by Ava Miles
The Patchwork Quilt of Happiness
by
Ava Miles
~ Dare River ~
Sadie & Riley
© 2018 Ava Miles
Sign up for Ava’s Newsletter
Ava’s Website
Ava’s Facebook
Ava on Goodreads
Ava’s Twitter
Ava’s Instagram
Riley Thomson believes every woman can be her own superhero.
When he meets Sadie McGuiness, he’s even more sure of it.
The sassy quilter might not fight good and evil, like he depicts as a comic book artist, but she leaps tall buildings in a single bound. He sees it in her brave quest to locate her long-lost sister and the way she champions his motherless daughter. It’s not just her superhuman strength he’s attracted to—it’s the strength of her heart. She stitches together the different blocks of her life with love, much like the magical quilts she creates. Soon he’s modeling his new female superhero after her.
As Sadie and Riley create their own patchwork of happiness, dark forces from their past return to test them. Can they battle them together to ensure a happily ever after for them and the rest of their family?
To every child who’s ever been abandoned. You are precious. And you are loved.
And to my divine entourage, who helps me see the bigger picture and go for it, every day.
Chapter 1
Showing up on her long-lost half-sister’s doorstep might just be the stupidest plan Sadie McGuiness had ever drummed up.
If they knew, her mama would likely tear up, her brother might sigh like an exasperated elephant, and her sisters were liable to pitch a three-alarm fit. But she couldn’t help it.
Their family didn’t seem complete without her.
Sadie’s eyes were glued to the yellow front door of the blue-gray A-frame home. She’d been inside her car for a spell, fighting nerves, weighing whether she was plumb crazy or downright brave. In her Sunday sermons, Mama always said you chose love first, last, and always. Well, Sadie was choosing love. Big time. She just hoped everyone else would see it that way. Right now she figured she had a fifty-fifty chance of upsetting someone. For her, those weren’t terrible odds.
When she’d learned she had another sister out there, she’d prayed on it something fierce. Her daddy’s affair, if you could call it that, with a teenage girl, Skylar Watkins, had ruined their family, but none of the fault could be laid at her sister’s door. She hadn’t asked to be born as a child out of wedlock to a then-married man.
Armed with new confidence, Sadie had done a simple online search to find her sister. The ease with which she’d found her seemed like its own kind of sign. Even more surprising, she’d been living right under their noses in Nashville.
Paige Watkins.
She was only a year younger than Sadie. Being the youngest of the four McGuiness siblings, it was weird to think she was someone else’s older sister. Paige was married now and went by Paige Bradshaw. She was on Facebook and everything, and Sadie’s heart had simply exploded like a shaken bottle of soda pop upon discovering she had a niece—a cute-as-a-button seven-year-old named Haley.
That had cinched her decision to make first contact.
She gripped the door handle. Good sense caused her to pause and check her makeup in her compact. While it was late August, the weather was still as hot as Hades, and her hair was on the frizzy side thanks to the infernal humidity of a Tennessee summer. She wet her finger and smoothed it back. Her lipstick still looked fresh. She was presentable. It had taken her the better part of an hour to pick out the dress she was wearing—a casual yet elegant yellow sundress with a halter-top.
She wanted to look nice without appearing like she was trying too hard.
Then she laughed at herself. Who was she kidding?
Her ankle turned when she opened the car door, and she winced. Her hands started to sweat, and she couldn’t think of what to do with them, so she clutched her large purse under her arm and focused on walking to the door. One step, two steps, three steps, she counted. The door beckoned, and when she arrived on the porch, the sight of a kid’s purple bicycle peppered with glitter had her tearing up. This was why she was being all brave-like. These people were family.
When she knocked, she ran through the script she’d prepared. When the door opened, a sandy-haired handsome man stood there smiling. He had a strong jaw and captivating baby blues. Wowza. Who was this man? She’d seen pictures of Mark Bradshaw on Facebook, and this wasn’t him. Yet he seemed familiar.
“Hi,” he said. “Have you come to save me?”
She laughed. “Ah…do you need saving? My mama is a preacher, and she could help with that.”
His mouth pursed like he was fighting laughter. “Not that kind of saving, but when I saw you standing in the door, I figured you couldn’t be a salesman.”
He was flirting with her. “No…I…I’m here to invite Paige to a—”
There was a scurrying sound in the other room, and he looked over his shoulder. “Jess, Haley. You’d better not be getting into Paige’s china cabinet.” Turning back to Sadie, he added, “Sorry, please come inside. It’s hot out. Give me a second to check on the girls. Haley and Jess wanted to have a princess banquet in the dining room. Usually we’re over at my house after school, but Haley got a new toy, so they decided to play here instead.”
Sadie took a breath as he darted off. Now that she’d had a moment to deal with the surprise of someone unexpected answering the door, she did recognize this guy. He’d been in one of the photos on Facebook with Paige and her family, although his name escaped her.
“Man, those girls are going to be the death of me,” he said when he returned to the hall. “Okay, let’s start again. I’m Riley Thomson, Paige and Mark’s next-door neighbor. And you are?”
“I’m Sadie,” she replied. Better to keep the McGuiness name out of things until she saw her sister and explained things. It wouldn’t do to spill her secret to the neighbor before she even saw Paige.
His eyes traveled over her face, and he smiled again. “I like that name. It suits you. Now, you said something about inviting Paige to something. Sorry, I get kid brain whenever I babysit, and my mind still thinks it’s summer. I pick them up after school since Paige and Mark don’t come home until five-thirty.”
“Oh, I see,” she responded, glancing down at her watch. After quite a bit of thought, she’d decided to come a little after five o’clock, thinking it would give her sister enough of a window before dinner so as to not be rude.
“I’m not really the babysitter, by the way,” Riley said, causing her to look up. “I mean…I’ve got a job and all. I’m a comic book artist.”
Sadie felt her eyebrow rise. This wasn’t going at all like she’d expected. She was totally off her game now, not to mention completely unprepared to interact with an attractive man. “That’s…wonderful.”
“Your tone suggests you aren’t into comics,” he said, bending slightly at the waist and putting an arm on the entryway table.
A candlestick started to topple, and Sadie rushed forward to catch it. He turned his head to see what he’d done and ended up bumping the table more. Sadie caught the candlestick, but there was another crash. Riley muttered something under his breath and bent down to pick up a wooden sign that had fallen to the floor.
He held it out, smiling sheepishly, his face red. “Welcome,” he said, reading the sign.
“Daddy, did you break something?” Sadie heard a little girl call out. There was a scurrying of feet, and then the same little girl heaved out a dramatic sigh. “Goodness, you’re fit to be tied about Haley and me breaking Ms. Bradshaw’s china, and here
you are messing with her things. Hi, I’m Jess, this klutz’s daughter. This is my bestest friend ever, Haley.”
The two little girls had on princess gowns. Jess’ had blue polka dots and white puffy sleeves. Haley’s was purple, and since her bike was the same color, Sadie figured it was likely her favorite color. Her niece’s hair was brown and longer than it had been in the pictures online, crowned with a slightly crooked tiara. The little girl smiled, showing the McGuiness dimples, and Sadie felt her heart tighten.
“Hello,” she said softly, coughing to clear the emotion in her throat. “I’m Sadie.”
“That’s a nice name, and I like your dress,” Jess said, taking the sign from her father’s hand and putting it back on the table. “What do you want?”
“Jess!” Riley cried out. “Don’t be rude. Ms.… Ah, Sadie wanted to invite Haley’s mama to something. She was just getting around to that.”
“Jess is what my daddy calls a plain-speaking woman,” Haley said. “He likes that about her.”
Sadie felt a smile stretch across her face. “I like women who speak their minds too.”
“Then you came to the right house,” Jess said. “My dad wants me to be my own superhero. He writes and draws comics. Did he tell you?”
Sadie nodded at the formidable four-foot person who was now pushing sandy blond curls back from her forehead. That hair was identical to Riley’s. Was he married? She made sure to check out his left hand. The absence of a wedding ring oddly excited her.
“What were you inviting my mama to?” Haley asked. “If it’s church, we already attend.”
“That’s nice to hear,” Sadie responded. “I was going to invite your mama to join my quilting class. We’re making quilts for babies in the NICU.”
“What’s that?” Jess asked.
“It’s a part of the hospital where they treat babies who are born sickly or a bit on the small side,” Riley said.
Then he shifted his gaze back to Sadie, seeming to weigh her with those blue eyes. To her surprise, the intensity made her want to lean toward him rather than away.
“So, you’re a quilter. That’s its own form of art.”
“You mean like a blanket?” Haley asked.
“Yes, kinda,” Sadie said, oddly relieved to divert her attention from Riley and his powerful gaze. “I use small pieces of cloth and form patterns with them.”
“Do you have any pictures of them?” Jess asked.
“Well, yes. I also brought one of the baby quilts I made.”
She dug into her purse and pulled out the small quilt. Riley and the girls stepped closer as she unfolded it and held it up. She’d brought it as a sample to show her sister in the hopes it might convince her to join the quilting group. Part of her also hoped the quilt would tell Paige a bit about who she was as a person. She wasn’t always able to express herself with words as fluently as she could with fabric.
“Wow!” the girls said with awe in their voices.
“That’s beautiful,” Riley said, sounding just as taken with it. “I love your use of color. The golden tones make the moon and stars feel three-dimensional, and the light blue background—”
“Dad!” Jess cried. “He’s a total art geek sometimes, but I love him.”
“Thanks,” Riley said dryly, making Sadie laugh.
“Can we touch it?” Haley asked.
“Sure,” she said, eyeing their hands, which seemed clean.
“It’s so soft,” Haley said, brushing the fabric with the tips of her fingers. “And pretty.”
“Well, I just love it!” Jess announced. “You’ve got talent. Do you have pictures of your other quilts?”
Sadie reached into her purse for her phone. She saw a text from her sister, Susannah, and felt a pinch of guilt. Oh, she hoped her family wasn’t going to pitch a fit when they heard what she’d done. Her sisters and brother thought they knew what was best for everyone, but in this case, her heart told her they weren’t right. Ignoring the text, she pulled up her photos.
Jess snatched her phone from her and began to scroll through them while Haley leaned in closer to see.
“Sorry,” Riley said. “Kids these days. They love phones. Ah…Jess, please give Ms. Sadie back her phone and let her show you—”
“Dad! You’ve got to see this one. It’s made for a princess.” Jess held the phone up to her dad, and Sadie caught sight of the quilt she’d made for her niece, Annabelle.
“That quilt is fit for a princess,” Sadie said. “My niece chose the colors and some of the fabric. We designed it together.” For a five-year-old, Annabelle had had strong opinions about how it was supposed to come together.
“I love the stars and the unicorn!” Jess said. “Dad, I want a princess quilt.”
“Me too!” Haley clapped her hands. “Do you have a store where my mama and daddy can buy one?”
“No, I don’t,” she answered, shaking her head. “Well, I sell some at the craft store I work at.”
“You should use Etsy,” Jess said. “You can sell anything there. You’re missing a great opportunity. Dad sells artwork on there and does pretty good.”
Riley gave his daughter a pained look. “Girls, Ms. Sadie doesn’t need advice on where to sell her quilts.”
“But I want one of these, Dad,” Jess said, “and my birthday is right around the corner.”
“In March,” Riley drawled.
“Besides, you’re always saying something that’s made by hand is better. Like one of your drawings.”
“My kid is quite the entrepreneur,” Riley said, putting his hand on her shoulder. “Ah… If you’d like to wait until Paige gets home, you’re welcome to. Can I get you something to drink?”
“You should stay,” Jess told her, handing back her phone. “Ms. Bradshaw needs to see this so she can buy Haley a princess quilt. Plus, my dad likes you. See you later.”
The little girl winked, took Haley’s hand, and together they ran out of the room.
Sadie rested her phone against her thigh, a little embarrassed to look at Riley.
“My daughter usually isn’t a matchmaker,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry if she embarrassed you.”
His tone had completely shifted from exasperated to quietly intent.
“No, she didn’t embarrass me,” Sadie said, feeling her face turn red in complete contrast to her answer.
“Well, I’m embarrassed,” Riley said, pointing to himself. “But since my daughter put it out there, I’ll be blunt. I would like to get to know you better. I’m a single dad, and I work at home. Pretty women don’t just land on my doorstep—or my neighbor’s doorstep—every day.”
He stopped then and studied her. Sadie’s heart sped up at his regard. She looked back at him. Those eyes were the same shade of dark cerulean she favored in her quilts. His hair was nice and thick and needed a trim. He was easily a foot taller than her, which put him at over six feet. And there was no denying she liked the way he filled out his simple green T-shirt.
His smile was slow but enthralling. “Would you want to go out for dinner with me sometime?”
“I…yes.”
She couldn’t help herself. She didn’t meet many men like him either, what with working at the craft store and spending so much time with her family and at church. Some of the single men at church were cute and kind, and several of them had asked her out, but they all seemed to have the same unrealistic expectations about preachers’ kids. The ones she’d gone out with had perceived her as some goody two-shoes who never swore or danced or drank. They wanted a saint and not a woman, and that had bored her to tears.
It had become quite a conundrum. She wanted a guy who went to church who valued what she did, but the right one hadn’t materialized, which was why she hadn’t been in a serious relationship since college. She’d thought her college boyfriend had valued her, but in the end, he’d only wanted her to be his version of a good woman.
And there was something else that had stood in her way, something she didn
’t much like to talk about. In the back of her mind, she was always trying to look into a man’s heart to see if he could up and leave his family like her daddy had left them.
Even though she’d just met Riley, he’d liked her quilts and he was here taking care of his daughter. Big points for her.
“That would be nice,” she felt compelled to add after the pause between them.
Then a door slammed, and Sadie jumped. What had she just done? She’d come here to meet her sister, not make a date. What would Paige think of her?
“Haley! Mama and Daddy are home!”
Riley took a step closer and dug out something from his pocket. “Here’s my card with my cell on it. Before I embarrass myself in front of my friends, what’s your number? You can just tell me. I have a good memory.”
She repeated her number to him, her eyes peeled on the hallway, where the girls’ delighted giggles now mixed with adult laughter.
Riley’s hand brushed hers as he fitted his card in her palm. “I’ll call you later tonight,” he said, his eyes dancing with delight. “Jess! Let’s go. I’ve got to get dinner on.”
The little girl came running down the hall. “I am so getting a princess quilt,” she told her father.
“We’ll talk about it.”
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Sadie,” the little girl said.
“Yes,” Riley spoke quietly beside her. “It was nice to meet you, Sadie.”
The way his voice dipped should have been scandalous, but it felt…nice. Too bad he likely wouldn’t call her once he learned the truth. She gave him a half smile, keeping her gaze on the hallway.
The handsome, dark-haired man she’d seen in Paige’s Facebook photos appeared, hand in hand with Haley. His suit was garnished with a pink and white-striped tie, and somehow that eased Sadie. Only truly confident men could wear pink.
“My daughter says we have a visitor—one that makes princess quilts.”
“I’m going to run before the girls gang up on me again.” Riley held up his hand. “Later, man.”