Chapter 12

12

After the twins had been ejected from the carriages, Sadie settled into the carriage seat with King at her side.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and tugged her in close. "How was that for an SOS?"

"Perfect." Sadie relaxed with a contented sigh. "You would not believe what I had to endure throughout the entire concert." She felt King stiffen beside her, and she quickly said, "Nothing you need to go all caveman over."

"Well, that's a relief. What did the jackass do?"

"Good ole Kasper asked me what I thought of his outfit, and when I was noncommittal, he said his mother picked it out for him," Sadie said, shaking her head.

"Uh, what? His mother came over to help him get dressed for his date?"

"Oh, no. The doofus twins live with their mother," Sadie said with a soft chuckle. "She apparently does almost everything for them, so I got to listen to him talk about how much he wanted to get married and how he's so progressive because he likes to clean. Especially mopping and controlling the robot vacuum. The man has a serious fetish for those things."

"That's super weird," King said.

"Yep. But I shouldn't worry, because he fully supports my prerogative to quit my job and homeschool the kids."

King sat up and stared at her. "This is a joke, right?"

Sadie laughed as she shook her head. "Nope. Apparently, he googled my house because he wanted to make sure it had potential as a family home. It wasn't a deal breaker, but he wanted to know up front before we got serious."

"I'm guessing if I hadn't kicked him off the carriage, you'd have done it yourself the moment you had a chance," King said as he settled back down and pulled her back into his arms.

"He's lucky I didn't kick him in the nuts." It had been damned close, but somehow Sadie had managed to control herself for Melissa's sake. If for some reason it had worked out between her and Jasper, Sadie didn't want to have drama between her and Jasper's family.

King let out a bark of laughter that made her grin up at him.

Sadie glanced back at the carriage behind them and spotted Melissa chatting animatedly with Briggs. "Looks like those two are getting along."

"I wouldn't read too much into it," King said, trying to curb her expectation. "Briggs is a shameless flirt, but I've never seen him serious about anyone."

"Ah, he's one of those, is he? Well, Melissa is a serial dater, so they are probably a decent match... for now."

The rest of the evening was spent admiring the Halloween decorations that covered practically the entire town. Sadie's favorite was a large Victorian house that overlooked the river that had animated gargoyles on the roof, ghostly figures in the windows, and a light show with bats that flew in a formation that was coordinated to the song "Thriller" by Michael Jackson.

By the time the carriage pulled up in front of her house, she'd almost forgotten all about the twins.

King hopped out of the carriage and then held his hand out to her.

"Such a gentleman," she said as she climbed down. "Thank you for salvaging my evening."

"It was my pleasure." King started to guide her to her door, but Sadie pointed to the house next to hers.

"I'm at Melissa's for the next couple of weeks," Sadie said. "There's a termite infestation at my place, so tomorrow it's getting tented bright and early for a few days. Once they take the tent down, they're working on rebuilding my porch and fixing the foundation. Melissa graciously offered us her spare room."

"Termites? That sounds bad," King said.

"It's not good," she agreed, desperately wishing the work on her house wasn't starting the next day. She'd give anything to invite King into her house. Ask him to stay over. To finally find out what it was like to be with the King McGrath.

But that would have to wait for another day. When she spotted Briggs waving at Melissa as she hurried up to her front door, Sadie knew it was time to say goodnight to King.

"Thank you for the save and the lovely carriage ride. It really salvaged an otherwise horrible evening," she said.

"Anytime, Sadie Lewis. Just send that SOS." King dipped his head and gave her a sweet kiss and then climbed back into the carriage.

She stood on the curb, watching as the two men rolled away in the horseless carriages. When they turned the corner, she finally went into Melissa's house, let Cosmo out, and then went to find her friend.

"Mel?" Sadie called as she and Cosmo headed down the hallway toward her friend's bedroom. "Are you back here?"

"Yes." The moment Sadie walked into her bedroom, Melissa asked, "Can you believe how awful that date was? Who could have guessed that Jasper would be such a creep?"

Me, Sadie thought. At least judging by his brother. That man had no concept of boundaries. Who searched online for their date's address and then googled their house with the idea that he'd be living in it some day? Her skin was still crawling after learning that tidbit. But after he'd been so unceremoniously dismissed, Sadie guessed she wouldn't have to worry about seeing him again. "I'm sorry it didn't work out," Sadie lied. "But it looks like you had a fun time with Briggs at least."

Melissa walked over to her closet and pulled out her suitcase. She was going out of town for business in the morning and would be gone for a few days. She was a sales rep for a number of wineries up and down the California coast, including the Pelsh winery. "Briggs is fun. And I grilled him about King for you."

"Mel!" Sadie picked up Cosmo and the two of them sat down on her friend's bed. "I didn't need you to do that."

"I know, but if I don't look after you, who will?" She smiled sweetly at her friend. "Besides, after that fiasco tonight, I wanted to make sure you weren't hanging out with another jackass. Briggs says he's got some baggage but is a decent guy. So I guess I approve of whatever you two have going on."

Baggage was an understatement. But who didn't have at least some baggage? Goddess knew that Sadie had more than her fair share.

Melissa pulled out a pretty dress and held up a pair of white ankle boots. "Do these go together?"

"Sure."

"Oh, good. I always wonder what shoes to wear once it starts getting chilly. It was either these or my six-inch heels, and those just seem so impractical." Melissa went on to babble about five or six more of her outfits she was considering for her trip until finally Sadie held her hand up, stopping her.

"I know what you're doing," Sadie said.

"And what's that?" she asked, paying extra attention to the socks she was placing in her suitcase.

"You're babbling so we don't have to talk about Jasper. Or his creepy brother Kasper. We should have known they were bad news with names like that," Sadie added, trying to keep it light.

"Eh, what's to talk about? You didn't like Kasper from the start, and I guilted you into going. And then it turns out that Jasper was just a bully. A true asshole when he didn't get his way. All I have to say is good riddance."

Sadie reached over and covered her friend's hand with her own. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. I'll be all right. He's not the first total jerk I've dated. At least I didn't waste weeks on him, right?" Her tone was resigned, but then she seemed to perk up when she said, "It's all good. Now I'm free to jump Briggs. That man is one gorgeous specimen."

"Something tells me he'll have no problem with that," Sadie said with a chuckle. She put Cosmo on the floor and then went to hug her friend. "I love you."

"Love you, too, sweetie." She stepped back. "Now get out of here so I can finish packing. If you're not up when I leave in the morning, I'll see you in a few days."

"You'll be back for our performance, right?" Sadie asked, suddenly worried her main person might not be there.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Melissa bent down to give Cosmo pets and said, "Take care of your mama for me."

He gave Melissa an enthusiastic tail wag before following Sadie to their room.

The sun was streaming through the window when Sadie finally opened her eyes the next morning. She groaned her displeasure and blinked rapidly until her eyes adjusted.

"Cosmo?" she said, looking around the room for her pup. He wasn't next to her where he usually slept, nor was he in his dog bed. But her bedroom door was cracked open, so she assumed that Melissa had let him out.

She rolled out of bed and padded into the kitchen. The moment she opened the refrigerator door, Cosmo came running in from the living room. He jumped excitedly as he barked his good mornings.

"Hey, buddy. Did your Auntie Melissa already leave?" she asked him.

Cosmo ran around in circles, too excited by the morning to relax.

Chuckling to herself, she went in search of coffee. While it was brewing, she found the note that Melissa had left letting her know that Cosmo had been out and she'd fed him breakfast.

"Thanks, Mel," Sadie said to the void while she got her coffee. With her mug in hand, Sadie headed to the bathroom, ready to get her day started. She'd only got as far as brushing her teeth when she heard an ominous gurgling sound coming from the pipes.

Just as she turned, the sound was even louder, followed by brown sludge that spurted out of the drain, filling the tub. The sewer scent made her gag, and she ran out of the bathroom and into Melissa's bathroom only to find the same sludge in her shower.

"Holy hell!" Sadie cried as she ran back into the kitchen, looking for her phone.

An hour later, the sewage had only backed up further and Sadie was sitting outside with Cosmo as a serviceman inspected the septic. When he finally appeared, his face was grim. "Your friend has tree roots blocking her pipes. There are multiple sections that need to be replaced, and her septic needs repairs. It won't be cheap, and unfortunately it won't be today. We can pump out the sewage, but she can't use the plumbing until we can get back to get the work done."

Sadie's heart sank as she looked over at her house, which was already tented and being fumigated. "How long will it be until you can get back?"

"Three, four days, tops. We can try for sooner, but there's no guarantee. I suggest finding somewhere else to stay for a few days." He tore off the estimate and handed Sadie his business card. "Have your friend call us to authorize the work, and we'll get it scheduled right away."

"I will." Sadie took the paperwork and called Melissa to give her the bad news.