Page 3 of Here With Me

“Take your time, son. I’ll be here.” Gary continued toward the back of the store, and David turned and stepped outside, looking for shade so he could read his phone screen. The afternoon sun slipped behind a cloud as he walked to the back of the building, away from the square.

Lance: Let’s chat next week. Tuesday morning. 10 EST.

No. No. No. No. No. This couldn’t be right. If they’d approved him to go back, they’d simply say the words. The only reason Lance would want to talk was because they weren’t going to send him back yet.

David: School starts next week. I’d love to work through things ASAP. Chat now?

Lance: Marco can’t right now. Tuesday morning. 10.

Marco wanted to talk, too? David clenched his fist and then stretched his hand. If they wanted to bring in the executive director, it meant he’d officially miss the first day of school in Costa Rica. This couldn’t be God’s will. But then again, what did he know? No matter how much he prayed lately, God still seemed to be silent.

Anytime, God. I’m ready.

Still no response.

Nothing more could be done today. Tucking his phone away, David walked back to his grandfather’s gold truck and opened the door and plopped down in the driver’s seat. Ugh. He still needed those screws. Not that he had a pressing deadline to finish the built-ins anymore. No.He wasn’t giving up that easy. He’d fight for what he wanted.

He left the truck and hurried back up the few steps toward the hardware store. The bell welcomed him a second time.

“Coming.” A feminine voice rang out, and David could hardly process the familiarity before Sadie stepped out of the back aisle.

She froze. Her long, light brown hair was braided, hanging over her shoulder. Her hazel eyes took him in, a touch of vulnerability in her gaze. “You.” The word came out breathy and tense.

“Sadie.” His voice wasn’t any better. But it had been ten years. Ten years since she’d talked to him. Ten years since he’d held her. Ten years since she’d broken his heart right before their college graduation. He opened his mouth again, but nothing came out. His brain had stopped working.

The softness in her gaze vanished, and the welcoming smile disappeared as she held out a box. “I take it you’re the wood screw guy.”

She was mad at him? She was the one who’d stomped on his heart, not the other way around. She’d been the one to walk away and never look back. He opened his mouth but snapped it shut. He’d moved on and so had she. They didn’t need to have this discussion again. His throat tightened, and he worked to swallow the moisture before it evaporated from his mouth. “Two-and-a-half-inch wood screws—that’s me.”

Her left ring finger was bare. He’d heard she’d gotten married, but maybe he’d heard wrong. He tried not to dwell on news of Sadie, so on the rare occasion one of his sisters brought her up, he quickly ended the call. But hearing she’d gotten married would have been hard to forget. Even so, there had been no one since Sadie, because no one had measured up.

She briefly nodded and walked to the register without a backward glance.

“It’s been a while.” Almost ten years. And not a day went by that he didn’t think about her.

“We don’t have to do this, David.” She rang him up, not looking at him.

Do what? Catch up? Find out how she’d been? How long she’d be in town? David gulped and looked at his shoes as he pulled out his wallet.

Sadie said the total, and he handed over the cash, his hands oddly still. He wanted her to look up again. To see her eyes, catch a glimpse of her smile. But it was better if he didn’t. He couldn’t consider those things anymore. Not since her wedding.

She handed him his change and the screws. Her fingers barely touched his skin, yet little sparks shot all the way up his arm. She looked up, holding eye contact now.

“You been here long?” He should go. He had his change and his screws. But seeing Sadie again…well, he wasn’t ready to walk away just yet. Not if it was going to be another ten years.

“Just got into town.” She tucked her hands in her back pockets and rocked back on her heels. “Have a good one, David.” She nodded to the door.

He could take a hint. He stepped closer to the door without looking away from Sadie. “You too.”

David pushed the door open, and the jingling of the overhead bell broke the moment. He hurried out of the store. And that was why he should have gone to Ludington. Because seeing Sadie Hoover? It only reminded him of everything he’d lost. Everything he’d never have.

One thing was certain, he wouldn’t be back. Ten years hadn’t been long enough to swallow the disappointment of today. He’d lay low and continue to do the one thing he’d done the last ten years.

Avoid Sadie Hoover at all costs.

She’d waited ten years to move back to Heritage, ten years to chase her dream of owning the family hardware store, and ten years of visits to her parents, praying she wouldn’t run into the man who’d torpedoed her life.

Too bad it couldn’t have been eleven or twenty. Or never.

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