Just Over The Mountain by Robyn Carr Page A

and tell her I’m going to the hospital.”
    “Shall I follow the ambulance or ride along?”
    “Um, follow, if you’re okay to drive,” June said. “Then you’ll have a vehicle to get home in, in case I get tied up and can’t drive you back.”
    “Good. Fine.” She leaned down, clutching the loose bosom of her dressing gown together over her full breasts, and kissed Daniel on the head. Daniel looked up at her with the eyes of a man in love, and June saw Sarah for the first time as both nurturing and sensual. “You’re going to be okay now,” she told him with confidence. “I’ll get dressed and call Blythe.”
    “Hello?” Lee called from the front door of the house.
    “Back here, Lee,” June called. Sarah slipped into the bathroom before being seen and Lee appeared at the bedroom door. “Can you bring in the gurney? We’re going to give Daniel a ride to the hospital. He had some chest pains.”
    “Sure thing. Hey, Daniel.”
    “Hey, Lee.”
    The two men appraised each other for a moment, as if to say, “Guess we both know why Blythe pummeled your arse full of buckshot.” Then Lee went after the gurney and nothing more was said.
    By the time Daniel was loaded and June and Lee were rolling him through the living room and past the kitchen, Sarah was dressed and on the phone. “Yes, of course you should be at the hospital, Blythe, and I’d like to meet you there… No, I’m afraid this time I can’t stay away… Well, dear, I don’t mean to seem unkind, but haven’t we given you all the time in the world for that? Hmm? You’re going to have to accept this change sooner or later because Daniel and I are committed to being together. The sooner you come around, the sooner the three of us can have a nice relationship. This terrible scare proves that we can’t wait any longer just because you’re uncomfortable…I do hope you understand, because you’re very important to us both. We love you, Blythe.”
    June had heard of modern couples, but this was taking things a bit far, she thought. Sarah was chastising Blythe for taking so long to accept this affair, calling it a “change?” On the one hand, she seemed so gentle and patient, but on the other hand, the concept was just plain mean. June honestly didn’t know what to make of it.
    “I’ll be right along, darling,” she called to Daniel as he was wheeled out the door.
    An hour later, Sarah was sitting close to Daniel’s bedside, holding his hand, explaining that Blythe couldn’t bring herself to appear at the hospital. Juneasked if she could speak to Sarah in the hall. It was difficult to think of Sarah as a predator, a woman who would go after another’s husband. She was so sweet, so loving, so devoted to peacefulness. But still…
    “Sarah, forgive my outspokenness, but surely you can see why this is hard for Blythe to accept. Can’t you?”
    “It’s not at all what you think, June. I’d never take another woman’s husband.”
    “But it appears that you have,” June said.
    “Things are not always what they appear to be.”
    “Well, then, what is it I don’t understand?”
    Sarah put a soft, warm hand on June’s arm and looked pleadingly into her eyes. “We gave Blythe our word that we wouldn’t speak of her situation. We promised to give her time to accept our love for each other, and to decide how she would like to handle letting the community know that Daniel and I are going to be a couple. She’s embarrassed, understandably so. I’ve been slinking around in the shadows for two years now, June. Soon, I won’t be able to honor that promise anymore. Soon, Daniel and I will have to explain if Blythe won’t.”
    “Explain? Some special circumstance?”
    “Exactly so.”
    June chewed on this for a minute. “What a mess,” she finally said.
    “Yes, it is. It doesn’t have to be, but it is. And I’m concerned about Blythe. She’s not facing reality. Maybe you could talk to her?”
    June’s mouth dropped open. “What