19. Red
TAYLOR SWIFT
19
RED
“I don’t mean to pry,” Ginny said, waving her hand between Sadie and Dakota.
“Then don’t,” Dakota groaned. “You really don’t have to.”
They’d made it no more than an hour down the road, after their roadside tow and rescue—thanks to Ginny—before Sadie caught her repeated and highly interested glances in the rearview mirror. All the eye-twitching, brow-raising, pinched lips, and silent communication between them just wasn’t enough for Dakota’s sister.
“Oh, but I do, mister… I’ve got questions. Big ones.”
“Me, too,” Dakota quipped. “Like, how’s Danger?”
Ginny flipped her hair, completely unbothered. “Daniel and I aren’t seeing each other anymore.” She perked up. “See. It's so easy to answer simple personal questions.”
Sadie watched in the rearview as Ginny flicked her eyes between them again, as if she had a They Totally Kissed sensor blaring flashing red lights in the front seat. Ginny was squished in the back between bushels of strawberries and King Gus, who she was keeping a wide, healthy berth from. He’d barely recovered from his excursion in the rain and had needed tender love, indeed, to coax him into Ginny’s vehicle, where the rest of Dakota and Sadie’s gear had been transferred.
“Y’all kissed didn’t you! I can tell. There’s…”
“Tension?” Sadie asked with a giggle as Dakota released an annoyed sigh.
“You did!!!” Ginny squealed and then mock gagged. “Bleh. Sadie. I love ya, but this information will take some time to digest.” She paused for three beats and then wedged her upper half over the middle console between the driver and passenger seat, slapping a hand on both of their arms.
“Okay, I’ve digested. Tell me everything. Was he romantic? Gag… Actually, don’t tell me. But was there poetry?”
“For the last time, I’m not writing poetry.”
“Anymore,” Ginny reminded him.
Dakota reached for the music, clearly hoping for distraction, but Sadie smacked his hand away. “You write poetry?”
He growled. “No.”
“It’s absolutely profound, Sadie Girl. Just you wait.”
“I think I might like a poem, Major. Somethin’ real tender.” Sadie wiggled her eyebrows and put Ginny out of her misery. “We kissed. Just a little.”
Dakota cleared his throat.
“Okay. We kissed a lot. It was awesome. He loves me.”
“Good gracious, Edwin.” Dakota shook his head with the sounds of his sister’s incessant hysterics in the back seat. “We’re gonna have to talk about boundaries when it comes to storytime with the sisters, alright? Or at least wait for me to leave the room.”
“We’re in the car, Kota. It couldn’t wait.” Sadie gave his leg an affectionate pat, only to have it trapped by Dakota’s intertwining their fingers.
“Well, if she already knows, I’m gonna at least reap some of the benefits.” He flicked his eyes to the rearview and declared, “We’re in love. We’re doin’ this thang. Keep the comments to yourself.”
“But…” Ginny began.
“Or at least wait until we get to the beach for all the chit chat, alright?”
Sadie rubbed her thumb along Dakota’s but disregarded him completely.
“Wanna hear how I caught Kota singing Dolly Parton to Gus?”
“Tell us everything!” Caroline said, sitting cross-legged on her deck chair, sipping pretty drinks with swirly straws. Something Dakota had ordered the instant they’d decided to go for a swim.
“Oh, please, yes,” Mrs. Remillard said, one hand raised in praise and the other holding her own pretty drink. “I have been waitin’ and prayin’ forever for this. Finally, my baby and Sadie Girl… together. When I saw y’all walk in the the door holdin’ hands, I swear I ‘bout called a pastor right then and there.”
“Mama!” Georgia chided. “Give them some time. Gracious.”
Mrs. Remillard lowered her sunglasses and winked at Sadie before returning them to rest on her sun-kissed cheeks. “What did I tell y’all? Gus Gus brings people together.”
Sadie couldn’t believe how unembarrassed she was. How announcing their relationship with a simple entrance, hand-in-hand, had been as natural as making a cup of tea—which Dakota insisted he needed as soon as they walked through the door, after another hour and a half trapped in the car with his sister’s antics. Bless his heart.
“We just came to an agreement, that’s all,” Sadie said, lying back in her chair, watching the men in the pool toss Theo from side to side.
“That’s all?” Georgia whined. “Come on. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not gonna plan your elopement or anything…”
“Don’t you dare!” Ginny warned.
Georgia laughed “But ya gotta give us somethin’. How do you feel about it all?”
Sadie’s first instinct, the one she’d carried close to her chest since knowing the Remillards, was to play it safe. To give them the information they wanted without letting on to what she truly felt about the situation. But she remembered the way the girls had supported her in the uncertainty of her future when her parents decided to move and Sadie was unsure of where she’d go. Georgia, Caroline, and Ginny only wanted to be there for her.
Sadie had prayed for help… to trust. If she could be brave with Dakota, she could be brave with the women who’d loved and befriended her without question or preamble.
“I’m happy and relieved but still a little afraid, if I’m honest,” she said, feeling the relief of unloading even a small burden to her friends.
“‘Course ya are, sweet girl.” Mrs. Remillard fanned her face and took a sip of her drink. “You and that boy have been dancing around one another for years.”
“Right. We have.”
“And not to mention the fact we’re all so close and intertwined. Especially with Good Start and your relationships with all of us.”
“Um, yes,” Sadie agreed. Mrs. Remillard was, frankly, astute. She didn’t get enough credit.
“And,” she continued, “you’re at each other’s throats just as much as you’re making heart-eyes when the other isn’t lookin’. That’s gotta cause ya to pause, even in all the excitement.”
Sadie blew out a breath. “Yes!” She looked at Dakota, lifting Theo on his broad, bare shoulders so that he could launch the littlest Lovett into the pool. “What if… what if all the excitement of our feelings goes away and then we’re left with the loathing?”
“Do you think you’ll loathe him, Sadie?” Caroline asked, honestly. “After everything?”
“He grates my nerves like no one else does, but no. I could never not love him,” she admitted, feeling a blush warm her cheeks.
“Choosing Dakota doesn’t mean you’re gonna like him every day. Are you insane?” Georgia raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms. “My husband, God love him, gets up at the crack of dawn every Saturday to deep clean our house. Can you even imagine the mental health implications for a person who has the inclination to do such a thing?”
“Gross…” Caroline said and sipped her drink through a long, swirly straw.
“I know,” Georgia continued. “And do you think I like Lakeland on Saturday mornings at six a.m.? When I… forgive me,” she looked at her sisters, “would much rather be snuggled up in bed with him than cleaning a toilet with bleary-eyes before an ounce of coffee…”
“Preach, Georgia Snow,” their mama interjected.
Ginny’s face blanched. “Do you really do that Georgia?”
Georgia sipped her own drink and giggled into her straw. “‘Course not. The big, gorgeous dummy brings me coffee in bed and lets me sip the whole thing while he talks through his cleaning strategy for the day, and I thank him kindly and give him encouragement the whole, dang time.”
“That’s my girl!” Mrs. Remillard laughed loudly, gaining the attention of the men in the pool, and her husband who catcalled her and earned the groans of the others.
Sadie shrugged. “I don’t get it. What’s your point?”
“The point is,” Georgia said, with the wisdom of a woman blissfully married to her best friend, “despite his more anal retentive qualities, each and every day, I choose to love Lake. It’s a choice. A commitment I promised to him and to the Lord. Even when it’s hard and I hate the way he chews his steak, or ruins a Chick-fil-A sandwich with mayonnaise, or when he wakes me up at the crack of dawn to disinfect every inch of our house, I choose to love him. Every minute. Every day.”
“The Colonel chews his fingers. I hate it. I wanna dip his fingers in jalapeno juice and watch him cry it out before I see him chew those dang fingertips for one more day of my life. But… the good Lord knows, I love those hands of his.”
Her daughters all made equal sounds of disgust.
“Griffin farts in the sheets,” Caroline declared, the weird confession floating across the poolside therapy area. “It's disgusting. And he laughs—He Laughs—every time.” She shook her head back and forth, closed her eyes, and sighed. “I tell ya what, I choose to love that man through it. I am definitely committed to him for better or worse.”
“Lake picks his nose!” Georgia shouted, drawing the attention of the men at the opposite end of the pool.
The man in question raised his arms in the air and shouted, pointing at his brother’s bare chest ahead of him, “Griffin does too!”
Griffin merely pointed at Theo and yelled, “Theo does too!”
And when all the men collapsed into a giant water war, dunking and hollering, the girls returned to their musing.
“They’re incorrigible.” Ginny leaned back in her lounge chair, lifting her shades to the top of her head, closing her eyes, and letting the sun warm her face. “But I sure do hope I love someone enough one day to deal with all that crazy, manly, nonsense and still have a smile on my face as I tell the tales.
“And,” she added, “Sadie, at some point you’re gonna have to stop lyin’ to yourself about how ya feel. You love my brother. Plain and simple. We all can see you're just as crazy for him as he is for you… even if you’re makin’ each other crazy half the time. The real question is not whether you’re gonna choose to love him or not, it’s whether you’re gonna let your fear stop ya from committing to the choice ya already made.”
Mrs. Remillard, Georgia, and Caroline exchanged knowing smiles, proudly looking at the youngest Remillard, who’d settled into womanhood as easily as she settled into sunbathing.
Sadie let herself lean back in her own lounger, hoping her sunglasses would mask the way her eyes couldn’t seem to stay away from Dakota and the tears that brimmed in them, knowing her choice really had already been made.