Chapter 30
Sadie
T here were few places Sadie felt more at home than inside the batting cage in her backyard. When she was in there, she could turn off the rest of the world and just focus on the feel of the bat in her hands and the ball as it came toward her. With each ping off the bat, Sadie felt herself relax more.
Not that she had too much to relax from. The last couple of weeks had been full of fun with Ellie as they settled into a summer routine. They spent most of the day together, either at one of their houses or downtown exploring the shops. When Ellie had to leave for rehearsal, Sadie headed home to the batting cages or to hang out with her parents while she waited for Ellie to get home. Then they would either hang out again or just text until they fell asleep.
Sadie had never been so smitten in her entire life. Love wasn’t something Sadie expected to find for years. Not until she was much older and had an established career. But the old saying of love finds you when you least expect it must be true on some level.
Of course, she and Ellie hadn’t said I love you out loud yet. Sadie had the cheesy idea of telling Ellie on her birthday. She wanted to get her the perfect present—she still had no clue what that was—and tell her after she opened it. It was cheesy, yes, but Sadie didn’t care. She was just impressed she hadn’t let it slip so far.
“Looking good, kid.” Delaney’s voice outside the batting cage startled Sadie. “Sorry. I was just going to tell you dinner is ready.”
“Oh, okay.” Turning off the machine, Sadie opened the door and stepped out. “I was just practicing.”
“You’ve been practicing a lot lately.”
“Gotta get ready for college ball.”
And keep my mind off kissing Ellie.
Sadie didn’t dare say that thought out loud.
“Oh, I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I’m just impressed. But don’t overdo it, okay? Enjoy your summer. You only have a few weeks left.”
“Ugh,” Sadie dramatically groaned as they started to walk up toward the house. “Don’t remind me.”
“Excitement wearing off a little?”
Sadie held her thumb and index finger close together. “Just a little.”
“I thought that might happen. Especially with Ellie entering the picture.”
Her stomach knotted up at the idea of having to say goodbye to Ellie. Even if Sadie knew it wasn’t permanent, it still meant there would be long stretches of time that the only way she would see Ellie was through a phone screen. Sadie tried to shrug it off, but failed.
“Oh, baby girl.” Delaney stopped walking as they reached the back door and pulled Sadie into a hug. “I know it’s hard. But you’re going to do great things at UT. I promise. It’s all going to be worth it and work out for you in the end.”
“I hope so.”
“It will.”
Sadie offered her mom a sad smile as they headed inside. She washed her hands before joining Delaney and Charlie at the table. Their cat, Boyd, had taken up residence in the extra chair, which made Sadie laugh. She’d never had pets growing up, so she loved having Charlie’s as her own now.
The dinner conversation stayed mostly upbeat as they discussed plans for the rest of the summer and Delaney went over the list of things they still needed to buy for Sadie’s dorm.
“Honey, why don’t we go to Portland this weekend? That way we can knock everything out in one trip.”
“Ugh,” Charlie sighed the sigh that Sadie was also feeling. “That means a whole day of Delaney Baxter shopping.”
“And just what is wrong with that?” Delaney was teasing; Sadie could see it in her eyes. Charlie leaned toward her as she playfully booped Delaney’s nose.
“Nothing, my love.”
Sadie watched as they kissed, smiling happily to herself that her mom was finally truly happy again. Charlie had been the best thing to happen to her mom. Well, after Sadie. At least that’s what Delaney always told them. But Delaney and Charlie belonged together. Anyone with two brain cells could see that.
As they finished their dinner, Sadie retreated upstairs to her room. She quickly took a shower before changing into her pajamas. Or, well, into a clean pair of basketball shorts and a Moonflower Cove High School softball T-shirt. Sadie plopped down on her bed and picked up the book she was currently reading.
She was barely a few chapters into it when she heard a tap on her bedroom window. Tossing the book to the side, Sadie scampered off the bed and went to the window. Ellie’s grinning face was on the other side which made Sadie insanely happy. Opening the window, Sadie smiled at Ellie.
“Hi, Flynn.”
“Hi, Rapunzel.” Ellie leaned in as she kissed Sadie. There was something insanely hot about kissing Ellie that way. Sadie gently caressed her cheek as she leaned against the window.
“Okay,” a voice that was vaguely familiar to Sadie startled her as she pulled away from Ellie and looked toward the person climbing the trellis. “Pascal is here.”
“Dylan’s here, too.”
“I noticed.”
Chuckling, Sadie motioned for Ellie to move out of her way as she stepped onto the roof. Ellie tenderly took her hand, making sure she didn’t fall as they sat. Sadie couldn’t help but notice the short shorts Ellie was wearing, which showed off her tanned legs beautifully. Along with the V-neck tank top she was wearing, Sadie was having a hard time remembering that Dylan was sitting just a few feet away from her on the other side of Ellie.
Sadie knew Dylan from school, but the two weren’t friends. Hell, aside from being lab partners in biology last year, Sadie couldn’t remember a time she’d talked to Dylan. But she knew Dylan was Ellie’s best friend, so she needed to get to know her. All Sadie knew so far about Dylan was that she was a blonde who was in theater with Ellie. And that her mom was a doctor and was gay.
“You’ve met Dylan, right?”
“You probably should have clarified that before I climbed onto her roof.” Dylan had the same quick wit as Ellie. She held her hand out to Sadie, who took it. “Nice to see you again, partner.”
“Partner?” Ellie arched an eyebrow at Dylan.
“We were lab partners last year.”
“So, we do know each other,” Sadie added.
Ellie giggled. “Well, that’s good.”
“Although why she’s on my roof, I don’t know.”
“Honestly, same.” Dylan tossed her arms up and laughed. “We went to your front door, your mom said you were in your room, and Ellie said we’d go up the back way. I thought there would be stairs or something.”
“Nope, just the trellis,” Sadie winked at Ellie. “It’s hot when Ellie climbs it.”
“You know it.” Leaning in, Ellie placed a kiss on Sadie’s lips. “I hope it’s okay we came up here.”
“Always.”
“I promise next time I’ll come alone.”
“Yeah, you will, because my ass isn’t climbing up the side of a house again.” Dylan looked off the side of the roof as she pulled her knees closer to her body. “I hope we’re going down through the house.”
“You can.”
“Thanks.”
“Obviously your lack of a sense of adventure didn’t come from your mom’s side.”
“Nope. My donor is an accountant and yours broke his arm while BASE jumping.”
Sadie furrowed her brow in confusion as the question slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it. “You know your sperm donors?”
“Yep,” Ellie and Dylan answered in unison.
“Mine’s an accountant in Syracuse that my mom went to high school with.”
“And her uncle is the Mackenzie donor,” Ellie laughed and it was clear it was no big deal to either of them. “We call him Uncle Keith.”
“Oh,” Sadie knew her voice sounded more surprised than she meant it to. “That’s cool. I just didn’t know people knew their donors. I thought it was anonymous.”
“That can be, but my parents wanted to know the donor.”
“Same with my mom.”
“That makes sense,” Sadie said with a firm nod as she took everything in.
“Uncle Keith is gay and has been happily married for years.” Ellie tucked her hair behind her ear as she spoke. “When he found out my moms wanted kids, he offered to be the donor. He was the donor for me and Brayden as well as Everleigh.”
“That’s so cool. I hadn’t ever thought to ask about any of that before now, but thank you for telling me.”
“Our parents were always open with us,” Dylan added as Ellie nodded.
“Sometimes too open. But they never kept things a secret from us. That’s why Uncle Keith is in our lives. Or, well, we see him a few times a year. I don’t see him as a dad or anything like that. He’s just the sperm donor and Uncle Keith. My parents are my parents.”
“And my mom gets her taxes done for free because of my donor.”
Sadie couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, that’s definitely a plus. I feel kinda stupid for never wondering about it before. I guess it’s because my donor is my dad. My mom’s bi.”
“Hot,” Dylan interjected with a smirk which earned her a jab in the ribs from Ellie. “Respectfully.”
“Dylan’s bi, so she says.”
“Sexuality is fluid.”
“I’ve been telling you that since we were nine .”
“I know,” Dylan joked. “But not all of us figured out our sexuality at nine.”
“You knew at nine ?” Again, Sadie asked the question before she had time to stop herself.
“It’s impossible to grow up in the Mackenzie house and not love and respect women. It’s why my older sisters are gay and so am I. And why Brayden loves girls.”
“The jury is still out on Everleigh, though.”
“ Is it, though?” Ellie asked with a laugh, which made Dylan give her a look that told Sadie there were definite guesses on the youngest Mackenzie’s sexuality.
“Well,” Sadie waited until Ellie looked at her and smiled, “I knew for sure when you kissed me.”
“Aww,” Dylan and Ellie both put their hands on their hearts dramatically. “That’s so sweet.”
Part of Sadie wished she’d kept her comments to herself, especially in front of Dylan, but it was out in the open now. Why should she care that Ellie and Dylan knew that about her? They’d been open with her, so it made sense for her to be open with them.
“So, how was rehearsal?”
Sadie knew asking the question would change the subject as the two recounted their latest rehearsal. While Ellie was playing the lead, Sophie, Dylan was playing her friend, Ali. Isla was playing Donna, while Carter Hayes, the theater director, was Tanya. Sadie couldn’t remember who else Ellie had mentioned was in the play aside from Alexis, who was in the ensemble.
“I think it’s gonna be a great show.”
“It def is.”
“You’re coming to see it, right, Sadie?” Dylan leaned back to look at Sadie behind Ellie.
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
“I got Sadie a ticket for opening night front row with my family.”
Sadie smiled sweetly at the gesture. “You did?”
“Of course, babe.”
Kissing her again, Sadie wished Dylan wasn’t there. She had visions of taking Ellie into her room to keep kissing her and maybe something more. Her thoughts sent a shiver up her spine. The feelings coursing through her mind and body were ones Sadie still couldn’t fully understand. Although she knew exactly where she wanted things to go with Ellie when they both were ready.
“We should get going,” Ellie said, tucking Sadie’s hair behind her ear. “Dylan has to work tomorrow.”
“Not until noon.”
Ellie shot Dylan a look that must have told her to agree with her because Dylan did just that.
“Yeah, we should go. I have to work tomorrow. Ice cream doesn’t scoop itself.” Dylan gave Ellie a look that Sadie couldn’t decipher, and she tried not to overthink it. “Can we go down the inside stairs, please?”
“Of course.”
Leading Ellie and Dylan through her room and down the stairs, they said goodbye to Sadie’s parents before walking outside. Sadie kissed Ellie one more time before she joined Dylan in the car. She waved goodbye until they were out of sight. Taking a deep breath, Sadie walked back inside.
“Ellie does know that she can use the front door, right?” Charlie asked with a laugh from the couch where she was cuddled up with Delaney.
“I think Ellie would prefer to keep being cool by climbing our trellis.”
“And on that note, I’m going to bed.” Smirking, Sadie waved at them. “Love you both.”
“Love you too, kid”
“I love you, Sadie.”
Taking the stairs two at a time, Sadie went back to her room and lay down in bed. Thoughts of Ellie filled her mind as she yawned. Sex had never been at the forefront of Sadie’s mind until now. And that was something she’d have to process.
Sooner rather than later.