Page 42 of When Morning Comes Around

She leaned in for another hug, and as Sadie hugged her back, she realized that her friends were another reason that she was happy to be back – and why she probably should have come home years ago.

Sadie was still smiling when she pushed open the door to the gym. She started toward the front desk but stopped dead when she spotted Dominic. He was talking to Max Douglas. In fact, he wasn’t just talking to him, it seemed like he was… instructing him.

Her heart started to pound harder. Max Douglas was the one who’d told her dad about a personal trainer who might be a good fit to work with him. Did that mean that Dominic…

“Sadie? Is that you?”

She turned. It wasn’t Dominic who spoke; he hadn’t even noticed her. It was Russ! Russ had been one of her friends as a kid. He’d been closer with Nina and Terry and with Tino, but she’d considered the four of them some of her good friends.

She hurried toward where he was sitting behind the front desk. “It’s me,” she told him with a smile. “And it’s you, too. Russ Lloyd, what are you doing here? The last I heard, you were still in the Marines, keeping the world safe.”

He chuckled. “I came home a few years ago. I opened this place. Now, I do my part to keep the world fit.”

Sadie looked around the gym. “Wow! I had no idea. That’s awesome.”

“And what about you? Terry mentioned that you were back in town. Are you here to stay?”

She made a face. “I love Terry, but we both know that she’s not exactly the soul of discretion. Are you being polite, or do you know exactly why I’m here?”

Russ gave her a rueful smile. “Terry may have mentioned about Dale. I’m sorry. She also mentioned that your dad had a fall. Is he okay?”

“He’s doing okay but he could be better. As a matter of fact, that’s why I’m here. The doctor wanted him to do some physical therapy. He refuses to go but he’s heard about a personal trainer here in the gym.” She couldn’t help it; she glanced back over her shoulder at Dominic. To her surprise, he gave her a polite smile as if she were a total stranger. Her heart sank.

She turned back to Russ when he said, “I’d be happy to work with him, if you want me to. I always liked your dad.”

She nodded slowly. Her dad had wanted to work with the same guy that Max worked with, but that was Dominic. Dominic who was doing a very good job of ignoring her or at least pretending that he didn’t even know her right now.

She made herself smile at Russ. “That’d be great, thanks. When can you fit him in?”

Russ scrolled through his phone. “Friday afternoon at four, does that work? If he wants to make it something regular, we can set up a different day and time. It’s just that Friday at four is all I have left this week.”

“That works for me – and I’m sure it’ll work for him; he doesn’t have anything else going on at the moment.”

“What about the garden center? Whenever I’ve been over there, it seems like he still runs the place by himself.”

“Tilly and Parker are in charge for now. I’m actually surprised how chill he’s being about that. I’m hoping that this fall might persuade him to take things a bit easier and let them carry more of the load going forward.”

Russ smiled. “Good luck with that. I’ll do my part to get him back on his feet. Who’s his doctor? I can check in with them before Friday.”

“Dr. Morgan, but not Doc.”

Russ laughed. “No, these days, Dr. Morgan means Doc and Lizzie’s son, Michael. That one took me by surprise when I came home, too. Then again, it shouldn’t have, should it?”

“I suppose not. We went and got older; there’s no reason to think that the people we used to think of as kids wouldn’t have done the same.”

She turned when the door opened behind her, and smiled at the woman who came in.

Turning back to Russ, she said, “I’ll see you on Friday, then.”

“I’ll look forward to it,” said Russ.

She nodded at the woman as she passed her, and the woman smiled back. She couldn’t resist taking one last look at Dominic; it felt strange to leave without even saying hello to him. At the same time, she didn’t want to intrude on Max’s session.

It seemed that she needn’t have worried about Max’s session – that was clearly over. Max was waving to the woman who had just come in, and he and Dominic were going over to join her. The expression on Dominic’s face took Sadie’s breath away. To say that he was pleased to see the woman didn’t come close to describing it. He was in love with her, totally and utterly in love with her, there was no mistaking it.

She started when she realized that Russ was giving her a puzzled look, while she was standing there unable to do anything other than stare. She turned hurriedly and left.

By the time she reached the bakery a little farther down Main Street, she felt as though she’d run a marathon. Her heart was pounding, and she felt shaky and sweaty. She couldn’t make sense of it. What was he playing at? He’d seemed so genuine. And yet…

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