Introducing, Sarah McKinney!
The green-eyed siren who Gabriel Hart cannot deny!
The oldest daughter to a retired local butcher and widower, Sarah has always been responsible. She has lived in Lake County all her life, has two siblings, and loves her family!
At 28, she has seen her fair share of heartache, but still remains a steadfast friend, employee, and volunteer. Staying busy is how she copes with pain, and after losing her mother to cancer at age 14, she has been busy more than a decade.
Perhaps her biggest heartache came from losing her husband. Shortly after a huge altercation, her husband was killed while driving out of town. The pain from not ever fixing their problem, then having him die before they could make amends, haunts this young woman. She had attempted to move on with her life, but after a year of burying her pain in work, she still felt like she’d not gained any ground.
Then the fire came.
The Valley Fire wiped out so many people’s homes! People she cared about! The people of her community. Worst, her best friends from high school, Michelle and Caleb, had lost everything and nearly lost their lives escaping the inferno. Their pain and suffering made Sarah forget about her own.
Then one evening out with girls from work, Sarah happened upon a stranger in her town. She noticed him sitting at the bar, seemingly alone, having dinner. Not once since her husband’s death had she thought to look at another man. But this man at the bar had the most captivating blue eyes and genuinely seemed forlorn. Unlike the usual male species who frequented bars, this man was not there to pick up on women. He simply appeared to not want to be alone.
With a guarded heart, Sarah finds herself in a situation that brings these two together once more. This time, they are introduced and she cannot fight the immediate attraction she has for him. But attraction or not, she isn’t sure she is willing to let her wall down that she’s put up to protect herself.
Self-confident, but leery of getting too close, Sarah embarks upon a journey with Gabriel Hart, that meanders through familiar and also uncharted territory. Love was not on her agenda, but she is tired of treading water alone. Maybe Gabriel is the guy to bring down those walls. And if she is strong enough to allow herself to be vulnerable once more, maybe she will find second chances truly exist.
Next Blog: My experience with witnessing our volunteers in action here in Lake County, during the aftermath of the Valley Fire. Some of the best people in the world.
And later………..I still promise the interview with a local First Responder and…..YES! The first chapter of Out Of The Ashes!
The week is coming to a close. May your Friday be quick and your weekend move slow.
Keep it coming Patti. Looking forward to it all. Today I was privledged to help a friend deliver numerous boxes of school supplies, backpacks and stacks of hand written letters from students at St Mary’s School in SF to the Charter School in Middletown. We met with Gwen the principal, and Mr Kennedy, a teacher. They were so grateful for the goodies, but even more, the special letters from the students. They said many of the kids still don’t have their feet back on the ground and have many emotional days missing so many things. Mr Kennedy quickly took the letters into the classes to share with the students, and let them write ones of their own to send back. I hope these letters help them heal a little more. After warm hugs of appreciation we headed back looking at all the changes happening, and talking about all the red tape and long waits for inspections to get things rebuilt. I sure hope improvements are made quick in that dept!
Debbie,
Thanks for sharing your experience. I know many are struggling and the little things that we may not think are that big, mean a great deal to those that are missing things they lost. You are very sweet to help them.
Thank you also, for supporting my book. I am very much loving the process.