Page 160 of We Drank the Dawn

Where were we going again?

Peter’s voice seemed to travel through a tunnel. “You can lean on me.”

I said something, a lot of somethings. The only words I recognized were, “But I want—to talk.”

Peter chuckled softly and his voice cocooned me like a heated blanket. “You’re not making sense, sweetheart. Just sleep.”

So I did.

FIFTY-FOUR

Peter

Sarah’s head rested against my left shoulder, her heavy breathing indicating she’d fallen into a deep, comfortable sleep. One of her arms rested on my lap, our fingers entwined. Our legs were pressed together—from our hips to our ankles, and the proximity made it hard for me to breathe. In a good way. Since she’d fallen asleep, I’d probably kissed her forehead a dozen times. I couldn’t stop myself.

On the other side of me was a snoring Wren who had my index finger in a death grip. Both of my arms were starting to tingle, but I didn’t move. For miles, Bea and I stayed quiet.

Eventually, I broke the silence. “Bea?”

“Yeah?” She said softly.

“Sarah said she’s staying in the fifth wheel.”

“Yes,” Bea confirmed.

“She told me she wanted a redo of our week together at Meadowbrook. I’ll need some time off.”

Bea giggled. “Peter, you working the ranch was just to get you out of bed. You do not have to report for work tomorrow, I promise.”

“Okay.” Then I asked the question that had been pressing on my mind. “Does Sarah look…sick or something?”

“Why are you asking?”

I shook my head, hating all the things I’d noticed in the last couple hours. “There’s a lot of reasons. But we hugged, and she feels thin to me. Her voice sounds funny, scratchy or strained or something. And her energy is low—it’s more than just being tired, I think. Her presence is…small. I don’t know how to describe it.”

I didn’t tell Bea that for as long as I’d known Sarah, she’d never cleaned her plate at a restaurant. She always had to get a to-go box for her leftovers. But tonight, she devoured the generous portions and had about half of my fries. She must’ve been starving because I’d never known my wife to eat like that.

Bea took a long deep breath, and the way she hesitated made my heart drop into my stomach like a concrete block. “She looks really worn down, Peter.”

“Like how?” My chest tightened. “Describe it.”

“I’m not going to lie to you. Hollie and I were pretty shocked at how much weight she’s dropped in a month. There are deep circles under her eyes and her eyelids look swollen like she’s been crying a lot. I think that might be why her voice sounds weird, too. She looks pale and just…overall, like she stopped taking care of herself. People do that when they get depressed.”

“You think she’s been depressed?”

“I don’t think you can judge that by just looking at someone, but yeah, maybe.”

That tracked with what I could sense. “I want to plan some stuff for the two of us to do together, but maybe she should just rest and eat for a few days.”

“That’s probably a good idea.”

After that, silence permeated the truck until the tires spit gravel on the driveway. As we bounced up the long drive, Sarah’s head sagged off my shoulder, her body tipping forward. I reached up, wrapping my arm around her shoulders to keep her upright. Bea drove past the big house, past the cabins, rolling to a stop in front of the fifth wheel.

When the truck’s motion quit, Wren woke up.

Sarah didn’t.

Stuck in the middle, I tapped her shoulder. “Sarah.”