forward.”
“What’s his name?” she asked, barely holding herself together.
“His name? Oh. Well, I guess I can tell you that. Jake Martin. He’s been away in the military and didn’t know that Savannah had been born. Or so he says.”
She nodded. She wanted to say more, but she would begin to cry in earnest if she tried.
“I do have to warn you,” the voice said, sounding tentative now. “Something happened the last time he was in here. You see, it seems he may have taken a file folder that included your address. It would be completely against regulations to give him your address, of course. But as the file has been missing since his visit … well … I thought you ought to be warned. He might try to contact you.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “He might.” The woman was still talking, but Sara hung up the phone.
She had things to do. She was going to take her baby and run for shelter.
“Be calm,” she repeated to herself over and over, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth. “Remember how you were this afternoon in the crazy kitchen. You can do this. You can make it happen. But you have to stay calm.”
They could do it. They would go to a new place and they would hide until the coast was clear, and then … She didn’t know what would happen then. But there was no way she was giving up her baby to that … man.
She dashed upstairs and pulled out two travel bags. Working fast, she began to throw clothes into one, baby supplies into the other. They were going to run.
She looked into the crib where Savannah was sleeping. Her beautiful, beautiful baby. For just a moment she filled her heart with the look of her, her round baby cheeks, her perfect eyebrows, her adorable wisp of blond hair. Everything in her ached for this child. To hand her over? To never see her sweet face again? No! She could not, would not—give her up.
And then Jill was in the doorway.
“Sara! What are you doing?”
Sara shook her head and refused to meet her sister’s gaze. “Sorry, Jill. We’ve got to get out of here.” She threw some little romper suits into the bag.
Jill grabbed her by the shoulders. “Why? Tell me what’s going on.”
Sara blinked back tears. “No time.”
“Sara!”
“Okay, okay.” She took a deep breath. “There’s this man who is renting the Lancaster place next to me. His name is Jake Martin. He claims he’s Savannah’s father.”
Jill gasped. “Oh, Sara! No.”
“Yes. And he wants her.” She set her jaw. “But I won’t let him take her. I’m going to go.”
“But, Sara, where?”
“Away. As far as we can go. Jill, you do see that I have to do this?”
But Jill was shaking her head. “No,” she said softly. “Oh, Sara, no. You can’t run. What good will it do? They’ll find you. You won’t get away. It’s too dangerous. Stay here. We’ll see what we can do. Maybe Connor will know someone …”
“Jill, he’s here. He’s looking for her right now. I have to go.”
“No!”
“Jill, listen to me. You’re the one who talked me into taking this baby. I didn’t want to do it. But I saw the light and I did my duty to our sister Kelly. I took her baby. I put all my heart and soul into loving her, caring for her, making her feel cherished and safe. And now you want me to just give her up to some crazy man who doesn’t have the slightest idea on how to take care of a child? No. I won’t do it. I’m going.”
“Wait until Connor gets home,” Jill insisted. Pulling out her cell phone, she punched in her husband’s number. “Wait. He’ll have an idea. I know he will. We can all work on this together.”
Sara didn’t waste any more time talking. She pulled Savannah into her arms and headed for the changing table. Quickly she changed the diaper as her baby began to wake up and look around, cooing happily as she always did when she saw her mother’s face. Sara pulled on a little playsuit and wrapped her in a blanket, then grabbed the suitcases and headed to the door.
She could hear her sister talking to Connor, giving him the facts and urging him to get home fast. But she couldn’t wait for that. As she rushed out the door, her main fear was that Jake would already be coming up the hill to Jill’s house. She looked quickly, but there was no sign of him, and relief surged in her heart. If she could get to the ferry before he found her, they just might make it. She strapped her baby into the car seat and off they went.
A