Page 59 of Heartbreak & Cupcakes
A part of me was sure that my intentions had been pure when I offered Sadie the job and place to stay. It was a win/win for both of us. But there was another part of me that wasn’t sure if I might have an ulterior motive. One that I wasn’t sure I was ready to face.
“Did you find someone on Care.com? Urbansitter? Sittercity?” she named off the sites that she’d sent to Mia.
“No, actually, it just sort of happened…organically.” I wasn’t sure why I was putting off the inevitable. There was no way that she was going to drop this. At some point I was going to have to tell her Sadie was going to be watching Lexi.
She grabbed the remote and paused it before turning to me. Her left brow arched in the way it did when she meant business and her tone was clipped. “Organically? What in the world does that mean?”
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “There was a fire at Sweet Temptations.”
Mrs. G gasped as she sat up in bed.Shit. I shouldn’t have led with that.
“Sadie’s fine.” I rushed to assure her. “No one was hurt, but the bakery is destroyed and the apartment she lives in above it is uninhabitable. She’s going to be watching Lexi while things get sorted out.”
Mrs. G shook her head as she placed her hand on the comforter. “I’m so glad that she’s okay. Poor thing. She put her heart and soul into that business.”
And that business was going to be rebuilt in a building thatwasn’ta fire hazard. I kept my plans to myself.
Mrs. G tilted her head to the side. “Wait, so does that meanSadieis going to move in with you?”
I nodded. “Temporarily.”
A blush filled Mrs. G’s sallow cheeks and they rounded as her lips split into a wide smile. “Oh my…that’s interesting.”
Thankfully, a nurse came in and interrupted any further discussion of the new “interesting” living arrangements. She took Mrs. G down to radiology for a scan and I said goodbye. She was still pale, but she definitely had some color in her cheeks. It seemed the news of the living arrangement had brightened her day, which was definitely a check in the pro column of the new developments.
Despite the news cheering up Mrs. G, as I drove over to Maddox’s house to pick up Lexi, my heart was pounding like a jackhammer against my ribs. I opened and then flexed my grip on my steering wheel and noticed that my palms were sweaty.
When I got home tonight, Sadie would be there. She’d be sleeping just down the hall. She would be there morning, noon, and night.
Images started popping up in my head like viruses on a computer screen. Every time I forced myself to close one, three more were in its place. Sure, some were of the X-rated variety.
Sadie undressing mere feet away from my bedroom.
Sadie under the spray of water in the shower in the guest bathroom.
Sadie getting out of the shower and drying herself off with a fluffy white towel.
Sadie crawling into bed buck naked, her smooth skin sliding against the luxury bamboo sheets.
But there were other images, G-rated in nature, that were populating my mind’s eye.
Sadie in cutoff sweats in the kitchen working on one of her Sadie’s Special recipes.
Sadie putting Lexi to bed, reading her a story.
Sadie and Lexi coloring at the dining room table.
Sadie snuggled up on the couch with Lexi and I watching a movie.
I couldn’t decide which images were scarier to me. Which set of situations had more terror flowing through my veins? The drive across town went by in a Sadie blur and I soon found myself pulling into Maddox’s driveway.
After collecting myself which meant suppressing the terror that was flooding through me, I got out of the car and walked up the steps. I stood at the door for the retina scan and the door unlocked. I pushed it open and heard voices coming from the kitchen.
I did my best to keep my expression natural as I entered the room where my friends were seated at the island. Before I even opened my mouth to speak, Maddox asked, “What’s wrong?”
Out of our group, he was the most intuitive and had no reservations expressing concern. He’d been the one that insisted I go to therapy after the accident. It had been a tag-team effort with Mrs. G.
“It’s been a long morning.” I wasn’t sure why I was beating around the bush. Sooner or later, probably sooner, they were going to find out that Sadie was going to be staying at my house.
