“Maybe so,” Edie conceded with a knowing smile, “but you’re doing it differently than the others who’ve tried.” She checked the clock on the wall. “Speaking of which, he’ll be pacing his study by now.”
Sadie drained her tea and stood, trying to shake off the storm of thoughts swirling around in her mind. Finishing the book was her reason for being here, and to blur the lines of personal and professional could easily spell disaster. Eventually, the book would be finished, and she would have to return to New York. That meant no matter what anyone else saw, she had to be careful to maintain boundaries for all their sakes.
“Thanks for this,” she said, gesturing to the empty cup.
“You’re welcome, love,” Edie replied, patting Sadie’s shoulder as she passed. She turned back to her bread dough, lifting the cloth to check its rise, then added almost casually, “And Sadie?”
“Hmm?”
“Whatever you said to him yesterday…” Edie glanced up, her eyes warm with genuine gratitude. “Thank you.”
Sadie felt her cheeks flush as she nodded and slipped out of the kitchen, retrieving her bag from the sofa. Today would be about reestablishing professional boundaries, about ensuring nothing drew their attention away from the book. She couldn’t let a brief glimpse of who Corbyn was behind his carefully constructed walls derail that.
Riley appeared at the end of the hallway, his lanky form wiggling as he walked toward her with evident delight. He circled her once, his tail sweeping in wide arcs, then pressed his head against her side in a gesture of greeting.
“Morning, handsome,” Sadie murmured, pausing to scratch behind his ears. He leaned into her touch, eyes closing in bliss.
Riley huffed softly and then trotted ahead toward the study, looking back once to ensure she followed. All of it, the dog, the warm kitchen conversation, the way she was beginning to navigate the house with growing familiarity, meant that keeping that balance of professionalism would be that much more difficult. She was already getting attached, and that would only mean heartache when this assignment was over.
At the study door, she paused and took a deep breath. She wasn’t entirely sure what awaited her on the other side. Despite her muddled thoughts, for the first time since arriving in Great Missenden, she was truly curious to see where the day would lead.
February 21, 2025
-Sadie-
The study door creaked, breaking the silence and making Sadie grimace as she pushed it open. Riley had gone ahead, disappearing through the gap that had been just wide enough for him to come and go as he pleased. By the time Sadie had crossed the threshold, the dog had already flopped onto the carpet by the fireplace.
Corbyn was at his desk, and she noticed that he had stopped writing, his pen hovering just above the page. Neither of them spoke for a moment, and she could feel the tension lingering even after yesterday’s conversation.
“Morning,” Sadie said, her voice neutral as she crossed to her usual chair across from him.
“Morning,” Corbyn replied, not quite meeting her eyes.
Sadie set her bag down, unpacked it slowly to buy herself a beat to gauge the atmosphere. Silence stretched between them, and she could feel Corbyn’s penetrating gaze without even looking up. They were no longer quite enemies, but they also weren’t friends. It seemed neither was entirely sure how to proceed with this tentative truce.
Corbyn broke the quiet with a rough throat-clearing.
“I changed a few things,” he said abruptly as he slid a stack of papers her way. “The warehouse scene, mostly.”
Looking at the pages, surprise flickered through her as she noted the neat annotations in the margins. Throughout the manuscript, Corbyn had highlighted sections with small notes:Expanded this as you suggestedandReworked dialogue here—see if it addresses your concern, and even one that said,You were right about this transition.
“Oh,” she said, thumbing through the pages. “That’s… thorough.”
“Don’t sound so shocked,” he said, a hint of his usual dryness returning without the former edge. “I do occasionally listen.”
A small smile tugged at Sadie’s lips, and she teased, “I’ve seen little evidence of that so far.”
“Then consider this Exhibit A,” Corbyn replied, the corner of his mouth quirking upward slightly.
The tension had eased a fraction, and Sadie leaned back in the chair to review the changes. Corbyn incorporated many of her suggestions, sometimes with his own twist, and her slight smile only grew the more she read.
“Don’t look so smug, Reed,” he said, drawing a soft chuckle from her.
“I’m not smug, just… pleasantly surprised.”
“Pleasantly surprised that I can be a reasonable human being, or pleasantly surprised that you were right?” he shot back, a playful glint in his eye.
Sadie glanced up briefly, her smile widening, and teased, “Can it be both?”
