Free Beginnings (Crawley Creek Prequel) by Lori King Page B

Sera’s favorite
peach tea. He was waiting on the porch when she pulled into the
driveway, and instantly, he knew something was seriously wrong.
    “Seraphina? Angel?” He called out, hurrying
across the yard to her. “Have you been crying?”
    She sniffed and shook her head, “I’m fine.
Just a bit of hayfever is all. What are you doing at the main house
so early in the day?”
    “I thought we’d celebrate our anniversary
this evening since I have to go to that auction this weekend in
Saline.” He held the door for her.
    “Oh, that’s a lovely idea. What do you have
planned?” she asked, lifting her face for a kiss. He obliged her,
sinking his hands into her dark hair to hold her steady while he
tasted her. As always she was a delicious cross between a sweet
treat and a soothing balm for his soul. The perfect woman in his
eyes.
    “It’s a surprise,” he said, as he stepped
backwards to give his body space to cool off. Even after all of
these years she turned him on like no one else.
    “Mmmm…I love surprises. Should I change?”
she gestured to her dress and he nodded.
    “Probably, we’re going by horseback.”
    Though sadness still lingered in her eyes,
she smiled with enthusiasm. “I’ll be down in a flash.”
    He watched her as she headed up the stairs,
her curvy backside swaying. A lingering feeling of doubt tickled
his gut. Something was wrong, and she was hiding it from him.
Should he confront her? They’d never kept secrets from each other,
and the idea that she might be keeping one now, hurt him deeply.
But what if she wasn’t? Maybe it was all in his head?
    Resigning himself to waiting it out, he
headed off to saddle Sera’s new horse, Blossom, for their ride. For
tonight at least, they would celebrate.
     
    ~ ~ ~ ~
     
    Any other day, Sera
would have been blissfully happy riding double with Abe on the
horse he’d surprised her with on her last birthday. Today, even as
the August sunshine warmed them and cicadas chirped nearby, it was
all she could do to hold back tears. Doctor Warburg’s words haunted
her.
    Hostile uterus. You’re barren.
    Her dream of having children was shattered,
and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it. Guilt, confusion,
frustration, and anger took turns overwhelming her, but she stayed
quiet. She needed to figure out exactly how she was going to tell
Abe the news. They’d prayed for so long that she would get pregnant
it seemed impossible to even voice the fact it would never
happen.
    She wasn’t sure how to put her pain into
words. She knew he loved her deeply, but this was life altering. He
would never have children of his own to inherit the ranch he loved
so dearly. The legacy they were working to build together would all
be for naught.
    Of course, she knew there were children in
the world who needed parents. In fact, she and Abe had danced
around the topic as a possibility for the last couple of years, but
that was supposed to be a last resort. After they had a child of
their own. Would raising someone else’s child feel the same? Would
she ever be able to build a bond with a baby that wasn’t from her
womb, when she knew she’d never be able to carry one?
    “Either stop thinking so hard, or tell me
what’s going on in that pretty head of yours.” Abe’s words against
her ear sent a shiver down her spine, and she turned her head in
offering. Instantly he pressed a kiss to her temple. It was a
gesture he’d repeated a million times in the fifteen years they’d
been together, and yet there was something painfully intimate about
it this time.
    “I’m just feeling a bit blue today is all,”
she offered, praying he’d buy the white lie.
    Peering down at her doubtfully, he huffed.
“You’ve been so caught up in your thoughts that you didn’t even
notice we stopped moving. Blossom’s limping.”
    Sera looked down at the horse and let out a
gasp of sadness. “Oh no, hurry, let’s get down and see what’s
wrong. Maybe she’s just thrown a