Page 61 of Love is a Game

“Of course you don’t, that’s why you stay here,” she said with a surprised laugh. “It took me all this time to figure it out. You chat with your patrons and make nice with the grocer, and you don’t let anyone get too close so that you can just skate along and no one will call you out for wasting your potential.”

“Man, you are still so irritating,” he snapped, running a hand over his face.

She took a step toward him and jabbed her finger at his chest. “And you’re still arrogant.”

“At least I’m not willing to sell out in order to get what I want!”

“You’re not willing to do anything to get what you want! You had months to turn in that application and you didn’t do it. You’re so scared of losing, you won’t even try!”

He set his jaw, trying to swallow his rising frustration. In all the shouting, he hadn’t noticed how close they had gotten to each other. Close enough, if he reached out, he could rest his hand against her cheek.

It would be so easy to end this, to pull her close and apologize. As her eyes searched his face, he thought he saw her features soften. What would she do if he kissed her right then? His gaze dropped to her lips. As upset as he was, he still wanted to know what they would feel like against his own. Maybe she was right; maybe they didn’t have to end things on bad terms.

But it would still end. She had come to say goodbye, he remembered. No matter what he did, she was going to leave the next day. He turned away, digging his hands into the back of his recliner.

He heard her voice behind him, barely more than a whisper. “That’s why you didn’t kiss me that night, isn’t it? You weren’t willing to take a chance.”

The truth of her words hit like a punch to the gut. He hung his head, unable to face her, unable to respond. What could he say to that?

“Good night, Andrew,” she said quietly.

The door opened and closed but he didn’t move. He heard a car door slam shut outside and then the sound of tires accelerating on the wet road, and still he stayed where he was. He wasn’t sure how long he stood that way, rehashing the whole thing over in his mind, but when he finally returned to the kitchen, his food had long gone cold.

Chapter Twenty-One

Sadie jumped at the sound of her cell phone ringing. It was the third time that morning she’d caught herself zoning out. Shaking herself back to the present, she rifled through the papers on her desk until she found the phone under a file folder. Her dad’s number scrolled across the screen.

“Hello,” she said as brightly as she could manage.

“Hey, Buttercup, how are you doing?”

“Uh, doing fine. Just working. What do you need?”

“I was thinking I might head out to Seattle tomorrow so we can play a few holes at your club. Are you going to be around?”

Sadie looked at the disorganized piles on her desk and let out a breath. “I think I’ll be here in my office tomorrow. I’m totally swamped trying to finish up all this Port Angeles paperwork. Sorry.” She sighed. “But you can always go without me. I just have to call ahead. I know how much you like that course.”

He chuckled. “It’s a nice place, but I’m not going to hop on the ferry to golf by myself. I was just hoping to spend some time with you. House feels pretty empty now that you’re gone.”

Sadie felt a lump in her throat. She’d been feeling the same way in her lonely apartment. She missed having someone to eat dinner with every night.

“I’ll look at my schedule and figure out when I’m free,” she promised. “Hopefully, I won’t have to work next weekend.”

“All right, just keep me posted. You’re my favorite golf buddy, you know,” he told her.

“You’re mine too.”

“Well, I’d better go. Make sure you’re not working too hard, sweetie. Your mom worries about you.”

Sadie rolled her eyes and smiled. “Yeah, I know. Say hi to her for me.”

“I will. Love you.”

“Love you too. Bye.”

Sadie clutched the phone after the call disconnected. It had been a long two weeks since leaving Briar Cove. She’d never had this much trouble transitioning back to the Seattle office, but she’d also never had to say goodbye to people she cared about when her assignment ended. Her time at home had mended something between her and her family. Their criticisms still stung, but eventually they’d said their peace and she was able to really enjoy her time with them, more than she had in a long time. And maybe it was the fact that she knew her time with Archer was coming to an end, but once she returned to Seattle, she’d begun to see that her family might have been right about him all along. He’d been driving her crazy.

She turned to her computer screen, almost forgetting what she’d been working on. Archer had asked her to go over some preliminary numbers for the Oregon site that she would be visiting next, but she’d been struggling to focus. Her mind kept drifting back to her family, to the beach, and even to the library. She knew Andrew would be opening right about then. Friday meant toddler story time. Had he perfected his ankylosaurus yet?

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