Chapter Twelve
Beckett
My hand wrapped around Sadie’s felt right in every sense of the word. I used to think my hands were made only for fiddling with tech gadgets.
Untrue.
They’d been made to connect with this amazing woman, bravely putting herself out there to improve people’s lives.
And now she’d agreed to a date. Hell, she’d actually been the one to suggest it.
She was bravely putting herself out there on a number of fronts, and I was glad one of us had.
I’d planned to ask her out officially today, but I’d figured after her event would have been the best time for that question.
I’d meant what I’d said about distracting her.
I didn’t want to be the reason she couldn’t focus on what she’d aimed to accomplish today.
Perhaps asking me out, however, had been one of her goals for today. Knowing we had a date appeared to have reversed that freakout she’d been having after setting up her materials. She had no reason to freak out. She was about to dazzle the attendees. I was certain of it.
“Flora,” I said when we neared the little table we’d set up for check-ins.
She turned around and hit us both with a welcoming smile. “Hey, Beckett.” Her gaze behind her green-framed glasses shifted to my hand joined with Sadie’s and her lips tipped up at the corners. “And you must be Sadie. Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” Sadie said. “Thank you so much for helping out today.”
“No problem. I owed Beckett here a favor,” Flora said. “He helped me set up a database for a research project I’m doing for school. It made keeping track of everything so much easier. He’s a genius.”
“I’ve already come to that conclusion.” Sadie beamed me a smile and gave my hand a little squeeze.
Darius waltzed over and pressed a kiss to the top of Flora’s head.
“This is my oldest brother, Darius,” I said. “Young Flora is apparently into geezers.”
Flora gave me a light shove and I pretended to stumble back. Then Darius gave me a matching shove, only his had more force and really made me take a few fumbling steps backward.
But holding Sadie’s hand kept me from falling. In the literal sense anyway. I was falling in an entirely different sense the longer we remained connected.
“What? I’m stating a fact,” I said to Darius and Flora. “You two are engaged. You, Darius, are a geezer. Therefore, Flora is into geezers. It’s a simple logic equation.”
“I’m into intelligent, distinguished gentlemen.” Flora wrapped her arms around my brother’s waist and he slid one of his along her shoulders. This time, it didn’t make me feel empty inside to see the display of affection between them.
Because I was still holding Sadie’s hand. Neither of us had made a move to release that contact point either.
As we stood at the check-in table, the rest of my siblings filtered through with their significant others and I made those introductions as well.
“And you already met Vanessa and Little Ben, but this is her husband, Spencer, and Hunter, their other son.” I tilted my head at my sister. “Weren’t you coming to this alone?”
Vanessa shrugged. “I was.”
“But I told Spencer to get his ass here, Beckett, and be supportive of your new friend.” Logan wiggled his eyebrows and gestured to Sadie.
I glared back at my brother, silently warning him not to be a weirdo.
“I appreciate that, Logan,” Sadie said, oblivious to my brother’s attempt at teasing me.
“No problem.” He slid his arm around his wife, Ashley. “C’mon, baby. Let’s find a good spot to get all serene and shit.”
“You should totally put get all serene and shit on a T-shirt with your business logo,” Vanessa said. “I can help with that if you want. I love making T-shirts.”
My family strode off, except for Flora who resumed checking in attendees as the flow of them increased.
“You have such a nice family,” Sadie said, her gaze still on them as they found spots in the event space and conversed with each other and the attendees.
“They are pretty great,” I agreed, “except when they’re giant pains in the ass.”
Flora let out a little laugh and I poked her in the shoulder.
“You know I’m right,” I said.
Flora mimed zipping her lips closed as Mom and Jimmy came over.
“Oh, what a lovely turnout,” Mom said. “This was a great idea, Beckett.”
“I only have great ideas.”
Mom pursed her lips, but her eyes were still merry. “I seem to recall an idea involving jumping from a treehouse to land on a trampoline that wasn’t so great.”
I winced. “Yeah, okay. You got me there.” I craned my head back a bit to show Sadie the underside of my chin and the two-inch scar there that my beard masked a bit. “Whacked my jaw pretty good on a branch on the way down and sliced myself open.”
Sadie grimaced. “Ouch.”
“A big and bloody ouch,” Mom said. “It wasn’t as if I hadn’t seen my older boys get mangled before but that one was particularly gruesome.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “So much blood out of one little boy.”
“Needed plastic surgery to fix it,” I said.
“It’s too bad they didn’t fix the rest of your face when they had you on the operating table,” Logan said as he sidled up next to me again.
“Weren’t you finding a spot for the event?” I asked. “Why are you back here?”
“We forgot our yoga mats,” my brother said. “Heading back to my house to grab them.” He saluted us and jogged away. Which was good. It meant I’d be free of his taunting for at least a few minutes.
Mom and Jimmy wished Sadie good luck then went off in search of their own spot as well.
“For the record,” Sadie said slowly as she squinted at me as if I was a specimen she was studying, “I don’t think your face needs fixing at all.”
“See? This is the energy people need in their lives and that is why you’re going to be super successful.
” I wanted to kiss her, but we hadn’t had a first date yet, so I settled for grinning stupidly at her.
“I’ll let you mingle with your attendees.
Part of this event is about networking and making connections.
Can’t do that if I monopolize your time. ”
“But you’ll monopolize my time later?” Sadie’s voice held a coy note that I loved. “On our date?”
“That’s a promise.” I bowed a little before backing away.
“I’m going to check that all the tech is ready.
You know, microphones and such.” I’d wanted to set up a camera for recording, but like my request for a website photo of her, Sadie had declined.
What made her so shy about having her image captured?
I glanced at the time on my phone. “Fifteen minutes until showtime, lady. You’re going to be great.”
Sadie gave me a little wave as she joined Flora at the check-in table.
I took a few moments to watch her, and seriously, everyone who talked to her walked away a little lighter on their way to the event space. That was some magic right there.
I managed to tear myself away and actually do the tech check I’d said I was going to do.
Everything was ready to go and as the last of the attendees found spots, Sadie slipped behind her singing bowls.
She fiddled with the wearable mic I’d left for her for a moment, but she got it affixed to her shirt without incident.
The crowd quieted as she lowered to sit behind the bowls, and right before she began the session, her beautiful green gaze landed on me. She smiled—a secret little grin that said thank you and let’s do this and maybe I can’t wait for our date later.
“Welcome, everyone,” she said in that subtle accent of hers. With those two words, she’d enchanted all who had gathered to experience what she had to offer.
I found the mat I’d set up for myself toward the back of the group, not wanting to take a good spot from someone we were trying to turn into a paying customer someday.
I didn’t have a great view of Sadie from back there, but her lilting voice was enough to transport me to a tranquil plane of existence.
She led us all through a breathwork exercise and followed that up with a meditation that incorporated all the senses and the natural elements around us, fulfilling my mother’s one requirement for allowing the event at Hartley’s Nest. The sound bath that commenced after that only served to get everyone more deeply rooted.
Deeply rooted? I’d never been one to talk like that, but I understood what it meant now. With Sadie’s guidance, I felt truly grounded and as if I’d grown roots that mixed and mingled with the trees surrounding us. I hadn’t known relaxation at this level was possible, but it felt amazing.
And this sound bath was more transportive with the addition of the tribal drum and rain stick. It blended an ancestral earthiness with the vibrating otherworldliness of the singing bowls.
My chakras were aligned, peeps. I didn’t think—no, I knew—they’d never been in balance like this before.
Before Sadie.
Hell, I hadn’t known what all the chakras were, never mind how to give them the cleansing attention they needed. But I’d be maintaining them better from now on.
With Sadie’s help.
As she led a closing meditation, I peeked at the other attendees. I could only see them from behind, but their shoulders were away from their ears, all the tension they’d come in with now sloughed off like snakeskin.
Sadie’s magic had reached them all.
I leaned slightly to the left to catch a glimpse of Sadie. With the sunlight illuminating her and her red hair glowing around her, she was an absolute goddess.
“Thank you all for coming today,” Sadie said in closing. “Namaste, everyone, and blessed be.” She bowed with her hands pressed together in a prayer position.
Several attendees repeated the gesture back to her then Isaac’s fiancée, Carina, took over the spotlight. I’d convinced Sadie in our planning meetings that having someone else tell the attendees about how they could connect with her for private sessions would be a good marketing strategy.
“Then it’s not you promoting you and feeling all cringey,” I’d said.
“You get to end on how you’ve made people feel and someone else can give out the mundane, businessy details.
” I’d approached Carina with the job because she was a pre-school teacher and had a nurturing vibe that would keep that relaxed feeling going.
By the number of people who took one of Sadie’s new business cards and who stopped to chat with her, I’d say our launch plan was a smashing success.
Flora—who had also agreed to handle any bookings for sessions that attendees wanted to secure today on the spot—came rushing over to me as the last of the people left.
“Your Sadie is going to be very, very busy.” She handed me the tablet she’d been using for the check-ins and bookings, but my mind had latched onto the words your Sadie.
I wanted that to be true. So badly.
I scrolled through all the appointments that filled the rest of October and into November.
“Holy shit. Sadie’s going to be stoked.” And that was what made me so stoked. Seeing her happy.
Sadie floated over to me and it wasn’t hard to imagine angel wings spread out behind her, letting her ride the air currents.
“That was so much fun! I didn’t have to think about what I was doing.” She bounced excitedly in front of me and Flora. “Everything I wanted to say and do flowed out of me, like it was . . . like it was . . .”
“Divinely inspired?” Flora offered.
“Yes! Divinely inspired! That’s it exactly.” She blew out a breath. “I’ve never felt this . . . this . . .”
“Alive?” I supplied.
“Alive! Yes!” Sadie clamped her hands on my upper arms. “Thank you, Beckett. Thank you so, so much for helping me. I feel as if I’ve wished upon a star and my dreams are coming true, and I wouldn’t have made it to this point without you.”
I opened my mouth to remind her that she would have gotten to this point without me, but she pressed her hand over my lips and shook her head.
“No. Don’t say it.” She smiled. “You absolutely made all the difference here and I’ll never be able to repay you properly for what you’ve done for me.”
I had some ideas on how she could repay me. Ideas we’d both enjoy.
Flora pried the tablet from my hand and angled it to show Sadie. “I’m glad you got so much joy out of running that session, Sadie, because you have all these sessions to lead now.”
Sadie took the tablet and scrolled along, appointment after appointment rolling by on the screen. Then she looked up at Flora and me with wide, glossy eyes.
“All these people booked sessions?” Her eyebrows rose. “Sessions with me?”
“That was the point,” Flora joked. “You put them all under your spell today and you get to do it again and again.”
“But this time, they’ll pay you for it,” I added.
Sadie let out the most gleeful sound I’d ever heard then she danced a circle around me and Flora with Flora joining in. My family came over and as news of Sadie’s success spread to all of them, they too dove into the celebration.
And that was one of the best things about being a Hartley. Someone was always close by to party with. The fact that they showed all this enthusiasm for someone they’d just met simply because they knew she meant something to me made it even sweeter.