Chapter Twenty
Beckett
“We’re sorry if we interrupted your cozy morning with Sadie,” Flora said when I threw myself into the chair perpendicular to the couch.
“She would have had to go home eventually,” I said, though all through breakfast I’d been secretly brainstorming ways to hold her captive for the day.
Yes, I’d spent a large portion of yesterday and all night with her, but it wasn’t enough.
I wanted more, which was a new situation.
With other women, I’d have my fun with them then I’d immediately want to get back to my own things—work, family, gadgets.
This meeting with Darius and Flora, for example, would have normally been front and center in my mind. I’d be all prepared and most likely set up in my office.
Instead, I’d completely forgotten the meeting existed. Hell, I’d forgotten the outside world existed. In the hours that Sadie and I had been together, my focus had revolved solely around her.
But that probably wasn’t healthy, right? To become so consumed so fast by someone wasn’t sensible. Especially when that someone had dropped out of the sky.
“Hey, when you guys were checking in attendees to the event yesterday, Sadie didn’t mention anything about where she lived before coming to Vermont, did she, Flora?” I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees.
Flora shook her head. “We only talked about the event and other business stuff.”
“You don’t know where she lived before?” Darius asked.
“She hasn’t opened up about herself other than sharing her dream for Kalm Kingdom and the services she wanted to offer,” I said. “She did tell me she had a sister who passed away, but that’s about it.”
“Well, it sounds as if more dates are on the horizon,” Flora said, “so you can find out more about Sadie then.”
I nodded. “I have a feeling, however, she doesn’t want to talk about her past. I think she came here to Vermont for a fresh start or something.”
“She wouldn’t be the first woman to do that,” Flora said.
“Greenridge is a great place to start again.” She elbowed Darius and he slid his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a side hug.
Flora had come to Vermont after her business and relationship had failed in Rhode Island.
Her fresh start included falling for Darius though he was older than her and had been her professor.
“Your job,” Darius said to me, “is to let Sadie know you’re willing to listen when she’s ready to tell her story.”
“I can do that.” I could do whatever it took to make Sadie feel comfortable and safe and wanted.
“Shall we get to our meeting now?” Flora asked. “The sooner we iron out the specifics of this campaign, the sooner Darius and I will be out of your hair.”
“And then you can go back to longing for Sadie,” Darius added.
I couldn’t shoot back with a retort because I was, in fact, longing for Sadie. But I could be professional now and daydream later.
“Let’s head into my office.”
I led my brother and his fiancée down the hall to my office where we hammered out a killer social media campaign to advertise the All Hallow’s Eve Walk on the Hartley’s Nest nature trail, recently completed with the help of Darius’s students at Northeast Kingdom College.
“I’ve set up an online portal that accepts registrations for walkers and the donations get directly deposited into our account,” I said.
“Once the event is over and all the donations have come in, I’ll split them and donate half to the children’s nature program at Greenridge Middle School as promised. ”
“Fabulous,” Flora said. “I love that we can raise money for both Hartley’s Nest and the students with the same event.”
“Vanessa is doing arts and crafts before the walk officially starts,” Darius said, “and Mom has cookies, candy, and cider planned as trick-or-treating snacks.”
“And the rest of us will man whatever needs manning before the walk then we’ll scatter through the woods along the trail in costume,” Flora said. “Darius and I are dressing up as a mated barred owl pair.”
“Of course you are,” I said, chuckling. Cap, a barred owl that was a permanent resident at Hartley’s Nest, had been pivotal in getting Darius and Flora together.
“Hey, we’re wildlife biologists,” Darius said. “Our costumes will reflect that.”
“What’s your costume going to be?” Flora asked me.
I rubbed my jaw. “I have no idea.” Truthfully, I hadn’t given it much thought. Flora and Darius had proposed this All Hallow’s Eve Walk a while ago and I’d gotten right to work on mapping out a social media plan. That had been as far as I’d gone though.
“Talk it over with Sadie,” Flora said as she and Darius stood. “Maybe she has some ideas for a couples costume.”
My mind instantly wandered to Sadie in various costumes, looking delectable in each and every one.
I walked Darius and Flora out then spent some time crafting and scheduling the specific social media posts we’d decided upon in today’s meeting.
That took some time, as did a few other Hartley’s Nest business items that needed my attention, but I knocked everything off my to-do list before one o’clock in the afternoon.
What was Sadie doing right now? Was she available? Could I see her? Did she want to see me?
I debated about texting her, but we left it that she would call me.
If she hadn’t yet, that probably meant she was busy.
I had to respect the fact that she was in the midst of a new business venture.
If she wanted it to succeed, it needed her dedication.
Hopefully, however, I’d given her the technological tools to make managing her business easier, thereby freeing up more of her time. Time she would want to spend with me.
I picked up my phone and scrolled through the texts Zia, Leif, and Melvin had left earlier today when I’d said I wasn’t available to play.
Zia: Are you sick, Beckett???
Leif: He must be.
And because I hadn’t replied right away, the texts continued.
Leif: He’s so sick he can’t even text!
Melvin: What if zombies got him?
I laughed at their ridiculousness. For a trio of people I’d never met in real life, they were good friends.
We’d gotten to know each other virtually over the three years we’d been playing online video games together.
Last year, we’d even had a virtual Christmas party through video chat where I’d gotten to meet their significant others.
We’d done a Secret Santa gift exchange too and I still used the Video Game Master mug Zia had gotten me every day.
Time to let them know I was alive.
Me: Hey, weirdos. I’m not sick and zombies didn’t get me. I was entertaining a guest.
I spun in my gaming chair while three dots undulated on the screen signaling Leif was replying.
Leif: A real, live guest? Like flesh and blood?
Me: Yup.
Zia: A lady guest?
I sent a thumbs up emoji.
Zia: We’re going to need more than a thumbs up emoji, Beckett.
Melvin: Yeah, man! Give us the deets! It’s only fair. I mean, you blew us off for this lady guest.
Zia and Leif hearted Melvin’s message as I considered what to share about Sadie. A moment later, my laptop chimed with an incoming video call. I tapped the screen to join the call where all three of them were waiting.
“You having a lady guest was too big of a deal for texting,” Zia said. “And I wanted to see your face so we can gauge how into this chick you are.”
I smiled and all three of them hooted and whistled and carried on.
“Oh, the man is in deep!” Melvin pointed at me. “Look at him. His eyes are actually sparkling.”
“They are not,” I said.
“Adjust your screen’s brightness and resolution, Beck,” Leif said. “There are practically stars and hearts shooting from your eyes.”
I closed my eyes, attempting to reset my face to its factory settings, but Sadie kept popping into my head and I couldn’t quit smiling.
“I think his face is stuck in that blissful state,” Zia said. “It looks good on you, Beck.”
“But you have to tell us about her,” Melvin said, “because though there have been other lady guests over the years we’ve known you, Beckett Hartley has never turned down a gaming session for one of those females.”
“Yeah,” Leif said. “What makes this one different?”
I scrubbed my hands down my face. “I don’t know, guys. Sadie is unlike anyone I’ve ever met.”
I told them about finding her in the grassy field, about her saying my aura was a mess, about the sound bath and helping her set up her business, about spending time with her.
About falling for her. Falling hard and fast.
When I finished, all three of them stared at me.
“Are you guys frozen?” I asked. “Or is it on my end?”
“No, we’re still here,” Zia said. “We’re just shocked that our prince of technology has finally found someone with the ability to drag him away from his toys.”
“I’m both happy and sad about this,” Melvin said. “It’s great someone like Sadie has come into your life, but you’re not going to give up video games altogether, are you, Beck?”
“Of course he isn’t,” Leif said. “There are so many games yet to play and he’s always worked around our schedules when our significant others tore us from our consoles. Now we’ll work around his too. We’re gaming buddies for life.”
“Or at least until our thumbs are too arthritic to play anymore,” Melvin said, making us all laugh.
“Gaming buddies for life is right,” I said. “I’m not giving up gaming. I’m just not going to be as available to do it anymore. My life has needed more balance between virtual and reality for a while now anyway. Meeting Sadie might be the way I find that balance.”
My screen flickered for a moment, and again, I got the sense that was my father letting me know he approved of balance in my life.
Zia clasped her hands under her chin. “Oh, our Beck sounds so grown up.”
“You’re the same age as me,” I said.
“I know, but I’m so mature in comparison to you three bozos.” She smiled. “Okay, let’s allow Beckett to daydream about his lady guest in peace.”
“But first, let’s schedule our next gaming session,” Leif said.
We negotiated back and forth until we settled up on a time that was doable for everyone then Melvin and Leif left the meeting while Zia hung out for a moment longer.
“Really happy for you, Beck,” she said. “You deserve someone nice.”
“Thanks, Z,” I said. “Sadie is definitely nice.”
Zia arched an eyebrow. “With a rocking body?”
“Yes.”
“Nice score, man. Talk soon.” She waved then the video call ended.
Finding Sadie had been a nice score. I hadn’t thought so when we’d first interacted, but that had definitely changed.
Had that sound bath she’d given me been infused with some magic that had bespelled me?
I truly felt different now. I didn’t have the urge to fill my time with electronic pleasures because something in my real life was bringing me pleasure instead.
Strangely, as with the flickering of my screen earlier, I felt my dad’s presence even with less electronics time.
Maybe he was reminding me that my mom had always been more important to him than any gadgets he bought or games he played.
He’d always prioritized relationships over technology and I’d used tech to replace the relationship with him that I’d lost when he died.
Sadie, however, was bringing something back to life inside me. Something that knew life was about people.
And love.
My dad’s voice echoed between my ears. If you’ve got love, Beckett, you’ve got all you need.
I’d always had the love of my family, but I’d been wishing for more.
Sadie was more.
I got up from my gaming chair and went into the kitchen for a glass of water. All this evolving had made me thirsty. After I guzzled the water, my gaze caught on some movement outside the window above the sink.
Deer.
A pair of them, one with a full rack, one without.
A male and a female. They munched on some greenery that hadn’t fallen victim to autumn yet.
Then the female turned and bounded off back into the woods.
The way she moved so gracefully reminded me of Sadie.
Gliding through the air, landing with precision, beauty in motion.
The male lingered a moment longer, his gaze on where the trees had swallowed his partner. He glanced back at the house—at me—then bounded off after his mate.
I imagined them reuniting at the pond on our property and smiled as I anticipated seeing Sadie again soon.