Page 33 of Heartbreak & Cupcakes
“That’s Sadie,” Monica explained. “She’s really great with him.”
“Do they know each other?” As soon as the question came out of my mouth, I wanted to take it back. Of course, they knew each other. They were dancing together. The real question was, how did they know each other?
“Not really. She owns a bakery and she started bringing in donations from the inventory that didn’t sell. The first time he saw her, he was lucid and told her how much she reminded him of Maggie. The next time she came back, he was having a bad day and was sure that shewasMaggie. She went right along without skipping a beat. Shealwaysbrightens his day. She brightens everyone’s day.”
Yeah, she had that effect on people.
A nurse walked by who was familiar, and I nodded in greeting. We’d never been formally introduced but I’d seen her nearly every time I’d visited. She smiled at me, and her cheeks flushed.
That was new. She’d never blushed when she saw me before.
“It seems you’ve made quite the impression on some of our staff and apparently they all just learned that you are single.”
That damn article. I was seriously considering firing my lawyers for not killing it. Money was not an object. I wasn’t sure if I was impressed that the lifestyle magazine couldn’t be bought or frustrated. I was all for journalistic integrity, just not when it caused my life to be inconvenienced.
“Do you want to go in and see him?”
“No.” I didn’t want to interrupt them. Plus, I’d managed not to go to the bakery the past week and I felt like speaking to her would be a serious backslide. “Can you just let him know that I’m going to be out of town next week?”
“Sure.” Monica smiled.
I glanced back over my shoulder as Mr. Harris and Sadie waltzed across the community room.
Where did she come from?
This woman who hadn’t existed in my world was everywhere the past six months.
I guess that’s what happened when you stalk someone, I reminded myself.
I didn’t have to time my runs so that I could see her. I didn’t have to stop by her bakery on my way into the office three to four times a week. I didn’t have to get a background check done on her. I didn’t have to check her Instagram page every time I opened the app.
Leaving the country would be good for me. Hopefully the buzz surrounding the article will have died down by the time I got back and I could put a little, or a lot, of distance between me and Cupcake Girl.
I needed to get over whatever was going on with me when it came to her. I wasn’t sure if it was just an infatuation or maybe it just felt so strong and real because it was the first time since Ash that I’d had any feelings for another woman.
Whatever it was, it needed to end. I hated feeling like things were out of my control and I definitely did not feel like I had any control when it came to Sadie Burke.
