Chapter 4
James’s brows, already knit, tightened even more. “Sadie?”
“James.”
His was a question; mine was a breathless statement. Not because I had no questions but because I needed the firmness of a statement to believe what I was seeing. Who I was seeing.
James Carver. In Autumn Ridge.
A cramp shot up my thigh, and I winced, sucking a breath through my teeth.
I’d been pounding on the door for rescue, but the moment I’d seen my rescuer, I’d forgotten that I was bent like a demented twig.
I stumbled out of the cupboard, and he grabbed my elbow.
I tried to straighten, but unbending my knees was a skill from the bygone era before I’d stepped into that cupboard. Now all they were good for was screaming to be straightened while refusing to do exactly that.
“Sorry,” I gasped out through something that was half-laugh, half-pain. “I just…forgot how to stand up.” Slowly, I forced my knees to unbend, fully expecting them to squeak like a rusty hinge.
James released my elbow and stepped back.
I looked up once I was able to focus on something other than my discomfort.
He watched me with a frown. It was the frown that had appeared after his dad had died, but it was deeper now. More settled, like it had originally come for a visit but decided to take up residence on his face.
His eyes flitted to the cupboard behind me, a question in them.
Heat slinked into my cheeks. “It’s a long story.”
I made dumb choices. That was the story.
The more I looked at James, the more different he seemed. He’d been 21 when he’d left Autumn Ridge—technically, an adult. At the time, I’d marveled at how grown up he’d become since high school.
But he was 29 now, and his 29 made his 21 look like 15.
His entire body had filled out. This was a man who’d gone places and done things—heavy lifting certainly among them.
James was looking at me too, taking quiet inventory in a way that made me aware of my wavy red hair and the extra freckles I’d gained over the past few years from helping out at Horseshoe Holler.
But eight years hadn’t wrought the same level of change on me as it had on him. I’d stayed in Autumn Ridge and was still doing the same things I’d been doing when he left. I was the same Sadie he’d never much noticed.
No. That wasn’t entirely true. I was different in one important way, at least: I was one giant crush lighter than I’d been when he’d last seen me.
Everything that had happened between Ryan and him had put that infatuation to bed at long last. Disbelief and denial over his behavior had ultimately given way to disappointment—and a realization that I’d given my precious, angsty teenage love to someone who hadn’t deserved it.
After another moment of mutual inspection, he turned away.
“Does your mom know you’re here?” I asked.
He turned back toward me, a glint of amusement in his dark eyes. “Yeah.”
It seemed like a stupid question on the surface. It wasn’t, though. “It’s just…she didn’t warn me.”
The amusement went out of his eyes like an ember under a jug of water.
My word choice had been unfortunate. I hadn’t meant warn like he was a threat. I just thought she’d have mentioned it, especially given our conversation the other day.
When we’d talked about how often May saw James, it would’ve been a natural time to mention that, not only had he returned a couple of times in the past, he’d be back soon. Or had he already arrived at that point?
“That doesn’t surprise me.” His frown deepened. “I didn’t even know you talked to Mama anymore.”
Mama. I’d forgotten he called her that.
“We’re…working on something together.” My stomach clenched.
With James here, I was second-guessing my idea more than ever.
It had already felt like borderline betrayal when it was just May; with James, it felt like full-on rebellion against Ryan, his wife Lily, and my family. “How long are you in town?”
He gave a barely audible scoff that seemed to say of course you’d ask that question. He turned away again and walked to the door. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll be gone in a couple of days.” He pushed through the door.
“Wait.”
He stopped but didn’t turn around.
I fumbled with…no words. I didn’t even know why I’d stopped him.
Maybe it was because I thought I’d offended him, and I hated doing that, even to James Carver.
Maybe it was because I realized just how many questions I had.
Seeing him in the flesh after so long reminded me how confused I’d been when the kind person I thought I’d known had hurt my brother so badly—and then disappeared.
“Thank you,” I said. “For…extricating me.”
“You’re welcome.” I could’ve sworn there was a smile in his voice.
The door shut.
I pulled in a big breath, already starting to doubt what had just happened. When I took a step to grab my phone, though, my knees very selflessly reminded me of the trauma I’d caused them.
I finished my inventory, then walked the key back up to the house.
The boots at the door caught my eye again. With the benefit of hindsight, I realized how large they were. May Carver would’ve drowned in them. Those belonged to James.
Maybe that was why May had been crying earlier—she’d seen her son. Whether those had been happy tears or more complicated ones, I didn’t know.
I paused at the door, wondering if I should just leave the key under the mat. I could even set it on top, knock, and run.
That was normal, right? Not weird. Not childish.
I shut my eyes, let out a breath, and rapped on the door.
I heard voices and footsteps, followed by a bit of back-and-forth. One set of footsteps faded, then the door opened, revealing May. Maybe the red-rimmed eyes I’d noticed earlier had been because of James? Whether happy tears or sad tears, I still didn’t know.
She smiled and opened the screen door wider.
“Just came to return the key.” I handed it to her.
“Thank you, darlin’. Did everythin’ go okay in the kitchen?” She looked concerned.
Of course James had told her. Hey, I found a Stevenson hiding in our sugar shack kitchen cupboard wasn’t the type of thing you forgot to mention.
“Um…yeah,” I said. “I saw James.” I said it like it was an interesting bit of trivia instead of an event that still had me discombobulated.
“He mentioned that. I would’ve said somethin’, but I didn’t think you’d see him, sugar. I thought he was at the stables with Archer, and I figured you’d rather not…” She didn’t finish the thought.
“That’s okay, Mrs. Carver. He helped me out of a tight spot.”
Her brows went up. “Did he?”
Dang it. Apparently, he hadn’t told her my humiliating story, which was unexpectedly chivalrous of him. Too bad I told on myself.
“I kind of got stuck in a cupboard…” My cheeks flamed. Next time I considered a really stupid decision, I’d make sure to think about how it would feel to state the choice aloud to an audience later.
“Oh, Sadie.” She reached for my forearm. “I’m so sorry!”
“It was totally my fault. Really dumb choice. But I did finish my inventory. I plan to make a run to the store today. I can get the kitchen cleaned up tomorrow and hopefully get started with some potential recipes the next day.”
I planned to try a recipe a day for the first few days. I only needed two or three products. In some ways, that felt easy. I baked every single day. I could whip up a batch of maple cinnamon sticky buns in my sleep.
But that didn’t necessarily mean I had what it took to create new products—something different but every bit as delicious as what we made at Keller’s.
May and Wade had loved the maple cream puffs, but May was just nice, and Wade? He ate school lunch most days, so his standards weren’t particularly high.
“That sounds wonderful.” May’s smile turned stern. “You’ll keep close track of everythin’ you buy, right? If we’re goin’ into business together, I won’t stand for you takin’ on even a cent more of the costs than half, you hear me? We do this fair and square, or not at all.”
I smiled. “I hear you, Mrs. Carver. I’ll keep my receipts—but I’ll also be keeping close track of everything I use from your product stores.”
She waved a dismissive hand. “Sure.”
I laughed softly. “I’ll be back tomorrow for the key—probably around noon, once I’m finished at the bakery.”
“I’d give it to you to keep, but if I hold on to it, you have to come see me.” She winked.
“Suits me just fine.” With a smile, I turned and made my way to my car.
Once in the driver seat, I glanced up at the Carver house one more time, wondering if I’d see James again before he left. The fact that he’d gone out of his way to not answer the door when I’d knocked meant the answer was probably no.
Which was probably for the best—and why I was only a little disappointed.