Chapter 9

9

King knocked on the front door of Sadie's one-story, sea-green cottage and smiled to himself. There were fake spiderwebs, gargoyles, and a stone black cat decorating the porch. But the lawn was the truly spectacular show. She had put out headstones and added plastic skeleton hands to make it look like zombies were rising from the graves. There was also a skeleton cat chasing a skeleton dog and a statue of a haggard witch overseeing the scene.

It was exactly the way he'd imagined it would be for Halloween. Back in Westhaven when they were just kids, Sadie had often talked of the house she'd grown up in. How she and her mother had gone overboard decorating for the holidays. It was one of the only times she'd spoken about her mom without tearing up.

He glanced at the porch swing and had a sudden vision of them sitting right there, cuddled together as they watched the snow trickle down in the dead of winter. His heart fluttered as joy filled all his empty spaces.

Anxious to see Sadie, he knocked and then quickly rang the doorbell.

Frantic barking came from inside and was quickly followed by the door being tugged open and Sadie saying, "Hush, Cosmo. It's okay. King is here to work on that song."

The brindle-colored dog ignored her order and continued to bark and growl at King.

"Do I need to worry about losing a limb?" King asked, only half joking.

"No." Sadie rolled her eyes and picked up the small but sturdy dog. "He'll calm down in a few minutes. Come on in."

King followed her into the house and took in the comfortable, eclectic style. The floors were a rustic hardwood, and she'd furnished the living room with an overstuffed couch and chair. The walls were filled with colorful paintings and prints that were a mix of depictions of Keating Hollow and family photos. "Your house is great."

"Thanks," she said. "It's not much, but it's mine."

He shook his head. "This is your family home, and it shows. I'm glad I finally got to see it."

Her face flushed pink as she hugged her dog to her chest. He'd stopped growling, but he was still eyeing King with suspicion. "Let me just get Cosmo a chew stick so it keeps him occupied while we get started. Have a seat and I'll be right back."

King nodded, but instead of sitting, he went to the wood fireplace mantle and studied the photos there. There were a handful of Sadie and her friend Melissa. But mostly they were photos of Sadie and her mom. He picked up one that was a birthday celebration. Sadie looked exactly how he'd remembered her as a teenager, although there was a light in her eyes and an ease she hadn't carried with her when he'd known her back then. It made his heart break for the teenager in the photo.

"I brought water," Sadie said as she walked back into the room with Cosmo at her side, a chewy stick in his mouth. The dog ran to his pet bed and gave his full attention to his treat. When Sadie spotted King holding one of her photos, she stopped in her tracks. "That was my sixteenth birthday," she said quietly.

"It looks like it was a good one," he said as he carefully placed the photo back where he'd found it. "I don't have any family photos like this."

Her expression turned to pity. "King, that's?—"

"It's shit," he got out before she could finish her sentence. Shrugging, he added, "It's okay. I have long accepted that I just didn't do well in the parental lottery. I'm glad you did better."

She placed the waters on her coffee table and came over to him. Without saying a word, she wrapped her arms around him, giving him a hug.

King's arms went around her, and he placed his cheek on the top of her head, soaking in the love she'd always given so freely. He'd have been happy to stay there forever, but he feared if he didn't put distance between them, he'd never let her go. As he pulled back, he said, "I'm okay. Promise."

"I know you are." She gave him a soft smile. "That doesn't mean you don't need a hug every now and then from someone who cares about you."

He raised his eyebrows. "You're saying you care about me?"

Sadie glanced away briefly but then met his gaze again and said, "Of course I do. I always have. I hope you know that."

Had he? If she'd asked him that a few weeks ago, he'd have said no. Not after the way she'd disappeared from his life when they were younger. But now? After hearing how her father had forced her to move to a town she'd never been to before and ripped her away from her grandmother so shortly after her mother had passed, he could completely understand how a confused and upset teenager wouldn't handle that situation very well.

When he didn't answer, she cleared her throat. "Anyway, we should get to work. My home studio is this way."

"You have a home studio?" King asked, surprised. When she'd invited him over to rehearse, he'd figured they'd just be singing in her living room. It wasn't ideal, but since Austin had another artist recording in the studio that week, it was better than nothing.

"Yeah. I turned my mom's office into one so I could… I don't know, mess around, I guess. It's where I did my demo for Austin." She grabbed the waters and led him into a small bedroom just off the living room. There was a guitar on a stand in the corner, a keyboard against the wall, and a computer set up on a desk with a mic on a desk-mounted mic stand. "It's not much, but?—"

"This is perfect," King said as he glanced around. "Do you have another mic and stand?"

She shook her head. "I've never needed another one."

"That's fine. We can share." He pulled up one of the chairs and took a seat. "Do you mind if we record it so we can hear how we sound?"

"Not at all." Sadie took her place in the seat next to him and fiddled with her equipment for a few minutes before she said, "Okay. Just let me know when you're ready and I'll start the music track."

"Ready," he said.

They spent the next few hours recording their rehearsals and playing them back until they were both satisfied with their performances.

Finally King sat back in his chair and said, "I don't know about you, but I'm ready for dinner."

Sadie glanced at her phone. "Whew, no wonder my stomach is trying to eat itself. It's after seven already." Then she bit down on her bottom lip. "Did you want to stay? I can see if I can rummage something up. Or if you have plans or are just ready to take off, I get that, too. I'm sure you weren't expecting to stay late or anything."

King couldn't help the smile that claimed his lips. She was rambling. It was something she'd done when they were teenagers when she was nervous, but he hadn't experienced it since he'd walked back into her life a couple of weeks ago. "I don't have plans. I'd love to stay for dinner."

"Oh, okay. Well, let's see what we can find. I suppose if all else fails, we can order pizza," she said as she walked out of the room.

Pizza again? King swallowed a groan. He and Briggs had eaten their weight in pizza since King had arrived. There were only so many options for takeout in Keating Hollow, and neither had made it a priority to stock the fridge, so they'd been eating out far too often.

As King followed Sadie through the living room, her dog popped up out of his bed and shot toward him, his teeth bared.

"Cosmo!" Sadie cried. "No. Sit!"

The dog came to a sudden stop and promptly dropped his rear to the floor, but he was still vibrating with the urge to continue his attack.

"I'm so sorry, King. He's a little protective, but it's not usually this bad," Sadie said.

"He probably just needs to get used to me." King took a step forward and then kneeled down so that he was on the dog's level. "Hey, boy."

Cosmo snarled.

King chuckled softly. "You're a good boy, aren't you? Protecting your mama. She's lucky you're here." He curled his hand into a fist and offered it to the dog, letting Cosmo get used to his scent. "I'm not gonna hurt your mama."

Cosmo eyed him suspiciously but had stopped snarling.

"That's good, Cosmo. I'm willing to be friends if you are."

The dogged sniffed King and then looked at Sadie.

"He's okay, Cos," Sadie said. "I promise. You don't need to eat his face."

King stayed perfectly still for what seemed like forever until the fierce little dog's stature suddenly relaxed. He opened his mouth, his tongue hanging out as he panted softly and walked right up to King, placing his head under King's hand.

"What a sweet boy," King said as he scratched the dog's head and then his ears. Cosmo had a look of pure bliss before he flopped down on the floor and rolled onto his back, putting all four paws in the air. King glanced up at Sadie. "Is this normal?"

She laughed. "He wants you to rub his belly. Do that and you'll be his bestie for life."

"Well then, I guess I better give this boy the belly rubs he deserves." King spent the next ten minutes loving on Cosmo and finally, when the dog cuddled up next to him, his head on King's leg, King glanced up, looking for Sadie, but she was nowhere to be found. "Sadie?"

"I'm in the kitchen," she called back.

"That's my cue, buddy," King said to the dog and got to his feet.

Cosmo jumped up, too, and together they went to find Sadie.

"I see my belly rub whore of a dog has thrown me over for another," she said, smiling at them.

"I'm sure the moment you feed him dinner he'll forget all about me." King winked and moved to the sink to wash his hands.

"Ha, that's true."

"So, what did you find in that fridge of yours?" he asked while he dried his hands.

"I hope you don't have a dairy allergy," she said with a smirk. "Cause all I've got is macaroni and cheese."

King looked around for the blue and yellow box but was surprised to see she had a box of pasta shells and real cheese on the counter. "You're going to make homemade mac and cheese?"

"Yeah. If we want to get fancy, we can add bacon and caramelized onions," she said.

"Cheese and bacon?" King lowered himself to one knee, tugged a ring off his right hand, and held it out to her. "Sadie Lewis, will you marry me?"

"Get up," Sadie said with a laugh as she shook her head. "At least wait until you taste it before you make that sort of gesture. You could be signing yourself up for a lifetime of limp bacon and crunchy, undercooked pasta."

"Okay, if you insist." Weirdly disappointed at her immediate dismissal, King climbed to his feet and tried his best to ignore the feeling. "Put me to work."

It didn't take long to put all the ingredients together, and once the dish was in the oven, Sadie opened the fridge and asked, "Beer? Wine? Soda?"

"Beer, please." He walked over to the treat jar on the counter. "Can Cosmo have one of these?"

The dog immediately started jumping on his leg.

"Yeah, but for future reference, he knows that jar. And if you go anywhere near it, he'll pester you until he gets what he wants."

"You wouldn't do that, would you, buddy?" King asked as he reached into the jar for the treat. Cosmo sat, his eyes tracking the treat in King's fingers. "See, you're a good boy." He gave the dog the treat and nearly lost a finger because the pup was so excited to take it.

"Oops, I should have warned you. Nothing gets between him and his food," Sadie said, handing him a bottle from the Keating Hollow Brewery.

"I'll remember that."

King had just sat on the couch when his phone started to ring. He glanced at it and saw that it was his mother again. He immediately declined it. The phone started ringing almost instantly, and King swore under his breath as he put his phone on silent. She'd been calling ever since he'd transferred money to her account, and King had no doubt she was unhappy with the amount.

"Everything okay?" Sadie asked as she took a seat next to him.

"Yeah, sure," he said automatically, but then he wondered why he was lying to her. She and Briggs were the only two people who knew anything about his history with his parents. "Actually, that was my mother."

Sadie turned to give him her full attention. "Your biological mother?"

King snorted derisively. "Definitely my bio mom. Briggs and I don't talk to our foster parents."

"You don't? I thought you liked them," she said. "What happened?"

"I guess this is where I confess that I wasn't completely honest about my homelife," he said, staring at his beer. "It wasn't the sanctuary I led you to believe."

Sadie reached over and placed a comforting hand on his thigh but didn't say anything.

He glanced at her, grateful there wasn't any pity in her eyes. "I lied because I didn't want you to see me as a tragic castoff. Being discarded by my own parents and being homeless wasn't something I'd wish on anyone. I guess I just wanted to be seen as wanted, so I told you that my foster parents were loving people who'd opened their home and their hearts. But in reality, they just wanted the extra money from the government. The moment the money stopped, they told me and Briggs we were on our own."

"That's really messed up." Sadie's eyes flashed with something that looked a lot like hatred. "I'm sorry, King. Neither you nor Briggs deserved that. No child does. I don't care if the government puts an arbitrary age on adulthood. Young adults still need support."

"Yeah," he said, suddenly feeling like something had shifted between them. The energy between them was almost like they were back in Westhaven, where he felt he could share a piece of himself that he kept locked away from the rest of the world. "But it turns out that maybe it was for the best. Briggs and I had each other for support, and at least I gained a brother out of the deal."

"I'm glad you have him." She stared at him for a long moment before suddenly glancing away and giving her full attention to Cosmo, who was lying at her feet.

"What is it, Sadie?" he asked gently.

She shrugged and then let out a long breath before she looked at him again. "I wish I'd done things differently back then. I could've at least let you know where I was going. Could have called you back after all the messages you left me right after my dad made me leave Westhaven. After we'd been in Salem for about a month, I finally called your house and left a message, but when you didn't call me back, I figured you just didn't want to talk to me. And I didn't blame you at all. So I figured I messed it all up and left you alone after that."

"You called my house?" King asked, his chest suddenly tight.

"Yeah. I left a message on the voice mail."

Anger seethed throughout his body, though he supposed he shouldn't be surprised that whoever had heard the message hadn't bothered to tell him. His foster parents just hadn't cared enough to realize how important that call would have been to him. "Nobody told me that, Sadie. I would have returned that call. If nothing else, I would have wanted to just make sure you were okay."

Tears shone in her eyes as she said, "I really am sorry."

He clasped his hand over hers and squeezed. "So am I."

She squeezed back and said, "We really were just two lost souls back then, weren't we?"

A haunting melody started to play in his mind as a lyric formed. Just two lost souls, destined to fade into tattered memories, I swore I'd never forget you. Now I'm staring in your eyes, wondering if I'll survive another loss of you.

King suddenly stood. "We need to go back to the studio."