Page 38 of In Full Bloom

DALLAS

Fallingasleep wrapped up in Katie was probably a terrible idea.

Scratch that. It was definitely a terrible idea.

Not only am I supposed to be creating distance between us, but Olivia and Flynn stumbled into the house sometime in the early hours of the morning and saw us tangled together on the couch.

They must have, because when I woke up again at 3 a.m. and carried Katie to bed, with her snuggling into my chest in a way that made me not want to let her go, Olivia was already there.

I tucked Katie in beside her best friend and since Flynn had claimed the spare bed, I returned to the couch and stretched out, trying to ease the crick in my neck from curling around Katie for several hours.

Later that morning, when everyone finally emerged, with Flynn and Olivia rather worse for wear, and Katielooking bright-eyed and refreshed, our sleeping arrangements weren’t mentioned.

No one has said a thing in the week since that night.

I should be glad for it. I should appreciate that Flynn has kept his mouth shut and not brought it up. I fully expected him to joke about it, to tease us, to expect a complete update on our current relationship status.

But he hasn’t said a word and I’m desperate to talk tosomebodyabout that night.

The first night I spent with her, I’m happy to keep to myself. But the second one … so many things came up that I want to know more about. I want to dig deeper and uncover her.

I keep wondering why she said she can’t give me long term. She said she wants to be able to, and there’s something in the way. Something that’s stopping her.

She’s kept her distance over the past week, going about her farm duties and spending time with the horse Flynn brought back with him.

When we cross paths, she doesn’t mention anything that happened that night either. She treats me like she always has, but she’s softened. Her outright mocking is now just gentle teasing. Not that it happens often. She seems to be using Flynn and Olivia as a pretty effective buffer between us.

The school bell rings and startles me out of my thoughts. I’m leaning against a tree outside of Sadie’s new classroom, waiting for her to finish her first week of school.

She’s taken to school like a duck to water, though she’s absolutely exhausted. Every afternoon she excitedly tells me about everything they did that day in class, then passes out half waythrough eating dinner. We haven’t even been eating at the main house with Violet and Olivia because Sadie can’t stay awake that long.

Violet tells me it’s normal. At first I was hesitant to believe her, and fretted about there being something wrong, some illness I needed to take her to the doctor for.

“Daddy!” Sadie yells in my face as she runs up to me, flinging herself into my arms.

“Heya, Sadie girl.” I wrap her up and feel her immediately snuggle into me. It’s the best feeling in the world.

“She’s had a great week,” Sadie’s teacher says, following the herd of children out of the classroom, making sure they each find their parent.

Miss Hayes, is young for a teacher. I think this is her first year teaching. Her dark hair is pulled up into a ponytail and she smiles at me. “She’s settled in really well and is getting used to the routines. She’s a great kid, always trying to help. She’s been telling us all about the farm.”

I grin. “Yeah, I bet you know far more about Porridge than you ever wanted to. The lamb I mean, not the breakfast.”

She laughs. “I always had lambs as a kid, I remember what it’s like.” She pauses. “Sadie mentioned Katie, someone who works on the farm. I’m assuming she means Katie Barton?”

“Yeah, she does.” Apprehension fills me as the teacher absorbs my words. Katie seems to think everyone in Kauri Creek hates her and this feels like a test.

“Oh, I didn’t know she was back. Can you tell her I said hi and that I’d love to catch up with her?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.” I must look as confused as I feel because she continues.

“Katie and I were at school together, though she’s a bit older.” She hesitates. “She might not remember me, but I always thought she was super cool, and nice.”

I smile, filled with a warmth I wasn’t expecting.

“She is the coolest,” Sadie says, agreeing with her teacher. “I love her.”

“I’ll let her know,” I say. “Thanks. Sadie’s had a great week.”

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