Yes, dammit. Just tell her the truth! It’ll be mortifying for an hour or two and you’ll both be embarrassed but you have to come clean! Of course, things will feel weird and Evie will feel awful that she’d said all that, and you’ll create problems between you two when Mom and Aunt Tabby are mending their fences, and today’s shopping trip will be ruined for Evie.
Oh flipperty-flubs. If Sadie didn’t blurt out the truth right now, there would be no turning back and she’d have to go with Axel’s generous idea to keep up the ruse for the week and let Evie have her week of happy engagement without anything mucking it up. As the truth would.
Speak now or forever hold your—
“Ready, girls?” their mom called from the living room.
Evie’s smile was so big, so happy, that Sadie sucked in a fast breath and called out, “Yes, we’re ready.”
Well.
* * *
The moment Aunt Tabby parked her SUV in the public lot in the middle of Prairie City’s two-mile-long downtown, Sadie wished she were at the Dawson Family Guest Ranch in Bear Ridge. Sadie had spent her whole life in Prairie City and the big town had a lot to offer, from the vibrant village with shops and restaurants to open spaces. The lot abutted the town green, which had a gazebo and a playground and picnic tables, and it was on a bench beside a bronze sculpture of Hazel Montvale, the town’s intrepid female founder, that Sadie had told her then-husband, Kyle Harlow, that they were going to be parents.
She’d chosen the bench for two reasons—one, she loved that statue of Hazel and often, when she couldn’t figure something out, she’d think: What would Hazel Montvale do? And Sadie would do the smart thing instead of the dumb thing. Two, the bench was right behind a low fence that surrounded the playground, and she liked the idea of talking about starting their family in the midst of toddlers and little kids on the slides and structures.
Her husband of two months had changed after the wedding. She’d asked her family to be honest about that—had it been Sadie who’d fallen for a scoundrel and dismissed all the bright red flags or had he truly changed? Her mother, honest to a fault, had said that Kyle had changed, that the gold band and the piece of paper had some triggering effect on him, though neither knew from what. He’d gone quiet, then stopped coming home after work, then stopped coming home before midnight and then some nights, didn’t come home at all. Pleading for conversation, the truth, answers got her nowhere. And then she’d discovered she was seven weeks pregnant.
When she’d asked him to meet her at the bench on the green, she wasn’t sure he’d show up, but he had because it turned out he had news, too. He’d made a mistake, he was sorry, he wasn’t cut out for marriage, he loved her, but he couldn’t stop wanting to sleep with other women, too. While he’d been talking, her head and her heart had been so numb she almost didn’t bother telling him her news. But he should know, so she did and his response was not unexpected. Sorry. Leaving with the rodeo. Tell the baby he or she is better off without me, that y’all can do way better.
He’d left her sitting there, and if it were not for the statue of Hazel Montvale to the right of her, she would have fallen to a heap on the ground, unable to sit upright. Sadie had called her sister, who’d rushed over, and Evie had called Sadie in sick to work for the next three days with a bad case of strep throat. Sadie had cried her eyes out—for the lost dreams, for her baby who’d grow up without his father, for being thirty and pregnant and alone with a wedding band that now symbolized nothing.
That he’d gone from warm and funny and soulful to miserable, cheating and gone had done a number on her for a long time. Her ability to trust her own judgment had been destroyed. A few months after Danny was born, Sadie started agreeing to fix-ups and blind dates since her relatives were full of “he’d be perfect for you” lists, but no one was. No one had come close. A few times someone had seemed like a possible second date, but then he’d say something that would indicate he had no interest in becoming anyone’s stepdaddy, let alone a loving father.
“Now, Sadie,” her mom said, slipping her arm through her daughter’s as they walked toward the bridal boutique with Aunt Tabby and Evie right behind them, “just because you had the big white dress and fancy reception the first time doesn’t mean you can’t have a bigger, splashier wedding this time around. With the right groom.”
Sadie had always appreciated her mother’s go big or go home mentality. But she swallowed. “I think the second time around, small and private sound perfect.”
Viv Winston gasped. “Sadie Anne Winston, don’t you dare think of eloping!”
“Ooh, you’re thinking of eloping?” Evie called from behind them.
Sadie turned back. “Just thinking aloud. I don’t know what I want yet.”
“How about Axel?” Aunt Tabby asked. “He has a big family and probably wants the big wedding.”
Sadie couldn’t help but notice her mother stiffen beside her when Tabby spoke, Viv’s expression tightening, too. Hmm. They might have declared a truce for the sake of Sadie and Evie being engaged, but they were clearly still in the same old fight.
“We haven’t talked about that at all,” Sadie said fast. “Things happened really quickly.”
“I’ll say,” her mother added, tucking a swatch of her shoulder-length blond hair behind her ear. “I can’t believe you two were dating right under our noses the past three months!”
Sadie wished they’d been dating. “I, uh, didn’t want to jinx it. Whenever I talk too much about what’s going on in my relationship, it’s always doomed.”
“Well, then don’t say another word!” Aunt Tabby called out. “We love Axel!”
Her mother lifted her chin. “Even a broken clock is right twice a day,” she whispered.
Sadie gasped. “Mom!” Good Godfrey, things between Viv and Tabby were way worse than she realized, given that they were both here.
Her mother gave an embittered shrug and hurried along. Your Special Day was two stores up.
“Mom,” she whispered. “Please tell me what’s going on between you two. What happened?”
Viv and Tabby—Tabby was four years younger—had always been so close. Aunt Tabby was more than just a beloved aunt—she’d never married and Tabby’s house had always felt like an extension of Sadie’s own or like a sanctuary to run to when she was angry at her parents or arguing with Evie about something dumb. Aunt Tabby had never wanted children, and often over the years, Sadie had heard overly personal conversations about the subject, sometimes including Tabby and sometimes not. None of the family, except Great-Gram Izzy, seemed to be able to comprehend a woman not wanting to have a baby and raise a family.
Oh, please! Izzy had said. First of all, some kids turn their parents’ hair gray by the time they’re five years old. Who needs to spend their lives in a hair salon to turn back time when it’s marching forward? And motherhood is not the be-all and end-all of a woman’s life. There’s her work and volunteering and friendships and bridge partners.
Everyone had started in about Izzy having a zillion people to care for her in her old age because she had had children, but Izzy had harrumphed and said, Oh, please, that was what great-granddaughters and grandnieces were for. It was no surprise that Aunt Tabby worshipped her grandmother. Sadie had always hoped she’d inherited even just a little of Izzy’s wisdom.
“Between who two?” her mother now asked.
Sadie made a face. “C’mon. You and Aunt Tabby.”
“Everything’s fine,” she lied way too smoothly. “Oh, look, we’re here!”
Sadie glanced at the beautiful window display of Your Special Day. A dress straight out of her dreams was in the window. She shook her head at herself. Why was she letting a wedding gown, which she would never wear because she was not engaged, distract her from her mother?
“Mom, please talk to me straight,” Sadie whispered as her sister and aunt caught up.
“Ooh, look at those shoes!” Viv gushed, pointing.
“I love them,” Evie said, coming up beside Sadie. “Peep-toe 1940s glam. I’m trying them on!”
Sadie glanced at her aunt, who was looking anywhere but at her own sister. She knew she wouldn’t get any answers out of these two right now.
Sadie headed into the shop, the mannequins with their gowns and busts of headpieces and veils and jewelry reminding her of the first time she’d come here with these three women. Her grandmother had also joined them. “Let’s make this week all about Evie’s wedding,” she said. Please all agree that’s a great idea and lay off me!
“Well, take pics of anything that catches your eye for yourself,” Aunt Tabby said. “I can help you make a mood board for your wedding.”
“I found my dress!” Evie said, her eyes wide on a mannequin by the shoe display.
They all turned to look in the direction Evie’s misty eyes were staring.
“Oh, Evie, that is so you,” their mom agreed.
“Love it,” Aunt Tabby said.
Sadie smiled at the strapless, white satin gown with delicate beading at the waist. It was like the peep-toe shoes her sister had admired: 1940s movie star elegance. As the saleswoman came over, Sadie found her gaze drawn to another dress, one that almost took her breath. She’d worn the traditional big white gown for her first wedding, but this one, tea length and ivory, had a vintage look to it. There was something a little “second wedding” about it, in a good way. Sadie imagined herself wearing that dress, Axel beside her in a bolo tie and Stetson and dark suit, a horse or the pair of alpacas behind them.
Snap out of it! she yelled at herself like she was Olympia Dukakis in Moonstruck. Axel is never going to be your groom, and from the way your dating life has been going, you’re going to be single a long time.
Thing was, she really didn’t want to be. Sadie wanted her life’s mate, her love, her future, her family. And the more she looked at the dress and pretty veils, the more heart-pokingly clear it was how much she wanted all this for real. Not the stuff—but the love. The partnership. The life sharing. A father for Danny.
Axel Dawson was not that man. Hero or not, Sadie barely knew the guy, even if she felt like she’d known him forever. He’d told her straight out how he felt about marriage. So really, she should put her fantasies aside this week, not that she figured that would be easy or even possible.
Once the reunion was over and Evie was off on her honeymoon, Sadie would focus on what she really wanted and maybe join an online dating site where she could pick her own possibilities and weed out the no-ways and get to know a few guys via email and the phone prior to meeting. According to Aunt Tabby, who lived by her mood boards, you had to create the life you wanted. And if Sadie wanted love and commitment, she’d need to go find it.
Yes, Axel would be hard to live up to; the man was a real-life hero and intensely good-looking with incredible shoulders and narrow hips and—
“Ooh, my treat, Sadie-girl,” her mother said, wiggling her eyebrows as she beelined for a display of sexy bras and matching undies, lace and satin and plunging. “Axel won’t know what hit him.”
Sadie was long used to her mom being right out there with her and Evie’s sex lives in addition to everything else. She eyed the lingerie, wondering what kissing Axel would be like. Hot, very hot, no doubt. Wasn’t she supposed to be shelving her fantasies about him?
“The black set is so sexy!” her mother gushed.
It certainly was. But when would Axel Dawson ever see her in the scraps of black lace and satin?
“I’ll take two sets of these,” her mother said, putting the bras and matching undies on the counter. “Evie will love them, too.”
Before Sadie could make some excuse to put one set back, a gasp from Aunt Tabby had them turning around, and there was Evie, in her dress and veil and peep-toe shoes. The three of them were speechless, a rare occasion.
“Oh, Evie,” Sadie whispered, hand on her heart. “That is definitely the dress.”
Tears ran down her sister’s face. She was definitely overwhelmed.
Her mother and her aunt Tabby hugged. Actually hugged each other! They seemed to realize they were caught up in an emotional moment and stepped back, each retreating with the expressions they reserved for each other these days, but they’d hugged. A good start. This week of wedding prep, the four of them spending time together over such a happy occasion, would do wonders for the elder pair of sisters.
“I’m saying yes to the dress,” Evie said, her eyes misty and her face full of wonder. “And the shoes. And the veil.” She bit her lip. “I’m tingling from head to toe.”
Sadie eyed the lingerie on the counter and wanted more than ever to hang her set right back up. Evie’s face, those tears, that dress—this was how it was supposed to be. Breathtakingly real. Faking this engagement, despite the reasons, felt so wrong again.
Her phone pinged with a text and she fished her phone from her purse. Axel Dawson.
Hope you’re surviving this afternoon, he’d texted, adding a smiley face emoji wearing a cowboy hat.
Oh, God. The man was thinking about her. Caring about what she was going through. And let her know.
What hit her heart at that moment was very, very real indeed.
Ping! Another text from Axel.
Saw your grandmother with Danny at the petting zoo. Danny was flying his superhero lion over the chickens and promising Zul would save them from a “scawy monster.” He’s too cute.
Against all reason, Sadie Winston fell headlong in love.
* * *
Yes, a grown man was hiding. Axel Dawson was suffering from an acute case of being asked too many questions and getting too many hugs from strangers who were related to Sadie in some way. He glanced out the round window at the far end of the big barn away from where the horse stables started—yup, there were stray Winstons out there, looking over the horses from their half-open stalls. At least the equipment area of the big barn was shielded from view.
He was so focused on catching his breath from being too much the center of attention for even a minute that he hadn’t heard his brother Noah come in until he heard him returning a rake to a supply closet. Tall, dark-haired and blue-eyed like himself, his youngest sibling looked a lot Axel, though they had different mothers.
“Ah, Axel, just the man I was looking for,” Noah said. “Any reason why the guests are congratulating me on becoming an honorary Winston?” He pulled something out of the small messenger bag across his torso and held up a T-shirt that read Team Winston. “Your fiancée’s grandmother gave it to me.”
Axel grimaced as Noah smirked at him, holding the navy T-shirt with orange letters up to his chest. “I was hoping Daisy would have explained so I wouldn’t have to. It’s crazy enough to know it without having to say it all over again.”
“Wait. You’re actually engaged?” He eyed Axel. “Nah, there’s no way.”
“Of course I’m not,” he said, touched at how well his brother knew him. Noah was the one who’d rebuilt the Dawson Family Guest Ranch from absolutely nothing. This barn had been a falling-down mess, one wall caved in from where their father had crashed into it with his truck last fall. Luckily, the buggy Bo had often driven around the property hadn’t done too much damage when he’d ended up smashed into ranch outbuildings. How the man had survived all that was beyond Axel.
Only to be gotten by excessive drinking. Liver damage. He shivered despite the warm eighty-degree temperature.
Axel whispered the explanation—just in case big Winston ears were listening on the other side of the window. “So it’s just for the week,” he added. “A ninety-nine-year-old is happy. A formerly dueling mother and aunt are now on a bridal boutique shopping trip. Sadie’s been through enough—I can do this for her.”
Noah nodded slowly. “I knew there
was a heart in there,” he said, slapping a hand against Axel’s chest.
“Let me ask you a question and change the subject,” Axel said. “Did you open your letter from Dad right away?” Bo Dawson had died last December. It was now late August and Axel’s unopened letter was still burning a hole in his sock drawer. Almost nine months had to be some record for ignoring a bequeathal.
Why was this on his mind so much now? Ever since he’d blurted out his life story to Sadie on the walk to her cabin last night, he couldn’t stop thinking about the letter.
“Are you kidding?” Noah said. “I was afraid to touch it. Forget opening it. I kept expecting it to burst into flames or something.”
Phew. So Axel wasn’t crazy.
“But you did open it,” Axel said. “Clearly. Because in the letter, Dad wrote that he thought you should rebuild the ranch, and you did that.”
“Took me three days to open the envelope. Probably would have taken months otherwise, but curiosity got me. And Daisy kept calling me and asking if I’d read it yet. Like every half hour. I had no choice, man.”
Axel laughed. “Yeah, our sister has a way of making things happen.”
Three days for Noah, who was the curious type, was the equivalent of almost nine months for Axel, who’d always been more apt to ignore than act.
That idiotic trait and bad habit was pretty much the reason Axel was fake-engaged to a woman he’d spent about ten or so total minutes with three months ago. He’d thought he could avoid and deflect the Winstons this week by hiding in barns and behind buildings, but the family had been after him all morning, peppering him with questions about himself and his own family, their kind, open faces truly showing deep interest in him as a person—and future member of their clan. If only he’d insisted that Sadie come clean, rip off the ole Band-Aid in one painful tear. The truth would have put everything back to normal.
A Family for a Week Page 6