Page 19 of Searching for Sadie
"What do you say? Karaoke?"
"Let's do it."
They made their way through the crowd over to the tent that was filled with a dozen picnic tables, a bar on one side, and a stage on the other. It was a staple at all the Mystic Falls events.
"I'll grab us a couple beers if you wanna grab a table. It’ll fill up in here."
"Okay," she said as they went their separate ways.
While he was in line, Lucas couldn't seem to keep his eyes off his curvy little neighbor. There was something about her that entranced him. She had a beautiful smile, a body he wanted to get lost in, but there was something about her that warned him to be careful with her. A smile that sometimes didn't go all the way to her eyes, that clued him into the fact that his delectable date might have some hurt she was working through. Maybe it was the loss of her aunt, either way, he knew he would be there for her.
As he waited for their beer, he saw Sam and Jackson join her. She greeted them with a smile before Sam made his way over to the beer line.
"How's it going?" Sam asked.
"Great," he said as he watched Jackson made Sadie laugh. Josh and Poppy joined them, though neither of them were drinking at the moment. Poppy was pregnant, again, and Josh never drank, but neither of them could resist the call of karaoke.
"Sadie seems to be fitting in," Sam said, clearly noticing Lucas's distraction.
Lucas looked at Sam who was giving him a shit eating grin.
When they were in school, Sam had been a few years ahead of him. He was captain of the hockey team his freshman year. But after everyone left Mystic Falls for college and other endeavors, neither of them left. Lucas went to trade school in Glendale and became an electrician and Sam took over his family's orchard. Neither of them had ever felt the need to leave this place. They started a local hockey league and flourished right where they had grown up. And in doing that, they'd gotten close.
Lucas was the best man a couple years ago when Sam had gotten married. When he got married, even though he had two brothers, he knew Sam would be his best man. He wondered if Sadie had a sister who would be her maid of honor. Crap! This wasn’t even a first date. He really was getting ahead of himself.
When he finally snapped out of whatever fantasy ride his brain was taking him, he looked over at Sam who was already getting beer.
"Hey, how did you get ahead of me?" Lucas asked.
"Well... I was paying attention," he said before he turned to head back to the table.
"Two please," he said as he got his beer and made his way back to the table.
By the time he made it back, Poppy had already made introductions and was happy chatting with Sadie. In fact, she'd taken his spot next to her. He was about to ask her to scoot down, but then Sadie looked up and connected eyes with him, and his heart skipped a fucking beat. He was a grown ass man, what was happening?
"Could you scoot down?" she asked Poppy herself, and his heart once again did the skippy thing.
Sadie scooted closer to Poppy letting Lucas have the edge, which he needed with his long legs and bulky body. Even withthat, his thigh pressed up against hers just like it had on the Ferris wheel.
It was loud in here and hard to hear, but Poppy being who she was had taken over Sadie and they seemed to be happily chatting. So, Lucas took a moment to just examine this fascinating new woman and how the community he loved was embracing her.
While he wasn't sure if she was looking for a fresh start, or running from something, Mystic Falls would be a great place to land.
"I got everything hooked up," said Josh Turner as she joined them at the table.
"I can't believe you finally talked them into using a digital catalog," Poppy said.
"It's about time," he said. "I'm Josh," he said with a welcoming smile reaching out to shake Sadie’s hand. "You look familiar."
"I'm Sadie," she said, reaching out to take his hand. "I think we met briefly last time I was in town before my aunt passed."
"Oh yes, Sadie. I remember. I heard you moved into her old place. If you need any help just let me know. I fixed a lot of things around the house for her, so I might be able to help."
"Thank you," she said.
Lucas took stock of the filling beer tent as karaoke got started. Sitting at their table was Poppy, Josh, Sam, Jackson, and Hannah Glenn.
"Where’s Graham?" Lucas asked.
