14. Adam
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Adam
The Foundry was already in full swing when I walked in, the smell of sizzling meat and fresh bread in the air. Saturday shifts always had a certain buzz to them, a kind of controlled chaos I thrived in.
But today?
Today, all my attention was on the woman behind the counter.
Sadie .
Although was that different?
It had been that way for weeks, really, ever since she got here.
She was wiping down the bar well, but her mind was clearly somewhere else. Her brows were drawn in the tiniest furrow, lips pressed together like she was overthinking something.
Again.
I leaned against the counter, arms crossed. “You know, if you scrub any harder, you’re gonna rub a hole straight through the wood.”
Sadie startled, blinking up at me like she hadn’t even noticed I was there.
“Oh,” she muttered. “Sorry.”
I smirked. “Damn, not even a ‘good morning, Adam, you look devastatingly handsome today’?”
That got a snort out of her. “I don’t think I’ve ever said those words in my life.”
“Maybe not, but you were definitely thinking them.” I winked.
She rolled her eyes but didn’t hide her smile, and hell if that didn’t do something to me.
That was the thing about Sadie. She had this quiet pull, this effortless way of grabbing my attention without even trying.
“So,” I continued, resting my elbows on the counter, “what’s got you so lost in thought?”
“Nothing,” she said too quickly, going back to wiping down an already spotless surface.
“Sadie.” I drew out her name, watching as she exhaled sharply through her nose.
“It’s just… life stuff,” she admitted. “Nothing interesting.”
I tapped my fingers against the counter. “Try me.”
She hesitated, her grip tightening on the rag. “I’ve just been… thinking about what comes next.”
I raised a brow. “Next?”
She glanced around, like she was making sure no one else was listening. “Like… am I going to stay here, I suppose.”
Woah.
She’d told Kai in her interview that she was sticking around Medford. That was why we’d wanted to hire her.
But I wasn’t dumbstruck because of The Foundry.
I was dumbstruck because for the first time, she was actually saying it out loud—she wasn’t sure if Medford was home.
And for some reason, that hit harder than I expected.
“You’re thinking about leaving?” The question came out more serious than I meant for it to.
Sadie frowned, shaking her head. “I don’t know. I mean, I’ve been having fun, but… I didn’t exactly come back to Medford because I wanted to.”
Something about the way she said it made my stomach twist.
“Then why did you?” I asked.
She let out a dry laugh, tossing the rag onto the counter. “Because my life in the city went to shit.”
I stayed quiet, waiting.
I’d learned by now that Sadie only ever spoke about herself in pieces, like she was testing the weight of each word before deciding if she wanted to give it away.
She toyed with the edge of a napkin, her eyes averted. “I was doing okay for a while. I had a job I thought I was good at. I had my own place. I thought I had a future. I was proving myself…”
Her lips parted like she was going to say something more, but instead, she let out a sharp breath and shook her head.
“And then I didn’t.”
I leaned in slightly. “What happened?”
She hesitated, then finally met my gaze. “I got involved with my boss.”
The words were flat, but beneath them, I caught something else.
Bitterness. Regret.
I stayed quiet, letting her talk.
“It wasn’t supposed to be a thing. Just fun, you know?” She laughed, but there was no humor in it. “But I was stupid. I trusted him. And he—” She stopped abruptly, pressing her lips together before forcing a shrug. “It ended badly. Really badly. He made sure I couldn’t stay there.”
An intense cold settled in my chest.
I had a feeling there was more to the story. A lot more.
“Sounds like a real asshole,” I said.
She huffed out a small, humorless laugh. “Yeah. You could say that.”
I wanted to ask more, but I also didn’t want to push.
Sadie was the kind of person who only gave what she wanted to give. If I was going to get anything more out of her, it had to be on her terms.
“So now you’re here,” I said, “trying to figure out if this place is for you.”
And getting mixed up with her bosses again .
Although I wasn’t about to bring that up.
She nodded, running a hand through her hair. “Yeah.”
“And?”
She hesitated. “And… I don’t know. I like it here. I like you guys.” Her voice was softer now, more uncertain. “It’s just… I’ve never really had a place that felt like mine. I don’t know if Medford is it or if I’m just here because I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
I studied her for a long moment.
Then I smirked. “Well, if you’re having fun, that’s something, right?”
Her eyes flicked to mine, and this time, when she smiled, it actually reached her eyes.
“Yeah,” she admitted. “I guess it is. But, uh… what about you? I always feel like I’m dropping bombs on you.”
I grinned. “What, you think I’m a man of mystery?”
“I think you’re a man of avoidance.”
She wasn’t wrong. But for her, I was willing to try.
I tapped my fingers against the stainless steel. “Fine. Ask away.”
Sadie tilted her head, considering. “Past relationships. You ever had a serious one?”
The question caught me off guard. Not because I hadn’t thought about it, but because most people never bothered to ask.
I scratched the back of my neck. “Once. High-school sweetheart.”
Sadie’s eyebrows lifted. “Really?”
“What, that shocking?”
“A little,” she admitted. “You just seem like the type who never got tied down. Although I do remember you talking about the tattoo…”
I let out a dry laugh. “Well, turns out, she didn’t like being tied down either.”
Sadie’s face softened. “She cheated?”
“Yep. Right before I was planning to propose, too.”
Her lips parted slightly, like she was surprised. “Adam, I?—”
I shrugged, pushing off the counter. “It was a long time ago. And we were way too young to be thinking about marriage, so I guess she did us a favor.”
Sadie didn’t look convinced, but she let it go. She turned back to her cutting board, running her fingers over the knife handle.
“What about you?” I asked, nudging her with my elbow. “Any tragic love stories?”
She hesitated. Not a long hesitation, but enough for me to catch it.
Then, finally, she said, “Kai.”
I blinked. “Wait… Kai , Kai? I guessed there was something between you… but it was serious?”
She nodded, looking down. “We were together when we were young. First everything.”
“Wow. Kai never said anything.”
Sadie shrugged. “It was a long time ago.”
The same words I’d said minutes ago.
Except when she said them, there was more to it.
Something unfinished.
I stretched my arms over my head, rolling my shoulders like this was just another casual conversation and I wasn’t totally dumbstruck.
“Huh. So you and Kai were childhood sweethearts. Guess that explains why he’s been acting like someone shoved a stick up his ass every time you’re around.”
Sadie huffed a laugh, shaking her head. “He’s not that bad.”
“Mm. Debatable.” I leaned on the counter again, watching her carefully. “You know, it’s funny. Did you and Kai keep in touch?” She shook her head. “So you don’t know about his life since you left Medford?”
She narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”
I hesitated for half a second. Long enough to rethink what I was about to say.
But the thing about me? I was never great at keeping my mouth shut.
So, before I could talk myself out of it, I let it slip.
“The three of us—me, Kai, and Samuel—we’ve… shared before.”
Sadie blinked. “Shared?”
I smirked, tilting my head. “Don’t play innocent, sugar. You know what I mean.”
Her lips parted slightly, and for the first time all day, she looked genuinely caught off guard.
Which, I had to admit, was pretty damn cute.
“You’re serious?” she asked. “You were in a harem relationship, too? With Samuel and Kai?”
I nodded. “Yeah. There was a woman, a while back. It was a… situation. We were all into her, and she was into us, so we figured, why fight it?”
Sadie stared at me like I’d just flipped the entire town of Medford upside down.
“What happened?” she asked finally.
I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. “Didn’t work out. She liked us, but she didn’t like the town. Or, more specifically, the gossip .”
Sadie frowned. “Gossip?”
I let out a dry laugh. “Come on, you’ve met the people around here. You really think something like that wouldn’t get people talking? It was a long time ago, though. Things like that are definitely more normalized now.”
She knew exactly what I meant.
“So she left?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. Didn’t want to be the subject of every conversation in town. Can’t say I blame her.”
Sadie was quiet for a moment, fingers trailing along the countertop. Then, almost too softly, she said, “But you stayed.”
My heart tightened in my chest.
“Yeah,” I admitted. “Guess I like the town more than I like running.”
Sadie’s eyes met mine, and I saw it then—that flicker of something I couldn’t quite place.
Curiosity.
Intrigue.
It was dangerous.
“So…” she started slowly, choosing her words carefully, “it’s something you’d do again?”
I smirked, leaning in just enough to watch the pink creep up her neck. “That depends.”
She swallowed. “On what?”
I held her gaze, letting the moment stretch between us.
“On whether it’s worth the risk.”
And judging by the way she looked at me just then—like she was considering it, really considering it—I had a feeling things were about to get very, very interesting.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
The air between us felt heavier, charged, like a live wire sparking at both ends.
Sadie didn’t step back, and neither did I.
Her gaze dipped to my mouth, just for a second… so quick, I almost convinced myself I imagined it.
But I didn’t.
I knew that look.
My fingers twitched at my sides. If I reached for her now, would she let me, after what I just shared with her?
Would she close that last bit of space between us?
I leaned in just slightly, testing the waters.
Her breath hitched.
Fuck.
Then…
The doors to The Foundry slammed open, the sound cutting through the moment like a gunshot.
“Adam!”
I almost groaned. My mother had the worst timing.
“You didn’t tell me you were working today.”
I rolled my eyes as I wiped my hands on a dish towel, forcing myself to turn away from Sadie. “Ma, I work here full time. I’m always working.”
She waved a hand like that was a technicality. “Well, you could still call your mother once in a while.”
Behind her, my dad walked in at his usual unhurried pace, surveying the place like he was assessing the foundation of a house he was about to build.
Richard Reid was a man of few words, but when he did speak, you listened.
“Everything looks good,” he said gruffly, nodding toward the polished wood countertops. “You fix that shelf in the back like I told you to?”
“Yeah, Dad,” I said, grinning. “Did it last week.”
He gave a small, approving grunt, which in Richard Reid's language might as well have been a full round of applause.
Sadie started wiping down a table nearby, trying and failing not to eavesdrop, and I saw her glance between my parents with amusement.
Marlene’s sharp eyes caught her instantly.
“Well, now, you must be Sadie,” she said, beaming as she stepped forward. “Adam’s mentioned you.”
Sadie’s eyebrows lifted, shooting me a quick look.
I shrugged. I wasn’t about to tell her that “mentioning” probably meant my mother had wrung her name out of me during one of her interrogations.
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Reid,” Sadie said, offering a polite smile.
“Oh, please, call me Marlene.” She took Sadie’s hands in hers before stepping back to size her up like a baker checking if her dough had proofed enough. “You’re even prettier than I expected.”
Sadie blinked, clearly thrown. “Uh… thank you?”
I groaned. “Ma.”
“What?” Marlene shot me an innocent look. “It’s true.”
Sadie laughed, shaking her head, and I could see some of her tension ease.
Marlene Reid was a force of nature, and Sadie was getting the full experience.
“I see why my son’s been so distracted lately,” Marlene added, giving me a knowing look that made me sigh.
Sadie’s lips twitched. “Distracted, huh?”
“Completely useless,” Marlene said dramatically. “Honestly, if I didn’t know better, I’d think he was sweet on you.”
I groaned, scrubbing a hand over my face. “Ma, I swear to God…”
But Sadie? She just smirked.
“Oh, that’s interesting,” she mused, tapping her chin like she was deep in thought. “Because I thought Adam was completely focused when he was working.”
Marlene gasped, delighted, and my dad, who rarely showed much emotion, let out a low chuckle.
“She’s quick,” Richard noted.
“She’s trouble,” I muttered.
Sadie’s smirk widened. “That’s what they say.”
Marlene patted my arm. “You could use a little trouble, sweetheart. Lord knows you’ve been working too much.”
I shot my mother a look, but she was already turning back to Sadie.
“So,” Marlene continued, clasping her hands together, “how do you like it here, honey? Medford treating you well?”
Sadie hesitated, and for a second, I thought she might give the same half answer she’d given me earlier. But then her expression shifted.
“I do like it here,” she admitted. “More than I expected to. I mean, I spent some years here as a teenager, but this is… well, different.”
Marlene beamed. “That’s wonderful! I can already tell you that Medford likes you, too!”
Now that was true.
But would it be enough to make Sadie stay?