Page 66 of Promise Me

“And why is that?”

“The couch is still delayed. It’s been almost a week. It’s in Wind Valley. What if we just drove there and got it ourselves?”

It’s not the worst idea, considering after a week of sleeping on my current couch—well, it needs to go.

I’d have to recruit my brothers to help me get it up the stairs, but that’s easy enough.

“Okay, when?”

“Really?” She perks up “Can we go right now? I’ll call them.”

“I’m working.”

“I’ve got this,” Betty chimes in, appearing out of nowhere. “You two get that new couch together. I’m not so sure I can keep watching him hobble around on that leg.”

I scowl at her.

For the last couple of days, anytime Sadie saw me limping, we argued over who was sleeping on the couch and who was sleeping in the bed. So far, I have always won. I’ve since decided to push through any pain when she’s around so she won’t notice. But it seems my bar manager is going to blow my cover.

“You told me it didn’t hurt.” Sadie folds her arms in front of her and glares at me.

“It doesn’t.”

Not right now anyway.

“Did you lie so that I would stop asking you to switch our sleeping spots?”

I sigh, loudly.

“You could have shared the bed,” Betty says as if she’s part of this conversation.

Sadie’s hand goes up. “I offered, and he shut me down real fast on that one.”

“I bet he did,” Betty replies. Her mouth opens to say more, but I beat her to it.

“I just need to fuel up, and we can go.”

I move quickly around the bar and nod for Sadie to follow.She hops off the stool with a smile and her book. “I love road trips!”

Two and a half hours later,the couch is loaded and strapped down in the bed of my truck.

Sadie is already in the passenger seat and waiting for me by the time I come outside of the gas station.

I hop in and hand her a diet soda from the fountain and a small bag of white cheddar popcorn.

She pulls the bag open right away.

The entire trip to Wind Valley was spent with Sadie asking me question after question about our relationship before her fall. What do we fight most over?Anything and everything. Who wins most of the fights?Me, naturally.Why do I come to the bakery every morning if I don’t like her? That one I laughed at and told her that you can be good at what you do and still have people not like you. Hence, why I kept showing up. Sadie just smiled at my answer and kept shooting off rapid-fire questions.

Anyway, it doesn’t surprise me when I pull onto the road and she starts talking again.

“How did you know I’d like this combination of snacks?”

I shrug. “You always ask for these instead of chips at the bar.”

“And the drink?”

“You either ask for diet or iced tea, and the store didn’t have iced tea.”

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