One
The pain was intense. Once again, it felt as if every organ and piece of tissue in Sam's small body heaved upward and then fell with a resounding crash. She wrapped her shaking arms around her middle trying to hold her insides still. It was a fruitless endeavor and she knew it. She scrambled for the sink and coughed out the water she'd just been drinking. Sam washed her face and took a breath. She'd been repeating this pattern for days now, and it was getting worse. As she ran a cool cloth around her neck, she spied the kitchen phone. Maybe it was time to call after all.
A few months back, she had been a somewhat normal ultrasound technician at a high risk clinic in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. It was sometimes heartbreaking but fulfilling work. She'd been learning the ropes for delivery to be an extra hand and earn more money. He'd walked in their office as she'd been finishing up a training exercise. Sam would never forget the unusual shiver that had traveled up and down her spine, not in warning, but in anticipation. She had stopped to look at the stranger thinking maybe she'd known him from somewhere, while admiring his tall, six foot plus frame and his wide shoulders. He had a narrow waist and long legs fitted into khaki pants. He'd been wearing a blue dress shirt under a black sports coat. This gorgeous man caught her looking and smiled. Then he'd said the words that had apparently changed her life when she wasn't paying attention.
"Hello, do you know where I might find Samantha Dixon?" he had smiled like he'd already known. Maybe he had.
Sam had smiled back, "You found her." She reached out her hand, and said simply, "Sam."
He'd taken her hand lightly, "Well, Sam, do you have a place we can talk?"
Sam shivered as a new round of rollercoaster bumps started in her gut. She wanted to smack her forehead but was afraid to let go of her stomach. She was a smart girl, top of her class, great at work, so why the hell didn't she tell that man "Nope, never heard of her". She hadn't been wearing her ID cards since she'd been training in the mock delivery room, so he'd never have known she wasn't telling the truth. Instead, she'd introduced herself all friendly-like, gotten him coffee, then sat with him in an empty waiting room. She'd even told him it would have to be quick since the clinic was locking down for night hours in twenty minutes.
He'd said it wouldn't take long. No, that wasn't right; he'd promised it wouldn't take long. He'd sat down next to her and produced a strange looking folder. Sam had recognized it as an old-school medical file, the metal type with the folding, hinged lid. Then he'd told her a crazy story and, of course, she hadn't believed him. He hadn't really expected her to. He'd then told her all the facts about herself which she'd pointed out he could have gotten easily. Right when her temper had finally been making an appearance he had bowed his head and apologized. And didn't that just take the fight right out of her.
His voice had been softer, "I'm sorry, please let me start over. I'm trying to do this too quickly and it's not working."
Sam crinkled her nose as she remembered saying "Okay" when she'd meant to say "Go to hell".
His dark blue eyes had locked directly into hers, freezing her in place. "Let's pretend I'm telling you a story..."
"Twenty-nine years ago, a baby was born to a woman who had tried to hide. She was afraid of something and had hidden away in the city of Mobile, Alabama. Some diner workers had found her in the alley when they were taking out the trash and had called for help. The ambulance workers rushed her to the hospital but she delivered a healthy baby girl on the way. The woman died from exposure three hours later. That baby girl found her way into a wonderful home and grew up healthy and happy. That baby girl was you. I'm here representing your father, your biological father. I know you were never told that you were adopted and I do have the record here with me to prove it to you. I have a file for you to review and then decide what you want to do. The truth is, Samantha, you're a very special lady and your father really needs you to come home."
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Tuatha Destiny: Destiny Calling
RomanceIn the first book of the Tuatha Destiny series, learn that fairy tales, myths, and legends are more than they appear. And unraveling the mysteries of love, magic, and legend could save us all. Destiny Calling She thought she was an ordinary woman ev...