Page 18 of When Morning Comes Around

“Ooh! What’s the part that I don’t know?” Savannah waggled her eyebrows. “What happened after you guys left the diner last night?”

“Not a damn thing! Well, nothing that you don’t know. He drove me back to Dad’s place and dropped me off.”

“And there was no goodnight kiss? No making out in the car before he left?”

Sadie laughed. “No, sorry to disappoint you, but no.”

“Never mind me, you’re the one who’s disappointed, aren’t you?”

Sadie chewed on her bottom lip. Was she disappointed? Of course not! Yes, Dominic was an attractive man, and not only that, he was a kind man. But that wasn’t the point – she wasn’t looking for someone new – she hadn’t even begun to deal with the end of her marriage. She wasn’t in a position or a headspace to even think about kissing someone new. And yet, now that Savannah had mentioned it… No. Just no.

“Okay, well if you’re not going to admit it,” said Savannah, “you should probably give him a call and let him know that we’ll be in town by nine. I’ll be busy until noon, and then I’m happy to give you a ride back.”

“Thanks, where will be easiest for you to pick me up?”

Savannah grinned. “How about I call you when I’m done? That way we can figure out where you are – and if you still need a ride.”

“I’m pretty sure that I will – I don’t imagine the minivan will be fixed by lunchtime.”

“Neither do I,” said Savannah.

Sadie gave her a puzzled look. “I know that I said I might stop by and see Nina, but I don’t think she’ll be able to give me a ride home, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Savannah laughed. “It’s not – and if you don’t know what Iamthinking, don’t worry about it, just give him a call.”

“Oh.” If Savannah thought that Dominic might give her a ride home again… No, why would he? She wasn’t going to waste anytime entertaining that question. Instead, she took her phone out and inhaled deeply before dialing his number.

~ ~ ~

Dominic set his phone down with a frown. He’d told Sadie that he’d meet her at Jake’s garage. He didn’t know why he’d done that. Well, he kind of did; Jake had gone up the hill early this morning and towed her minivan in. It would be best for her to meet Jake and see where her vehicle was. But even though that was the logical explanation, he knew it wasn’t the real one. He’d wanted to give her directions here, to the house, but something about that felt wrong.

He checked his watch; he still had a few minutes before he needed to set out. He stopped when he realized that he was pacing in the kitchen – what was wrong with him? Nothing. There was nothing wrong with him. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Okay, so Sadie might have caught his attention, but that didn’t mean anything. He’d meet up with her at Jake’s garage, return her things to her, and that would be the end of it.

He blew out a sigh. That didn’t have to be the end of it – not if he didn’t want it to be. He twisted his ring around on his finger. He felt disloyal to Polly even thinking about it. Sadie might become a friend – he was open to making new friends – but that was all; he wasn’t open to anything else.

He spun around and hurried to get his phone from the counter when it rang.

“Hey, Damon, what’s up?”

“Hey, Jo and I are headed over to town. She has some errands to run, and I’m going to hit the gym. Do you want to come with?”

“I…err…”

Damon laughed. “It’s not a problem if you don’t, I just thought I’d kill two birds with one stone. I could come over and hang out if you don’t want to hit the gym.”

“It’s not that, I… I have a couple of errands to run myself.” He frowned. Why was he making excuses? Going to see Sadie at the garage could be considered an errand, technically, but… “Actually, did you know that Jake’s back? I’m headed over to the garage.”

“Yeah? Does he need a hand? I can come help.”

“I’m sure he’d love to see you. I’m not exactly going to help him – we both know I wouldn’t be any use at that. It’s just… The woman from last night…”

“Shit, sorry! I totally forgot to ask you how that went.”

“Yeah, it was fine. I gave her a ride to her dad’s place. Get this… It turns out that she’s Harvey’s daughter.”

“Harvey from the garden center?”

“That’s right.”

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