What Happens Between Friends (19 page)

“Please tell me you’re talking about taking a year off to go into the wilderness, living off the land and using nothing but your wits and handmade tools to survive.”

“I’m considering starting my own contracting company.”

“Go into business by yourself? Against Dad? Be his competitor?”

“There’s more than enough work in a town this size for another contracting company. Besides, I don’t think there’d be much competition,” he said drily. “I’m not talking about running a company this size. Mine would be a small operation, me and maybe one or two other carpenters.” He looked at her meaningfully.

“Oh, no. No way.” She jumped to her feet, whipped her long, dark ponytail over her shoulder. “I would never do that to Dad. I can’t believe you’re even suggesting it. That you’d leave Dad because you’re...what? Not getting your own way?” She stormed up to him, her hands on her hips. “I’ve said it before but it bears repeating—you really need to get your head out of your ass.”

And with a sneer, she brushed past him and stomped out.

James pressed his fingers against his temple in an attempt to ward off a brewing headache. “Anything you want to add?” he asked Eddie.

Eddie raised a shoulder. “Hard to follow that.” He shut his laptop. “But I am wondering what brought all of this on.”

“Haven’t you ever thought about it?”

“Becoming partners in the business? Sure. I figured we’d do like you said—take over when Dad retires.”

“I don’t want to wait any longer. I want a say in my own future instead of sitting around taking whatever comes my way. I want to make the decision. I want a choice.”

“Funny thing about choices,” Eddie said quietly, his eyes watchful. He tucked the laptop under his arm. “We always have them. Even when we think we don’t.”

* * *

S
ADIE
DIDN
’
T
WANT
the night to end.

Because when it did, when the sun came up proclaiming the dawn of a new day, she had to go back to work.

She had to face James.

Maybe she could call in sick.

Thank God today had been Labor Day, giving her an extra day to hide. To recover from the colossally stupid mistake she’d made Friday night. The bigger one she’d made Saturday morning.

I can’t stop thinking about you.

Yes, that was the perfect way to get them back to being friends. Way to muck everything up even more.

She padded into her mother’s neat, contemporary kitchen with its stainless-steel appliances, light woodwork and glass-front cabinets. Elvis followed, settling down on the rug in front of the door. Without turning the light on, Sadie got herself a glass of water and chugged it down.

The worst part was that it was true. She couldn’t stop thinking about James and in a much friendlier way than just...well...
friends.

Way friendlier.

Groaning, she let her forehead bump against the side of the refrigerator. Let it rest there.

No more tequila, she vowed. It killed too many brain cells. Made smart women do incredibly idiotic things.

The lights came on and she turned, startled.

“Sadie,” her mom said, surprised. “It’s almost midnight. What are you still doing up?”

Contemplating her messed-up life. Wondering how soon she could escape it, escape Shady Grove. Wishing it was sooner rather than later.

“I was hungry,” she said, opening the refrigerator and staring at the well-stocked contents, as if the answer to all her problems was tucked between the leftover potato salad and freshly squeezed lemonade.

Sadie pulled out the leftover risotto with pesto sauce and shrimp, just one of the many dishes she’d helped her mother prepare yesterday for the small picnic they’d hosted that afternoon. She dumped some into a bowl and grabbed a clean spoon from the drawer.

Sat at the table and dug in.

Irene looked scandalized. “Don’t you want to heat it up first?”

“Why?”

Her mother sighed. “Never mind.”

Sadie grinned a little, feeling better for some reason. “Sometimes I eat dinner leftovers for breakfast,” she said as Elvis abandoned the rug to sit under the table, always hopeful for a dropped crumb or two. “And I don’t even heat them up first.”

“Stop,” Irene said, holding her hand out, “I’ll have nightmares.”

“Is that why you’re up so late? Bad dreams?”

Her mom turned the flame on under her teakettle. “Actually, I haven’t been to bed yet. I was finishing up some paperwork for the store. I thought a cup of tea would help me unwind.”

“You were working? This late?”

“Hmm.” She retrieved a teacup and saucer from the cupboard, got a tea bag from the canister on the counter. “My hobby does keep me busy.”

Though it was said lightly, Sadie winced. “About that...I never should’ve said that.”

It wasn’t even true. These past two weeks, Sadie had witnessed how hard her mom worked to make WISC a success, how many hours she put in, not only at the store itself, but also in the home office she and Will shared. She’d been at the store just that morning working the Labor Day sale before coming home and hosting the picnic.

Sadie had brushed aside her mother’s business as nothing more than a way for Irene to fritter away her time, a way to spend her husband’s money.

Sadie swallowed, but it felt like a shrimp was stuck in her throat. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice breaking. “I’m really sorry.”

“Oh, honey,” Irene said, bending to give her a hug. “What—”

“What on earth is wrong with me? What did I do now?”

It was what her mother always asked her. The first thing she’d asked when Sadie returned to Shady Grove.

“I was going to ask what was wrong,” Irene said, brushing back a loose lock of Sadie’s hair like she used to do when Sadie was a little girl.

She leaned her head against her mother’s shoulder. “I’ve made such a mess of things,” she admitted. “I’ve screwed it all up.”

“Screwed what up?”

Everything. Charlotte still wasn’t talking to her, hadn’t said one word to her since that night at O’Riley’s. She’d even skipped the picnic today, had told Irene and Will she had to work.

Sadie would bet money Char had volunteered to stay at the E.R. just to avoid her.

Plus, Sadie had barely begun to save enough money to get across Ohio, let alone the country. She’d gotten drunk in front of her boss and then there was the whole James debacle... She sighed. She’d made a complete idiot of herself in front of him.

“I’ve screwed up my life,” she said. “God, you must think I’m such a joke.”

“I think no such thing.”

Sadie snorted.

“I don’t,” Irene insisted. “I just wish you wouldn’t jump into things without thinking them through first, that’s all. Sometimes it’s safer, more practical to have a better sense of where you’re going before you head out on that highway.”

Sadie stared at her mother as if she was a stranger. Well, in a way, she was. They’d never understood each other, not the way Irene and Charlotte did with their common love of lists and schedules and goals and plans.

“That’s just it. I’m not practical. Even the thought of being so gives me the heebie-jeebies. Sometimes I wonder where I came from. I mean, look at us—” She gestured between them. Though it was almost midnight, Irene’s hair was smooth and glossy, her freshly washed face shiny with moisturizer, her silk pajamas and matching robe expensive and demure.

Sadie touched her messy ponytail. She didn’t own a robe, had on fuzzy pink socks and bright green-and-white polka-dotted shorts. And James’s T-shirt. “Are you sure I wasn’t adopted? Or switched at the hospital?”

Irene’s mouth twitched. “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but no.”

“I’m not disappointed.”

Irene watched her in that way moms had, as if they had some sort of window into your soul simply by virtue of being a card-carrying member of the mom club. “Are you sure?”

Sadie dropped her gaze. She wasn’t disappointed. She loved her mom. Loved Will and Char, too. So much. She just wanted more out of life than they did.

The teakettle whistled and Irene shut it off, poured the hot water over her tea. “You came from me, and though you resemble me, you are and always have been your father’s daughter in every way that matters.”

“I know.” Sadie picked out a shrimp and nibbled on it as her mom sat next to her. “I guess I’ve never been sure if that was a good thing in your eyes.”

“I loved your father, oh, Lord, I fell for him so hard. He was so...alive. So full of life and charm. No one could resist him.” As if remembering, she smiled. Dipped her tea bag up and down. “When he set his sights on something, he was unstoppable, nothing could deter him. You get that from him.”

“He always seemed so huge to me, bigger than life. I always thought it was because I was so little when he died.”

Irene laughed. “No, he really was bigger than life. Always on the go, always smiling and ready for the next adventure. He was...hypnotizing. When we first met, he scared me to death. He was so much. Too much. He wanted me, came after me with a single-minded determination that was—”

“Flattering?”

“Frightening,” she said softly. “‘Here,’ I remember thinking, ‘here is a man who could make me give up all my carefully thought-out plans, all my goals. A man who could change me. Who I am, what I want...’”

Recognition slid along Sadie’s skin, raised goose bumps on her arms. Those were the same thoughts, the same fears she had about James.

Maybe she and her mother had more in common than she’d ever realized.

Irene sipped her tea. “Victor must’ve asked me out—for dinner, a movie, drinks, coffee, any number of endless activities—a hundred times before I finally said yes.”

“Well, as I’m here living and breathing and eating some really good leftovers, can I just say how glad I am you gave in?”

Irene patted her hand. “Me, too.”

“Though, to be honest, I can’t imagine anyone refusing Daddy.”

Victor had been so charming. So persuasive. Why would anyone want to refuse him?

“It wasn’t easy, believe me. And it wasn’t just his looks, though he certainly had those to spare. It was everything about him. His easy smile, his Southern charm, the way he looked at you, as if you had his entire focus, as if there was nowhere he’d rather be other than with you, listening to every word you had to say.”

“I remember that,” Sadie said. “How he’d sit on the floor listening to me tell him about my day, as if the goings-on of a third-grader were the most exciting things he’d ever heard.”

“He loved you so much. I’m sorry you didn’t have him in your life for long, but I am so very, very glad he gave me you.”

Sadie’s throat tightened. “Thanks, Mom.”

“Goodness, I almost forgot,” Irene said, setting down her cup with a soft clink. “I have good news.”

“You found Will’s secret stash of dark chocolate and are going to split the loot with me?”

“Please,” Irene said regally, “I’ve always known where he hides his chocolate. As long as he thinks I don’t know, I can monitor how much of it he’s eating.” She leaned over, lowered her voice. “If he knew I knew, he’d go off and cheat on his diet some other way.”

Sadie grinned. “Mom. I’m impressed.”

Irene inclined her head in a small bow. “No, my good news is that I might have found a home for Elvis.”

Hearing his name, the dog stood, walked over to press against Irene’s legs. “I...I don’t understand. You found his family?”

“I’m not sure that’s ever going to happen. It has been several weeks after all. But, this morning when I was at the store, Molly Snow came in—you remember Molly, don’t you? Her daughter Janine was in your dance class? Anyway,” Irene continued when Sadie just shook her head, “Molly and her husband recently lost their dog—cancer. She was crushed and had sworn she’d never get another dog, but when I told her about Elvis, she was intrigued enough to ask if she could meet him. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Sadie glanced down at the dog, her chest tight. “Yeah. That’s...that’s great. I mean, it would be great, except we can’t just give him to someone. What if his family contacts us? They could be out of the country and not know he’s missing.”

She couldn’t give him up. Not yet.

“It’s an option. One we need to consider. It’s not as if he can stay here after you’re gone.” She stilled. “Unless...unless you plan on staying here...permanently?”

She sounded hopeful. Excited.

The thought of it, the idea of never getting out of Shady Grove, of living her mother’s life, made Sadie break out in a cold sweat. Her fingertips tingled then numbed.

Of course she couldn’t stay. She’d spent most of her life trying to escape this town. Desperate to escape the type of existence that killed one’s individuality and dreams. She had to leave. If she didn’t, she would fail herself.

Worse, she would fail her father.

But for the time being she was stuck. She glanced at her mother, noted the way the diamonds in Irene’s wedding band caught the light. Sadie straightened. She
was
stuck, unless...

Unless she did the one thing she’d never done before. The one thing that was so humiliating she’d never, not once, stooped so low.

She could ask her mother for help.

It would mean admitting that she hadn’t been strong enough, smart enough to find a way out of this mess on her own. That she was terrified and desperate. It would mean swallowing her pride. But for the sweet taste of freedom and the possibility of getting her life back on track, she’d gladly choke down that damn pride and ask for seconds.

“Actually...” Sadie said, “I’m thinking of heading out to California. I have a friend out there who owns a winery.”

“A winery? What would you do there?”

“I’m not sure. I could manage the office. Or work in marketing.” Both of which she was good at and had experience. “The thing is...” She traced her fingertip over the table, made a figure eight then another one. Forced herself to stop and meet her mom’s eyes. She clasped her hands together in her lap. Inhaled deeply. “The thing is, I don’t have enough money to get out there, won’t have enough for weeks.” Possibly months.