SADIE
“This is cutting into my packing time.” I razzed Drew over the phone as I stared into the empty fridge.
“So, you’re saying you’ll have to go naked for most of the trip? Seems like a win-win to me.”
“I hate that there’s no milk or anything here for them. Are you sure I don’t have time to swing by the store?”
A few months ago, we’d moved into the Jackson Street house Drew was renovating when I first arrived in town. I would have happily stayed in his house, but he’d insisted we needed a fresh start together that didn’t hold all the emotional trappings his mom’s old house did. The idea of him selling it didn’t sit right with either of us though, so we’d used it as a vacation rental property instead. Listed on a much more reputable site and with a less axe-murdery rental description.
Of course Brody insisted he deserved credit for the idea.
Greeting renters and helping them get settled in gave me something to do between freelance photography gigs. On some of the busier festival weeks, we’d operate as a quasi-bed-and-breakfast where I’d stop by in the mornings and bake muffins and have a little cheese and wine mixer with the guests in the evening.
Ward and his husband, Mike, also stayed here whenever they came to visit. He insisted that while he loved me, he never wanted to be stuck under the same roof within earshot of a bedroom that Drew and I were sharing ever again.
After leaving HypeKey, Ward lined up a job doing social media marketing for a popular lifestyle blog. It was only a few months later that HypeKey shut down entirely. Eirin’s father got caught selling highly regulated military technology to Russia. Turned out that gas card scam Ward had said Lauren was involved in actually was tied to the Russian mob. In fact, the entire Jennings family was linked to the Bratva. Once the scandal broke, no one was buying ad space on HypeKey anymore, the government froze her family’s assets, and the website went under.
“They said they’d be there at seven p.m. You better hold tight,” Drew said.
“I still don’t understand how this happened. I could’ve sworn we had the dates blocked off.” We were leaving bright and early tomorrow morning for a ten-day trip to the Caribbean.
The fall colors in Michigan had been gorgeous, and I was a huge fan of the white Christmas we’d spent together. My parents came to visit, and Val and her husband, Kevin, joined us as well. But Drew and I had agreed we needed a little time in warmer climates when the cold weather and gray skies of February and March seemed to stretch on forever. Plus, we decided on this trip to celebrate the fact that my new oncologist in Rosewood agreed with Dr. York, that everything looked all clear and I could just have once-yearly surveillance testing.
I fished through the pantry, looking for snacks I could offer our unplanned guests when they showed up.
“I know,” Drew groaned. “I’m sorry I can’t be there, but Will needs my help with the water in his basement. They should be there any minute though. Don’t even think about popping over to Becker’s to pick up a pie or something. I don’t want you out on the roads any more than necessary.”
It’d warmed up enough for the snow to turn to rain over the last few days, and the roads were a slushy mess.
“So protective.” I sighed, as if his concern was a hardship even though we both knew I loved it.
I loved everything about this man.
His mile-wide protective streak. His quiet, contemplative side. His playful, goofy side, which had come out at the most unexpected moments over the past year.
And Lord Almighty, the things he could do with his tongue.
“They’ll be there soon,” he said, breaking me out of my thoughts about all the ways I hoped he used that tongue on our upcoming trip. “I’ve got to get back to this basement situation. Call or text me when you’re leaving, okay?”
“Of course. Love you.”
“I love you,” he said and disconnected the call. He always said the words with such gravity. Never on autopilot. It was like he was saying it for the first time, every time. The wave of conviction that I was exactly where I was supposed to be was a warm blanket I nestled in every day.
Less than five minutes later, someone knocked on the front door. Hopefully it would only take a few moments to get them settled, then I could get home to finish packing. Swinging open the door, I launched into host mode. “Welcome to— Drew?”
Wearing a charcoal gray suit I’d never seen before and a black overcoat, Drew stood on the front porch with a serious expression. His whole face was on lockdown, except his eyes.
Those bright blue eyes glittered with mischief.
“What are you doing here? What are you wearing?” We went out on nice dinner dates from time to time, but I’d never seen him this dressed up.
“Hmm. Seems there was some confusion with a reservation. Are you going to invite me in out of the cold?”
My pulse kicked up a notch when my brain finally caught on that this was some kind of game. I wanted to ask him a million questions, but I didn’t want to spoil whatever he had planned, so I played along.
“I don’t know.” I stretched up on my tiptoes and feigned looking over his shoulder. “You’re not the guest I was expecting.”
A dark chuckle escaped his lips, and I felt it low in my belly. “I can assure you, letting in an unexpected guest may turn out to be the best decision of your life.”