When Morning Comes Around (Summer Lake Silver #13)

Chapter Eighteen

When Sadie came downstairs on Monday morning, she was surprised to find her dad sitting at the table in the kitchen. He looked better; his bruising was fading, but more than that, he looked brighter, stronger, more like his old self. He was dressed and ready for the day and was working his way through a large bowl of oatmeal.

“Morning, honey bun. There’s coffee in the pot, and oatmeal on the stove if you want some.”

“Thanks.” She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down beside him. “What are you up to today?”

“What does it look like?”

“It looks like you’re planning to get back to work.”

“You always were a smart girl.”

She laughed. “Are you sure…”

The look he shot her silenced her. “We both know you don’t need to ask that question. I’ve had enough of sitting around on my ass. I’m doing better, and you know what they say – use it or lose it. Don’t worry, I won’t go overboard, but I’m starting to feel like if I don’t get back to work soon, I never will.”

“And you want to?”

“I do. There’ll be days when I don’t want to drag my ass out of bed. But it beats the alternative. I either keep going, or I sit in that armchair, watch my shows, and eat toffees until I fade away.”

“I understand, I do. Just… Would you try not to overdo it?”

He met her gaze and smiled. “I will. I’m not trying to go crazy; I just want to keep going. I know you’re only looking out for me; I know you want to keep me around as long as possible, and I love you, too. But I’d rather live for a shorter time than exist for longer. So, if one day I’m out there in the nursery and I keel over – drop dead – I want you to be happy for me.”

She made a face.

“Okay, so maybe not happy, but you know what I mean. If you get to thinking that you should’ve done more, should’ve tried to make me take it easier, I want you to remember this conversation, okay? I’d rather keep doing what I do and enjoying it for one more year than sit in that chair for another twenty.”

“Okay.” Her heart sat heavy in her chest. She understood where he was coming from, and she totally respected his right to choose how he lived what was left of his life. She just didn’t want to think about him not being around anymore – in one more year or in twenty.

“Anyway, that’s enough of that. We’ve established that I’m going back to work today; what are you doing?”

“You know what I’m doing – I’m going to the garage to talk to Jake about going back to work myself.”

He grinned. “He’s a good ‘un. I like him. I have to ask, though – are you just helping him out, or do you need the money?”

She sipped her coffee, and he nodded.

“I figured as much. What’s happening with the divorce?”

“I’m going over to see Leanne after I talk to Jake.”

“Good. I’ve met her a couple of times, she’s what you need. And you listen to her, okay? Don’t go soft, do as she suggests.”

“That’s the plan.”

“Do you need money in the meantime?”

“No. Thanks, but no.”

“Well, if you decide that you do, just remember that your old dad’s got plenty. Whatever you need, I can cover it.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“So, if you’re going to work for Jake just for the money, you don’t need to.”

“Thanks.”

“I mean it.”

“I know and I appreciate it.”

He finished his oatmeal and pushed his bowl away. “Does that mean that you’re doing it for the money, but also to help the kid out?”

“Yes. It’s not as though I’m going to make much working for him part-time. I even offered to do it for nothing, but neither he nor Dom would hear of it.”

Her dad smiled. “Of course they wouldn’t.” He got to his feet and reached for his cane. “See how you go today but remember what I said.”

“I will. Do you need a hand down the front steps?”

“I do. I was about to ask you. Like I said, I’m not going to go doing anything stupid. I’ll ask for help when I need it. I’m hoping that you’ll do the same.”

She watched him put his coat on and then walked down the front steps beside him. He gripped her arm tightly but when they reached the bottom, he let go. “I can take it from here.”

She wanted to go with him but knew that she had to respect his choices.

“I’ll see you back here tonight, then.”

“Yep, see you later, honey bun.”

She watched him make his way toward the garden center – the business that he’d built from nothing when she was a kid, and where he’d worked almost every day for more than fifty years.

While she wasn’t thrilled that he’d decided he was ready to get back to work, she wasn’t surprised.

When he reached the entrance to the office, he turned and waved. She waved back and blew him a kiss. He was getting back on his feet; she needed to do the same.

~ ~ ~

Dom smiled to himself as he entered the bakery, where he was meeting Damon. He’d told his brother that he couldn’t make their workout this morning, but he had time for a quick catch-up before Damon met with one of his training clients.

April, the girl behind the counter, greeted him with a puzzled smile. It made him laugh. She did the same thing every time – she couldn’t tell him and Damon apart.

“Morning… Damon?” she guessed.

“Better luck next time. In fact, you’re guaranteed to get it right next time. I’m Dominic, but Damon should be here in a few minutes.”

“Sorry. One of these days I’ll figure out the difference between the two of you.”

“It’s not a problem.”

“What can I get you?”

“Just a coffee, thanks.”

“Take a seat, I’ll bring it over.”

“Thanks.”

He settled into a booth by the window and pulled the bunch of brochures that Austin had given him out of his inside jacket pocket.

There were some good options, but none of the houses that Austin had told him about really captured his imagination. He smiled to himself. What had captured his imagination – and pushed him to visit the realtor’s office first thing this morning – was Sadie. At least, his desire to have a place where he and Sadie could be alone together. When he’d finally dropped her back at her dad’s place on Friday night, he’d had a serious case of blue balls as he drove home. It didn’t help that Jake had been with him. Although, if he had to guess, he would have said that Jake was in a similar position. They’d ridden back around the lake in silence and bid each other a hasty goodnight when they got back to the house.

He couldn’t speak for Jake, but he’d headed straight to his room to relieve the frustration that had built within him over the course of the evening. He looked around the bakery, feeling guilty. It wasn’t as though anyone would be able to guess what he was thinking about, not that there was anything wrong with it anyway. It’d just been such a long time since he’d found himself aching for a woman. Even longer since he’d needed to relieve that ache himself.

He looked up when the front door opened, and smiled when his brother walked in.

April shot him a quick smile before turning and calling “Good morning, Damon. What can I get you?”

Damon grinned. “Morning, April. And well done, you guessed right.”

April laughed and pointed at Dom. “I didn’t. It was a process of elimination. Dominic’s already here.”

Damon ordered and then came over to join Dom in the booth. April was right on his heels and set down a tray with two coffees and a basket with a whole selection of pastries.

Dom gave his brother a puzzled look. “I take it you’re hungry?”

Damon laughed. “I figured we could have something sweet. Choose whatever you want. I’ll take the rest home for Jo.”

That made him smile. If he had to describe him, he’d call Damon a bit of a fitness freak. He spent a lot of time in the gym, either working out himself or working with clients. Jo on the other hand, worked out once a week, and that was more about spending time with Damon than anything else. She was soft, and round, and beautiful. To Dom, their relationship was beautiful.

He plucked a plain croissant from the basket – Jo had told him once that she only liked the kind of croissants that were filled with chocolate.

Damon gave him a knowing smirk. “You can have whatever you like, you know. I got two of everything.”

He laughed. “I’m good.”

“Good.” Damon looked at the brochures sitting on the table in front of Dom. “What’s that?”

He grinned and slid the papers toward him. “Houses.”

“Yeah?” Damon picked up the pile of papers and flipped through them. “Have you seen anything you like? I thought you were thinking about building.”

“I was, but I don’t want to wait that long.”

“Why not? Is everything alright at the house? Are you and Jake doing okay?”

“Everything’s great. The one thing I’m not looking forward to is leaving Jake, sharing your place with him the way we have has been great. I love that I’ve had this opportunity to get to know him. But…”

Damon cocked an eyebrow. “But you’re ready to have your own space?”

“Yeah.”

“How are things going with Sadie?”

He smiled through pursed lips. “I think you’ve already figured out the answer to that, haven’t you?”

Damon chuckled. “I was hoping so. You want to move her in with you?”

He didn’t want to admit that his more pressing desires were of the physical variety. “Hopefully, when she’s ready. I…”

“Ah, right. At the moment, you just need a place to spend the night?”

“Yeah.”

“And you wouldn’t be comfortable taking her home with you?”

He shrugged. “It’d probably be fine, but I don’t know how she’d feel about it. It’s not as though Jake’s a problem, or that he’d have a problem. It’s just… You know, the first time.”

“Yeah. I get it.” Damon looked down at the brochures. “It seems kind of drastic to buy a house though, just so that you guys can spend the night together.”

He chuckled. “I know, but it’s not just that.”

“Maybe not, but if you’re trying to hurry things along, you’re going to forget the possibility of building, aren’t you?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I definitely don’t want to wait half a year or more before I can take her home with me. Why? Why are you so interested in me building rather than buying, anyway?”

“I was kind of hoping… I’m not trying to sway you or anything, but…”

“Go on, just go ahead and say it. What are you thinking?”

“You know the lot next to us, the lot that Jo bought to make sure that she wouldn’t end up with a new subdivision on her doorstep?”

“Yeah.”

Damon shrugged. “I was thinking it’d be kind of nice if my brother lived next door.”

“Wow! But I thought she bought it so that it couldn’t be built on – there are covenants in place, right?”

“There are, but the restrictions aren’t so that the land can never be built on, just that there can only be one house every twenty acres.”

Dom thought about it. Would he like to build his own house on the waterfront, on twenty acres, right next door to his brother? Hell yeah, he would.

“And Jo’s thinking about selling the lot?”

Damon smiled. “Only to you. She mentioned it a while back when you first started talking about looking for a place of your own.”

He sipped his coffee. “And she’s serious?”

“She’d love it.” Damon chuckled. “And you know that I would. Not just for the obvious reason; I hope it goes without saying that I’d love to have you right next door. But there’s also the matter of her kids. They’ve been to visit a couple of times now, and things are getting better, but…” He shuddered. “I don’t exactly relish the thought of having one of them decide that they want to move up here – and that Jo should give them the lot so that they can build on it.”

Dom had to laugh. He hadn’t met Jo’s kids, but he knew that she had a strained relationship with them. From what Damon had told him, they didn’t sound like the kind of people he’d want on his doorstep, either.

“So, how about I talk to her about buying the lot, even if I’m not ready to build on it yet?”

“How about, instead of buying something, you start building, and rent a place until it’s ready?”

“That’d make sense.”

Damon checked his watch. “How about we go back and see Austin – ask him about rentals instead?”

Dom downed the last of his coffee. “Yep, let’s go – and thanks. It sounds so obvious now that you’ve said it, but I wouldn’t have come up with it on my own – renting while I build – let alone being able to build right there next to you guys.”

“I didn’t want to push you, I was hoping that you might decide to build, but… I’m glad you like the idea. Sometimes, two heads are better than one.”

Dom laughed. “Yeah, we might be twins, but we don’t exactly think the same, do we?”

“And that’s a good thing – we can help each other out.”

~ ~ ~

As Sadie drove down the hill on Tuesday evening, she sang along with the radio. She smiled when it hit her that it was something that she always used to do – when she lived here. When she thought about it, she and Josh used to sing as she drove him around when he was small, but she couldn’t remember having done it in years. After he’d grown up and left home, there hadn’t been much to sing about in her life with Dale.

She’d talked to him this afternoon – he’d called as she was leaving Jake’s garage. She knew that he was worried about her, and she’d done her best to reassure him that she was doing fine. He was cautiously optimistic from what she’d told him about Dom – although, she had kind of played things down. She didn’t feel guilty about it; she didn’t want him to worry, and she knew that if he came to visit as he said he would, he’d see for himself that Dom was a great guy.

He wasn’t thrilled that she was working for Jake. She’d told him that she was just helping out, but he knew her too well. He’d asked again about the divorce. At least she’d been able to satisfy him there – her meeting with Leanne had gone well. At first, Leanne had given her so much information, and so many choices that she’d felt overwhelmed. After a while, Leanne had leaned back in her chair and studied Sadie closely.

Then, she’d asked, “Can I do this my way?”

She’d felt embarrassed when Leanne went on to tell her that she was too nice, and that she ran the risk of letting Dale screw her over.

Leanne had explained that she hated seeing good people taken advantage of – almost as much as she hated seeing assholes come out on top. She’d said that if Sadie would give her permission to do so, she’d make sure that she came out with the best deal possible.

In the end, Sadie had agreed. She knew damn well that if she were left to her own devices, Dale would be able to twist things to his advantage. It wasn’t as though she’d given Leanne carte blanche, but she trusted her and knew that she’d go after Dale harder than she would have herself.

When the next song came on the radio, she pushed those thoughts out of her mind and started singing again. She’d worry about the details when she was faced with them. In the meantime, she was doing okay. Her dad was doing better, she was doing better, she had enough money to get by. The only downside was that she was going to have to find herself a place to live, and she wasn’t going to be able to afford the kind of place that she’d like. It was only temporary, though. When the divorce came through, she’d get back on her feet.

When she reached the development at Four Mile Creek, she turned in and parked in the lot behind the lodge. She was looking forward to this evening. Dom had asked if she wanted to come over here for a drink with Taryn and Dalton. It turned out that his brother, Damon, worked behind the bar on Tuesday nights, and his lady, Jo, came to hang out while he was here.

Savannah was home tonight. That made Sadie feel better. Even though her dad had insisted that things should get back to normal now, he’d been tired when he came in from the garden center, and she liked knowing that he wasn’t home alone.

She found a parking spot and climbed out of the minivan. Dom had offered to come and pick her up, but that hadn’t seemed right. It would mean that he had to come all the way over to Hidden Valley to get her, and then do the same thing to take her home, when he lived fifteen minutes in the opposite direction.

He’d tried to insist, but in the end, he’d given in and agreed to meet her here. She locked the minivan and set off for the lodge. She stopped and smiled when she saw Dom waiting at the bottom of the steps.

He came to meet her and rested his hands on her shoulders as he dropped a kiss on her lips. “Hi.”

“Hi. You didn’t need to wait out here for me.”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “I know, I wanted to come get you.”

She slid her arms around his waist. “It didn’t seem right to make you drive all that way there and back twice when I could just meet you here.”

He held her closer. “I wouldn’t have minded – I’d get more time with you that way.”

“True. I should’ve thought of that.”

“I’ll forgive you this time.”

She laughed. “Oh, you will, will you?”

His eyes seemed to twinkle as he smiled. “I will, on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“That you let me pick you up after you’re finished at Jake’s tomorrow.”

“Aren’t you working tomorrow night?”

“I am, but there’s somewhere I want you to come with me after you finish work.”

“Where are we going?”

He chuckled. “Do you want to know, or can it be a surprise?”

“Ooh! I like surprises.”

“Good to know. So, you’ll come with me?”

“I will.”

He turned to look up at the lodge. “We should probably get in there; Dalton came by a few minutes before you arrived.”

“Sorry…”

He pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “What have I told you about apologizing so much?”

She shrugged. “I know, but I don’t like to think of them all waiting for me. I didn’t think I was late.”

“You’re not.” He kissed her again. “And you’re worth waiting for.”

~ ~ ~

The evening went by way too fast, and Dom enjoyed every minute of it. He loved hanging out with his brother whenever they got the chance. He thought the world of Jo and he tried to come and join them when he could on Tuesday evenings. This was the only night of the week that Damon still tended bar, and Jo usually came to hang out since it was also the quietest night of the week.

It hadn’t been all that quiet tonight – there weren’t that many customers, but the six of them were loud. Between the stories that Taryn and Dalton told and all the laughter, they might even be called rowdy.

That made him happy. His smile grew wider as he watched Sadie and Jo coming back from the ladies’ room. The two of them had hit it off immediately.

“It looks like they’re becoming fast friends,” said Dalton.

“Yeah, I hope so.”

Damon leaned on the bar when he came back to join them after serving some customers. “Jo doesn’t always open up to new people right away but look at them.”

Dom nodded happily.

Taryn came out of the kitchen and leaned on the bar beside Damon. “She’s awesome.”

“I know.”

“What do you think, should we make this a regular thing – Tuesday nights in here?”

Damon and Dalton both nodded, but that wasn’t surprising since this was their usual routine. Taryn raised her eyebrows at Dom.

“You don’t want to?”

He pursed his lips. “I’m not saying that I haven’t enjoyed myself but …”

“But what?”

“I’m here Wednesdays and Thursdays for work as it is.”

“And you don’t want to spend any more time with me?” Taryn asked.

He rolled his eyes. “It’s not that – I want to spend more time with Sadie.”

“That’s what I meant – bring her with you.”

“I know but …” He didn’t want to explain what he meant – that he wanted Sadie to himself sometimes.

Dalton laughed. “Are you saying that you’d be happier to come and hang out if you didn’t have to come and work as well?”

He shrugged. He had been thinking about talking to Taryn. She was searching for someone to work the weekends with the busy season coming up. He wouldn’t mind keeping one night a week but …

She blew out a sigh. “I knew it was coming.” She gave him a grudging smile. “And since I love Sadie already, I won’t bitch about it too much – do you want to keep Wednesday nights or Thursdays?”

Dalton laughed. “Did you notice that you’re not being given the option to quit completely?”

Taryn scowled at him.

Dom grinned – he hadn’t expected it to be this easy. “Wednesdays?”

“That works. Whoever I bring in for the weekends can have a straight run from Thursday to Monday that way.”

“Are you okay with that?”

She smiled. “Yeah.”

When Sadie and Jo reached them, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Are you ready to go?”

She checked her watch. “Oh wow! I didn’t realize it was so late. Yep, I’d better get going.”

Damon grinned at him as they watched her and Jo hug and promise to call each other.

Taryn came out from behind the bar, and they both hugged her, too. He enjoyed seeing Sadie finding her feet and making friends.

He held her hand as they walked back to his SUV. It was only when they reached it that he remembered she’d driven here herself.

She laughed. “I’m not sure that a make out session here in the parking lot is the best idea.”

He kissed her forehead. “I guess not. I’m going to follow you home, though – make sure you get there safe.”

“You don’t need to do that.”

“Maybe you don’t need me to, but I do.”

She shook her head with a smile. “Okay then, I’ll see you there.”

He followed her up the hill and back to Hidden Valley. When she pulled into the driveway at her dad’s place, he got out of his SUV. He held his arms out to her, and she came to him.

He held her close to his chest and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll pick you up from the garage when you finish tomorrow, okay?”

She rested her head on his shoulder. “Okay. I wish …”

He held her tighter. “I do, too.”

She looked up into his eyes. “You know what I was about to say?”

He chuckled and allowed himself to hold her against his erection – just like he’d been telling himself that he shouldn’t. “What do you think?”

“Ah. Okay. You knew.”

He nodded. “I’m working on it. You should go in before I pick you up, put you on the back seat and drive away with you.”

She laughed out loud. “I wondered what word you were going to say after drive!”

He laughed with her. “I might not have said it but …”

She rose onto her tiptoes and kissed him. “I’m glad you were thinking it, too.”

He claimed her mouth in a slow, deep kiss that was the only way he could tell her what he was thinking – how he was feeling.

When they finally came up for air, he patted her ass. “Go on in – please.”

She kissed him one last time. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”