13. Battle Belongs
PHIL WICKHAM
13
BATTLE BELONGS
After leaving Sadie’s home the week before, it had taken Dakota exactly five minutes to FaceTime both Lake and Griffin and insist they meet him immediately for a volunteer intervention. It had taken him even less time to realize he needed one. Desperately.
Somewhere between having his socks charmed off by Sadie’s mama and her perfect buttermilk biscuits and receiving her father’s warning, Dakota had felt that teasing spark of hope.
Then he’d nearly lost his marbles—and all sense of self-control—and kissed Sadie for real this time, right in her mama’s kitchen. Mouth full of biscuits and pink lips covered in crumbs… Dakota hadn’t cared. He’d thought way too long about whether her lips would’ve tasted like honey and lemonade. But he now knew, without a doubt… he needed some guidance if he ever wanted to find out.
And it had felt as if God was confirming all his hope when Sadie had nearly recounted his personal prayers, word for word. Dakota had felt as if he could have fallen over, right then and there, so overwhelmed that the Lord would use Sadie to deliver a message to his heart so pointedly.
I don’t know God’s purposes, but I know and trust His promises.
Hearing those words from her mouth—words he hadn’t told a soul but had saved for his own private prayer time—he’d felt that live wire finally spark. He was going to pursue Sadie. And… he was going to take a path he’d prayed fervently over but hadn’t been sure he’d follow until that moment.
But first, he needed his brothers.
Lake and Griffin had met him at the loft right away, minimal questions asked and supplies in hand. Lake held a bag of what Dakota knew were baked goods. Georgia had fallen into full-blown nesting and, in turn, Lake had been passing off overly-dry brownies, scones, and cookies to every member of the family that he could, right beneath her nose. Griffin, on the other hand, still gushed over Caroline as if she could do no wrong. Not surprisingly, he’d arrived with a trifold board in one hand and art supplies in the other. The board, completely blank, aside from where he—or rather, Caroline—had entitled it, The Lovett Fast Track to French Kissin’.
They’d had a heated discussion over whether that particular goal was entirely appropriate to be discussed amongst them, but eventually Dakota had relented. He honestly didn’t care what the dang chart was called as long as his, perhaps, overly-prepared brothers-in-law helped him. And… if it did end in a bit of French kissin’, he certainly would not complain.
They’d spent a long night gorging on a moisture-sucking, lemon-berry firecracker cake and planning the miracle means by which Dakota would swoon Sadie into a maybe with him.
But then Saturday night game night rolled around. And instead of snacks, dominoes, and pungent, popcorn-scented air filled with the sounds of expected sibling badgering, Dakota’s sisters, and their spouses—whom he’d forevermore refer to as “snitchers”—showed up for a full blown intervention. His second in regards to his relationship, or lack thereof, with Sadie.
Caroline and Griffin, first to arrive, greeted him briefly before heading straight for the couch, where they mysteriously laid out an array of Caroline’s craft supplies. An uncomfortable itch of understanding crept over his awareness, but before Dakota could ask, Georgia and Lake sauntered in, hand-in-hand, casually bickering straight into his living room.
“You promised, Lake!” Georgia whined. Dakota could hear the emotion in her voice and thought to mediate, but his sister continued, “I made those treats for tonight… for the whole big thing, and now we don’t have anything at all.”
“What big thing?” Dakota asked and was ignored.
“Peaches,” Lake tried, and failed, to subdue her, “I love you more than life itself, but those brownies were inedible.”
Griffin perked up from the couch. “Brownies?”
“Nope! Sorry… no brownies.” Georgia threw her hands on her hips and let the tears fall. “We don’t have brownies because Lake thinks I can’t bake worth a flip. He said… He said…” She sniffled and ran her hand sloppily over her nose. “He said they were disgusting. Can you even believe that?”
Lake smirked like a complete doofus. “I said they weren't your best…”
“And?” Georgia stomped.
Lake looked at the ceiling, hopefully praying for some good sense. “And I said I wouldn’t feed those brownies to Gus… and Gus is the worst.”
Apparently, he wasn’t praying for sense after all.
Griffin whistled and sat back on the couch as Caroline sighed deeply, likely far too familiar with driving her own husband batty with hysterics.
When Ginny swung open the loft door, wiggling tupperware in her hand, and announced, “Who’s ready for an intervention? I made brownies!”, Georgia fell into deep despair. It took a ten minute interlude of Lake coaxing her back to reality before Dakota received a proper explanation for the supposed intervention they’d planned.
“What do you mean you don’t wanna discuss it with us?” Georgia asked. Dakota didn’t think he could take another emotional outburst from his eldest sister. Especially not while she had the remnants of Ginny’s perfectly moist, dark chocolate brownies smudged in the corners of her mouth. He almost felt bad for her… until she opened her mouth and sounded an awful lot like their mother on the hunt for information. “You were certainly chatty about it with the guys the other night.”
Dakota side-eyed Lake and Griffin, who both had the decency to look guilty.
“I didn’t chat with them. I asked for advice. But, y’all…” He waved his hand between the girls who sat side by side on his couch, covered and snuggled in a single blanket… in the middle of summer… eating brownies from the pan, while casually discussing their brother’s romantic interests. He’d never understand them.
“Y’all are too close to the situation. You’d just run off and talk to Sadie who, by the way, has repeatedly stated to my face that she does not want a relationship with me. I’m tryin’ to be respectful. I’m treadin’ softly. Playin’ the long game.”
Ginny raised her hand. “But you’re also tryin’ to have a relationship with her, though, right?”
“Yes, Gin. Obviously.”
Caroline shoved a brownie in her mouth, washed it down with a Coke, and burped. “That doesn’t make any sense, Kota. Are ya pursuing her or not?”
“I’m… attempting to pursue her. But she does not want to be pursued.”
“Sure, sure,” Georgia said, raising her eyebrows. “So how are ya gonna pursue her while maintaining the distance and all that respect she deserves? You’ve been ‘playing the long game,’” she said, air quoting and rolling her eyes as only Georgia could, “for the better part of three years, Dakota Major. What more are ya planning to do?”
Dakota slumped in a chair at the table and looked longingly at the dominoes. “Can’t we just play? I bought snacks.”
All three sisters crossed their arms while Griffin and Lake merely looked on with amusement.
“Alright, alright,” he said, giving in and resting his elbows on his knees. “The guys and I made a list of ways to…” He couldn’t believe he was admitting it to these three busybodies. “To woo her. Okay? I’m gonna woo her socks off. The Lovett Fast Track to French Kissin’ and all that.”
Caroline and Georgia both scoffed and acted as if they’d faint with the notion he’d actually like to kiss their friend at some point… hopefully in the near future… and God-willing without the knowledge or input of any of his family members. “Oh don’t act like y’all didn’t help them come up with that name. You’re the queen of PDA’s and makin’ people sick with all the googly eyes.”
They sent flirty eyes in the direction of their husbands, and Ginny rolled hers completely over it all. “If you think chocolate and treats and poetry are all you’re gonna need to woo Sadie Mills, you’re bound to be sorely disappointed.”
Dakota pointed an accusing finger at the only other men in the room. “It worked for them!”
Caroline swallowed another hunk of brownie. “Do you seriously think I fell in love and decided to marry Griffin—after everything—because he bought me lattes and moonpies?”
“And a house,” Griffin added. “Don’t forget that beautiful, dream house of yours.”
“‘Course, babe. And a house…” Caroline waved at him noncommittally. “Do you honestly believe Georgia couldn’t possibly resist the Lakeland Lovett after a couple of gifts and gas station candy? Please…”
“Hey!” Lake interrupted. “They were symbolic! Georgia loves circus peanuts. Right, babe?”
Georgia had stuffed her face so full of brownies, Dakota knew she wouldn’t be answering that line of questioning anytime soon, so he turned back to Ginny. “You were the one who said to bring her flowers and chocolates first…”
“And poetry!” Griffin added, a giant, proud grin on his face.
“For the last time, I’m not writin’ poetry!”
The room fell into hysterics, but Ginny’s face grew serious. She unwrapped herself from the shared swaddle and met Dakota at the table. “Listen up, big brother. You’ve already given Sadie stuff. She doesn’t need stuff. Flowers. Chocolate. Coffee. Car washes… all of that was for the bet. The Cordiality Count. To win the loft.”
“It wasn’t all for…”
Ginny put her hand up, not allowing him to finish. “It may have been more for your wooin’, as you call it, but I don’t know that Sadie is seein’ it that way. She needs to see that you’ll show up for her. As her friend… even if she never chooses to become more. She needs to trust you, Kota. Sadie agreed to go on this road trip, not because you made it sound like you wanted her there, but because it's her job and we,” she pointed to herself and their sisters, “want her there.”
“I tried…”
“I’m not finished.” She stopped him again and took a sip of water. The entire room waited, enraptured with the youngest of the group’s unforeseen wisdom. “I think… Sadie really likes you, alright? I’m not tryin’ to betray her trust or divulge secret information or anything like that.”
Dakota’s heart pitter-pattered to life. It wasn’t shocking, given their tension for all this time, but having his little sister confirm it was definitely a positive insight.
“I think Sadie wants…” she blanched and stuck her tongue out in disgust. “I think she wants you, Kota. Something with you, but she needs to be seen by you as someone more than your competition or the girl who rejected you.”
“She told you?” he asked, voice almost a whisper.
“Yeah, Kota. She told me… but just a little. And I won’t tell you more than that. I’m just trying to encourage ya to see Sadie. To really see her. And to pray about how you might make her feel more safe with you than… well, scared.”
“I scare her?” Dakota stood from his seat but met his little sister’s up-raised hand again.
“I don’t wanna say anything else, Kota. I just want to help my brother and my friend. That’s why I’m here… to help.” Ginny shrugged like it was nothing at all and pulled her curly hair into a messy bun. “And for the snacks, of course. There’s nothin’ like a little romantic intervention with popcorn and brownies.”
Lake smacked his hands together and rubbed them ferociously like he was ready to light a fire from nothing at all. “Alright, then. Let’s take a little detour…” He lifted an eyebrow at Georgia who fanned her face and acted as if she’d never heard anything more clever. “Let's plan this road trip. And all the ways you can ensure your woman…”
Ginny cleared her throat.
“Sorry, um…” Lake corrected, “ways to ensure the honorable lady, Sadie Mills, feels confident and safe with you… a trustworthy dude.”
Griffin stepped up beside his brother, joining on Dakota’s side and slapping him hard on the shoulder. “And let's discuss how that plan begins with Gus.”
Dakota was one step closer, and only slightly more confident, in his choice to pursue Sadie after her rejection. But the idea that he scared her in some way, like Ginny had mentioned, niggled at the corner of his brain and planted a small measure of doubt.
What if it all wasn’t enough? The books he’d been pouring over. The planning and the road trip, the advice and prayers from his family… That doubt nudged and prodded and seemed to whisper, “What if, in the end, I’m just not enough?”
His pride balked at risking her rejection again. In some ways, he wanted to just stay annoyed. Petulant. Maybe a bit immature after she’d turned him down repeatedly. But the bigger part of him—the attracted to Sadie’s heart and brain and face and way too curious about how her lips would feel connected to his side—couldn’t resist the challenge at another shot. Couldn’t negate the feelings he had for her and didn’t want to push them aside any longer.
I don’t know the purpose, but I know Your promises.
He prayed the same prayer over and over again and bound those prayers to his heart as he sought out his dad for advice on some very large life decisions later that week. Then he took the first steps towards a new path. One he’d never truly thought he’d take, but had felt something in his spirit urging him to jump into.
And his parents prayed, too, encouraging him and supporting him through the niggling doubts that arose. He did his best to put his trust fully in God’s plan for his life. One that he couldn’t see quite clearly, as if he were looking at himself and his future through a foggy mirror. But that mirror grew more focused with every step he took forward in surrender. And he hoped and prayed that future would include Sadie.
Moving forward was worth the risk. Sadie was worth the risk.
So, over the past week, Dakota replaced the Cordiality Count strategy with a carefully curated formula to win the woman’s heart. Knowing Sadie, and the fact that she would definitely not make things easy on him, was a battle he’d fight with charm, slow romancin’, her favorite music, food, books, and—to his utter dismay and confusion—Gus. A not-so-minor detail that, when they jumped in her beat down car to begin their journey, did not go unnoticed by Sadie at all.
“So, um… I love this… little guy and everything…” Sadie began, huffing slightly as Gus made a nest in her lap.
“He is anything but little.”
Sadie rolled her eyes, and he bit his lip to keep from jumping across the console of her beat up car and kissing her face off. It seemed the newfound information from Ginny, and her father’s warning, had only added fuel to Dakota’s affection for Sadie. It was confusing and extremely difficult to maintain a proper distance. His mama would clutch her proverbial pearls if she knew how often Dakota thought about Sadie’s full lips.
Thankfully, his mama’s completely unlovable cat created a very real barrier between Dakota and Sadie. One he would most assuredly not cross.
“Don’t be rude, Dakota Remillard! Gus has feelings too. He’s just got extra fluff.” She hunched over, putting her face dangerously close to the feline hijacker. “Isn’t that right, Gus Gus? You’re just a curvy guy. Nothin’ wrong with that.”
Gus purred emphatically, making direct eye contact with Dakota.
The little jerk was rubbin’ it in Dakota’s face.
That’s right, buddy. She’s into me. I’m gettin’ a back rub, and your wayyyy over there.
Dakota hissed, startling Sadie but not the villain in her lap.
“You’re a child!” she chastised, strapping herself in.
Dakota shrugged. “He started it.”
“I was going to ask… before you attacked the helpless cat… why exactly does Gus, here, need to ride with us? It seems like an awfully long trip for him when he could’ve ridden with your family.”
Why, indeed. Dakota had fought over this with his family at length. And lost, handily.
“He brings people together,” Griffin had argued, sounding far too much like Dakota’s mama.
“Takin’ care of Gus will be like a team building exercise. It will bond you.” Ginny had snickered and batted her eyelashes, but she’d also made some interesting points about adding Gus to the road trip. “Take care of him together. Sadie loves pets, and she’s never had one. I promise you, it's a good move.”
Both his parents had mentioned various reasons why they and his siblings just “wouldn’t be able to host poor Gus Gus in any of their cars… they wouldn’t have room with all the vacation supplies and bags… and wouldn’t Dakota and Sadie just love the extra company?”
Lake had been the only honest one in the group. And had all but begged, “I can’t be anywhere near that thang. He’s obsessed, alright? I need ya to take one for the team… If it’s not you, it’s me and Georgia, and my wife is pregnant, man. I can’t deal with that cat, too.”
He suspected his entire family had held a phone tree in the short time it had taken Griffin and Lake to get to the house for that initial planning session, and that the whole group was collectively conniving ways to force him and Sadie into the most precarious of predicaments ever since. With that knowledge in mind—and the fact that Dakota had disclosed a few pertinent details to his parents when seeking their advice over the past week—the probability was very high that all his business, when it came to Sadie and himself, had been shared amongst the group.
They’d probably started a text thread together. Or one of Caroline’s charts. Dakota bet they’d called it Intercessory Courtship, and that it was covered in color-coordinated sequins for the occasion.
“You don’t mind Gus comin’ along, right? I thought you might feel more comfortable with the extra company… Ya know, in case you couldn’t bear to look at my handsome, clever, ridiculously appealing face for too long and needed a distraction of sorts.”
“How noble of you.”
He nodded solemnly. “It's a burden I’m willing to bear… Just like the way you insisted that we had to drive your hunk of junk across God’s green earth with nothing but a song and a prayer to get us there.”
“You are so dramatic sometimes. Stella is perfectly capable of getting us to where we need to go.”
“Stella?”
“Yes, Dakota. My car—which, by the way, I worked extremely hard for and purchased on my own at sixteen—is named Stella. And she is strong and sure and will get us exactly where we need to go. Just you wait and see.”
“She’s an old, creaky lady, friend. Stella has a cardboard window. I don’t think that’s even legal. She needs a good nap.” He smiled, loving the way he could push Sadie’s buttons, just so. Get her riled up and zipping at him in, oddly, the most attractive way possible.
“It just adds to her character.” Sadie playfully pinched the tender part of his arm.
“It won’t matter once I win and donate her to the junkyard.”
Sadie narrowed her eyes. “You wouldn’t.”
“I would… I will.” He winked and put his hands on the wheel and she returned her hands to spoiling Gus.
“Are you ever gonna actually drive her Kota, or are we gonna hang out in your sister’s parking lot all day?”
She’d been living on Ginny’s couch over the past two weeks. A situation Dakota hoped to rectify very soon… as part of the plan. The Safe and Sound Sadie plan.
He smiled his best smile and wiggled his eyebrows at her, putting the car in drive. “Ya ready for an adventure, Edwin?”
She sighed as if she’d resigned herself to a dreary future. “Lead the way, Wade.”
“First stop… Washington.”