Always Dakota - Debbie Macomber [82]
“That was why she moved in with him?”
Sarah nodded, putting down her cup. “There was more to her decision to run away. She was furious with me for…being involved with Dennis while still legally married to her father.”
“You can’t beat yourself up over that. We all make mistakes. It’s part of life, part of the maturing process. Trust me, I’ve made plenty of mistakes with my own children.”
“I’m sure you can understand why Calla believes I chose Dennis over her.” It didn’t help that they’d announced their engagement without talking to Calla first. Neither of them had intended to slight her, but they’d suffered the consequences ever since.
“None of us are perfect parents,” Joanie reassured her. “We try, but we’re only human.”
“I wish I could get her to look at things differently….”
“Calla’s still young. And she’s got some issues to resolve. Teenagers don’t have much perspective, anyway, but toss in divorce and what she assumes is betrayal, and you end up with the kind of confusion Calla’s feeling.”
Sarah didn’t know how to react to Calla’s contradictory emotions. Her daughter’s coming to her, asking for money to give Willie, had hit her hard. Even knowing the kind of man he was, Calla had wanted to rescue him and planned to use Sarah to do it. She was afraid that Calla had given Willie her own meager paycheck. If she had, Sarah would prefer not to know about it. She just couldn’t handle that right now.
“Is…is she dating Joe Lammermann?” Sarah hated to ask, but Calla hadn’t been exactly forthcoming about the on-again off-again relationship.
“She hasn’t seen much of him since the Sweetheart Dance. In fact, I’m fairly confident she’s interested in Kevin Betts.”
“Kevin?”
“I can’t say for sure, but last month she told me they were writing.”
“When did that start?”
“Not long ago. I do know the letters have been coming fast and furious lately.”
So Calla was corresponding with Kevin. Sarah experienced a sadness that was difficult to define. Having always liked Kevin, she was pleased, but at the same time, she wished Calla had mentioned this to her. She couldn’t help wondering when she would. If she ever did.
The Doctors’ Clinic had told Matt he should have the results of the blood test within a week. He’d figured they’d either phone him or mail him, but it was almost two weeks now and he hadn’t heard. From anyone.
No news was good news, or so he’d always been told, but as the days progressed, his thinking took a decided turn toward reality. No news was no news.
When he couldn’t stand the suspense any longer, he invented an excuse about needing something from the hardware store and drove into town. The receptionist at the clinic glanced up as he approached the desk. His heart pounded with dread.
He gave his name, then said, “I’d like to talk to Dr. Kaplan.”
The middle-aged woman ran her finger down the appointment schedule. “I’m sorry, but I don’t see your name. What time was your appointment?”
“I don’t have an appointment,” he said with controlled impatience. “All I need is a few minutes of his time.”
“But…”
“I don’t mean to cause a ruckus, but I will talk to Dr. Kaplan.”
The woman heaved a deep sigh, and Matt knew she’d gotten his message. “If you’ll wait here, I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you.” He remained standing at the desk.
A minute later, the receptionist returned. “Please take a seat. He’ll be with you as soon as possible.”
Kaplan’s ASAP turned out to be ninety minutes. Twice Matt was ready to walk straight through the door and corner the physician, but he managed to curb his irritation. He’d waited this long; a few more minutes wasn’t going to matter. What surprised him was the number of people coming in and out of the clinic—including several he recognized. Apparently the place was doing a good business.
“Dr. Kaplan will see you now,” the receptionist announced.
Matt stared at her and his legs refused to budge. After waiting more than two weeks and ninety minutes, he’d expected to race inside