Page 4 of Something Blue

It only took a minute for Sadie to follow. Las Vegas’s heat was no joke. It was already in the hundreds, and summer hadn’t even started. When she joined her friend at the clothing racks, Carrie’s arms were already full.

Sadie groaned inwardly. If she wasn’t so generous, Sadie would hate how materialistic Carrie could be. “Whoa, slow down, girl. I only need one, maybe two.”

“Not if you want to show Chase what he’s been missing. You haven’t seen him in years, and you need to wow him, even if he is marrying your arch nemesis.”

She imagined running away from their wedding in tears. It’d been hard enough to see them flirting every year. At least they lived in a different state so she only saw them once a year. Sadie sighed. If she did decide to go, it would be the worst ache, second only to her mom’s death.

“You really don’t want to go with me? It will give me strength to have you there.”

Carrie snatched another bathing suit off the rack, too skimpy for Sadie’s standards. “I couldn’t go even if I wanted to, which I don’t. Important meetings are scheduled all week and Joint Commission is coming up any day now. I have an idea of someone for you to take, but I’m not telling until we’ve effectively hurt my bank account.”

She shoved a stack of suits into Sadie’s hands and pointed to the dressing rooms. “Let’s begin.”

Two hours later, they laid their bags on Sadie’s bed, the only clean spot in the room.

Carrie poked at something on the side of her desk, trying to make room to sit. “Girl, I told you your apartment is too small to be messy. How can people find you in this?”

“I left a trail,” Sadie said, plopping down on top of a stack of medical books. “This place has no storage space, so where am I supposed to put everything?” Sadie sighed and glanced around. “Okay, I’ve got a sufficient amount of bathing suits. So, what’s your plan for getting me a traveling partner?”

Carrie froze mid sniff as she sorted through the laundry strewn about the room, then hung up what was clean. “Ah, that’s right! Where’s your laptop in all of this mess?”

It took Sadie three seconds to pull it off her desk. “See, organized mess. Why do you need it anyway?”

She placed the laptop in Carrie’s hand and focused on putting her three swimsuits and two sundresses somewhere in her already stuffed closet. It had taken quite a while for Carrie to talk her into it, but she’d finally relented. Even though she didn’t want to admit it, having something new to wear increased her willingness to go to the beach.

“It’s time we set you up with a guy. I’m sure there’s one out there who would like a free vacation.”

Sadie slapped her hand on Carrie’s shoulders and pulled her back. “Wait, what? I thought you had someone in mind. I’m not going to pay someone to go with me. One plane ticket is going to kill me, let alone two.”

Tapping her fingers against the keys, Carrie shrugged. “Your bonus is coming up this month.”

“What bonus?”

Carrie smiled wickedly. “The bonus I approved last weekend. I didn’t want to say anything until the board approved it, but any nurse who has put in extra hours over a certain amount of time qualifies.”

“Convenient,” Sadie mumbled to herself as she rearranged clothes in her closet. It was an older apartment but was within walking distance of the hospital and had low monthly payments. “I still don’t want to pay for a stranger’s ticket with my hard-earned money.”

“You never know. We might be able to find someone willing to pay for themselves. Let’s try, okay? I’ll pay if they want money. It’s the least I can do after giving you all the horrible shifts no one wanted. You’ve missed every holiday since your mom got sick half a decade ago. Please, this once, spend a little money on yourself.”

Sadie chewed on her bottom lip as she debated. Her mom would want her to go to Chase’s wedding. He’d been her favorite, and it did seem a waste to cancel a perfectly good vacation, especially now that she had some new outfits.

“Fine. But make sure to pick a nice guy. I don’t know how I feel about staying with a stranger for a whole week.”

“I’ll look to see if there are any Florida locals. Maybe he doesn’t have to fly or stay with you at all.”

Relief spread through Sadie. Faking a relationship with a stranger was scary enough, but staying in a cramped timeshare with one was even creepier. “Sounds better. I’ll give you thirty minutes while I clean the house. If you can find someone in that time, I’ll do it.”

“Deal,” Carrie said, typing at an astronomical speed.

In ten minutes, Carrie called her back from the kitchen. “Stop cleaning and come pick one out. I found some winners.”

Sadie left the kitchen and entered the bedroom. After resting on the bed, she cleaned the soap suds from underneath her nails with a hand towel. “Let’s hear ‘em.” She leaned forward as Carrie scrolled through the starred potentials.

Carrie slid her index finger down the pad slowly, giving Sadie a chance to look at each man. “I tried to choose Florida locals, but there are a few candidates from Vegas who look promising. Give me a heads up if you see one you like.”

Sadie commented as each face crossed the screen. “No bald guys. Too skinny. Too muscly. No mustaches.”

Carrie glared at her. “What’s wrong with mustaches? Frank has one, and he’s hot.”

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