Page 64 of I'm Yours

“Good but Grandma said you had to help Miss Sadie. Is she okay? I asked Grandma to take me there so I could help but she said I had to go to school,” she pouts.

“What a fun hater,” I joke then wince when I hear Emmy shout but not take her mouth away from the phone.

“Grandma! Daddy said you’re a fun hater and I can go to Miss Sadie’s!”

“No, baby, I was just teasing. You have to go to school. Miss Sadie’s perfectly fine, trust me.”

“Can I see her after school?”

My eyes meet Dad’s as I walk up to Sadie, leaning over to kiss the top of her head and he grins. “We’ll see. That’s a definite possibility.”

“Yay!”

“Okay. I’m going to let you go. Have a good at school. Love you, Emmy.”

“Love you, Daddy!” I’ll never in my life tire of hearing her say that. She could be fifty and it’ll still turn me to mush.

We hang up and I turn to look at Sadie. She points behind me and I grab a mug from the cupboard, filling up a cup of coffee for myself. I sit down and relax in the chair, crossing my leg over my knee and taking a sip.

“Morning, Son.” He grins around the rim of his coffee cup.

“Morning, Dad.”

“Sleep well?” he asks, making a point to let me know that he sees what Sadie’s wearing. My old sweatshirt. I shouldn’t love it as much as I do.

“Not a wink.”

“Oh my gosh,” Sadie groans.

Dad chuckles. I had hoped I was giving him a bit of what he gave me when he was talking about their sex life but it doesn’t even seem to faze him.

“Anyway!” Sadie says loudly. “Alan was just making sure everything was okay and I assured him it was.”

“Yup.Allgood here.”

“Shut up, Reed!” She covers her face.

“After you finish your coffee, figured we’d better go check around outside. Sheriff Lee is supposed to be stopping by around eight. I’d like you to be here, Sadie.”

Sadie shifts in her seat and looks between Dad and me. “Um, but I was thinking that the person just went through my yard?”

I nod and reach over to take her hand in mine. “Most likely,” I tell her, “but we need to be sure.”

“Okay. I don’t actually have classes until tonight so I have the day free.”

I drop her hand and sit back. “What? You said…”

She grins and waves a hand in my direction. “Oh, please. I wasn’t going to give in that easy again.”

Dad chokes on his coffee, liquid spewing all over the table. He stands up and grabs a paper towel, dabbing at his chin and cleaning up his mess.

I grin at Sadie who blushes deeper. “He’s such a child,” I tease.

We finish our coffee and Sadie warms us each a bowl of instant oatmeal even though we tell her it’s not necessary. Not long after our bowls are rinsed and loaded in the dishwasher, the doorbell rings, alerting us of the sheriff’s arrival.

Dad lets him in and he greets both Sadie and me with a handshake. Sheriff Lee has been around since I was a kid. He has a large stomach that always reminded me of Santa Claus as a kid and a gruff voice from years of smoking cigarettes.

“Thanks for coming over,” Sadie says, offering him a cup of coffee. He accepts and has a seat at the table along with us.

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