dating and getting to know someone and explaining...”
“You have nothing to explain. Nothing to be ashamed of, do you hear me?”
“Sure, right. Until he takes me home to meet his family. And wants to meet mine.”
“So, bring him home to meet mine.”
She smiled as she said it, a wicked little gleam lighting up her eyes. It made Sadie laugh. That would be a sight. Lena had paid her family back after her success by building her parents a huge home south of Charleston near the Edisto River. It had six bedrooms, six bathrooms, a huge kitchen and large yard. It was full to the roof with the same extended family that had helped her through college. They were loud and boisterous and nothing went unsaid—good, bad or ugly. You could feel the love crackling in the very air.
“It would certainly show us what he’s made of.”
Their pizzas arrived and Lena ordered another round of wine. They ate in silence for a few minutes.
“So, the new guy you hired seems interesting,” Lena said.
Sadie, concentrating on her never-ending indecision of whether or not to use a fork and knife for the pizza, glanced at her friend. Lena was her accountant and Molly would have sent over the information to put him on the payroll.
“Whoa! What was that look all about?”
“What look?” Sadie said.
“That look. Last time I saw that look, it was from a dog growling over a bone. What’s up with Mr. New Guy?”
“Nothing.”
Lena laughed. “You’re actually blushing, Sadie. Spill it. Is he hot?”
“Of course he’s hot. He works for me. It’s my business. Hot guys.”
“True, but there’s something about this one. Is he giving you the flusters?”
Taking a long sip—or three—from her wineglass, Sadie mulled over those words. Lena had gotten closer to the truth than she’d like to admit. Wyatt Anderson turned her into a nervous, giggling girl. Her mind offered up the memory of his hand, strong, tanned and calloused, clasping hers for a brief moment. The lust his touch had sent rocketing through her body wasn’t girlish, though. Those had been the feelings of a woman who hadn’t had a boyfriend in a very long time and led to thoughts of his hands on other parts of her body. Sigh.
“He has a certain appeal,” she said. She tried to downplay it with a detached tone, but Lena didn’t fall for it.
“Oh. Dios. Mio. It’s a miracle! The ice is melting. Digame.”
“There’s nothing to tell. He’s an employee. Doesn’t matter.”
“It matters. Is he starting orientation Monday? Can I bring the paperwork over for him to sign? Get a peek at the man who made the mighty Sadie Martin feel like a woman?”
“No, you can’t. Employee. Period. End of story.”
“Who says you can’t have a couple of thrills with an employee?”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“You know what I mean. Plenty of people meet on the job and figure out how to make it work.”
Sadie swirled the last of the wine before downing it in a gulp. She shook her head. “Stop it. The guy’s gorgeous. I looked. That’s as far as it’s going to go.”
Lena held her hands up in surrender. “Fine. But we’re getting to the age where we need to take advantage of every opportunity.”
“There’s the difference between us. You want the whole deal. Marriage, kids, happily-ever-after. I really don’t care about all that.”
The understanding and touch of pity in Lena’s eyes irritated her. She didn’t know what made her madder: the look or Lena continuing to poke at this sore spot.
“Yes, you do. You’re afraid.”
Sadie raised her glass in a signal to the waiter to bring another. To hell with it—she wasn’t driving. She pressed her lips together in a tight line. Breathe. She hated when Lena hit the truth dead-on. She was afraid, but Lena didn’t have it quite right. Lena thought she was afraid of trust, of love. But that wasn’t everything. She was afraid to let someone close enough for love because he would discover there was something wrong with her. She didn’t know how to love.
She pushed those thoughts away. “How’s Lito doing?”
Lena slumped back and Sadie felt her heart slump, too. A small frisson of fear bloomed in her belly. Lito, Abuelito, was Lena’s grandfather. He had taken Sadie under his arm when she’d been introduced to the family. He was the closest she had to a father figure in her life. His diagnosis of pancreatic cancer several months ago had sent her on a roller coaster of fear, denial and hope. She’d stuffed all her messy emotions in a box, labeled it “doctors can cure anything these days” and begun a highly successful effort to pretend the entire thing wasn’t happening.
“It’s not good, Sades. It’s too advanced for surgery. He hates the chemo and radiation therapy.”
“But he’s going to keep doing it, right? I mean, isn’t that normal? The chemo and stuff is bad, but it helps eventually, right?”
Lena shook her head. “I don’t know. He’s eighty-three, Sades.”
Tears clogged her throat. Selfish tears, she realized. She wanted him to keep fighting because she didn’t want to lose him. “I know.”
“He’s questioning whether it’s all worth it.”
“Of course it’s worth it! What’s the alternative? To just die?”
Lena’s dark eyes met hers and Sadie felt everything in her grow cold. The laughter and conversation around them dimmed to a distant buzz. She felt her head begin to move from side to side. No.
“It’s his choice to make, Sadie. Only he can say what he wants his quality of life to be.”
“I know.”
The words were weak and wavering. She did know. But she felt like a child in her fear. Lito was going to leave her. Just like everyone else. She shook her head. You are being selfish and childish. Stop it. Her brain knew this. Her heart would accept it eventually.
SADIE TRIED TO keep on the shady side of the path, but Jack had other ideas. He pulled on the harness with such strength she had no doubt that if she fell, he’d drag her along behind him. He’d been a rampaging whirl of doggie ecstasy ever since she’d put his halter on. Dog park day. Oh boy oh boy oh boy. The little park wasn’t really a dog park, but no one had complained about her tossing tennis balls to Jack along a grassy stretch off the bike path, so she kept going there.
She’d slathered herself with eighty SPF and wore lightweight cotton pants to cover her legs, but a long-sleeve shirt was impossible
