Page 125 of Stuck with my Boss Daddies

I wiped the sweat from my forehead. “You good?”

Sadie hesitated, then shrugged. “I don’t know.”

It wasn’t the answer I expected, but I appreciated the honesty.

I glanced toward the others—Adam was now wrangling a fan into place, Samuel was muttering under his breath about warped wood—then reached for her hand, tugging her toward the bar.

She followed without argument, stepping over puddles until we were leaning against the worn counter together.

I let the quiet sit for a moment before asking, “What’s on your mind?”

She huffed out a breath, dropping her head against my shoulder for a second. It was quick, barely there, but my stomach clenched all the same.

“I guess I just…” She trailed off, exhaling. “I never expected to be back here. To want to be back.”

I nodded slowly. “Yeah.”

“I ran from this place,” she admitted. “From you. From all of it.”

I squeezed her hand, rubbing my thumb over her knuckles. “And now?”

She looked up at me, her gaze open in a way I hadn’t seen in years. “Now, I don’t want to run.”

Something inside me went tight.

Because I knew what that meant.

Sadie Collins, the girl who had bolted without looking back, was potentially choosing to stay.

Choosing us.

I swallowed past the lump in my throat and smirked, nudging her lightly. “Well, that’s good, S. Because you’re kind of stuck with us now.”

Her laugh was soft, but real. “Yeah,” she murmured. “I think I am.”

Across the room, Adam let out a triumphant sound as the fan finally roared to life. Samuel shot him a look, but he was clearly amused too.

I let myself breathe.

We’d make this work.

We had to.

Sadie shifted beside me, her fingers tightening slightly around mine. “You know,” she said softly, “I’ve been thinking about something for a while.”

I turned to her, giving her my full attention. “Yeah?”

She nodded, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip before she released it.

“I was looking up the Willow Creek Orphanage recently, and it needs help. A lot of help.” She let out a deep sigh. “It was a hardtime in my life, being at that place, but what would I have done without it? I mean, it led me to Hayley, and to Medford too. It gave me a place to live when my parents died, and…”

Sadie’s expression turned distant, her fingers tightening slightly around mine. I gave her hand a squeeze.

“And?” I asked gently.

She let out a slow breath, shaking her head as if trying to gather her thoughts. “And I don’t want other kids to go through what I did… alone, scared, feeling like they don’t belong anywhere.” Her voice wavered but didn’t break. “That place needs help. More funding, repairs, people who actually care. I was thinking… maybe I could do something about it.”

A warmth spread through my chest at the sincerity in her voice. “You want to fix up Willow Creek?”

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