Chapter Five
The next morning, Sadie eyed herself blearily in the bathroom mirror. She was a mess – and a tired-looking mess at that. Never mind, things could only get better from here. She smiled as she reached for the spare toothbrush that Savannah had given her. She might have felt like a total idiot last night when she realized that she’d left her overnight bag in Dominic’s SUV, but she wasn’t all that upset about it – not since it meant that she’d get to see him again this morning.
She wasn’t going to examine why that prospect set butterflies swirling in her stomach. Sure, he was an attractive man, but she was in no position to be attracted to anyone, and he was far from available. He was still wearing his wedding ring. That just highlighted another difference between him and Dale. She really needed to stop making comparisons between them, but Dale had stopped wearing his wedding ring years ago – because it was uncomfortable, he claimed. And Dominic? He was still wearing his, nine years after his wife died.
She brushed her teeth harder. She needed to take a shower and get ready. At least she’d been able to wash and dry the clothes she’d been wearing. Having her dad and Savannah laugh at her as she wandered around the house in her dad’s old pajamas last night was far preferable to having anyone else see her wearing spaghetti-stained clothes today.
By the time she made it down to the kitchen, she felt guilty when she saw her dad sitting at the table, eating scrambled eggs and bacon.
He grinned at her. “You feel better after a good night’s sleep?”
“I do. And sorry, I should’ve come down and made you breakfast before I…”
“It’s okay,” Savannah called from the laundry room. “I did it. I made you up a plate; it should still be warm.”
“You didn’t need to do that, but thanks. Have you eaten?”
“I have; I’m good. I wanted to get a load started before we leave. I’ve folded your things for you.”
“Thanks, you didn’t need to do that.” Sadie checked the time as she took her plate to the table and sat opposite her dad. “I’m not making you late, am I?” she asked Savannah.
She felt totally off kilter. She was supposed to be here to help, but so far, she was only creating more work for Savannah – and she felt like she was in the way.
Her dad grinned at her. “Relax, honey bun. We have a routine set up, don’t go feeling bad. I’m glad you’re here, and you’ll slot right in after a day or two.”
She nodded at him. “I hope so – I’m feeling pretty useless to you so far.”
Savannah came out of the laundry room. “Oh, don’t say that, Sadie! And please, whatever you do, don’t feel like I’m trying to take over or anything.”
“I don’t. I appreciate you doing so much, I just want to help.”
“Would the pair of you relax? No one’s treading on anyone’s toes. We’re all in it together – just like we’ve always been.” Her dad chuckled.
Sadie made a face. “Let’s be honest, Dad, I haven’t been in it at all for years.”
He shrugged. “Well, you’re here now and that’s all that counts. Savannah said that she’s taking you over to the lake with her this morning.”
“I need to get my things back from Dominic.” Sadie hesitated with her fork halfway to her mouth. “But I don’t have to go; what are you going to do? I can stay here with you.”
“There’s no need for that. I’ll be just fine. Like I said, we have a routine, and you’ll soon get the hang of it. We make sure that I have everything I need to last me while Savannah’s out and about. If I get in a pickle, Tilly and Parker are out in the nursery, and I can give them a call.”
Sadie blew out a sigh. “I’m so sorry, I should have come back years ago.”
Her dad chuckled. “You should, but for your sake, not mine. I’m not a feeble old geezer, so don’t go thinking that. I’m more than capable of doing for myself, it’s just that my acrobatics on the stairs threw a wrench in the works.”
“I know that you’re more than capable, I just…”
Her dad waved a hand at her. “We don’t need to talk it to death, honey bun. Now that you’re home, we’ll figure out a new routine.” He cocked an eyebrow. “If you’re planning to stay, that is.”
She nodded slowly. “I’d like to – as long as you don’t mind me being under your feet for a while. I’ll find a place of my own…”
“I’m more than happy to have you here, but don’t joke about getting under my feet; I don’t need any help in the tripping and falling department. I’ll put some feelers out, see if we can find you a place to rent. As glad as I am to have you home, I wasn’t inviting you to come live with me for the long term. But go on, finish your breakfast and get dressed. You don’t want to keep Savannah waiting – or Dominic,” he added with a wink.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “He’s not waiting around for me – I said that I’d call when we’re on the way over there.”
Her dad held her gaze for a long moment.
“What?” she asked when she couldn’t take it any longer.
He shrugged. “I think you might be wrong.”
“About what?”
“About him waiting around for you – it’s just that neither of you know it yet.”
“Honestly, Dad, he assured me that he’s fine with whatever time I can get there.”
Her dad chuckled. “Fair enough, whatever you say.”
Once they were on the road, headed toward Summer Lake, Sadie glanced over at Savannah.
“You, my sweet girl, are an absolute angel. I don’t tell you this often enough, do I?”
Savannah shot her a quick smile. “I’m no angel, I’d do anything in the world for you guys, you know that. And whatever I do could never be enough to repay you – not that it’s about that. I hang out with Harvey so much because he’s awesome. I’ll be forever grateful to you both; I hate to think what my life would be like if it weren’t for you. But honestly, Sadie, it’s not just gratitude. I love Harvey, and I love you. You’re family to me.”
Sadie touched her arm. “And I hope you know that you’re family to me, too. I know I told Dominic last night that you were an old friend of the family, but that was only because I didn’t want to get into the whole story.”
“That’s okay, I know that.” Savannah shot her a sly smile. “But you know, while we’re driving over there, you have the time to tell me that whole story, if you want.”
Sadie had to laugh. “I would, if there were a story to tell.”
“Oh, there’s a story!”
“Honestly! I’d never laid eyes on him before yesterday. And even then…” She smiled when she remembered the first time she had laid eyes on him in the grocery store.
“Maybe so, but that smile speaks volumes! And I don’t blame you; he’s…” Savannah fanned her hand in front of her face “… Hot! ”
“Isn’t he?” Sadie had to laugh at herself. “There, that just goes to show that I’m not trying to hide anything from you. I don’t mind admitting that I find him attractive – or even hot. But you already know almost the entire story.”
“Ooh! What’s the part that I don’t know?” Savannah waggled her eyebrows. “What happened after you guys left the diner last night?”
“Not a damn thing! Well, nothing that you don’t know. He drove me back to Dad’s place and dropped me off.”
“And there was no goodnight kiss? No making out in the car before he left?”
Sadie laughed. “No, sorry to disappoint you, but no.”
“Never mind me, you’re the one who’s disappointed, aren’t you?”
Sadie chewed on her bottom lip. Was she disappointed? Of course not! Yes, Dominic was an attractive man, and not only that, he was a kind man. But that wasn’t the point – she wasn’t looking for someone new – she hadn’t even begun to deal with the end of her marriage. She wasn’t in a position or a headspace to even think about kissing someone new. And yet, now that Savannah had mentioned it… No. Just no.
“Okay, well if you’re not going to admit it,” said Savannah, “you should probably give him a call and let him know that we’ll be in town by nine. I’ll be busy until noon, and then I’m happy to give you a ride back.”
“Thanks, where will be easiest for you to pick me up?”
Savannah grinned. “How about I call you when I’m done? That way we can figure out where you are – and if you still need a ride.”
“I’m pretty sure that I will – I don’t imagine the minivan will be fixed by lunchtime.”
“Neither do I,” said Savannah.
Sadie gave her a puzzled look. “I know that I said I might stop by and see Nina, but I don’t think she’ll be able to give me a ride home, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
Savannah laughed. “It’s not – and if you don’t know what I am thinking, don’t worry about it, just give him a call.”
“Oh.” If Savannah thought that Dominic might give her a ride home again… No, why would he? She wasn’t going to waste any time entertaining that question. Instead, she took her phone out and inhaled deeply before dialing his number.
~ ~ ~
Dominic set his phone down with a frown. He’d told Sadie that he’d meet her at Jake’s garage. He didn’t know why he’d done that. Well, he kind of did; Jake had gone up the hill early this morning and towed her minivan in. It would be best for her to meet Jake and see where her vehicle was. But even though that was the logical explanation, he knew it wasn’t the real one. He’d wanted to give her directions here, to the house, but something about that felt wrong.
He checked his watch; he still had a few minutes before he needed to set out. He stopped when he realized that he was pacing in the kitchen – what was wrong with him? Nothing. There was nothing wrong with him. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Okay, so Sadie might have caught his attention, but that didn’t mean anything. He’d meet up with her at Jake’s garage, return her things to her, and that would be the end of it.
He blew out a sigh. That didn’t have to be the end of it – not if he didn’t want it to be. He twisted his ring around on his finger. He felt disloyal to Polly even thinking about it. Sadie might become a friend – he was open to making new friends – but that was all; he wasn’t open to anything else.
He spun around and hurried to get his phone from the counter when it rang.
“Hey, Damon, what’s up?”
“Hey, Jo and I are headed over to town. She has some errands to run, and I’m going to hit the gym. Do you want to come with?”
“I…err…”
Damon laughed. “It’s not a problem if you don’t, I just thought I’d kill two birds with one stone. I could come over and hang out if you don’t want to hit the gym.”
“It’s not that, I… I have a couple of errands to run myself.” He frowned. Why was he making excuses? Going to see Sadie at the garage could be considered an errand, technically, but… “Actually, did you know that Jake’s back? I’m headed over to the garage.”
“Yeah? Does he need a hand? I can come help.”
“I’m sure he’d love to see you. I’m not exactly going to help him – we both know I wouldn’t be any use at that. It’s just… The woman from last night…”
“Shit, sorry! I totally forgot to ask you how that went.”
“Yeah, it was fine. I gave her a ride to her dad’s place. Get this… It turns out that she’s Harvey’s daughter.”
“Harvey from the garden center?”
“That’s right.”
“And you’re going to see her at the garage?”
“It’s kind of a long story. She left some of her things in my SUV and I’m going to return them to her.”
Damon was quiet for a few moments before he asked, “So, are you saying that you want me to be there or that you’d rather I didn’t show up?”
“I… It doesn’t matter either way. If you want to see Jake…”
Damon chuckled. “I’ll see him later. For some reason, I get the impression that there’s more to this story than you’re telling me. And I know you; if I push or interfere, you’ll shut down. So, give me a call later if you want to meet up. I think we’ll be in town all morning, and Jo asked me to see if you and Jake want to come over for dinner tonight – you’re not working at the restaurant, are you?”
“I’m not, but…”
“You can let me know about that later, too.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ll let you go then.”
“Okay, I’ll give you a call just as soon as I know what I’m up to.”
“No worries, and no rush. You know that I don’t like to push you – so, I’ll just say, I’m here for you whenever – if ever – you want to talk about it.”
Dominic was about to protest that there was nothing to talk about, but he didn’t. Instead, he went with, “Thanks.”
When he got to the garage, he was relieved to see that Jake’s truck was the only vehicle parked outside – Sadie wasn’t here yet. The big rollup door was closed, so he went to the office on the side of the building. The door was open when he tried it. He let himself in and called out, “Hey, Jake! It’s only me.”
Jake had the minivan up on the hoist. He grinned at Dominic. “Hey, did you give Sadie her stuff back already?”
“No, I said I’d meet her here to do that. I figured it’d be good to introduce the two of you, and this way she can see that you’re already working on the minivan.”
“Good thinking. I’m looking forward to meeting her.”
Dominic gave him a puzzled frown. It had been obvious last night that Jake suspected he was interested in Sadie, but saying that he was looking forward to meeting her as if she were…
Jake grinned. “She’s my first ever customer! I know it might sound goofy, but I’m excited to meet her. And I was thinking… What do you think? I was thinking that maybe I should give her free oil changes for life or something – you know, as a special kind of thank you for taking a chance on me.”
Dominic chuckled. “I’m not sure you need to do that. For one thing, it’s not as though she had any choice. And for another…” He stopped when he heard a vehicle outside. “This is probably her.”
“Did she borrow her dad’s car?”
“No, she has a…” He didn’t know how to describe Savannah. Last night at the diner, Sadie had called her an old friend of the family; to Dominic, the two women had behaved as if they were family. “Her friend’s bringing her.” He didn’t need to explain the situation to Jake.
Jake was already headed to the rollup door. “I meant to open this before she arrived – you know, let her see inside?”
“Right, I’m sure she’ll appreciate that.”
Dominic slid back the bolt on the other side of the door, and he and Jake pulled it up between them. Jake had said that he wanted to get an automatic opener when he could, but he was being smart in the beginning and only spending on absolute necessities for now.
When they’d rolled the door to a high enough point that it continued by itself, Dominic looked outside and smiled when he saw Sadie climbing out of the passenger side of a Chevy Camaro.
“Hi!” She waved and greeted him with a smile. “We found you.”
“Hey, were the directions I gave you okay?”
“They were – I don’t know why I said that.”
He chuckled. “I’m just glad you made it.”
“And I’m glad to hear that this place is easy enough to find,” added Jake.
“Sorry,” said Dominic. “I should introduce you. Sadie, this is my nephew, Jake. Jake, this is Sadie, your first ever customer.” As the two of them shook hands, he glanced over at the Camaro. “Is that Savannah? Is she waiting for you?”
“She is, she’s going to give me a ride into town.” She gestured for Savannah to get out of the car, and Dominic grinned.
“I should introduce the two of you as well. Hi, Savannah, it’s good to see you again. This is Jake, he’s the guy who’ll be repairing Sadie’s minivan. Jake, this is Savannah.” He stepped back and exchanged a smile with Sadie as they watched Jake and Savannah greet each other awkwardly.
Savannah’s cheeks turned pink, and Jake wiped his hand on his overalls before reaching out to shake with her.
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you.”
“You too.” Savannah looked up at the sign on the front of the building. “So, you’re the guy who bought Art’s old place?”
“I am, do you know him?”
“I do.” She glanced over her shoulder at the Camaro. “He gave me that and helped me restore it.”
Dominic bit down on his bottom lip to stop himself from laughing. Jake’s initial reaction to Savannah had been obvious enough – he was bowled over. With what she’d just said, the pretty little blonde might as well have come right out and declared herself to be Jake’s ideal woman.
He glanced at Sadie, and she gave him an almost imperceptible nod as she grinned at him.
“You should show Jake what’s under the hood, Savannah. I know how proud of it you are, and I’d guess that Jake is someone who’ll appreciate all the work you put in,” said Sadie.
Savannah looked uncertain, but Sadie smiled. “I have to run in to the ladies’ room, so you might as well – it beats standing around staring at each other while you wait for me.”
Dominic knew exactly what she was up to. “I’ll show you where it is.” He gestured for Sadie to go ahead of him.
Once they were inside the building, she stopped to look back. Dominic glanced over his shoulder, but didn’t want to make it too obvious. He needn’t have worried; neither Jake nor Savannah was paying any attention to them. They seemed equally engrossed in the car and each other.
Sadie chuckled. “Well, I didn’t see that one coming.”
“I didn’t see it coming, but it’s kind of hard to miss, isn’t it?”
She nodded eagerly. “Please tell me that he doesn’t have a girlfriend?”
“He doesn’t. I take it she’s single, too?”
Sadie nodded enthusiastically. “Don’t worry, I don’t plan to interfere, but I’m excited to see what might happen.”
“Me too. What do the two of you have planned this morning?”
“Savannah’s going to drop me off in town while she takes care of a few things. Why?”
“I was thinking that we should maybe leave them to it.”
“I like the way you think. We’d need an excuse, though.”
Dominic pursed his lips as he thought about it. He jerked his chin toward his SUV. “I have your things in there.”
“What if you didn’t have all of them?”
He chuckled. “I like the way you think, too. If I’d maybe left something of yours at the house…”
She smiled. “Then it’d make sense for me to go with you to get it, wouldn’t it?”
“I think so.”
“Okay, so how about we go back out there and tell them?”
He chuckled. “Don’t you need to use the bathroom?”
She raised her eyebrows. “What do you think?”
He shook his head. “I think you’re a smart lady.”
She laughed. “Thank you.”