Page 9 of When Morning Comes Around

He turned to go inside, and Dominic reached out to hold the door open. Sadie’s heart hurt as she watched her dad shuffle down the hallway toward the den at the back of the house.

She looked up at Dominic, and he gave her a sympathetic smile before following her inside.

“Do you need a hand…?” she started to ask, but her dad answered the question by pressing a button on a remote control attached to his armchair. Once the seat was at the right height, he turned around and sat before pressing the button again to lower the chair to a normal height.

The tension in her shoulders eased a little when he winked at her with a mischievous smile. “Does it look like I need a hand?”

“It looks like you’ve got things handled.” She gave him a stern look. “But if that were the case you wouldn’t be all battered and bruised, would you? Looks can be deceiving, Dad.”

He turned to Dominic. “Wouldn’t you think she’d give me some credit?”

Dominic held his hands up. “Sorry, Harvey, but I’m staying out of this one.”

Her dad laughed. “I knew you were a smart one. But come on, fill me in? What are the two of you doing together?” He shot a glance at Sadie. “I’d love to think that you finally came to your senses and dumped dopey Dale, but…”

All Sadie could do was stare at him; she didn’t know what to say.

Her dad’s eyes widened. “You did?”

She sighed. “Not exactly, but I know you’ll be pleased to hear that we’re done – our marriage is over.”

“What then?” he asked with a scowl. “He dumped you?”

She made a face; she was here to help her dad with his problems, not to burden him with her own. She wanted to be mad at him for asking in front of Dominic, but that would be kind of hypocritical since she’d already told Dominic the sorry tale herself.

“He didn’t exactly dump me, and perhaps the worst part is that I don’t think he would have – I was too useful to just get rid of, so he was trying to have his cake and eat it, too.”

“He was screwing around on you? Are you sure?”

“I saw it with my own two eyes – at the office, on his desk.”

“Damn! I’m sorry. I mean, I’m sorry that you had to find out that way – I’m not sorry that it’s over. Itisover? You’re not going to go back to him, are you?”

“Oh, hell no! We are well and truly done.”

“Glad to hear it.” He gave Dominic a puzzled look. “Are you going to make my day and tell me that you’re the new man?”

Sadie cringed and covered her eyes with her hand. Her dad used to embarrass her like this when she was a teenager. She’d thought that those days were long gone.

“Dad!” she hissed. “Dominic and I don’t even know each other. I broke down on the way up the hill, and he was kind enough to give me a ride here.”

Dominic smiled at her dad. “I didn’t just find Sadie on the side of the road; a friend of hers is also a friend of mine and she was looking for someone who could help.”

“I want to say that I see, but I’m not sure I do. This mutual friend – is she your woman?”

“No. I don’t have a woman, Harvey. You know that.”

The way Dominic smiled at her dad made her wonder just how well they knew each other.

“It was Nina who called me,” Dominic explained.

“Ah, right. Manny wouldn’t be happy with me for asking if she was your woman, would he?”

Dominic chuckled. “He would not.”

Sadie felt strangely left out of the conversation. “I called Nina when I broke down,” she told her dad.

“Why did you do that? Could AAA not get to you soon enough?”

---