by Ava Miles
“Oh, please don’t say things like that,” he said with a grimace. “It sounds so—”
“Lovey dovey?” she quipped, dancing her way back toward her car. “Trust me, you’re a certified love dove right now, Riley.”
He groaned.
She cocked her hip and gave him a smile. “Honestly, it looks really great on you. But you need a haircut.”
When she reached the stoplight on the main road that would take her to Sadie’s, she checked the mirror to make sure she looked her best.
Honestly, Sadie and her new family looked really good on her too.
Chapter 13
Sadie lurched off the sofa and ran toward the door when the doorbell sounded. It could only be Paige.
Everyone had arrived early to give her a warm welcome. Of course, Shelby had insisted on helping her set up, fussing uncharacteristically with the placement of the napkins next to the snacks. Susannah had rearranged the flowers she’d brought while the other women chatted nervously.
Throwing open the door, Sadie held out her arms. “Welcome!”
Paige moved in for a hug, and Sadie felt her heart soar like it did every time she saw her little sister.
“Everyone is so excited to meet you. I mean…see you again. You know. I mean Tory baked a cake, and she has a newborn.”
After giving her one last squeeze, Paige released her. “Good heavens, a newborn! When Haley was that little, I barely had time to go to the bathroom. Ah…before I forget. I have something for you. From Riley.” She handed over an envelope that immediately sent Sadie’s pulse into overdrive. “I’ll just take in the champagne I brought.”
“Hi, Paige,” Shelby said, rushing in to hug her. “I brought champagne too. Great minds. Oh, honey, it’s so good to see you.”
Sadie watched as Shelby ushered her into the family room. Then she turned to the card and slit the envelope with her finger.
The card was blue and emblazoned with the message “Thinking of You” in swirly letters, what Rye would call a girly card. Inside was a folded up piece of thick paper. When she opened it, she gasped.
Riley had drawn her. Oh goodness, that man. He’d only captured her face, but heavens…she’d never felt more beautiful. In the drawing she was smiling, and her chin was ducked down just a touch. But it was the look he’d captured in her eyes that captivated her the most. They were filled with love and laughter. And strength…
“My goodness, Sadie McGuiness, that’s you!” Shelby declared. “I was coming to see why you were still by the door, but wowza, I get it. Your man drew this?”
Of course, after their magical second date, she’d totally blabbed about Riley. Her excitement had spilled out of her like sunbeams and she’d needed to tell them. Before she knew it, Shelby had snatched the drawing from her fingers.
“Look what Sadie’s man drew! It’s her. Our Sadie!”
Amelia Ann cuddled close to Shelby and oohed and aahed. “It’s stunning. He captured you perfectly, Sadie.”
“Did he?” she said, fingering the pearls she’d worn. She’d always thought God had done his best to make her pretty, giving her nice hair and decent features, but beautiful had never entered her vocabulary.
“Oh, he’s a goner,” Tory said. “No guy draws a woman like this unless he’s totally fallen. It’s like Rye writing me a song.”
“A song?” Paige said, smiling. “How lovely! What’s it like to have someone write you a song?”
“Pretty sweet,” Tory said. “I’m Tory Crenshaw, by the way. The one with the newborn baby.”
“Oh, congratulations!” Paige said. “You shouldn’t have gone to the trouble. Wait, do you mean Rye…Crenshaw?”
“Yep, that’s my man,” she said. “He’s eager to meet you once you’ve met our ‘gaggle of girls.’ That’s his name for it. He might be a little old-fashioned and sometimes annoyingly sexist, but I love the heck out of him. And now we have Boone.”
“Somehow my sisters failed to mention…ah…you’ll have to show me some pictures of Boone,” Paige said with a smile. “Babies are the best.”
Tammy introduced herself as J.P.’s wife and extended her hand, as gracious and collected as always. “You’ve made a lot of people I love very happy, and for that I thank you. I…welcome to the family.”
Paige coughed out a laugh and clasped her hand. “Oh, I didn’t expect to start crying. Sorry. It’s been…the most wonderful emotional roller coaster. Sadie…ah…you might text Riley about your drawing. He was a little nervous when he gave it to me.”
Sadie pressed her hand to her chest, feeling her heart glow inside. Amelia Ann was introducing herself, so Sadie hustled into the kitchen where she’d left her phone. Paige would be fine.
I love my drawing. You’re so sweet I want to kiss you.
His reply came seconds later. Save it for Saturday. I have some of my own kisses stored up for you. And whew! Glad you liked the drawing. I hoped it wouldn’t weird you out.
That puzzled her. Why would it?
Because it would imply I’ve been thinking about your body. Totally true FYI. I thought a head pose would be classy.
She barked out a laugh. Full body is next, huh?
Gulp. Don’t you have company?
“Okay, enough with the texting,” Shelby said, snatching her phone from her and typing.
This is Sadie’s sister, Shelby. I’m taking her back to the party. Love your drawing. Be nice to my sister or answer to me. Haha.
“Shelby!” Sadie exclaimed after grabbing her hand to see what she’d texted.
Don’t worry, I’m one of the good guys. Okay, that was lame. Have fun, ladies.
“One of the good guys,” Shelby drawled. “I like him even more. When are you inviting him to Sunday dinner?”
The other women appeared in the doorway, surrounding Paige as if parading her through the center of town.
“We were going to open the champagne,” Tammy said, “but we can come back.”
Shelby marched forward with her phone. “Look what this man texted back. Isn’t he adorable?”
Amelia Ann winked at her. “I like the way he said he was one of the good guys.”
This wasn’t how Sadie had envisioned at all. She watched helplessly as they passed her phone from one woman to the next, wanting to grab it away.
Tammy burst out laughing. “Oh, Paige, are you totally put off by us?”
“Not at all,” Paige said, laughing as well. “I’m so happy to be here with y’all.”
Sadie reached for Paige’s hand. “Let’s pop the champagne and toast to your first girls’ night with us.” She was eager to change the subject, and she didn’t care who knew it.
“Paige…” Shelby drawled, ignoring her signals. “You know Riley. What do you think of him?”
“Shelby McGuiness!” Susannah exclaimed. “That is none of your business. Let Paige enjoy herself.”
“He really is one of the good guys,” Paige said, motioning with her hand. “I love him to pieces.”
“And I expect he’s pretty good with his hands if his drawing is any indication,” Shelby said, fanning herself.
“Enough!” Sadie exclaimed, reclaiming her phone from Shelby again, who had lingered over the texts. “Do something useful and pop the champagne before I pop you for being a busybody.”
“I still say you need to bring him to Sunday dinner,” Shelby said, opening the refrigerator door and grabbing the champagne she’d brought. “The men folk are going to want to get a good look at him, and honestly, so do I. Sadie, you’re totally gaga for the man.”
“We’re not talking about this another second, Shelby,” Sadie said, taking the bottle from her and opening it.
“Shelby, why don’t you cut the cake out there? I’ll serve it,” Tammy said, taking her arm and steering her out of the kitchen. Thank goodness someone in the family listened to cues.
“Sadie, if you pour, I’ll take in the glasses,” Susannah said.
“What can I do?” Paige asked
, looking around.
“Come sit with me in the living room and tell me more about your beautiful daughter,” Amelia Ann said, ever the smooth one. “I understand she’s in second grade.”
And so it went. They drank champagne and told stories, stories that seemed minor and insignificant unless you looked below the surface, Sadie thought, rather like the backside of a quilt.
When they opened the second bottle of champagne, Tory called it a night, noting Boone was going to need to nurse in a while. Tammy took the opportunity to say goodnight then as well. When Amelia Ann rose to her feet with them, sighing about an early conference call, Sadie finally caught on.
They were leaving Paige alone with her sisters.
She settled back onto the couch and took a mental snapshot of Shelby pouring Paige more champagne and teasing her about what a fine man Mark was. The sultry way she said it caused Susannah to start giggling. Her sisters were in high spirits, and it was wonderful to see. It was wonderful that the family fold had expanded in such an unexpected way.
Paige tucked her feet under her body and fingered the quilt hanging over the sofa she was sitting on. “This is beautiful. I was hoping to see more of your work.”
“Sadie gives most of her quilts away,” Shelby said, kicking back and putting her feet on the coffee table.
Susannah wisely moved the empty champagne bottle so she wouldn’t knock it over.
“Everyone at church is always asking her if she can make them one,” Shelby continued. “Some people have even exaggerated being seriously ill to play on her sympathy. When Mama figured that out, she was outraged.”
“I’d like to meet your mother sometime, I’ve decided,” Paige said softly, “if it wouldn’t make her too uncomfortable.”
All the spit dried up in Sadie’s mouth.
“I mean…I’ve been thinking about it since our last coffee date, and I talked it over with Mark. I don’t want her to feel uncomfortable with me around…I…want to tell her I would never do anything to hurt any of you.”
Sadie’s eyes welled up with tears, and she felt Susannah reach for her hand.
“Part of me wants to apologize for my mom,” Paige said, her voice strained, “but Mark reminded me for the millionth time that it wasn’t my fault. But still…I want to tell your mom I’m really grateful to her for raising such a wonderful family. Oh, heck…”
She put her hand over her mouth.
Shelby wrapped an arm around her.
“I got to wondering how much better my life would have been when I was a kid if I’d had y’all, but I know that’s not useful thinking.”
“I wish we could have known you when we were young too,” Susannah said. “But we can’t undo what happened. We can only be grateful we have one another now.”
“And have fun together,” Shelby said with an audible sniff. “We’ll talk to J.P. about you meeting our mama. She seems to have taken the news pretty well.”
“That’s Mama,” Susannah said. “I didn’t say anything to anybody, but Jake went to her office at church after J.P. told her. He said they had a downright nice talk.”
“I can’t wait to meet him,” Paige said. “First Rye and then Jake Lassiter. I’ll try not to geek out.”
“Just be yourself,” Sadie told her. “They’re normal people too. Well, Jake is—I’m not sure you can call Rye ‘normal.’ If it makes you feel better, we were total fan girls over Jake in the beginning, but we’ve…progressed.”
“Progressed,” Shelby said with a laugh. “I like that.”
“We’d like to invite you and Mark over to our house to meet everybody,” Susannah said, laughing, “but J.P. thought it might be more fun for the kids if we all met at his and Tammy’s place. They have the tree house, you see, and the chocolate garden.”
“A chocolate garden?” Paige asked, breathless. “That sounds magical.”
“Wait until you see it,” Sadie said, taking her hand. “Someone will tell you and Haley the story.”
“Likely Annabelle,” Shelby said. “That girl loves to embellish these days, and my is she good at it. If you listen to her long enough, you’ll start believing the flowers themselves are made out of chocolate, and you might eat every last one of them before figuring it out.”
“I can’t wait,” Paige said, looking at each of them.
“Is this Saturday too soon for y’all?” Susannah asked. “Everyone is—”
“Crazy eager to meet you,” Shelby finished for her.
“I’ll talk to Mark, but I think we’re good to go,” she said. “Wait! Sadie, don’t you and Riley have a date Saturday?”
“We do,” she said, feeling torn.
“Oh, you two should just change it to tomorrow night. Riley was going to watch Haley for Mark and me, so I know he’s free. Sadie, are you?”
She felt like a strong wind was blowing over her. “Ah…yes. I’ll text Riley later.”
“Then it’s settled,” Paige said with a nod, making Shelby snort. “Can I bring something on Saturday?”
“Champagne seems to work,” Shelby said, draining the last of her glass. “I love girls’ night, but I have to say I’m partial to how eager Vander is when I come home after one of these nights. He’s on me like a duck on a June bug the minute I walk through the door.”
“I hope Mark reacts that way,” Paige said, laughing. “I haven’t really had a girls’ night before.”
“Well, you have a girls’ night with us,” Shelby declared. “Now, I need to go home to my man and make some sweet music.”
“Shelby McGuiness, you are terrible!” Sadie said.
“You mean ‘insatiable,’” Susannah said, laughing. “I’m going to head home too. Jake gets a little worried about the dark back roads.”
“If you’d like to see my current quilting project, Paige…” Sadie gestured with her hands, hoping she would stay a little longer.
She was eager to text Riley, but she wanted more time with her sister.
“I can stay a little longer,” Paige said.
Susannah and Shelby hugged her warmly, and Sadie got a little teary-eyed at the sight of all of her sisters together at last. Paige looked so much like them.
“See you Saturday, honey,” Shelby said. “And don’t be a stranger in between. You text me anytime.”
“I don’t have your number,” Paige said. “How is that?”
“We’ve been letting Sadie be the messenger,” Shelby said. “Well, we’re going to change that right now. If you give me your phone, I’ll put everyone in your contact list.”
Paige retrieved her phone from her purse, and soon she had everyone’s cell phone, including Rye’s.
“Are you serious?” she exclaimed, eyes wide as saucers. “Rye Crenshaw’s number is in my phone.”
“He’s not the first man I would call,” Shelby said, honest as ever.
“I don’t know what to say…this is so weird,” Paige said, staring at the screen before shaking herself. “Mark won’t believe it. I mean it’s crazy enough that you’re married to Jake, Susannah, but Rye Crenshaw…”
“Yes, he’s a country god, lowercase G, just ask him,” Shelby said dryly. “All right, I am now officially out of here. Unless you need me to stay and clean up. Although I did come early and help you set up, Sadie.”
She almost gave her sister a look for that comment. Like it would hurt Shelby to clean up more than once in a night.
“I can help her,” Paige said. “Y’all go on. And thanks. For tonight. For…being so nice and welcoming.”
“Oh, this is just the beginning,” Susannah said, kissing her on the cheek. “Bye, Sadie. Thanks for arranging this.”
Yes, everything had come off nicely. When she was alone, she might just pat herself on the back. For the youngest in the family, she was showing strong signs of leadership. She thought of the strength exuded by Riley’s drawing of her and shivered. It moved her something fierce that he thought of her that way.
After their sisters left, Sa
die and Paige sat side by side on the couch. “Are you okay?” Sadie asked, taking her hand.
“I think I’m overwhelmed,” she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. “It’s not the whole Rye thing.”
“I know it’s not.”
“It’s…this…oh, dear.” She launched herself at Sadie and hugged her. “Everyone is so wonderful. I never imagined. I’m going to start crying, and it may not be pretty. I can leave.”
Sadie wrapped her arms around her sister. “I can handle it. I might cry some myself.”
Paige completely let go, and Sadie sure as shooting did some crying too. The emotion of these last weeks seemed to have built up like a bathtub with the water left running.
“Goodness, I don’t think I’ve cried this much since I was pregnant,” Paige said after blowing her nose.
“But it’s good crying,” Sadie said, thinking about the horrible hot mess she’d been after discovering the truth about their daddy.
Sometimes she still cried over him, although she didn’t say anything to anyone.
Paige wiped her eyes. “Yes, it is. Mark says the same thing. I’ve never seen a man more comfortable with tears, but heck, at least one kid cries in his office on a daily basis. Growing up, I never did cry. My mama didn’t allow it. Said it made you weak.”
“J.P. is comfortable with tears too,” Sadie said. “He was always a good shoulder to cry on growing up. Still is.”
“Can I see your quilting stuff?” Paige asked. “I’ve been thinking about it all day. Then I should get on home.”
“Come on,” she said, standing. “I use the spare room for my supplies, but I mostly quilt here on the sofa or in my bedroom.”
They climbed the short stretch of stairs to the second level. She’d tidied up in the spare bedroom earlier, so she had no compunction about showing it off.
“Oh, my goodness,” Paige exclaimed when she turned on the light. “That’s a quilt?”
Sadie watched as her sister ran forward to the bed where her newest project was laid out. “Yes, I’ve been working on the baby quilts and a made-for-order quilt from the store, but this one is my ongoing large-scale project. It’s called The Promised Land, and it’s in the Japanese quilting style. I’ve been teaching myself some of their techniques by trial and error.” She refrained from launching into the differences. Even Ada’s eyes had glazed over when she’d tried to describe it in depth.