Chapter Fourteen
After breakfast on Saturday morning, Sadie tidied the kitchen while she waited for her dad to get ready. She told him that she would be fine in the garden center – they both knew that Tilly and Parker would be able to tell her what to do. But it was obvious that he was itching to get out there himself, showing Sadie the ropes was just his excuse.
She grabbed her phone from the counter when it rang and smiled when she saw Josh’s name on the display.
“Good morning, sweetheart. How are you?”
“I’m good. How are you doing? How’s Grandpa?”
“Everything’s fine here. I’m doing great, and Grandpa is, too. I’m going to help out in the garden center today, and he’s going to join me for a while – show me what I need to do.”
Josh laughed. “You mean he’s back on his feet and wanting to get back to work?”
“I do. He’s doing better.”
“That’s good. What about you? How are you doing?”
“I’m doing great. I really am. How about you?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine here. I was just thinking about you, so I wanted to check in. Have you heard anything from Dad?”
“Not a peep. Have you?”
“I have. He called last night; he was trying to get information from me about you.”
Sadie scowled. “That’s not fair! If he wants to know anything about me, he should call me. Not put you in the middle.”
Josh laughed. “That’s what I told him. The thing is, I think he’s going to file for divorce. He was going on about how you just walked out.”
Sadie was so surprised that she made a few sputtering noises before she could actually speak. “He said that?”
“He did.”
“Wow!”
“You’re too polite, you know, Mom. There are much worse and much more appropriate things you should be saying right about now.”
“Honestly, Josh? I don’t know what to say.”
If it were up to her, she might never have told him what she’d seen – what his father had been up to when she walked in on him in his office with Adrienne. It made her feel a little guilty, but she would be forever grateful to Trevor, one of the plumbers. He’d seen her as she was leaving the office, and she’d told him what she’d seen. He’d quit on the spot and had taken it on himself to call Josh and tell him exactly what was going on.
Josh’s next words brought her back to the moment. “Then I’ll tell you what to say. You’re going to say, Damn! What an asshole! I’m going to drop whatever I’m doing today, and find myself a lawyer, and file before he can.”
“I can’t! I already told you, I’m helping in the garden center today.”
“And if I call Grandpa and tell him what I just told you, do you think that he’ll want you to do that? Or do you think he might tell you the same thing that I just did? You need to get on it, Mom.”
She frowned. “Do I? Does it really matter who files first? We both want the same thing. We want a divorce. What do the details matter?”
“Mom! It’s all about the details. I honestly don’t know if it matters who files first – but I have a fair idea that there must be some benefit to him in doing it, otherwise he wouldn’t bother, would he?”
“No, I suppose not.” She sighed. “I’ll get on it on Monday. It’s Saturday now. It’s not as though…”
“I think that’s a mistake.”
“You might be right, sweetheart, but as far as I’m concerned, it’d be more of a mistake to let Grandpa down.”
“Do you want me to call him and ask him? See what he’d rather you do?”
“No. You don’t need to do that. I know that you’re only trying to look out for me, but no matter what trick he might be trying to pull, he’s the adulterer. I might not know how it all works – I’ve never gotten a divorce before – but I’m fairly certain that in the eyes of the law, I’m the wronged party.”
“Yeah, I guess. Unless he thinks that he can deny it and get away with it, somehow.”
She let out a short, bitter laugh. “He can try. Trevor already told me that he’ll back me up if he tries to weasel his way out of it.”
“Yeah, at least Dad can’t deny it.”
“He can’t.”
“Sorry, Mom. I don’t mean to upset you.”
“It’s okay; I’m not upset. I just want to put the whole thing behind me. If your dad filing first speeds things up, I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing.”
“Maybe, but will you promise me that you’ll talk to a lawyer as soon as you can?”
“Okay. I will.”
“Are you ready to go, Sadie?” her dad called as he opened his bedroom door.
“Nearly,” she called back. “Grandpa’s ready to go out, Josh. I need to go.”
“Not yet. Put me on speaker for a minute, would you?”
“I don’t need the two of you ganging up on me.”
Josh chuckled. “Are you telling me that you don’t want me to talk my grandpa?”
She shook her head with a smile. “Okay! Hang on.” She put the phone on speaker.
Her dad appeared in the doorway to the kitchen and smiled when he saw that she was on the phone. “Is that Dom? What time’s he coming? And you know, you really should take him out to dinner again tonight. You guys don’t need to stay in with me.”
Sadie’s heart leapt into her mouth when Josh’s voice came out of the speaker, and he asked, “Who’s Dom?”
Her dad’s eyes widened as he met Sadie’s gaze. “Hey, Joshy. I didn’t realize it was you.”
Josh laughed. “So I noticed. How are you doing, Grandpa?”
“Better every day. How about you?”
“I’m good, but I’d be better if someone told me what’s going on.”
Sadie took a deep breath. There was no way she was going to hide anything from him. Her dad raised his eyebrows, and she nodded.
“I made a new friend. His name’s Dominic.”
“A friend? Or more than a friend?”
She swallowed. “Obviously, it’s early days yet, but… He’s more than a friend.” She held her breath as she waited for his response.
“That’s awesome!”
She leaned against the counter as relief flooded through her.
“You’re a good ‘un, Josh,” said her dad. “And don’t worry, Dom’s a good guy. He’s a friend of mine.”
Sadie had to laugh at the note of panic in Josh’s voice when he asked, “A friend of yours, Grandpa? How old is he?”
Her dad chuckled. “I’ll have you know that I have all kinds of friends. They’re not all old farts like me, if that’s what you’re worried about. Dom’s the same age as your mom.”
Josh laughed. “Okay, sorry. I don’t mind telling you that I was worried for a second there. And Mom?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Thanks for telling me – not trying to hide it.”
“I remembered what you said. I really didn’t think that I would meet anyone – not for a long time, if ever. But Dom just kind of came out of nowhere.”
“Well, I know Grandpa would have something to say about it if he wasn’t a decent guy. And I’m going to see if I can come out there to visit soon, then I can meet him for myself.”
“Really? I’d love it if you can come.”
“Me too,” added her dad. “It’s been too long.”
“I know, it has. I’ve missed you, Grandpa.”
“Then get your ass out here to see me,” her dad said with a chuckle.
“I will, just as soon as I can. Can I ask you a favor for now, though?”
Sadie’s heart sank.
“Maybe?” her dad asked. “I want to be pleased that you asked – most people think that I’m too old and useless to be doing them favors these days. The trouble is, I know you, the only favor you’d ask for would be for your mom. So, what’s up? What is it?”
Sadie made a face at him, as Josh said, “Will you nag Mom about getting a lawyer and getting going with this divorce? I think Dad’s up to something.”
Her dad huffed. “I will. You’ve got no worries there.” He scowled at Sadie. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because the first I knew of it was when Josh told me just now.”
“Okay. Well, now that I know, I’m going to be nagging you, okay?”
“Fair enough, but you won’t need to; I’ll go over to town on Monday morning.”
“If you can find someone who will give you an appointment that soon.”
She shrugged.
“When Dom gets here, I’m going to ask him for the name of a lawyer. I’ll bet he knows a good one.”
Sadie stared at him.
Josh chuckled. “Good thinking, Grandpa; if he wants to date Mom, then I imagine that he’ll be happy to hear that they’re fast-tracking the divorce.”
Her dad chuckled. “I’ll keep you posted, Josh.”
“Don’t mind me,” said Sadie. “I’m just standing here, in the middle of it, while you talk about me.”
“It’s not like that, Mom, and you know it.”
“I do, and I appreciate the intention, but don’t push too far. Either of you,” she added with a pointed look at her dad.
He just grinned. “We’d better get going, Josh.”
“Yeah, me too. It’s good to talk to you, Grandpa. I’ll call again soon.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
“Thanks for calling,” said Sadie.
“Yeah. I’m going to keep nagging you, you know.”
“I know, but you won’t need to. I’ll get on it on Monday, and I’ll call you to let you know how it goes.”
“Thanks. Love you, Mom. Love you, too, Grandpa.”
“Love you,” her dad called.
“Love you.” Sadie ended the call.
Her dad raised his eyebrows. “Do I need to hound you about it?”
“Absolutely not.”
He chuckled. “Okay then. I’ll give you a chance to get on it yourself. But we both know that if you don’t…”
She rolled her eyes at him. “I thought you wanted to get out into the garden center.”
He grinned and started making his way toward the front door. “You know I do. You were the one who held me up with your phone call.”
She had to laugh as she hurried past him to get the door.
“I’m glad you’re home, honey bun.”
She leaned in to kiss his cheek. “Yeah, me too.”
~ ~ ~
Dom grinned at Sadie as they watched the couple that they’d been helping, push their cart out to their car.
She grinned back. “You’re some salesman!”
He shrugged. “I didn’t mean to take over, it was just when he talked about building a retaining wall, I knew exactly what he meant. And I knew the kind of pavers that she was talking about – I looked at them when I first came in. So, it was easy to show them where they were and…” He shrugged again. “Things just kind of went from there.”
“You were amazing! You’ll have to watch yourself, though. Dad will want to hire you when he hears how well you’ve done today.”
He checked his watch. “Do you want to go and check on him?”
Harvey had hung around the garden center and clearly enjoyed himself this morning, but by early afternoon, Sadie had insisted that he should go back to the house and rest. He’d grumbled about it, and Dom had played along with him, but it had been obvious that he was worn out.
Sadie checked her own watch. “It’s almost time to close up. The last time I went in to see him, he told me to stop making a fuss.”
Dom chuckled. “Okay, we should probably wait then. What do you think – should we stick around with him this evening?”
“I don’t know. On the one hand, I don’t really want to leave him by himself. On the other, I was kind of looking forward to going to the restaurant. Whichever way we do it, it won’t be ideal.”
He frowned. He was looking forward to taking her out – when they’d talked about it this morning, she’d agreed to go to the restaurant. By the same token, he was more than happy to have dinner at the house with her. Her saying that neither was ideal left him feeling a little disappointed.
She came to him and rested her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. What I meant is that if we go out, I’ll worry about him. And if we stay here, he’ll make it obvious that he doesn’t really need us.”
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her to his side. “Then, I vote that we stay here. I’d rather have him grumbling at us than needing help while we’re out.”
She rested her head against his shoulder. “Thanks, you’re awesome.”
He chuckled. “Thanks.”
She looked up into his eyes. “Don’t laugh at me, it’s true.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
He almost let go of her when he spotted Tilly and Parker coming toward them. He felt her tense and tightened his arm around her instead. There was no reason that he should stand back.
Parker smiled at him. “Thanks for helping out today. I reckon you doubled our sales.”
“I’m happy to help. And don’t worry, I’m not looking for a job or anything.”
Parker laughed. “I wasn’t worried. It’s not like you need a job, is it?”
Dom smiled and nodded, but he couldn’t help wondering why Parker said that. It was true; with the money that he and Damon had inherited, he’d never have to work another day in his life, but he didn’t think that was common knowledge. Then again, it was a small town; he shouldn’t be surprised.
From the look Sadie gave him, it was apparent that she was surprised. He felt bad he hadn’t told her about the money. But then, they hadn’t known each other for very long. There was still so much they didn’t know about each other. It wasn’t like he was hiding it from her, it just hadn’t come up yet.
Tilly broke what felt to him like an awkward silence. “Anyway, we’re ready to close up now.” She looked at Sadie. “Do you want us to do it? Or…”
“That’s okay, I can do it. You two have done so much lately. Why don’t you get on home?”
Dom watched them carefully. They thanked Sadie, and made the right noises, but something felt off to him. Maybe he was just too suspicious – maybe suspicious was the wrong word. It was more that he felt protective toward Sadie and Harvey. There was nothing that he could put his finger on, but he felt like he needed to keep an eye on Tilly and Parker.
Harvey was as jovial as usual when they got back to the house, but he made no attempt to get out of his armchair. Dom was surprised that he didn’t make much of a protest when Sadie told him that they weren’t going out to dinner.
He suggested that they could eat at the diner, but he seemed relieved when Sadie told him that they could get takeout instead.
He did draw the line when Sadie said that she could go to collect their order, and Dom could stay with him.
Dom wouldn’t have minded, but Harvey told him that he should be a gentleman and drive.
When they reached the diner, he cut the engine and turned to Sadie with a smile. “Are you doing okay?”
She leaned her elbows on the console. “I am. I’m sorry about this.”
He caught her chin between his finger and thumb. “There’s nothing to be sorry about. This is great.”
“It’s not as great as having dinner at the restaurant. Please tell Taryn that it’s my fault.”
“This is just as great. It’s different, that’s all. I’m hoping that we’ll get plenty of chances to go out for dinner, but this is what real life looks like. We have people to take care of, things to take care of, details that get in the way of fancy dinners.” He leaned in and brushed his lips over hers. “It’s not so much where we go or what we do, it’s how we handle what we’re dealt.”
“You’re right. It is. And thanks for handling things so graciously.”
“Me? I’m just going along with things. I’d say that you’re the one who’s handling things graciously. You’ve had a lot thrown at you in the last few weeks. And you just keep smiling and getting things done.”
She shrugged. “It’s like you said, that’s what real life looks like. You just have to get on with it. And honestly, it’s not like anything terrible has happened. The whole Dale thing needed to happen – it’s a blessing really. And being here with Dad, that’s another blessing.” She smiled. “And meeting you? That’s just the cherry on top.”
He laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever been called a cherry before.”
She laughed with him. “There’s a first time for everything.”
~ ~ ~
Sadie was exhausted by the time she made it to bed. It had been a long day in the garden center. She smiled as she turned onto her side and pulled the covers up over her shoulder. It had been a fun day. Dom was a lot of fun to be around. He was great with the customers – everybody loved him. And she knew why.
Her dad had overdone it, just as she’d expected him to, but he’d enjoyed his time with him as well. The only thing that had her feeling a little edgy was Tilly and Parker – she didn’t know what it was, but she was getting a bad vibe from them. Her dad thought the world of them. Perhaps that was it. Perhaps she was a teeny bit envious. They’d been there with him and for him during all the years that she’d been gone. Perhaps if she was picking up on anything, it might be a little bit of resentment on their part toward her.
She blew out a sigh. She’d figure it out. If Tilly and Parker had been the low light of her day, there was no question that Dom had been the highlight. She hugged the pillow to her. He was a wonderful man. She didn’t know how things would go for them, but she intended to enjoy whatever time they had together.
They’d arranged to meet for lunch on Monday in town. She just hadn’t told him that the reason she would be in town was that she was looking for a lawyer.
She reached for her phone when it buzzed on the nightstand. She’d gotten into the habit of taking it to bed with her when Josh was a teenager. He was hardly likely to call for her help in the middle of the night now, but she liked knowing that he could reach her if he wanted to.
It wasn’t his name on the screen. She smiled as she opened a text from Dom.
Dom: I had a great time today. I just wanted to say goodnight. You might have gone to bed already. If you did, then good morning instead.
She laughed and tapped out a reply.
Sadie: I’m still awake. I had a great time, too. Thanks again.
Dom: My pleasure. I should confess something.
Her heart started to pound, as she wondered what he might say.
Sadie: Okay. Now I’m worried. What?
Dom: I should’ve worded that differently. Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad. At least, it’s not meant to be. Your dad asked if I knew of a good lawyer for you.
She blew out a sigh of relief. She could be mad at her dad later for interfering, but if that was the worst that Dom had to confess, it wasn’t so terrible.
Sadie: He warned me that he was going to ask you. I thought he’d forgotten.
Dom: He didn’t forget. He asked me just before I left. I didn’t want to bring it up while we were saying goodnight.
Shivers chased each other down her spine at the memory of their goodnight kiss.
Sadie: In that case, I forgive you.
Dom: You do?
Sadie: It would have spoiled the moment.
Dom: That’s what I thought – and it was such a good moment.
Sadie: It was.
Dom: I’m looking forward to more moments like that.
Sadie: I could be persuaded.
Dom: I can be very persuasive. But… Since I’m not going to cost myself a kiss by saying it right now, I do know a very good lawyer in town. Since you’re going to be over here on Monday morning, I can introduce you if you like. Not trying to interfere – if you prefer, I can just give you her number and give her a heads up that you’ll be calling.
Sadie: Aww. If you want to do the introductions, I’d be grateful. Thank you
Dom: You’re welcome. I hope you’re not mad at me?
Sadie: Not in the least – I’m grateful to you.
Dom: Okay, I should let you get some sleep. Can I call you tomorrow and you can tell me how you want to work it?
Sadie: Of course. Let’s talk tomorrow. And thanks again, Dom.
Dom: Goodnight, Sadie.
Sadie: Goodnight, Dom.