“We have a mutual friend.” Dr. James’ eyes remained locked with mine. “Sadie Burke. We met, briefly, the morning of the fire.”
Oh right, she’d been the woman who’d sped up, hopped out of her car, and pulled Sadie into a hug. That morning was sort of a blur to me, but now I remembered her.
“You know Sadie?” Mrs. G asked.
I glanced over at the bed and saw that Mrs. G’s expression brightened at the mention of her favorite person. Well, the second favorite person. Lexi still ranked number one but I’d definitely been downgraded to number three.
“She’s been my best friend since pre-K.” Dr. James pulled her phone out of her pocket and turned so we could see her screensaver which was a picture of her and Sadie and they looked to be around Lexi’s age.
“You two were cute as buttons.” Mrs. G beamed as she looked at the picture.
“Yep. And we still are. Don’t you think Sadie is cute as a button, Vaughn?” Charli shot me a very pointed look.
I had a feeling that she knew what happened between me and Sadie. Or at least she had her suspicions. And I also felt that I was the villain in her story as well.
“Oh, I likeyoua lot.” Mrs. G sat up straighter in her bed and there was color in her cheeks.
It was good to see her smiling and happy even if it was at my expense.
“I’ll wait outside.” I patted Mrs. G’s foot and stepped out of the room so that Dr. James, or Charli could examine her patient.
I heard the two of them in there laughing and I was sure that their conversation was not limited to Mrs. G’s rehab, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was her getting better. If I had to be the subject of gossip to get her there, so be it.
My phone buzzed and I pulled it out of my pocket. It was a message from Mia.
Mia:I have three candidates for you to interview for the nanny position but Sadie offered to stay on for the next two weeks. She’s not reopening the bakery until the 21st.
As tempting as her offer was, I knew that I had to decline. I needed to go cold turkey. She felt like a drug that I was already addicted to. Any small dose of her would lead to a relapse. The past week had been brutal. I’d ended up walking down the hallway to her room every single night. Even Lexi being in the condo hadn’t stopped me from knocking.
The only thing that had stopped me was knowing it would never be enough. If I didn’t nip this in the bud now, I would never be able to. And that wasn’t fair to her. She deserved more than I could give her.
She deserved someone who could love her completely. I wasn’t capable of that kind of love. Of any love, really.
Me:I’ll see the candidates tomorrow.
Mia:Are you sure you know what you’re doing?
No.I didn’t feel sure of anything anymore.
Me:Yes.
I put my phone back in my pocket and looked up when I heard Dr. James aka Charli coming out of Mrs. G’s room.
“How is she?” I asked, as worry swelled in my chest.
“Tough. That is one tough lady.”
I already knew that. When I was nine, just a few months after I’d gone to live with her, she slipped walking down the porch steps and hurt her arm. She played it off and said she was fine but the next day we stopped by CVS and she got a sling for her arm. It was two weeks before she went to the doctor and found out that not only had she broken her arm, she’d dislocated her shoulder.
“Everything looks good. I’m thinking three weeks maybe a month and she’ll be walking out of here.”
“Good.” I nodded as relief washed through me. Finally, there was a light at the end of the I-almost-killed-Mrs. G tunnel.
“So…” Charli squared her shoulders and tilted her head slightly to the left, her lips pursed in a disapproving expression. “I heard Sadie just got the green light to go home.”
“Yep.” I nodded.
Why was everyone acting as if I’d kicked her out? Yes, she was going to be moving out fourteen days earlier than we’d originally agreed on but that was only because the building was done early. It was a good thing. She loved her business, and the sooner she could flip the sign to “Open” the better.
