Page 82 of The One I Stood Beside

“Push gift?” I ask, cursing myself in my head for even asking. I plan on eating dinner with them, then going upstairs for the night, letting them catch up. I’ve never cared for Melody.

“Do you guys have those here? The husband gets the wife a gift for having the baby.”

“Isn’t the baby the gift?”

Sadie shoots me a look to be quiet and not judge.

“Well, you look great. Come on in. Do you want some wine?” Sadie waves her into the kitchen.

“Do you mind if I change? I had to go to the airport right from the courthouse, and I feel disgusting. Jude, do you mind taking my suitcase to my room?”

Sadie shoots me another “be nice” look.

“Sure.” I pick it up and walk up the stairs, then put it in the spare room. I turn around to leave, but she’s there, peeking into the room.

“Oh great, is there a shower in here too?” she asks.

“Down the hall,” I say, pointing toward the bathroom the other three bedrooms share.

She giggles again. “I forgot how traditional all the houses are around here. Dave and I put bathrooms in each of our kids’ bedrooms. Makes it easier.”

I don’t give a shit.

“Awesome. Towels are under the sink.” I step out of the room while she comes in, and we end up sliding against one another.

“You must be happy, huh?”

I turn back toward her from the top of the stairs. “What do you mean?”

“It all worked out for you.”

I turn to face her directly. “What did?”

“That Sadie couldn’t go away. I mean, she should be with me in Los Angeles or in New York or some other big city. For you, it’s probably good that she had to stay back here to care for her mom.”

My jaw sets. “What are you implying?”

She giggles for I swear the hundredth time since she walked into my house. “Always so serious. I didn’t mean anything by it. I just meant it all worked out. You two are married.”

My thumb runs over my ring—as it often does when I wonder how it has all worked out. That Sadie is my wife. A dream I never thought would happen. But we’ve been happy since the wedding, and I only fall more in love with her every day.

“If you need anything, let us know.” I climb down the stairs and go to the kitchen.

Surely I can keep it together for forty-eight hours.

Sadie makes an amazing garlic butter chicken with spinach and bacon in a cast iron pan, serving it over pasta. I’m on my second plate when Melody asks about the farm. Or, as she puts it, “farm life.”

“I’m turning my family farm into a pasture-raised chicken farm.” Sadie sounds so proud. “Jude’s already built one of the coops, and this winter, we’re going to get everything else ready.”

Melody sips her wine, only eating a quarter of her plate. “That’s so cute. I can see you out there, sprinkling food out of your apron with all the chickens around your ankles.”

Sadie laughs. “Well, it won’t be that small of an operation.”

“But starting out, it will be, no?” Melody asks. She always has a smile to mask her insults.

“Depends on how many chicks we get. Jude and I still have to work out some of the logistics.” Sadie refills their glasses. “Do you need another beer, Jude?”

“I’m good, thanks.”

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