Page 3 of Searching for Sadie
"Okay," he said, running his hand through his hair again feeling at a bit of a loss. He was just about to leave but part of him wanted to stay here and help her. He gave his head a little shake and blew out a breath. "I'm just a door away."
"Thanks, bye Lucas."
"Bye, Sadie."
Why was he finding it so hard to leave? This had to be one of the strangest first interactions he'd ever had.
Even after going home and grabbing his hockey bag, he still couldn't get his mind off his new neighbor.
He was the first at the rink and he headed to the locker room to get his gear on trying to focus.
"Hey man, how's it goin?" asked Sam Smith as he set his bag down next to him.
"Good. How about you?"
"Things are good. We’re just doing some work around the orchard gearing up for fall."
Lucas nodded and sat down to lace up his skates. His mind was still wondering and finding its way back to his neighbor. Like maybe he should tell her about his next game, and she could come and cheer for him. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tightened his laces. Maybe getting out on the ice would help him focus a little bit.
"Did you hear me?" Sam asked.
"Sorry, can you repeat that?"
"I was just saying that Wes Darling is going to lead a hockey camp for the high school team this summer and asked if we wanted to help."
"Oh yeah, that sounds good. Just let me know when and I can try and schedule work around it."
He stood up and got his stick and made his way to the ice. "I'll see you out there."
When he got there Kate was already out there doing some stretches. Since Kate moved back to Mystic Falls and finally joined their rec team they'd become good friends. Lucas, Sam and Kate hung out a lot watching games. Her boyfriend was one of the star players for the Glendale Magic. Every now and then he would come to their games and cheer them on. All that thought did though was point him straight back to his beautiful neighbor.
Life was about to get interesting here in Mystic Falls.
CHAPTER 3
SADIE
After Lucas left, Sadie finished organizing her boxes before making her way upstairs. As she climbed the stairs, she remembered sliding down them in a sleeping bag when she was little. While she may not have had cousins to play with, Aunt Rosie always made up for it. It was always fun here.
When she was at the top of the stairs she stood in the small hallway with three doors. The one right in front of her was the bathroom, on the right was her aunt's room and to her left was the guest room.
It made sense to choose her aunt's room. It was almost double the size, but she couldn't seem to make herself go in it. So, she opened the room to the guest room instead. There was barely room for the small twin bed, dresser and bookshelf that was in here, but there was a window seat. She loved it. Reading in this spot when she was little and the rain would come was a cherished memory.
Walking over, she ran her fingers along the books on the shelf. There was one shelf of books. The shelves underneath were full of sheet music and old music books. But the verybottom shelf was full of hundreds of old vinyl records. She looked through them until she found the one she wanted.
She pulled out the old loved yellow album. Jolene by Dolly Parton. One thing she shared with her aunt was their love for Dolly. Carefully, she slid the album out and put it on the record player on the dresser. The sound that filled the air almost brought tears to her eyes. She set it onI will always love you, but it had that old crackly quality that only comes from well-loved vinyl.
She sat on the bed and hugged an old pillow to her chest as she let the tears fall. What had happened? How had she gotten here?
Only a year ago she was living in Nashville working for a record label. It might not have been the job of her dreams, but she was moving up the ladder. She started as an administrative assistant, but by the time she left, she was an assistant producer. Making music had always been her dream. It probably started here with her aunt and their love of Dolly. Her father had talked her into going to school for music business, but her heart was always in songwriting.
Her mom, on the other hand, never understood her like her aunt did. She wanted to see her happily settled down and living in a house full of children, but all Sadie wanted to do was make music.
But her mom... it had been her mom who convinced her to make what had probably been the worst decision of her life.
Almost a year ago to the day she had started filming for a reality TV dating show 'Before First Sight'. The whole premise of the show was glorified speed dating, but the catch was you didn’t ever see them. The couples were able to talk to each other and get to know each other on a deeper level before they saw each other. Only then would they be revealed to one another a whisked away for a romantic trip before returning to see if theycould make it work in the real world, all while being filmed. Sadie liked the premise of the show. Deeper connections were always something she sought after and were often hard to find. This seemed perfect.
Her job had been more than happy to give her the time off for filming, thinking that it would be good publicity. Everything seemed to be lining up.
