Page 68 of Wood You Knot

“He should be back soon if you want to hang around for him…” Tabitha suggested. I glanced out at the backyard, at my daughter playing happily with her girls. Aside from waving back when I first arrived, Daphne had been absorbed in their games.

“Well, she’s in no rush.” I laughed, shaking my head.

“If you want to, you and Daphne can stay for dinner. We were just going to order pizza from Pizza Picasso.”

“That sounds good.” I smiled.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Nix

I pulled into the driveway way later than usual after being held up at the jobsite. Everything that could go wrong had gone wrong, and although I had hoped to get away long enough to surprise Sage for a quick lunch on my break, I hadn’t managed it. Heck, I couldn’t take a full break at all. Aside from the gut truck sandwich I’d managed to scarf down around three o’clock, I hadn’t had much to eat.

Sage’s car in the driveway was a welcoming sight. I wasn’t expecting her to still be here, as she’d usually be long gone by now. I’d worried about her all day long, wondering if she was okay. Although she’d texted with me a few times on Sunday, I hadn’t seen her since leaving her apartment Saturday morning. She had wanted to call and confront her mother about telling Warren where to find her.

I knew that conversation couldn’t have been easy, but Sage had brushed it off in the text messages, assuring me she and everything else was fine. I wasn’t sure how much of it was a front, though. Sage was very independent, and far too used to handling everything by herself. The betrayal in her eyes when she’d spoken about her mother had made me ache. All I wanted to do was fix it all for her and ease every hurt.

Which is probably what prompted my little chat with Warren. That was one situation I could rectify and had. Annalise texted to let me know that he’d checked out Monday morning. I hadn’t expected him to leave the moment I’d threatened him—no, he was too stubborn for that—but Annalise had mentioned he hadn’t left his room at the inn all Sunday. Knowing he was back in Guelph made me feel better.

My phone buzzed with a text message from Tabitha, letting me know they’d ordered enough pizza for me if I wanted to come join them. I stopped off at my apartment to change quickly before going into the main house, where I found everyone sitting around the dining room table.

Sage and Daphne were there, and the worried feeling I’d been carrying in my chest dissipated when I saw the contented look on Sage’s face. She seemed lighter and happier than when I’d left her place on Saturday.

“Hey, everyone,” I said when I walked in. Sage smiled softly at me, and everyone else said hello. Parker passed me a plate, and I started loading it up with slices of pizza and sat down across from them, between Parker and Brielle.

“Hey, Nix! Why did the old man fall in a well?” Daphne asked me, peering at me with her mother’s beautiful shade of green eyes.

“I don’t know, why?”

“Because he couldn’t see that well, duh!” Daphne finished her joke, her smile wide and pleased when I laughed. “Uncle Ed told me that one. He’s got funnier jokes than you.”

“I’ll have to get him to teach me a few.” I chuckled, my gaze shifting to Sage. She watched us interact with a smile. The way Sage was looking at me—like I hung the stars and the moon—made me feel weightless.

The evening carried on, conversations and laughter happening while we ate. When most of the pizza had been eaten and everyone was stuffed, I stood up to tidy the mess, grabbing the empty plates and carrying them over to the kitchen so I could load them in the dishwasher. It was something I tried to do anytime Tabitha or Parker extended an invitation to me to join them for a meal.

Sage got up, too, collecting the empty plates from their side of the table.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Tabitha told her when she noticed. She’d been trying to wipe the pizza sauce from Bryson’s face with a napkin.

“It’s okay, I don’t mind. Thank you again for dinner.” Sage smiled, carrying the plates into the kitchen. “We’ll probably get out of your hair now, since tomorrow is a school and workday.”

“Aww!” came a chorus of voices from the table as all three girls voiced their displeasure.

Tabitha’s lips twitched with a smile. “You’ll see each other tomorrow at school,” she reminded them.

“Yeah, but it’s not the same. We sit at different desks, and we’re only allowed to play and be silly at recess. That’s not enough time, Mommy,” Brielle complained.

Sage and I exchanged grins before she turned to look at her daughter. “You girls have fifteen minutes tops, then we have to go, Daph.”

“Okay,” they cheered, pushing back their chairs and scooting out of the dining room, heading for the family room to play.

“I’m going to give Mr. Bryson here a quick bath,” Tabitha said, picking up a sauce-covered Bryson from his highchair and shooting Parker a look. “Come and help me?”

Parker went to argue, saw the expression on Tabitha’s face, and got the hint. “Yeah, sure.” He stood and followed Tabitha out of the kitchen, leaving Sage and me alone.

Sage started putting the dishes I’d rinsed into the dishwasher, and I helped. Once we’d loaded them all in, I closed it and took a step toward her, placing my hand on her hip and a kiss to her temple. I’d been wanting to do it since the moment I caught sight of her but hadn’t wanted to be so familiar with her in front of Daphne.

“Hey, beautiful,” I said.

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