Page 14 of Love is a Game

She was saved from Andrew’s glances when she heard the jingle of her cell phone from the other room. She tried not to look too pleased as she excused herself from the table.

“I’ll be right back,” she promised as she fled the dining room.

She dug her phone out of her purse and looked at the caller ID. Archer.

“Hey,” she said. “It’s almost seven. Are you still at the office?”

“Is it? Wow, look at that. I should probably have some food delivered. How did it go today?”

“Fine. The inspector didn’t show, but it looks like they’ve gotten a good start on the rebranding.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to stick to the timeline?”

It was impossible to say this early in the process; there were a million different things that could cause delays, but he didn’t want to hear that. Sadie had never asked for an extension on an assignment. Even if it meant working nights and weekends, she always got the job done on time. “Yes, I think so. Should be pretty standard stuff.”

“Good, because I want to send you to Astoria at the end of July.”

“July?” Her work in Port Angeles was supposed to last until June. She usually had at least three months at home in Seattle between assignments. This would be a quick turnaround.

“Yeah. I know that doesn’t give you a lot of time back in the office, but we really need someone down there. There was a meeting about it earlier. Apparently, they’ve had five employees quit in the last two months, and no one is sure why, not to mention something fishy going on with their accounting. I told them I would send the big guns, and that’s you. Are you good with that?”

Did it matter? Archer knew she would do as she was told.

“Of course,” she said, trying to keep the grimace out of her voice. The idea of moving on to another location so quickly was exhausting. “I’ll go wherever you need me.”

“Attagirl.”

“Anything else?” she asked, sort of hoping he would give her an excuse not to return to the table.

“No, that was it. Let me know when that inspector gets back to you.”

“I will. Have a good night.”

The call disconnected, and she tucked her phone back into her purse. It was not great news to receive after the hard day she’d just had. She wanted to climb into bed with a book and a cup of tea, but she was sure if she did her mom would come looking for her. She took a few steadying breaths and then returned to the dining room.

“Sadie’s always been a hard worker,” Camille was saying as she walked in. “Very driven.”

Sadie slowed. She wished she knew how the conversation had gotten around to her. Were her parents just telling more stories, or had Andrew been the one to bring her up, trying to coax embarrassing secrets out of them? She tried to decipher his face, but it was the same little grin he’d had when she left. She took her seat and tried to act unbothered.

“It’s a miracle Camille and I even made it into college,” Bob said. “We were never serious about school, so when Sadie started talking about honors classes and debate club, well—”

“It was all foreign territory,” Camille cut in, laughing. “Luckily she was smart enough to figure all of that stuff out on her own.”

That was the truth. Sadie couldn’t remember when exactly it had happened, but at some point she’d stopped going to her parents for help with school. They were always proud of her straight A’s and signed whatever forms and applications she asked them to, but they seemed to see the accolades she earned through high school as little more than fun merit badges.

“You were in all those honor classes, too, weren’t you?” her dad asked Andrew.

He nodded. “Yes, I was.”

“He and Sadie were at the top of their class,” Camille told Tyson. “They both spoke at graduation. Remember, dear?”

“Oh, that’s right,” Bob said, recognition dawning, “Couple of smarties, eh?”

“Well, Sadie always managed to stay one step ahead,” Andrew confessed. “Academically, anyway.”

She knew it was a dig, probably about the student council election, but if he was looking for a reaction, he wasn’t going to get one from her. Not in front of her family.

“She did very well in college too. We didn’t see her much then. She was always studying,” Camille said with a sigh. “I’ll never understand it; working so hard through school so you can get a job and keep working just as hard.”

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