"Can I ask you something?" Sadie peers out the window, like she’s watching for something.
I grab her hand. "Of course. I’m an open book, Sade."
"What’s the deal with Thad?" She immediately bursts into a giggle as his name leaves her lips. "Do we like him?"
"No, he’s a complete douche." I bite my cheek, trying not to laugh just from the sounds rolling out of her.
"Thank God!" she shouts. "I was worried I was the only one who noticed. He was literally checking out every woman within a one hundred yard radius."
I hit the turn signal a little harder than necessary. Just the thought of that dude pisses me off. "Yeah, Nora… hasn’t quitefigured out what she deserves. It’s really hard to watch, but Mabel basically threatened us so we wouldn’t give her a hard time. Something about her needing to make mistakes."
Sadie nods. "Makes sense, but Thad… I honestly feel bad for her. Maybe not dating is for the best. Do you want to know a secret?"
"Obviously." I slide my thumb over the back of her hand. Her comment twists my stomach, but I force myself to remember what this is—temporary. "Are you good if we stop and let Benny out really quick before getting the book?"
Sadie beams at me. "Obviously." She throws my word right back at me. "I sort of like Ariella, even though I want to hate her."
A hearty laugh rolls out of me, and Sadie joins in.
"That wasn’t much of a secret, Sade. You don’t filter your face very well."
"I do too."
"No, you do not."
She crosses her arms over her chest, huffing. "Okay, fine, whatever. But why did she have to be funny and nice in her own way? I’ve hated her for years, and then she just worms her way right into my heart. It’s rude."
Blowing out a breath, I pull into my driveway and put the truck in park. "Now you know why How is in love with her." I unbuckle my seatbelt, and Sadie does the same. "Believe me, I’ve tried to tell him to move on. Those two are super codependent, though. I think if anyone has a secret, it’s her."
Sadie’s eyes widen comically big. "What secret is she keeping from him?"
"That she loves him too." Shrugging, I jump out of the truck, rounding it to open her door. "You know, I sort of like how short you are."
"What? Why?"
"Because you can’t fight me on being a gentleman. You have to let me help you out of the vehicle so you don’t break an ankle."
"My knight in shining armor." Sadie mocks me with her hand over her heart as she sticks her tongue out at me. I help her down, kissing her cheek as I do.
"If she loves him, I wish she’d admit it already." Sadie walks ahead of me up my front porch steps. "He’s too nice to get his heart broken." She says it like it’s a matter of fact, and honestly, it is. We all love Howie, even Olive finds the whole thing frustrating.
Pushing my key in the knob, I open the front door, and Benny leaps from his bed, plowing into Sadie. She drops to the floor, cuddling him and peppering him with kisses. But when she excuses herself to the bathroom, I force my pup to use the restroom outside.
My back porch isn’t large, just big enough to have two iron chairs and a small table between. When I step out with Benny, smack in the middle of the table is Sadie’s book.
What the hell?
"Sade!" I holler through the screen door. "Can you come here? There’s something—"
"You’ve got to be kidding me." She pushes out the door, spotting the book. "I literally locked it in my suitcase before I left. With an actual lock."
"Does it… hmm… do you usually have to lock it up?"
"No. The damn thing just follows me around. I’ve tried everything, and it’ll just show up. I threw it in the trash can before I ran into you at the diner that first day, and you picked it up off the floor. It makes no sense."
"It’s magic."
Benny does his business, and I let him back into the house. Sadie folds herself into one of the chairs, running her fingers over the title, and I sit opposite her.
