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Sara – Phase I

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Sara sat at the kitchen table, smoke pouring out of the skillet, the rancid smell of burning bacon fried into the very fiber of the cast iron. Inhaling deep against a sob, Sara laid her head down on the table, and felt the tears slowly trace across her nose and land on the table. That's how Mike found her ten minutes later.

"Hey, kid," he said, pushing her hair back over her ear. "What's with the water works?"

"I'm just an idiot," she sniffed, and wiped her eyes with her arm.

"Please, tell me it's not over burnt bacon. Otherwise, I would have already had to build a dam because of my own cooking," he joked.

Shaking her head, Sara retrieved another skillet and opened the refrigerator, trying to find something to cook.

"Sara, you do know we live in modern times," Mike said. "The kids can eat cereal."

With a sigh, she closed the fridge, put the skillet back, and smiled at her older brother.

"It's probably more edible than anything I could make," Sara conceded.

"Listen, I'll get the cereal out for the kids, if you'll make some coffee," Mike offered, and watched her nod in agreement. Within ten minutes, the kitchen was bustling, as five children between the ages of two and fourteen sat around the table, loudly eating.

Sara loved this time of the morning. She enjoyed watching Caleb, the oldest, help Daniel, the youngest get some cereal into his mouth instead of on the floor. The liked to watch Sarabeth open a book in front of her while she ate. Gabriel and Seth usually had a shouting match going within seconds of sitting down.

It took thirty minutes from the time they emerged for each of the kids to be out the door – the four oldest to school, and the youngest to the care of the housekeeper, now that April was out of town. Sara would have loved to watch out for little Danny, but with her limited experience, it wasn't realistic.

Mike leaned against the counter, and watched the myriad of emotions play across his sister's face. It was like looking in a mirror – one that had been warped to take him back in time. Only this time, he could see it a little more objectively, with age and experience leading the way, instead of the raw fear and pain he'd felt all those years ago when he'd walked out on his wife and child.

"Sara," he said, "you offered to help out the other day. Is that offer still open?"

Smiling, she replied, "Absolutely. I feel guilty most days, with you and April working so hard, and me doing nothing."

"Great," he said. "Meet me out at the barn in fifteen minutes. Wear work clothes."

After changing, Sara made her way out to meet Mike. She'd discovered a long time ago that she loved hanging out in the barn. Her brother and his wife raised horses – not racers, but good, solid working horses. It being a farm, they raised other creatures, but Sara had gotten pretty good at ignoring the chickens and pigs. She really loved being out with those big beautiful horses, though.

"Okay, Mike, what do you want me to do?" Sara asked.

"I'd like you to muck out the stalls first. Then lay down a nice layer of straw in each," Mike said, handing her a wheelbarrow with a pitchfork in the bucket.

"I'll be in the corral," he said, giving her a salute and walking outside into the crisp early morning.

As soon as he rounded the corner, he pulled out his cell phone to call his wife. While he waited for her to answer, he thought to himself how far he and his wife had come these past years.

"Hey, baby," he said, smiling, when April answered the phone. "Have I told you how amazingly lucky I am to have you in my life?"

"Not today," she replied, seductively. "But you can certainly show me in two days when I get home."

His tone dropping, become somber, Mike said, "There are days I wake up and can't believe the gifts I've been given in my life. Twenty years ago, I didn't know it could be this way."

Then softly, he added, "Thank you."

He heard the soft sigh on the other end of the line.

"This is hard for you to watch, isn't it Mike?" April asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "It is hard. It scares me, because I'm going to have to see it all again – see what I did to you again."

"I don't know how you forgave me," Mike added in a whisper.

"Not easily," April replied in her own whisper. "Remember, it took time for both of us to heal, and we had a child between us at the time. Caleb took a share of that pain, too."

"Tell me about the first phase," April demanded, all business.

Laughing, Mike entered the corral and sat up on the fence.

"I've got her cleaning out all the stables. When she's done with that, I'm going to have her rake out the corral."

"Are you trying to torture her?" April laughed.

Chuckling, he responded, "No. However, I think maybe some basic physical work will help clear out a few cobwebs. It'll probably take a couple of weeks to get her to sweat this part out."

When he was met with silence on the other end of the line, he asked, "What are you thinking, sweetheart?"

Her reply made him smile. She said, "That explains all that firewood you chopped early in our marriage, doesn't it."

"I do love you, Mrs. Hunter," he sighed into the phone.

"I love you, too. I'll call you later today." With that, April hung up.

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