Page 15

Journal

It’s Thanksgiving Day and there is so much to be thankful for. My baby boy will be here soon and despite some setbacks with the property, we are all healthy and on schedule.

We made an amazing meal tonight; turkey, homemade stuffing, pecan pie, and my mom’s famous sweet potatoes.

Brock was going to be alone this year, so we invited him over to enjoy the feast with us.

It was like old times for him and I, joking around and talking about the future.

We had big plans for this place and how we were going to run it. It was great.

Until it wasn’t.

Sarah flew off the handle at Brock. Called him all sorts of names.

I could see it in his eyes, she’d really hurt him, and it made me angry.

I didn’t even know what the problem was, but the more time he spent on the property, the less she seemed to like him.

Two big problems with that scenario, he was my best friend and was going to help run the place.

I knew I needed to get to the bottom of it and I pulled her to the side where we could talk without being heard by Brock.

I asked her what the hell was going on and why she was so upset with him.

Had he touched her? I knew the answer to this before I asked, but figured I might as well find out for sure.

Sarah shook her head, but still was as tight-lipped as a kid with a mouth full of peanut butter.

I asked her again, and all she did was shake her head.

Wouldn’t even look me in the eye. What the hell had I done?

Why would she be upset with me? Our relationship had cooled somewhat recently.

I figured it was because she was pregnant, and didn’t want to mess around.

Maybe she wasn’t feeling herself lately on account of pain in her lower back, but my god I rubbed her back and feet every night.

She finally apologized to me for the outburst, but truth be told, I would have preferred answers over I’m sorry.

Sorry, didn’t solve anything. Later that evening, she came out of her room and put her hand on Brock’s shoulder and nodded.

Not a word between them, but I could tell he felt better about whatever was going on between them.

Personally, I just wanted everyone to get along.

One big happy family. We were so close to getting this business up and running I couldn’t bear to think that it could fall apart because the two people closest to me hated one another.

After I cleaned up all the dinner dishes, said goodbye to Brock who had to be up early the next day to work at his main job, I retreated to the bedroom where I hoped Sarah would be waiting for me.

I had the massage lotion in hand and was ready to help soothe away the day’s woes.

Unfortunately, when I got there she was nowhere to be found.

The bedroom next to ours had been finished a couple of weeks ago and so I went in search of her there.

The door was locked so I pressed my ear to it and listened.

Sarah’s soft sobs were a kick to my stomach, knocking the wind out of me.

What had upset her so much? What could I do to make this better?

I tapped on the door and asked her to unlock it. Begged her to talk with me. I let her know, whatever is going on we can fix it. The crying stopped, but she didn’t move to unlock the door. Silence met my pleading.

“I love you,” I said through the door. “I love you.” My whispered last words of the night went unanswered.

This had turned out to be anything but a happy Thanksgiving.