I was dumbfounded. There were so many thoughts coursing through me, and I wasn’t sure how to address any of them. Dad thought Sadie liked me? Why? When? How?
I scoffed and pushed my hand through my hair. Apparently, Dad was going blind in his old age. “I’m pretty sure you’re seeing this wrong. Sadie Miller hates me,” I said in a deep, quiet voice.
Dad furrowed his brow. “Son, being able to read people is a skill I’ve carefully developed over the last thirty years. How else would I have closed so many deals or snagged your mom?”
He nodded in Sadie’s direction, and I did everything to keep myself from following his gesture with my gaze. I didn’t need her knowing that we were talking about her. “I know the look on someone’s face when you’ve proposed a deal that they’re going to like.” He reached out and clapped his hand on my shoulder. “And you’re a deal that she likes.”
Mom’s voice rose up over the hum of the conversations around us, and Dad snapped to attention. He was gone before I could offer him a rebuttal. Which I guessed was okay. My mind was too clouded from what he’d said to properly respond anyway.
With Dad now gone, my gaze found its way over to where Parker and Sadie had been sitting. Relief flooded my body when I discovered that they weren’t there. I was hungry and confused, and right now, my only clear thought was about stuffing my face.
I grabbed my root beer and made my way over to my chair. Once I got there, I collapsed onto it. Thankfully, eating was a mind-numbing action, and for a minute or two, I was able to just sit there, not thinking.
I finally felt myself relaxing when suddenly Sadie appeared next to me. She had a questioning look in her gaze as she held her full plate of food and studied Parker’s now vacant seat.
“Did he finish?”
I shrugged as I was mid-bite on my burger.
She glanced around and then sighed as she sat down in his chair. “That boy,” she said softly.
And just like that, all my work to calm myself flew out the window. Sadie was sitting next to me, occupying the same space and air as I was. My entire body responded to her proximity. I could feel where she was. I could sense her movements as she slipped a carrot between her lips.
Even though I tried to ignore her, I couldn’t. She was…everywhere to me.
When she sunk her teeth into her burger and released a soft moan, I cleared my throat and stood. My food was only half gone, but there was no way I could sit next to her. I needed some space.
“I should check on the grill,” I said quickly and left before she could respond.
I didn’t look back as I hurried to hide behind the massive grill that Dad had convinced me to buy last year when I moved into this house. Right now, with its bulk protecting me from Sadie, I praised his manly advice.
He’d been right. I should always go bigger.
I spent the evening hiding behind the charcoal. Thankfully, my family seemed to take that as dedication to the food and not as an attempt to hide from Sadie.
From where I sat, I was protected, and yet I could still find out where she was if I needed to. I watched as she made her rounds with my family, laughing with Lottie and listening intently as she talked to Penny. From Sadie’s furrowed brow and the adorable concentration lines that she got when she was studying, I knew they were discussing nursing.
By the time my family started packing up, Sadie and Parker were lying in the hammock together, swinging softly in the breeze. I couldn't see their faces, just their feet, and I couldn’t help but smile at the picturesque image in front of me.
“You seem content,” Mom said as she walked toward me with two plates of food covered in tinfoil.
I stood and shrugged as I began to scrape the black, charred-on food bits off the grill. “It was a good evening,” I said with a smile.
Mom chuckled. “It was a good evening.” She set the plates down on the small shelves attached to the grill. “Here’s some food for this week.”
I nodded and continued to scrape.
Mom’s lingering told me that she wanted to say something more, and the nerves that grew inside of me warned that I might not want to hear it.
“What’s up?” I asked as I turned toward her.
Mom had a business card in her hand. She was turning it around and around as she studied me. “Heather is back in town.”
“Heather?”
“Yeah. You remember Heather. She was good friends with Liam.”
Was Mom trying to set me up with someone? “Okay,” I said slowly.
“Anyway, she’s a doctor now, and I thought that you might want to talk to her.” Mom stuck her hand out and shoved the card into my palm.
Before I could hand it back, Mom turned and headed back to the table where she picked up the last crate of food and disappeared around the corner. I sighed as I shoved Heather’s card into my pocket and stared down at the grill.
My parents were never going to understand.
A few minutes later, I heard Sadie’s soft laugh, and she and Parker tumbled from the hammock. She wrapped her arm around his shoulder as they made their way to the garage. Not wanting her to leave, I grabbed both plates of food and hurried after them.
“Hey, Sadie?” I asked as I neared.
Sadie paused and turned. Parker didn’t seem interested in what we were going to talk about and continued up the stairs.
Now alone—very alone—with Sadie, regret cascaded over me. What was I doing? I was an idiot, that was for sure.
“What’s up?” Sadie asked.
I cleared my throat and shoved the plates in her direction. “Here,” I growled.
Sadie stared at the plates. “I thought your mom gave you these.”
I met her gaze and then dropped mine. Why did she always have to make things difficult? “I’m okay. I figured—”
“You figured that a single mom who crashes her landlord's family get-together would obviously need a handout.”
Confused by her reaction, I glanced up at her to see tears brimming her eyes. She pursed her lips and glanced around before she focused back on me.
“Let’s not pretend that today means anything. Nothing has changed. Our rules are still in place. I live my life, and you live yours.”
I was rapidly losing control of this situation, and I was desperate to get it back. I stepped forward only to have her step back in response. “I…” No words entered my mind. What was I going to say? That giving her these leftovers was fulfilling a promise I made to Adam?
No. That would make me sound like an idiot.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “You’re right. I should have thought about how you would feel.” I dropped the plates onto the nearest table.
Sadie took in a deep breath. “It’s okay. I’m sorry I snapped. I’m just…” Her voice drifted off, and I waited for her to finish, but she didn’t. Instead, she took in a sharp breath. “I think it’s just best for us to keep to our plan. Where we stay out of each other’s lives.”
I parted my lips. I wanted to respond. I wanted to pull her back. We’d had such a fun evening, and I didn’t want this to be what ruined it. But Sadie didn’t stick around to hear my response. Instead, she offered me a small smile and then turned away. And before my brain could catch up with what was happening, she was gone.