What Happens Between Friends. Beth Andrews
in his short dark hair. “He’s going to drop Dad off on his way.”
“Are Maddie and Bree still here?” Rose asked.
“They’re saying good-night to Gerry and Carl. It was nice of you to invite them.”
“They are almost family.”
“Almost.” He came up behind his wife and kissed the side of her neck. “You outdid yourself, Rosie. As usual.”
She tipped her head to the side so that it pressed against his. “Thank you. I think James enjoyed himself.”
“He seems to be enjoying himself now,” Sadie murmured, wondering at the bite to her tone, the tightness in her chest.
Rose and Frank both followed her gaze out the window. The brunette had her head close to James’s, said something as he typed on his phone.
Putting her number into his contact list.
Sadie cleared her throat. “I don’t recognize her. Is she a friend of Maddie’s?”
“That’s Anne Forbes. She works for a local painting contractor,” Frank said, picking up a clean towel and drying the next dish. Raising his bushy eyebrows, he nudged Rose with his elbow. “You must be pretty pleased with yourself.”
“You know I hate to brag,” Rose said. “But since you mention it, yes. Yes, I am.” She glanced at Sadie. “Very pleased.”
“Is this one of those family secrets?” Sadie asked, forcing her tone to lighten, her lips to curve.
“No secret. Rose here decided to take matters into her own hands and find our eldest a wife.”
Sadie’s scalp prickled. Her hands tightened on the towel, twisting the fabric until her fingers went numb. “A wife?”
“No one’s booked St. Theresa’s for a wedding mass yet,” Rose said drily. “I just thought he might be interested in meeting a lovely, intelligent woman.”
“As opposed to the ugly, stupid women he’s usually interested in meeting?” Frank asked.
“Well, he did go out with Melissa Alden,” Sadie said, glad her voice had returned to normal. “She was cute enough, but dumb as a rock. Then again, James was fourteen and, I believe, hypnotized by the sight of Melissa in her cheerleading outfit.”
“Many men have had their better sense stolen by short skirts.” Frank winked at Sadie. “How do you think Rose managed to nab me?”
“I’d take exception to that,” Rose said, “except it’s true. And it worked.”
Frank leaned down, whispered something in Rose’s ear that had her laughing.
Wanting to give them privacy, Sadie crossed to a different window, looked out as James opened the door to the SUV. Anne climbed into the driver’s seat, her dark, straight hair swinging above her shoulders. She really was lovely. Sadie had seen her earlier in the living room when she’d been chatting with Maddie and Big Leo. Sadie had envied the other woman’s red, open-toed shoes, the way her side-swept bangs fell perfectly.
Sadie lifted her hand to her own hair, tucked an errant curl back into the messy bun at the top of her head.
James shut the SUV’s door and Anne turned on the ignition. A moment later, she backed up then pulled forward. James watched as she drove alongside the driveway.
So, James had met someone. Sadie rolled her eyes. Obviously he’d met Anne, but they’d exchanged numbers. Had maybe even made plans to meet for drinks. Or dinner.
A date.
Good for him. Maybe it would work out and he and Anne would fall in love, get married, have a couple of little Montesanos, kids who had James’s easy grin, his love of schedules and his anal tendencies. There was no one more suited for marriage and family life than James. He deserved to get everything he wanted. Deserved to be happy.
Hadn’t Sadie always known he’d find someone? It might not be Anne, but eventually he’d meet a woman he could love and spend the rest of his life with. And when he found that woman, it would mean the end of Sadie’s relationship with James.
Oh, sure, they would always be friends, but things would change between them. How could they not? No longer would she be able to stay at his house when she returned to town. She’d have to stop calling him whenever she wanted, night or day, just because she wanted to hear the sound of his voice. Because she’d missed him.
No longer would she be first in his life. That spot would belong to his wife, his family, the way it was supposed to.
He wouldn’t need her at all. He’d have what he’d always wanted.
And she’d be left alone.
CHAPTER FOUR
JAMES SANK ONTO a lounge chair on the deck, opened his bottle of water and took a long drink. He wanted to get home. Though tomorrow—he checked his phone’s clock—though today was Sunday, he still had to work. He needed to finish that estimate for the Websters’ addition, catch up on some billing and put in a few hours working on the design for Mrs. Kline’s kitchen.
The door opened and Maddie, the youngest Montesano sibling and only girl, sauntered onto the deck, followed by her eleven-year-old daughter, Bree. Zoe, lying at James’s feet, rose and walked over to Bree.
“I thought you left ten minutes ago,” Maddie said to him.
“I’m waiting for Sadie.” It seemed as if he’d spent his entire life waiting for Sadie. “She wanted to double-check if Mom needed any more help cleaning up.”
He wanted to follow her back to his place in case there was more damage to the Jeep than they initially thought.
“God help her.” Maddie glanced through the door’s window, her white summer dress like a beacon in the dim light. “We’re heading out before Mom can give us something more to do.”
“We waited until Nonna went into the living room and then snuck out,” Bree whispered excitedly, her hand on Zoe’s head. “Poppa kept watch.”
James pulled her down beside him and put his arm around her shoulders. “You’re taking your lives in your hands doing that.”
“Desperate times, my friend,” Maddie said. “You know how she gets after a party.”
“Crazy,” Bree said solemnly.
He squeezed her. “That’s my girl.”
“When I told her I’d come back in the morning to run the vacuum, I thought her head was going to explode. And that I would have to clean that up, too.” Maddie shook her head. “I think this school thing really has her freaked out.”
“She’ll work through it.”
“I know. But it’s tough when she’s the one we can always trust to be practical and responsible. Well, other than you, that is.”
“You make practicality and responsibility sound like negative traits.”
“Did I?” she asked sweetly. “So sorry.”
She wasn’t. She was rarely sorry, even when she knew damn well she was to blame. And there wasn’t much sweet about her, either. Growing up with three older brothers had made her tough as nails. Her stubbornness, competiveness and bordering-on-obsessive need to prove she was equal to the men in her family in every way was due to the prickly, pugnacious personality she’d been born with.
Was it any wonder they all adored her?
Maddie tugged Bree to her feet. “Come on, kiddo. Let’s get out of here before Nonna realizes we’ve escaped.” When James stood as well, Maddie hugged him. “Happy birthday.”
“Thanks.”
She stepped back and Bree moved