Increasingly, Sara’s work at the morgue was infringing on clinic time, and she knew that in a couple of years she would have to make a choice between the two. When the time came, the decision would be a hard one. The medical examiner’s job was a challenge, one Sara had sorely needed thirteen years ago when she had left Atlanta and moved back to Grant County. Part of her thought her brain would atrophy without the constant obstacles presented by forensic medicine. Still, there was something restorative about treating children, and Sara, who could not have children of her own, knew that she would miss the contact. She vacillated daily on which job was better. Generally, a bad day at one made the other look ideal.
“Getting on up there!” Tessa screeched, loud enough to get Sara’s attention. “I’m thirty-four, not fifty. What the hell kind of thing is that for a nurse to say to a pregnant woman?”
Sara stared at her sister. “What?”
“Have you heard a word I’ve said?”
She tried to sound convincing. “Yes. Of course I have.”
Tessa frowned. “You’re thinking about Jeffrey, aren’t you?”
Sara was surprised by the question. For once her ex-husband had been the last thing on her mind. “No.”
“Sara, don’t lie to me,” Tessa countered. “Everybody in town saw that sign girl up at the station Friday.”
“She was lettering the new police car,” Sara answered, feeling a warm flush come to her cheeks.
Tessa gave a disbelieving look. “Wasn’t that his excuse the last time?”
Sara did not answer. She could still remember the day she’d come home early from work to find Jeffrey in bed with the owner of the local sign shop. The whole Linton family was both amazed and irritated that Sara was dating Jeffrey again, and while Sara for the most part shared their sentiments, she felt incapable of making a clean break. Logic eluded her where Jeffrey was concerned.
Tessa warned, “You just need to be careful with him. Don’t let him get too comfortable.”
“I’m not an idiot.”
“Sometimes you are.”
“Well, you are, too,” Sara shot back, feeling foolish even before the words came out of her mouth.
But for the whir of the air-conditioning, the car was quiet. Finally Tessa offered, “You should’ve said, ‘I know you are, but what am I?’ ”
Sara wanted to laugh it off, but she was too irritated. “Tessie, it’s none of your business.”
Tessa barked a loud laugh that rattled in Sara’s ears. “Well, hell, honey, that’s never stopped anybody before. I’m sure damn Marla Simms was on the phone before the little bitch even got out of her truck.”