Page 46 of Here With Me

But maybe that was okay. Maybe part of surrendering was not just letting go of the what but also the when. So, until God opened a clear path, David would stay where he was—in Heritage. Enjoying his family and helping Sadie.

He’d figure out what to tell his supporters soon.

nine

“You’re telling me things are completely normal with you and David?” No doubt Romee sat in her home music office with a can of Dr Pepper. Her hair was probably in a big messy bun on top of her head as she took her lunch break. “Even after your not-date, you let him into your office? Helping you with the books and the webpage?”

Sadie never should have answered this call as she stepped into Donny’s Diner. The tables were filled, and every seat at the counter was occupied. No wonder she’d been told it would take so long to fill her call-in order. Must be the lunch rush. She should have gone back to her apartment, but she was low on groceries. Plus, she had yet to visit her favorite restaurant. The counters had been updated and although the booths were still red, the vinyl wasn’t cracked at the corners anymore. But beyond those two things, time seemed to have stood still in the restaurant. Same vintage stools, same tintype ceiling, and same jukebox in the corner.

She’d spent many a weekend close to that jukebox with a stack of nickels and her childhood friend, Fallon James. They hadn’t spoken in years, since they both moved away from Heritage. Maybe Sadie should message her longtime friend and let her know she’d moved back. When she came for a visit, they could reconnect.

Sadie inched her way toward the register as she cupped her hand by her cheek, doing her best to filter out the background noise for Romee. “Can we talk about this later?”

Romee huffed. “Fine. But this conversation isn’t over. I might even pull in Anna. She knows a thing or two about exes.”

Anything but that. “Please leave Anna out of this.” Her other sister’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brock, was—well, Sadie had no idea if he was currently on or off.

“Talk later, sis.” And that ended the phone call.

Sadie slipped her phone in her back pocket as the waitress breezed by with a tray tucked under her arm.

“Your order will be right out. You paid over the phone, right?” The waitress placed her order pad in the front of her apron and hurried off.

At least Donny’s didn’t appear to be hurting for customers. Too bad half of those customers wouldn’t walk down to the hardware store and make a purchase today. It would help.

“Two cheeseburgers and fries.” The waitress handed Sadie a white plastic bag.

“Thanks.” Sadie did a quick check. Two white Styrofoam boxes sat stacked inside the bag. Sadie gave the woman a nod then hurried out the front door and back to the store. She sidestepped Otis, who now sat in the middle of the sidewalk in front of the bank and patted his head as she passed, his warm bronze comforting and smooth. Otis always had a way of making everything a little better. Maybe it was the way his bronze eyes stared at everyone and everything. Maybe, it was just the magic that kept him moving. More than likely though, it was his secret-keeping skills, because there was no way Otis would tell Romee that Sadie had a little extra pep in her step just because she was thinking about David.

Before she could even turn on to Richard Street, her phone buzzed in her back pocket. She scanned the texts coming in rapid fire. True to her word, Romee had started a thread with Anna.

Romee: We need all the details. Tell us what’s going on with David.

Anna: I agree. I didn’t even know David was back in town.

Romee: Well, if you’d answer your phone every once in a while, you’d know.

Anna: *gif of little girl rolling her eyes.

Sadie shoved the phone in her back pocket so she could open the door of the hardware store. The welcome bell jingled happily overhead. If she told her sisters anything about David, it would open that crack in her heart even more.

He’d stepped in, shared her burden, and opened up to her about Costa Rica. It was all the best parts of their relationship, with a new openness they’d never had before. And it was addictive.

She couldn’t dwell on that because he was returning to Costa Rica, so even if he checked off every box she’d ever had for a husband, she had to remember a new box she’d recently added: lived in Heritage. She couldn’t uproot her life again. Lottie needed that stability of family, a home, and Heritage provided all of that.

David came up from the back of the store, Nate behind him.

David stopped beside her, his arm brushing hers, sending goosebumps up to her ears and down to her toes. Nate held out a business envelope to her. “I wanted to drop this off. I meant to yesterday but got sidetracked.”

Sadie set the lunch bag on the counter behind David, her hands brushing his back. His eyes locked onto hers, and heat raced up Sadie’s spine to her neck. Maybe she needed to check the thermostat?

She took the envelope Nate held out and opened it. Inside sat a check. Her fingers tingled.

A check.

It was only a few hundred dollars.

But still—a check.

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