Page 16 of Here With Me

Small mercies.

“Perfect. Do you have days and times you prefer to work?” Sadie stepped behind the register next to her dad. The pride that filled his gaze confirmed her decision.

“My schedule is pretty open. I can work as much or as little as you need.” David lifted his chin, his eyes flashing.

Maybe when they were together, she could have identified those emotions in a single glance, but Sadie couldn’t allow herself to think about David’s feelings in this matter. In fact, she’d work to ignore his feelings altogether.

Her dad wasn’t wrong—they had been a good team. And for the sake of the store, her future, and for Lottie, she’d figure out how to work with him again. But she’d take some time to mentally prepare to be in such close proximity. “Why don’t you start Monday at ten.”

Sadie made sure her dad could cover the store a few more minutes and stepped outside.

She needed air. And she needed to visit Cindy at the bank to pay off part of the loan and say goodbye to her savings.

She would take the weekend to collect her thoughts and prepare to work with David. She’d do anything to save her store. Empty her savings account? Check. Work with the man who broke her heart? Check.

Hopefully it would be enough.

It had to be, because she didn’t have anything left to give.

four

He’d said yes to a family dinner hours before he knew he’d volunteer to work with Sadie. If he could rent a TARDIS, he’d travel back a few hours and find an excuse to say no to this meal. As it was, his niece Vangie bounced next to him with all the energy of a three-year-old as she scooped another bite of green beans into her mouth.

Weren’t kids supposed to be picky eaters?

David shoved the mashed potatoes around on his plate. Could he convince Vangie to eat some of them? His appetite was non-existent. Working with Sadie? Had he really agreed to work for his ex-girlfriend? The only woman he’d ever really loved.

After all these years and all the twists and turns their lives had taken, he’d be working at Hoover’s Hardware with Sadie. Not as her partner like they’d always envisioned, but as a free lackey.

“Unca David?” Vangie tugged on his sleeve. “How are the kittens?”

David set his fork down. All eyes at the table were on him, and he shifted in his seat. The meal with his family had been oddly quiet. Maybe it was simply because he’d been pre-occupied with his meeting with Sadie today. “The kittens are good. Growing quickly.”

“Almost time I can take one home?” Vangie brushed against David.

“I’d say in another week or two.”

“I want two.” Becca clapped her hands. Caroline used a napkin to wipe her daughter’s hands.

“You want two kittens, or you want Dos?” Caroline glared at David. “Honestly, who names kittens by numbering them?”

Becca clapped her now clean hands. “Dos!”

Vangie tugged on David’s sleeve. “I want Uno.”

Perhaps Caroline would have two kittens in her future, even if she didn’t want that many.

Grant pushed his plate forward. “It’s clever. He doesn’t have to think of fancy names.”

Mamá Gata and her five kittens—Uno, Dos, Tres, Cuatro, and Cinco. Better and easier than coming up with names. And maybe he wouldn’t get attached when he had to find them homes when he left.

Vangie rested her head on David’s shoulder. “I’m all done. Unca David, want to come play tea party with me?”

And leave behind the now cold glob of mashed potatoes still on his plate? “Absolutely, kiddo.”

David pushed his chair back, but Leah appeared behind him, her infant daughter wrapped in a blanket in her arm. Leah placed her free hand on his shoulder. “Vangie, why don’t you and Becca run upstairs to play together in Isabella’s playroom. This afternoon I set up an art table for you with new crayons and fresh paper. You can draw Uncle David another fairy house.”

Vangie had given him a picture several weeks ago. “I attempted to build the last fairy house you gave me. One of these days you’ll have to come see it.”

---