It felt like all the air in my lungs escaped my body. Of course she was the maid of honor. How stupid was I? I should have connected those dots immediately.
“I get it. No worries. You and I can celebrate together another time. With Melinda, too, if she can ever stand to hang out with me.”
He took a deep breath and started to say something right as the waitress brought our meals out. I stared at my plate, my appetite gone. The mess I’d made all those years ago was still coming back to bite me in the ass. It always would.
“Harrison.”
I looked up at him.
“Melinda talked to Sadie, and she’s okay with it. So, as long as you can handle seeing her for a few events plus the wedding, we’re good to go. The only thing I ask is that you don’t… try to change her mind about you or anything. Just leave her alone, let her take the lead, that sort of thing.”
I nodded, trying hard not to break into a huge smile. “She didn’t mind?”
His lips turned up in something between a wince and a smile. “I wouldn’t go that far, but Melinda said Sadie would be horrified if I didn’t choose who I wanted to be in the wedding party because of her.”
“Sounds like Sadie,” I said, picking up my burger and taking a big bite. “Don’t worry. I’ll hang back and let her come talk to me if she wants to. I’ll do my best to not make this weird for her.” I paused. “God. Do you think she’d mind if I just stood in a corner and stared at her?”
He gave me a look. “Don’t make me regret asking you, jackass.”
We laughed then, and I felt the tension fade away. But even as I enjoyed his company, in the back of my mind I was already thinking about when I’d see Sadie.
That night, I couldn’t sleep. My thoughts kept drifting back to that awful two-year period when I’d blown my life apart. MineandSadie’s. It had been years since then, but I’d never stopped regretting what happened. I didn’t think I ever would. Life is all about learning, and I knew that. Mistakes are a huge part of that process. Every one of us will make dozens, if not hundreds, of mistakes over the years.
But some were so big and hurt so bad they left scars that just wouldn’t heal.
PART ONE
THEN
Chapter One
Harrison
Start of Eighth Grade
I was so nervous walking into school on the first day. My last school had been in Halliwell, which was one town over. My dad worked there, and I didn’t understand why we’d had to move to Indigo Falls in the first place. Dad had said some crap about needing to separate work from his home life, and that he was too likely to go back to the car dealership and do more work if he drove past it all the time. Living in Indigo Falls would give me and Mom more time with him. Or so he said. I guess I’d have to see about that.
Mom also kept telling me the schools were better here, and that I’d have more opportunities on the football field. The high school was smaller here, so she and Dad thought I might get a lot more playing time. They might be right about that part. I’d impressed the middle school coach so much in summer practices that he’d had the high school coach come watch me.
I found out a couple of weeks ago that I’d be playing for the high school team this year, not the middle school. They’d already named me backup quarterback for the upcoming season, too. As an eighth grader! I wasn’t upset about that part of moving at all, but I wished I had some friends. I’d only worked out with the middle school football team for a week before they’d bumped meup to high school. The only friends I’d made were older than me. I wouldn’t be going to school with them.
I walked up the stone steps of the beautiful old brick building of Indigo Falls Middle School. This sure didn’t look like a school. It looked like a mansion or a museum or something. I had been instructed to report straight to the counselor’s office to get my schedule. It hadn’t been available online yet, and I wondered just how old school Indigo Falls was. They knew about the internet, right?
“Ah, Harrison,” a nice, middle-aged lady said as I walked into her office. There were two chairs in front of her desk, and a girl with long, thick blonde hair sat in one. I stood behind her, and I found myself staring at the back of her head and not listening at all to the counselor’s introduction. I’d never seen hair like that in person before. It was silky and shiny. It looked like the kind of hair you’d see on a shampoo commercial. “Oh, let me get your schedule printed out.” She turned and pulled a sheet of paper off the printer. “Here, Sadie, why don’t you take this and go show Harrison around today.”
The girl turned around with the schedule in her hand. “Hi,” she said. “I’m Sadie Summers. I’ll be walking around with you today.”
My mouth had gone completely dry, and I felt like my vocal cords wouldn’t work. I’d never seen a girl this pretty before. I didn’t know they existed outside of movies. She was short and slender with long, tanned legs, and the kind of body you usually didn’t see on a girl my age. Things just got better as my eyes traveled upwards and landed on her face.
I actually sucked in a breath as I took in her big, blue eyes, perfect skin, plump pink lips, and her smile. Oh my God, her smile. I don’t know where my ability to talk to girls had gone, but it was not coming back.
I’d always done quite well with the ladies. I’d been the most popular guy at my school back in Halliwell and had been linked to several of the pretty girls in our grade. But right now? I could barely breathe, much less speak.
Even worse? I knew she could tell how I was reacting to her. Her eyebrows shot up a bit, and she turned to look at the counselor, who seemed to be trying not to laugh.
“Yes, our Sadie is quite the beauty, isn’t she?”
My face turned beet red, and I couldn’t look either of them in the eye. “Um… yeah.” Wow, Harrison. What a stellar first impression I was making. I was disgusted with myself. I took a deep breath and looked up. I was ready to try again.
