Page 14 of Searching for Sadie
"Just the man I've been looking for," said a booming voice he recognized as a strong hand clapped him on his shoulder.
"Hey dad, this is Sadie. She just moved in next door."
"Well, Sadie, welcome to Mystic Falls. Do you mind if I steal my son for a minute?"
"Oh, of course," she said quickly. The look of relief on her face was not lost on him.
"What do you need?" he asked, anxious to get back to Sadie.
"We have a booth set up. Your brother was supposed to man the dinner breaks, but he’s stuck at a meeting. Could you do it?"
When he’d told his mom he could help it was before he thought about asking Sadie to come with him. He looked back to Sadie who was looking at one of the vendors before turning back to his dad. He wanted to say, ‘no I'm on a date’. Only he wasn'tactuallyon a date.
"Oh umm... yeah?" he said, his eyes still glued to Sadie who seems to be examining a basket of crystals in Bridget's booth.
"Lucas, can you cover dinner shifts at our tent?" he asked again.
"Yeah, that's fine. Let me go tell Sadie, but only for a dinner break."
"Of course, I'd do it myself but I'm still at the store."
"Okay, let me go tell Sadie. I'll be right there."
He made his way through the crowd over to the purple tent Bridget put up during town events. While it wasn’t really his thing, it drew a crowd. She read tarot cards and had all kinds of little magic trinkets, books and tarot cards for purchase. There were people in town who swore she actually had magical powers. While Lucas didn't buy it, she was a brassy older woman who always made him laugh.
"I know that look in yer eyes," said the woman herself in her thick Scottish brogue.
"What?"
"Yer smitten with the lass."
While he wanted to argue, she wasn't wrong. Smitten was the right word for what he was feeling.
"Be careful with this one. She looks like she's been through it," she said, placing a gentle hand on his thick forearm.
Lucas just nodded. Bridget's intuition about people was always spot on. And in this case, it was the same as his. Therewas something going on with her that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
"Excuse me," he said to Bridget before making his way over to Sadie.
She was still there in the tent, but she had moved on from the little basket of crystals to the table with an assortment of different teas.
"Sadie," he said, reaching out to gently touch her shoulder. As he did, he felt what he could only describe as a jolt of electricity shoot through him. Being an electrician, he'd felt that a time or two.
She turned with a startled look on her face. Apparently, she’d felt it too.
"I'm sorry," he said quickly, pulling his hand back. "My dad asked me to cover the dinner breaks over at our tent. You can come help or feel free to look around. It should be more than thirty minutes."
"Oh, yeah. I think I can occupy myself. What tent are you in?" she asked, looking down the road.
"I'm down at the Fipp’s Market tent. We are selling snacks and some other stuff."
"Okay, I'll explore and then come find you in a bit."
"Okay... I'll see you soon."
He turned to leave, the tingle still in his body. Why did he feel like he was on the edge of something important? He ran his hand through his ruffled blonde hair as he weaved his way through the crowd. Thirty minutes, then he would start finding ways to make her smile again.
CHAPTER 8
