by Ellie Hall
“Sadie, I heard about the elevator. Are you okay?” Kayla rushed over and threw her arms around Sadie. She shuffled back, semi-relieved her friend had prevented her from making a total scene.
They’d become friends when Sadie returned to Hawk Ridge Hollow and was looking for a job. Kayla was a ski coach during the day, worked at the restaurant part-time in the evenings, and was a wedding photographer on the weekends. She said she had a shoe buying habit that she couldn’t afford on one income and was the kind of person who couldn’t sit behind a desk. Her cousin worked in the offices and had connected Sadie with the job.
“It was a fiasco, but I’m fine. Thanks for asking.” She gave her the quick version of the ordeal then also went on to tell her quickly about the situation and fake dating profile. All the while, she felt her eyes drifting to Tripp every few seconds who was in conversation with a guy they both used to be friends with.
“Is that him?” Kayla asked.
“Is who him?” Sadie said vaguely.
“The one you never got over?”
“I certainly did get over him.” Sadie crossed her arms in front of her chest.
“You’re giving him major heart eyes right now and he’s giving them back. I’d say you’re far from over him.”
Sadie put her hands on her hips. “I’m not giving him heart eyes. But I am going to go over and give him a piece of my mind.”
“Mmhmm,” Kayla said with an air of disbelief as Sadie stalked away.
Chapter 4
Tripp
As Sadie walked over with her hair brushed back over her shoulders and her fists clenched as though prepared for war, Tripp’s old friend excused himself. “Probably best to leave you lovebirds to sort it out—” He chuckled.
Before Tripp could ask what Bobby’d meant or defend himself, Sadie stood as tall as her petite frame would allow as she planted herself opposite him at the table for two. She wore a heavy coat and scarf, warm boots, and her hair was slightly crazed from the hat tucked in her pocket. He recognized the stripes—the colors of the local hockey team—the one he and his brothers played for at various times when they were growing up.
“I have three things to say, Tripp Hawkins.”
“Would you like to take a seat?” He made to get up to pull out the chair.
She held her ground and shook her head. “First, thank you for rescuing me in the elevator.” She was in battle mode and there was nothing soft or appreciative about the sentiment.
“Just doing my job,” he said mildly, crossing his arms in front of his chest. It was fitting he brace himself but he wasn’t feeling particularly defensive. He deserved whatever was coming. Probably worse, but he’d done a decent job punishing himself as well.
“Second, even though I didn’t ask for your help, thank you for stepping in with my boss.”
“I didn’t realize you worked at the resort. You swore you never would—you didn’t want to be saddled down in an office. You wanted to see the world.”
“Things change, Tripp.”
“Fair enough.” Except for the gaping hole that was Sadie and his brothers, his life actually hadn’t changed much. He was a creature of habit and he found he missed the spirit of spontaneity she brought to situations.
When they were together, she’d sometimes surprise him with day trips to do unique places like bowling, visiting the ranch, or volunteering to help people less fortunate than they were.
“Did you get everything sorted out with your boss? It sounded like a mess.” He easily could’ve inquired at the resort but he didn’t want to pry into her personal business though he was curious what had happened. When he’d stepped in, he risked getting her into more hot water if she did, in fact, have a boyfriend. He thanked his lucky stars that didn’t seem to be the case. Though he did want her to be happy.
“It was a stupid dating site. I didn’t put my information up there or redirect the resort couples’ package registration to it. I don’t have time to date and I wouldn’t—” She didn’t finish.
Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on played on her features. He took a long sip of water before asking her the question that burned on his tongue.
“So, you don’t have a boyfriend?”
“That’s not relevant and I’m not going to go on with the charade that you’re my fake boyfriend.”
He raised his eyebrows.
“But again, thank you. You being my former boyfriend is number three.”
He recognized the fire in her eyes and the way her temper flared. He’d expected her to let him have it, but years previous. Instead, she’d vanished and he’d taken a job in the city. In truth, he’d avoided what he knew he deserved. However, he feared it then more than ever because she’d let it build up for so long, she might erupt like a volcano.
The song playing in the background changed and, in the pause, her stomach grumbled.
“Let me buy you dinner.”
“I’m not hungry.” Her cheeks flushed. She must’ve been steaming hot in her coat.
His lips quirked. “Your stomach—”
“I’m not hangry either if that’s what you’re implying.” She finished the sentence for him. They knew each other so well.
“And the look of amusement on your face is making me angrier.”
“At least sit down and let me have it. I know I deserve it.” Really, he just wanted to be in her company even if it was under less than ideal circumstances. Thought it was a step up from finding her trapped in an elevator.
“You deserve every bit of it.” She threw off her coat and sat down anyway. She took a long sip of his water and opened her mouth, ready to fire, when the server came over.
“Hi, Sadie. Do you want to introduce me to your date?” she winked.
“Kayla, we both know this is not my date.” Sadie narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips irritably. “If you must know, this is Tripp Hawkins.”
She smiled. “You’re sitting at the lovebird's table and that makes this a date.” She pointed at a thick, paper cutout of two birds sitting atop a heart on the wall next to the table. At the top, it said, Love Birds Forever. “We move the poster around every night. It’s luck of the draw, but whoever sits here gets a free appetizer. So, what’ll it be?”
At the same time, Tripp and Sadie said, “Jalapeno poppers.”
They exchanged a glance that made his smile grow and wiped away the worst degrees of her scowl.
“Coming right up,” Kayla said.
They both reached for the glass of water and their hands brushed. Sadie jerked hers away. In the dim light of the restaurant, Tripp could’ve sworn he’d seen a spark. If not, he definitely felt it and he’d felt plenty of sparks—heat at up to three hundred degrees, downed wires with electricity dancing in the rain. The spark he felt just then brought something alive in his chest that he’d forced dormant.
“I’ll bring you two lovebirds more water. In the meantime, behave yourselves.” Kayla gave them both a curious or perhaps knowing glance and disappeared through the swinging doors to the kitchen.
“As you were saying?” Tripp wasn’t looking forward to her tirade, but better to get it over with. He saw now that he owed that much to her because he certainly hadn’t forgiven himself for what he’d done.
Sadie sat a little taller in her chair. “Let’s go back, shall we? It was Valentine’s Day. Three years ago. Everything, to my knowledge, was going well. We were a happy couple. I saw no indication that you were unhappy. In fact, we’d just celebrated your birthday. I recall it being enjoyable. We talked about the future. We’d even picked out names for our potential children.”
“Dylan and Delany.”
Her expression softened for a fraction of a second. “Yes. I’d arranged a special date for us on Valentine’s Day. I thought—” Her voice broke off and she glanced away.
However, he could still see, no feel, the sting in her eyes. He recalled all too well how she’d recoiled in shock when he’d broken off their relationshi
p of five years. How she silently fell apart and then walked out of his life for what he thought was forever.
She glared. “You’d said, ‘It’s not you, it’s me.’ I should’ve said ‘You’re right. It was you and you’re going to be the one missing out.’ In fact, I hope it was the biggest mistake of your life.”
“I was young, immature, scared,” he admitted. “It was the biggest mistake of my life.”
Yet, Sadie didn’t relent. “Then you asked me if we can still be friends. No, friends don’t treat each other like that—making you the worst kind of person. At the very least you owed me an explanation but didn’t even give me that.”
“You didn’t let me. I wanted to stay friends, explain everything to you. You rushed off.”
She harrumphed. “Oh, and the last thing you’d said, that I only recalled earlier today was you mentioned that I deserved better. I certainly did deserve better than you.” Tears pierced her eyes. He hated that he was the source of them.
“You could’ve just told me you’d met someone else or you were no longer in love with me. Anything to keep me from wondering and doubting myself. Instead, I got silence. For three years. Well, now that you know how I feel, you’ll get my silence.”
She moved to leave the table, but he reached for her hand. Her skin was soft but tension crackled beneath it. “I told you, this time, I won’t let you go.” He wasn’t lying; he had been young, immature. He’d experienced a series of personal losses. He couldn’t bear to have her leave him too so he’d let her go first. Then he poured himself into his job. It gave him purpose.
But Sadie was like sunshine, warming him through, infusing him with an altogether different sense of resolve. To see her face light up. To be in her glow. There was no one like her.
Chapter 5
Sadie
Sadie had long since pushed all her feelings aside, deep down, or out of sight, out of mind. By not getting sidetracked by her emotions, she’d made it so she could forge ahead. It proved easier and more efficient than letting life overwhelm her or stress her out. But Tripp’s hand holding hers ignited something within she couldn’t ignore.
Finally saying what she’d wanted to say all that time didn’t light the fuse in her heart. Not even his apology struck the match to bring it back to life. No, it was the claim he made with that simple gesture. Those five powerful words were the ignition, a promise. I won’t let you go. They smoked out the anger, the confusion, the bitterness. They blew away the sadness, the sense of betrayal, and abandonment.
She hid her hands in her lap, thinking, processing, trying to understand the multitude of emotions crying out, lighting up, demanding her attention.
The food had arrived but she didn’t dare touch Tripp’s hands again, not even for the blessing. She folded her palms together and expressed her gratitude before helping herself to a jalapeno popper. The heat was strong on her tongue, but she wouldn’t let herself fall back into his arms so easily.
“Did you want to order your meals now?” Kayla asked after checking on a nearby table.
Sadie felt as if she were pulled from a trance. She felt his eyes locked on hers as though waiting for a response. I won’t let you go. She shook her head, snapping herself out of it.
“Yeah. I’ll take a salad and hawk fries, extra cheese.”
“That’s my girl.” Kayla jotted it down on the order pad.
“I’ll have the nachos,” Tripp said.
“They’re big enough for two people.”
“I’ve seen him eat two plates full—” Sadie said, recalling a time when he and his brothers competed for who could be the biggest pigs, only they claimed it was a test of endurance.
“I thought we’d share,” he said with a smile.
“Our nachos are the best,” Kayla added. “Be back in a jiffy.”
“The new Tripp shares his nachos?”
“If you’re remembering the time I—”
She cut him off. “I’d rather not remember any of it.”
“That was the old me. Let me explain.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Please?”
“Please? Well, since you’re using your manners, why not,” she said, not dulling the sarcasm in her words with a smile.
He popped a jalapeno in his mouth. “The new you is spicy. I like it.”
“Spicier,” she corrected.
Tripp squared himself and leaned toward Sadie. “Listen. I can only imagine how difficult I made your life when I broke things off.”
“Difficult? More like miserable.”
“You know that in order for me to receive my inheritance, I had to marry.”
“I think everyone in Hawk Ridge Hollow knows that. What with the women leaving their boyfriends and lining up at your door, hopeful for a proposal.” Sadie scoffed. She was surprised not to see a ring on his finger. Or perhaps he’d already divorced.
“I didn’t want you to think I was only marrying you because it would give me access to the money.”
“It did occur to me after the fact but we were together, together. Why would I think that? I thought you knew me better. Wait, unless you think I just stayed with you because then if you had billions, I could make you buy me things, take me to fancy places, and—” Danielle’s stories about her boyfriend flashed through Sadie’s mind.
Tripp held up his hands. “Sadie, I know you’re not that kind of woman. No, it’s more complicated. Layered. We were so young when we met.”
“You were my first and only real boyfriend.”
Tripp’s eyebrows shot up. “You weren’t kidding when you said you weren’t dating.”
“You’re so full of yourself. Of course, I’ve dated. But—” She shook her head and wasn’t about to tell him no one else ever measured up. “Go on. Finish what you were saying.”
“I was afraid I’d keep you from all your dreams of travel, backpacking.”
“Those were our dreams. At least I thought they were.”
“I was afraid I’d hold you back.”
“You can out-hike, out-ski, and out-everything me. What do you mean hold me back?”
Tripp studied his hands and took a breath that caused his toned chest to strain even more against his thermal shirt. “The inheritance isn’t only money. It’s responsibility. I thought I was mature back then. Old fashioned, responsible. Not wild like my brothers.”
“So, you wanted your freedom?”
“Yes, but—”
“You’re right. You weren’t mature. We could have talked about this. Of course, I wanted a family but getting married doesn’t mean we’d have to immediately settle down. We could’ve traveled and then bought a house, had kids. Why didn’t you just tell me.”
“I was afraid—”
“Of what? I don’t understand.”
Tripp leaned closer still. “I was afraid to fill my father’s shoes. The inheritance came with his rules but it also came with his role. It means I’d be in charge.”
“But your brothers all had the same stipulation, right?”
“Yes, and do you see any of them with a ring around their finger?”
“You’re all avoiding marriage because you’re afraid of following in your father’s footsteps?” She hadn’t seen any of them lately in fact.
Tripp’s shrug was so subtle she almost missed it.
Sadie shook her head. “No. I don’t buy it. The Hawkins brothers are fearless. They’re the strongest men I’ve ever met. Well, I guess I’ve never met Blake, but all the same.”
“That’s the point. We’re men. Human. And I’m sorry.” Tripp leaned back in his chair and raked his hand through his dark hair. “Now you know. I’m not as strong as you thought.”
Sadie shook her head again and locked her eyes on his. “No, Tripp. You’re stronger. Even though I don’t completely understand, I respect that you finally had the guts to tell me the truth. Thank you.”
He looked around, dumbfounded. “It took more courage than I thought I had, but really?
”
“Apology accepted.” It felt good to say it, a relief, even if underneath she wasn’t quite certain if she fully meant it.
“Okay. Well, um. Great. So. After everything that happened where’d you go anyway?” He stumbled over the words as though not sure how to break the ice.
“I went to Australia….”
“As far away from me as you could get.”
Sadie almost smiled. “Yup. Then Italy.” She told him about the backpackers she’d befriended.
“So, can we be friends?” Tripp asked.
“No, no we cannot.” The words were tart. She could forgive, but not forget and friendship would require that.
“I thought you’d accepted my apology.”
“I’ll let you know if I change my mind. But friends don’t do things like that to each other.”
“Fair enough. I suppose.” His eyebrows crowded together.
She started to get up again but their food arrived.
“Now, you two lovebirds enjoy,” Kayla said.
Sadie rolled her eyes but stayed put.
Over the course of the meal, he told her about working at the Firehall in the city. He went on to ask about her travels and she told him a few more stories about her time abroad, keeping it civil.
When they’d both had their fill and they’d declined the dessert menu, Tripp said, “You know, this seems like this is something friends would do. Sit. Eat. Chat.”
“Kayla practically forced us. You wouldn’t let me leave.” She recalled the burn of his hand gripping hers and the way his words seared into her mind, leaving her with a sizzling feeling, melting away the frostiness surrounding her heart, the armor she wore to protect herself.
Tripp smiled his infuriatingly charming, smug, and devastating smile. It melted a bit more.
“I have to go home.” But she didn’t truly want to. Part of her hated that fact because it made her feel selfish, but the night had been one for truths. If she was honest, she was tired. She worked full time and was a caretaker. It was a lot. Plus, it was warm and lively at the Hawk and Whistle—a contrast to the sadness that lingered throughout her crumbling down home. Houses took a beating from the weather each winter in Hawk Ridge Hollow and they didn’t have the money to hire out repairs.
