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A Family for a Week

Page 17

by Melissa Senate


  Oh no. What the heck was this? Marshall Ackerman, usually supernice and thoughtful, wanted his ex at his wedding? Had he gone insane?

  Sadie glanced at her mom, aunt and grandmother; they looked as worried as Sadie felt.

  “Evie, I’m sure that with a few minutes to think about it, he’ll uninvite her,” their mom assured her. “If it’s that important to you, that’s what matters.”

  “He says if it’s that important to him, it should be important to me!” Evie said. “Just because they were together from middle school through college and she was a big part of his life doesn’t mean she gets to be at my wedding.”

  “Is she married?” Sadie asked.

  Evie shook her head. “No! She has a serious boyfriend, apparently, but still. She probably still loves Marshall. She’s the old part of his life. I’m the present and future!”

  “Evie, just call him and tell him you’d feel uncomfortable,” Aunt Tabby said. “I get it. And I rarely take your side when you and Marshall are arguing.”

  That was true. Tabby didn’t play devil’s advocate so much as be willing to tell Evie when she was overreacting or being too self-centered.

  Evie’s phone buzzed. She looked at the screen and seemed to be reading texts. “Oh, really!” she bellowed at it. “Well, I guess we’re not getting married!” She shoved her phone in her pocket again and stalked off beside a tree.

  “Aunt Evie mad,” Danny said.

  Sadie ruffled Danny’s thick blond hair. “Aunt Evie got into an argument with someone. That means they both want their way about the same thing. But they’ll work it out. Family always does.”

  Danny got bored fast. “Zul?” he held out his arms, and Axel picked him up.

  Axel smiled at Danny, then turned to Sadie. “I’ve got him. You deal with this.”

  Sadie nodded and went to Evie. “Evie, meet him in person and talk this out. You’re getting married tomorrow night!”

  “Guess not!” Evie said, sparks shooting from her brown eyes. She was spitting mad.

  “Now you listen to me, Evie Winston,” Sadie barked. “You are engaged for real, unlike me, when getting married to the man I love is all I want. There is no way you’re calling off your—”

  Sadie froze, her mistake ringing in her ears. Oh no. Oh, dear.

  Please tell me I didn’t say that out loud.

  Even Evie, in her tizzy, caught the slip. “Unlike you?”

  “Yeah,” Viv said. “What do you mean, unlike you?”

  Everyone was staring at Sadie.

  Sadie glanced at Axel, who gave her a sympathetic look.

  “Engaged for real, unlike me?” Tabby repeated. “So you’re not engaged?”

  “I don’t understand this at all,” Vanessa said. “Are Sadie and Axel engaged?”

  “Let Sadie explain herself,” Viv said. “Pipe down, everyone.”

  Oh foo. She sucked in a breath. “Axel and I are not engaged. We never were.”

  “What?” Viv bellowed.

  All eyes were on Sadie. She wanted to run down the mountain and hide but she had to get this over with. Maybe it was for the best that the truth had come out. Telling everyone when they got home to Prairie City that Axel had broken their engagement and it was over? A lie too many. That wasn’t who Sadie Winston was.

  “The night Evie got engaged,” she began, “Axel walked me back to the cabin. I told Gram the news about Evie and Marshall, and she said something like ‘They’re engaged!’ and ran in to make her phone calls, and that’s when Izzy came out to see what the hoopla was about and mistook me and Axel for the engaged couple. Izzy was so happy for me she cried. She said she could go gentle into that good night knowing her divorced great-granddaughter who’d been through so much heartache had found love with a true hero.”

  “I guess I can see Izzy saying that,” Viv said, arms crossed on her chest, of course.

  “I can vouch for it. I was there,” Axel put in. He still held Danny, who was not paying a lick of attention to the boring grown-up conversation. He was talking to Zul the lion in a low voice, telling him about his new powers.

  A bunch of eyes turned to Axel with glares. He’d gone from can-do-no-wrong Axel to big, fat liar.

  “So neither of us corrected Izzy,” Sadie continued. “And then she went to sleep. I figured I’d tell Gram what happened, but Gram was on the phone sharing the big news about Evie and Marshall for hours. I didn’t get the chance. By the time I woke up, Izzy had spread the word that Axel and I were engaged, and everyone thought both Evie and I had gotten engaged that night.”

  “You could have said this that morning!” Viv’s eyes narrowed.

  “I know, Mom, but then you and Tabby were talking for the first time in months because you thought both Winston girls were engaged. And you, Evie, you told me you hadn’t wanted to get engaged while I, a single mother, was alone. You said my getting engaged meant everything to you. How could I tell you—”

  “Oh, God,” Evie said. “I remember that conversation in the cabin. I can understand why you didn’t pipe up.”

  “So it was all a misunderstanding?” Vanessa asked. “You’re not engaged?”

  Sadie shook her head. “No. I’m not.”

  “And you went along with this?” Viv asked Axel.

  He nodded. “I did. And I’d do it again.”

  “Trust me that being fake-engaged to me wasn’t easy for him,” Sadie said, trying not to look at him.

  “Well, that was kind of you for Sadie’s sake,” Viv said. “But I’m still mad at both of you. I guess I understand how it happened, though.”

  Evie nodded. “I totally understand how it happened. I’m sorry, Sadie.”

  Aw. That meant Evie got it, understood all the muckety-muck that led to her keeping up the ruse.

  Sadie hugged Evie, whose eyes were misty.

  “I guess I can also see how you felt like you had to keep it up,” Viv said. “We do have a habit of dominating conversations and not letting anyone get a word in.”

  “By we, she means me, too,” Tabby said. “And Gram.”

  “Guilty,” Vanessa said, holding up her hand. “Sorry, honey. I hope we didn’t make you feel like getting engaged is the be-all and end-all. You know that’s not how I feel.”

  “I know,” Sadie said. “I got caught up in the hoopla myself. To be honest, I liked being engaged. Even pretend.”

  Everyone’s eyes turned to Axel, who was still holding Danny, waving his superhero lion flying above his head. Viv took out her camera and snapped a photo of the two of them. Axel looked like a deer caught in headlights.

  Her mother stared at her for a moment as if she was putting more than two and two together. Sadie had no idea what Viv was thinking.

  “Just in case we don’t see you after tonight, Axel,” Viv said. “I’ll text you the photo to remember Danny by.”

  Sadie swallowed. Viv wanted Axel to have a photo of what he could have because her mother knew that her daughter was madly in love with the guy.

  And the look on Axel’s face told a different story. A story with an ending that said, I’m free. I’m finally free. She felt tears sting her eyes, and she blinked them away.

  “I don’t think we should tell Izzy till we get home,” Vanessa said. “It’ll be too confusing. Let’s just enjoy Evie’s wedding. There will be a wedding, right?”

  Now all eyes swung to Evie.

  “As long as the ex-girlfriend isn’t coming, yes,” she said. “Marshy will put me first, right? I mean, my feelings have to be more important on this than having his old girlfriend at his wedding.”

  “Evie, honey,” Tabby said. “Why don’t you call Marshall and tell him the wedding is definitely on, but his girlfriend ain’t coming and that’s that.”

  Evie called. They all waited. “Marshall, the wedding is on, but your ex is n
ot coming and that’s that.” She listened, and Sadie’s entire body felt like it was on pins and needles.

  “I know. No, I know. I know.”

  What did she know?

  “She knows what?” Tabby whispered.

  Viv shrugged.

  “No, you’re the best,” Evie said. “No, I’m sorry. I love you, too. Bye, sweetie.” Evie pocketed her phone, now beaming. Phew.

  Sadie smiled. Now that was a good ending to a story.

  “The wedding is on,” Evie said.

  There were cheers and claps.

  “I’ll take my grandson,” Viv said, plucking Danny from Axel. “You and Sadie probably have some loose ends to tie up. I hope you’re still going to be her date at the wedding. I mean, we did order you a filet mignon and made up the seating arrangements, so it would spoil everything if you bailed on us.”

  Oh, Mom. I do love you.

  “Of course I’ll be there,” Axel said. “I mean, if Sadie wants me to be.”

  Evie squeezed Sadie’s hand. “C’mon,” she said, gesturing for the relatives to start down the trail. “Let’s let them talk.”

  Sadie waited until the group was far enough ahead not to hear. “I guess you’re officially off the hook.”

  “I would like to attend the wedding, by the way. And not just because my dinner was ordered and I’d mess up the seating arrangements.”

  “You actually want to spend more time with my family than you have to?” she asked.

  “Your family is fantastic, Sadie. They’re wonderful. You really are lucky.”

  “I know. Sometimes they’re smothering. But always in a good way.”

  He smiled. “The wedding will be a really nice ending to a special week.”

  Really nice. Ending. Special week.

  It was over. He was going to say goodbye. After everything they’d been through? Shared together?

  Her heart broke. It had been breaking ever since the morning she’d woken up alone in his bed, when she knew she’d gotten herself in over her head, but now it cracked completely in two.

  “Evie hired a great band,” she said, trying not to cry.

  “See you tomorrow night, then.”

  “See you,” she said.

  And then they started down the mountain. Together but very much separate.

  Chapter Fifteen

  In the morning, the entire cabin went to sunrise yoga, including Izzy, who did some moves from her wheelchair. Then they went to the caf for breakfast, where Cowboy Joe had a crepe station in honor of the bride, who lived for crepes of all kinds. The handsome cook would be Tabby’s date for Evie’s wedding that night.

  “Crazy, huh?” her mother whispered as Sadie gave Danny’s mouth a dab with a napkin—strawberry and cream crepes were delicious but messy. “We come here to honor Axel, and two of the closest people to us find love. Evie and Marshall not only got back together, but engaged. And Tabby is in love.”

  “Thank you for not mentioning my fake love,” Sadie whispered back.

  “You okay?” Viv asked.

  “I’ll be okay. I have to be. Danny comes first.”

  “You fell for him, huh?” Viv asked. “Hard.”

  Sadie nodded. “Head over heels. But he told me not to on day one. I just didn’t listen.”

  “You listened, hon. You just went with your heart. To me, that’s the best way. It means you tried, you risked, you put yourself out there.”

  Unlike Axel.

  “Axel’s flipping loss,” her mom added, shaking her head.

  Sadie smiled. She called that one. “So you and Tabby are good now?”

  “I feel terrible for how I acted. Blaming her for my precious grandson going missing when it wasn’t her fault he ran off in a split second. All because the whole thing triggered a childhood memory—a scary one for me. I didn’t even know that episode was still bothering me, but it sure was. All these years.”

  “I can understand, Mom. You were scared for your little sister.”

  Plus, she better understood now that some scars ran deep.

  Viv leaned close and kissed Sadie’s cheek. “I think Axel will come around. The way he looks at you, Sadie. And it’s so clear he loves Danny.”

  “I don’t know. I think I have to face facts. Enough pretending, right? The truth is the truth.”

  “Well, if you do have to let go of him, I can fix you up with my dentist’s nephew. He’s quite a catch.”

  Sadie smiled. “Thank you, Mom.”

  Viv gave her a one-armed shoulder squeeze and went back to her honey-banana crepe. Sadie poked hers around on her plate. She couldn’t imagine ever being ready for more blind dates. How could any guy ever measure up to Axel Dawson?

  Cowboy Joe came over with his big smile and trademark brown Stetson to deliver a box of chocolate rugelach to Tabby. “Enough to share with the whole cabin,” he said. That got him a kiss from his girlfriend, who was beaming.

  Sadie might be leaving her heart here when she left, but she loved that her aunt was so happy. She glanced at Evie, who was assuring Izzy that there was plenty of Frank Sinatra and Etta James in the song rotation. Marshall had come over last night, full of apology about suggesting his old girlfriend attend the wedding. Apparently, the two had run into each other in town earlier that day, and Marshall was so excited about marrying the woman of his dreams that he’d invited the ex—no more to it than that. Evie had felt much better about the whole thing.

  Little things, big things—you never knew what would get you and whip you up, Sadie thought. She didn’t want to let Axel go, but maybe she had to. He had his little things and big things and right now, they were stronger than his feelings for her. Ugh, she hated even thinking that, but it was true, right?

  At the back of the cafeteria, she noticed Axel’s sister, Daisy, and sister-in-law, Sara, restocking the grab-and-go bars on either side of the doors. The two women were chatting and, if Sadie wasn’t imagining things, looking in her direction. She had a feeling they were discussing the Winston guest Axel had gotten fake-engaged to. Before she left tomorrow morning, Sadie would take Daisy aside and thank her for trying to push her brother when it came to matters of the heart, matters of his heart.

  But at least she had tonight with him, and there was nothing fake about it. He’d be her date fair and square. She’d have a night to remember, and then she’d try, hard as she could, to move on.

  * * *

  Axel was on his second mug of coffee when his doorbell rang. Good chills ran up his spine at the idea that it was Sadie, whom he hadn’t seen since they’d come down Clover Mountain. Even if she was here to tell him off, that he was no hero after all if he was afraid of the three of them—him, her and Danny—he’d be glad to see her face.

  And he already knew he wasn’t a hero.

  That wilderness tour had been unexpectedly eventful but not in the terrible way that would send a search and rescue specialist into overdrive. Sadie’s mother and aunt had finally made up. And his and Sadie’s phony engagement had come to a sudden stop.

  If it were Daisy at the door, asking him if he missed being fake-engaged even just a bit, he’d say no, of course not. But the truth was, he did miss it. He’d liked being paired with Sadie. He’d liked the hugs and warm wishes, and that had surprised him almost more than anything. Being part of something so...special even when it wasn’t real had given him something of a spring in his step, as his gramps used to say.

  And now he was back to being on his own, just Axel, the way he supposedly liked it. He’d take a day or two to shake off all that had happened, to get used to Sadie and her thirty-eight relatives being gone from the ranch, from his daily world, and his life would go on.

  He went to the door and did a double take. “I am not seeing my brother Rex standing on my porch. This has to be a mirage.” The sun was bright, not a cloud in the s
ky, but Rex Dawson, the middle of the Zeke, Rex, Axel trio, definitely was standing there. All the Dawson siblings resembled each other. Rex was tall and muscular with dark hair and blue eyes. He wasn’t in his usual dark suit and Stetson, which meant he wasn’t on the way to the airport or a meeting and had some time to spend. No one in the family knew exactly what Rex did for a living. FBI? Spy? Something secretive.

  Rex grinned. “Oh, it’s me all right. In the area on business and thought I’d come by and see everyone. First stop had to be your cabin. Daisy had told me it was luxe woodsman, and she didn’t do it justice. I could live here.” Rex lived in hotels since he did so much traveling, but at heart he was a cowboy, just like all the Dawson siblings.

  “See, everyone says that when they see it. It tends to remind them of a lodge at a fancy ski resort or dude ranch.”

  Rex looked around. “Well, the lodge here is nice, but this is spectacular. Kudos to you. I thought you’d never come back here, Axel, but I can see how you can live here.”

  He hadn’t told Rex or Zeke about the contents of the letter Bo had left him or learning about how their mom had met their dad. He had a lot to fill Rex in on.

  In minutes, Axel and Rex were on the sofa in the living room, Dude at Axel’s feet and coffee and Cowboy Joe’s famed doughnuts in front of them. Axel told him the whole story, everything, and didn’t bother leaving anything out. He and Rex didn’t see each other often, but he’d always felt close to the guy. Same with Zeke and Ford. Axel had gotten almost too close with Noah and Daisy the past months. But he wouldn’t trade the ability to talk to them about anything for anything.

  “Sounds like this woman got to you,” Rex said, popping a piece of cinnamon-sugar doughnut in his mouth.

  “She did. But she wants the whole thing—marriage, a big family.”

  “And what do you want?” Rex asked. “Really?”

  “To see them often.” And that was true. He wanted to see them every day.

  Zeke laughed. “So you want a relationship with Sadie, just on your terms.”

  “Yes,” Axel said, grimacing. “I hear how it sounds, but yes. Why pretend I can deal with more than that?”

 

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