by Ava Miles
Jake kissed her sweetly on the lips.
Sadie was over the moon that Jake’s PTSD from his Army days was improved, but all the kissing was making her want to either roll her eyes or blush. She decided to make her excuses and head inside to help out with the last of the preparations for Sunday dinner.
“How are the newlyweds?” a familiar voice drawled from behind her. “We’re gonna have three in the house today. I’m expecting a plague of bunnies or something.”
Sadie didn’t want to know what Rye meant by that, but she felt as jumpy as one of those bunnies, and she flinched a little when he snuck his hand around her waist and gave her a soft kiss on the top of her head.
“Hey, Sadie.”
“Hello, Rye,” Sadie said and hugged his wife, Tory, who was a few steps behind him. “You’re looking more and more beautiful.”
“I’m looking more and more pregnant,” Tory told her with a smile and pat to her enormous belly. “And I love it. This one,” she said, nodding to her husband, “practically pounds his chest like a caveman whenever he talks about this kid. I’ve never seen anyone so primal.”
Rye snorted while everyone else laughed. “It’s why the women love me, honey. And why I look so good in tight jeans and nothing but a leather vest on stage.”
Even though Rye was like a brother to her, Sadie had to agree with him. “No one stirs up a crowd of women quite like you do, Rye,” she said. Turning to her brother-in-law, she added, “And Jake here makes us all cry buckets with his beautiful music.” Of course, some of the songs Rye had written for his Yankee wife had made her tear up too. Come to think of it, there were plenty of things that made Sadie cry.
“I don’t look good in tight jeans,” Jake joked and extended his hand to his friend.
“Sure you do,” Susannah said, resting her head against his shoulder. “You look handsome in everything.”
“Love birds,” Rye said to Sadie, sticking his thumb out and pointing it at the happy couple. “It’s good to see it, isn’t it? Speaking of love birds, who will bet me a hundred that my sister and her new husband are going to be a couple hours late to the party?”
Tory punched him in the gut, and Rye tried not to laugh as he pretended to double over.
“I think it’s wonderful Amelia Ann and Clayton are acting like they just returned from their honeymoon,” his wife told him.
“How can people keep acting like they’re still on their honeymoon, Uncle Rye?” Rory asked, running off the deck and hugging his idol. “Are my mama and daddy acting like that too?”
Tory coughed and gave him a stern look. Sadie couldn’t blame her. Rory might be wise beyond his years, but he was still a little boy.
Rye picked Rory up and tossed him into the air. “Remember how I’m always telling you about the idiosyncrasies of adults?”
Annabelle ran off the deck as well and hugged Jake’s leg. She’d taken him under her wing as soon as Susannah had started bringing him around to family events. Dressed in a pink dress with a blue ribbon running along the hem, she looked like a tiny version of her mama. “Are you talking about those idiot things adults do again, Uncle Rye?” she asked, clearly eavesdropping like she was wont to do.
Tory gave Rye a look. “Idiot, indeed. I know your uncle is hoping to expand your vocabulary because he thinks Southerners and idiosyncrasies go hand in hand, but it’s still a pretty big word for kids your age.”
Rory shook his head. “It sure is. I’ve been practicing and practicing it, but Annabelle’s right. It’s easier to remember idiot than idiosync—” His face scrunched up as he tried to pronounce it.
“And we can say that word,” Annabelle told them with a conspiratorial smile. “Mama just won’t let us say stupid. Because it’s not nice. Right, Uncle Jake?”
He picked her up and kissed her on the cheek. “That’s exactly right, sweet pea.”
“Sweet pea,” Annabelle all but purred. “I like that. We pick them right out of Mama’s vegetable garden.”
“Heavenly for sure,” Sadie told her, tapping her on the nose and making her laugh. “I’m going inside to see if Tammy wants any last-minute help preparing dinner. Tory, you stay out here and sit a spell.”
“Like that will work,” Rye said, waggling his brows at his wife. “I keep telling her to sit down when she’s cooking, but she won’t listen, even though she’s in her third trimester. I imagine she’ll be cooking bread or something the day our baby makes its grand entrance.”
“You met me when I was cooking in a diner, Rye Crenshaw, so you shouldn’t act all surprised. Cooking relaxes me, and I need to keep myself occupied since you decided to push back your usual summer tour because you were afraid of traveling from city to city with me while I’m pregnant.”
“I’m at a place in my career when I can hold off touring for a while,” Rye said, cupping her cheek. “You and the baby are the most important things in my life.”
Tory smiled and smoothed the hair from his forehead. “That’s why I married you. But I’m still going inside with Sadie. I love being in the kitchen.”
“I’ll come along with you,” Susannah offered.
“I’m staying with the men,” Annabelle informed them all in a serious tone. “They need a woman’s influence.”
“Where in the world do you hear things like that, sugar?” Rye asked her, shaking his head.
“From you, Uncle Rye,” Rory informed him. “It’s in your latest song, ‘Sons and Daughters.’”
“It sure is,” Rye said, slapping his knee. “Y’all keep me on my toes. Come on, let’s take a walk to your tree house before we’re called in to eat.”
The kids ran off, hooting and hollering like kids do, and Rye and Jake followed suit.
“They’re going to make great fathers,” Sadie said, turning toward her sister and Tory. “I’m so happy for y’all.”
“Me too,” Tory said, and Susannah simply gave her a stunning smile. “Anything interesting happen this week? I had a man at the grocery store try and touch my belly. What is it with people trying to touch pregnant women’s bellies, anyway? I mean, would I go up to you and pat yours?”
“That sounds horrible,” Sadie said, shivering at the thought of a stranger touching her so intimately. “Sometimes I have to wonder what people are thinking.”
“I hope you gave him a what-for,” Susannah said.
“I handled it,” Tory said, “but since I’m trained as an anthropologist, I find it equally interesting and annoying. Okay, your turn.”
Susannah got this moony look on her face that implied she was thinking of the kind of story that could not be shared, then blushed profusely and said, “I had a client ask for a wax figure of General Stonewall Jackson. The man’s a Civil War buff and has more money than God. I told him I had no idea where I could commission a wax figure like that, but I’d look. Can you believe I actually found someone online?”
“That’s crazy!” Tory exclaimed. “Beats my belly toucher hands down. Do you have any news, Sadie?”
Shelby and I hired a P.I. to find our daddy. She cleared her throat and looked away, trying to think of something else to say. Her mind seemed to be filled with sand. Oh, how she hated to lie, even by omission. “I…can’t think of anything.”
“Did you have any new quilt orders come in?” Susannah asked as they stepped back onto the deck to head inside through the back door.
Shelby waved at them from her seat on the patio furniture next to J.P., who also waved. Then their stepfather, Dale, and Rye’s parents joined in. Suddenly it was a wave party.
“I’m making one for Shelby,” she said absently, envisioning the purple and orange pattern she’d designed. It was the boldest one she’d ever created, but it suited Shelby to a T. Her middle sister had always been the most daring of the four of them, and their quest to find Daddy would require plenty of bravery from both of them.
“What are you making her one for?” Susannah asked. “Did she ask?”
She turned to look
at her sister. Was that jealousy in her voice? Of course, the last time she’d made a quilt for Susannah had been for her birthday some four years ago. That year, she’d made all her siblings quilts. That was the year she’d finally decided her quilts were good enough to give as gifts.
“I…” Holy heck, she couldn’t say it was her way of contributing to their Daddy Search Fund. “A pattern just came to me, and it’s…perfect for Shelby.”
Her sister’s eyebrow rose. “Oh. I thought you were only making ones to sell now.”
“I can make you one too if you’d like,” she said immediately. “I thought you’d prefer the jam.”
Susannah loved jam. Of course she’d made Shelby four jars of jam too, per their agreement. They hadn’t heard from Vander again since agreeing to meet with him on Monday to discuss their options for next steps, and while that made sense—it was the weekend, after all—Sadie had needed something to take her mind off the search. And the guilt. She’d given her mama jam too, professing it was a super late Mother’s Day gift, choking on the words. She’d lied.
She was a horrible person.
“I’d like a quilt for our bed,” Susannah said, her cheeks turning pink. “When you have the chance.”
Sadie nodded over-enthusiastically. “Of course! Anything you want.”
Her sister narrowed her eyes at her—she sensed something was off, all right—and Sadie turned to Tory to escape her regard. “I’m making one for the baby too, in case you were wondering.”
Tory patted her arm. “I wasn’t, but thank you. We’ll cherish it, Sadie. I’m so happy you decided to sell your quilts through the craft shop. A talent like yours shouldn’t be hidden away.”
Her mama had always told her that too. She’d mentioned one of her projects—a cathedral window quilt she was making for a woman at church—to her boss, Debra Shumen, and the older woman had asked to see it. When Sadie had brought it in, Debra had exclaimed that her quilt making was more than a hobby. Sadie was a master at it. She’d asked her to bring some of her quilts to the store so they could showcase them by the register.
The four quilts had sold in two days.
Now, that hobby of hers was slowing turning into something more. People were buying her quilts at the store, and some were even commissioning custom-made designs. One woman had asked her to make a quilt from her deceased husband’s old clothes, and Sadie had cried while making it. She didn’t imagine she would ever make enough money to support herself through quilt making, but she had a nice nest egg starting.
Debra had even suggested Sadie start a quilting circle at the store, and darn it all if five women hadn’t signed up immediately. And paid a class and materials fee too.
Mostly, Sadie loved giving people something from her heart, something that would touch their lives and have a place in their homes.
“Sadie!” Shelby called from the edge of the deck, a few yards off. “I need you!”
She smiled at Susannah and Tory. “I’ll be right in.”
As soon as she reached her sister, Shelby linked arms with her. “We’re going to take a walk by the river before dinner,” she called out to everyone as they took off across the backyard. “Be back in a jiffy.”
Sadie had to hasten to keep up with her sister, who was moving like her tail was on fire.
“Are you trying to arouse Susannah and Mama’s suspicions with all that peach jam you made them? Good heavens, Sadie! Mama said you were a jam-making fiend.”
She had? “I’m sorry! I just had to keep myself occupied. I was going crazy. I also started your quilt.”
“That’s lovely, honey, but for heaven’s sake! Keep it together, will you? I mean, we’ve barely started this process, and you’re already buckling under the weight.”
Sadie stopped on the path to the river and swatted at the gnats swirling around them. “It’s a heavy weight, Shelby. Heck, Mama’s sermon today about not telling the truth almost made me jump out of my seat. It’s like she was reading our minds.”
Her sister put her hands on her hips. “Preachers often speak about lying. It is the ninth commandment, after all. Mama doesn’t suspect anything, but she will if you keep acting so guilty. Heck, you were wringing your hands the whole time you were talking to Tory and Susannah.”
“I was?”
“You were. This is hard for me too. I pretty much cleaned my whole house yesterday, the closets too. Thank God Gail had a little party last night, or I would have gone plumb crazy.”
“I can’t stop thinking about it,” Sadie said, looking down and seeing she was indeed wringing her hands. “Shelby, I keep imagining all sorts of things. Horrible things!”
“Me too,” her sister admitted and hugged her.
“Y’all need another hug?” Sadie heard their brother say from behind them.
They jumped apart and stared at him, wide-eyed as two deer caught in the headlights of a big rig. He sauntered forward, his eyes narrowed.
“I was supposed to tell y’all to come in for dinner, but it looks like this is no casual walk by the river.”
That was an understatement.
Chapter 4
If Shelby hadn’t been wearing her favorite gold sandals, she might have kicked at the rocks on the path to the river in pure frustration. Barely two days had passed since they’d met with Vander, and Sadie was already cracking up. J.P. clearly had enough intuition to notice, or he wouldn’t be offering up hugs like he was the lead speaker at a hug-a-thon.
“I sure could use one, honey,” Sadie said, all but flying into his arms. “We should have met with Vander on a Monday, J.P. This is pure torture, seeing everyone when we have news.”
Here she goes, Shelby thought. “We don’t have any more news, Sadie. Nothing we didn’t already tell J.P. when we called him on Friday night.”
“Tell her she’s wrong, J.P.,” Sadie said, giving their older brother an imploring look. “Learning there’s no trace of Daddy anywhere after he left us is huge news if you ask me, and it’s horrible. It has me imagining the worst.”
“After we talked to Vander, you told me you were doing okay,” Shelby said with a frown. “Why didn’t you get all this emotion out with me before coming to family dinner?”
“It’s not like I can turn it off,” Sadie said. “I told you how I felt then, but I feel like a pressure cooker. All these feelings built up again.”
“Sadie! You need to disguise what you’re going through better if we’re going to keep this to just us three. Tell her, J.P.”
Their brother gave a heartfelt sigh and wrapped an arm around Sadie’s shoulders. “I’m not going to tell either of you how to act since I don’t have a clue how to deal with this myself. I haven’t slept much since you called me on Friday. I had to tell Tammy what was going on, and she’s fretting too.”
Well, wasn’t that as terrific as key lime pie on a Wednesday? Shelby didn’t begrudge J.P. for telling his wife, but this meant there was yet another person who had to hold it together at family occasions. It wasn’t fair to Tammy somehow.
“I don’t see how we’re going to keep this a secret,” Sadie said, her voice pitched a little higher than normal.
“Keep what secret?” a familiar voice asked, causing them all to spin around.
Susannah narrowed her eyes at them. “I knew something was going on. Peach jam out of the blue for me and Mama, and quilt making for Shelby. You’d better spill, Sadie.”
Well, shoot. Susannah wasn’t going to take this well, and then there was Mama to consider. “We’re talking about doing something special for all the new brides—and that includes you,” she said, hoping a fib would put a pin in it.
Sadie shot her a look, and she shot her one right back.
“I don’t believe you,” Susannah said in that definitive tone only big sisters could muster.
J.P. shook his head. “I don’t think this is the way, Shelby.”
Great. Their brother was going to be their moral compass again. Sometimes it was annoying.
Her elder sister flinched as if she’d been struck.
“I’m sorry, Susannah,” Shelby said, already regretting her hasty words. There could have been a gentler way to share the news. Her fingers itched to hug her sister and soothe her. “We couldn’t… We had to find out what happened to him.”
“I’m really sorry, honey,” Sadie said, walking over to their sister and putting a hand on her arm.
“You should be,” Susannah told her, stepping back from her comfort. “What do you think this will do to Mama?”
Sadie hung her head.
J.P. strolled over to them, calm and steady as ever, and Shelby followed in his wake. Susannah had the right to get stirred up, but while Shelby didn’t blame her for that, she wasn’t sure where it would lead. Would she feel the need to spill the truth to Mama?
“I don’t know how Mama will react if we end up telling her,” J.P. said, as if reading her mind. “But it’s not just Mama’s first husband we’re talking about. It’s our daddy. I’ve struggled mightily with this, but Shelby and Sadie have a right to find him if they want to.”
Susannah’s eyes pretty much blazed fire. “I told y’all when it first came up that no good can come of it.”
Shelby opened her mouth to respond, but J.P. put a soothing hand on her arm, stopping her. “No good has come from not knowing either. We’re just more used to it, is all. There’s already some news. Do you want to know what it is?”
Susannah put her hand to her forehead. “I just got married,” she whispered. “I wanted to enjoy this bubble for a little while longer. I’ve been so happy.”
“J.P. asked us to wait until after you were married,” Shelby told her, swatting at the mosquitos biting her ankles. “We waited a spell. In fact, we waited until all of y’all got married.”
“I appreciate that,” J.P. said, “although y’all didn’t have to wait for my wedding.”