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Each and every Callahan sister sat at the table. Eating and speaking quietly. Maybe they thought too much noise would hurt her head. Or maybe she just made them incredibly uncomfortable. Either way, the silence was putting her even more on edge.
Someone knocked at the door and the youngest Callahan hopped up from the table. “I’ll get it.” Grace hurried from the room. She’d just graduated from high school a year early. She was sweet and soft-spoken. But that could change at the drop of a hat. Sarah found she longed for those days. From the moment she’d graduated from high school, things had gone downhill. Unfortunately, she didn’t have anyone to blame but herself.
Sarah picked at her food. She wasn’t all that hungry. In fact, the eggs on her plate seemed to make her nausea worse. It was either the color, the smell, or it could just be that she had collected it from beneath the underside of a angry hen a few days earlier.
She let out a sigh, putting down her fork and leaning back in her chair. All eyes at the table shifted toward the door. Brielle glanced at her, then once more toward the one area of the room Sarah couldn’t see.
Turning around in her seat, Sarah locked eyes with Dax. Their last conversation had left a bad taste in her mouth. Why was it that every time she met someone, they wanted to wield power over her? She frowned and faced forward in her chair.
Great. If he was here that could only mean one thing. He was checking up on her. Boy, he must really want to know when she could get back to work.
“Mr. Heaton. To what do we owe the pleasure?” Zeke wiped at his mouth with a napkin and rose from the table. “Is there a problem on the ranch?”
“No, sir.”
“Alright, son. What can I do for you?”
“I just came to check on Sarah.”
She didn’t think it was possible, but her whole body grew stiffer. Just as she’d expected, he was here to boss her around like he always did. He probably came to drag her off to the barn to put her on a horse like he’d talked about last night.
Sarah clenched her teeth, grinding them together, relishing in the pain the movement caused. It took away from the pain at the back of her head.
Zeke motioned toward the table. “Go ahead and take a seat. There’s plenty to eat.”
The chair beside her scraped against the tiled floor and Dax sat down. She didn’t dare glance in his direction. It was absolutely ridiculous, and maybe she could blame her bump on her head, but some small part of her wondered if she stayed completely still, maybe he wouldn’t see her.
“How are you feeling, Sarah?”
Well, it was worth a shot.
She focused on keeping her breathing regulated. There was no use getting worked up at the table. With her luck, she might end up passed out on the floor. She really should focus on keeping the pounding beats of her heart at a reasonable rate.
“Are you okay, Sarah?”
She jumped. “What?”
Dax touched her forearm and she startled. “I’m fine.” Thankfully she’d been able to keep her tone light. “Just a little jumpy, that’s all.”
“Any dizziness? Nausea?”
Actually, she had experienced both when she’d walked down for breakfast. Her steps had been painfully slow, and when she moved even a smidge faster, the bright dancing stars behind her eyes made another appearance. The only way she seemed to be able to escape the symptoms had been to sit down.
But if she saidanyof that, Dax would likely berate her like he had last night. “Like I said. I’m fine.”
The conversation at the table returned to a moderate hum as everyone who’d come down for breakfast dug into their food again. Dax shifted in his seat and leaned a little closer to her, causing her to experience what could only be described as some form of claustrophobia.
Her heart rate increased, her breathing grew shallower, and both of those responses made the stars return. Sarah closed her eyes and forced herself to take several deep breaths before she opened them again. When she did, she found Dax staring at her.
His brows were drawn together tight on his face. He frowned like he knew something she didn’t and it concerned him greatly. Ha. He was probably worried he’d lost a worker ant. Well, the joke was on him because she couldn’t afford to spend a single day extra on this ranch.
“Really, Dax,” she muttered, “I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.”
His soft words were not what she expected. They weren’t laced with judgment or disdain. She almost heard a note of genuine concern. But that couldn’t be right. From the moment they’d met, he’d either been making fun of her or he’d been bossing her around.
“Did you get enough rest last night?”
