Chapter Six
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“Like you’ve never screwed up,” Connor said to Logan several days later when he’d locked himself into the guest room and set up the video call to the men back at USSOCOM. He’d hoped that in the interim he’d be able to make things up to Sadie, but she’d turned a cold shoulder to him he couldn’t seem to get past. The garden wall was progressing slowly, since he was doing all the work himself, but at least he’d finished painting the living room and kitchen—switching to the inside work when his back told him it was time to stop hefting stones into place. Sadie had been peevish through the whole process—especially with how it had made it harder for her to handle meals—but Connor thought the results looked good. The only bright spots in his days were spending time with Max, who seemed to grow every time he turned around. The puppy was always cheerful and overjoyed to seem him—unlike some people.
“I’ve screwed up,” Logan admitted, “But not like you are now. You mess this up for yourself and you’ll screw all of us over, O’Riley. The General should have sent me next. I’d get the job done.”
“You think so? Lena will kick your ass to kingdom come the first time you open your mouth.”
“She’ll take one look at this fine example of Grade A American beef and fall all over herself trying to get a bite of it.”
“You are so delusional—”
“Cut the crap,” Hunter said, his thick Southern drawl like a honeyed whip. “Both of you need to get your heads on straight.”
“I’m not the only one who can blow this.” Connor turned on him, still stung by Logan’s attack. “You’re as liable as either of us to screw it up when it’s your turn.”
“I won’t screw it up.” But Hunter glanced away at something off-screen, and for the first time Connor wondered if the SEAL could carry it off.
“You sure about that? You’ve never said one thing about Jo.” He couldn’t blame the man. Hunter was the oldest of them. Why had the General paired him with twenty-one-year-old Jo, his youngest daughter?
“What do you want me to say?” Hunter drawled. “A man doesn’t talk dirt about his future wife.”
“Is she your future wife?” Connor pressed. Because if Hunter knew already it wouldn’t work, they needed to have that conversation. None of them would end up with a ranch if they all didn’t follow through. And what about their records? He needed his name cleared—
“I said I’d marry her, and I will.”
Now Logan and Jack were staring at him, too. “It ain’t that easy,” Logan said. “You have to persuade her to marry you. And you’re one ugly son-of-a-bitch, so if your crappy attitude is the cherry on top, this ain’t going to work.”
Connor suppressed a grin at the spark of anger in Hunter’s eyes. The man liked to act like nothing fazed him, but that ugly crack had hit the mark. So the man was vain. Interesting. Connor had no doubt Hunter got his fair share of female attention, even if he spoke little and laughed even less.
“What about you?” Logan turned on Jack.
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“What was the question again?”
“Are you going to marry Alice?”
“You just told Hunter that wasn’t the question.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“You don’t listen very well, do you? You don’t even listen to yourself.”
Connor sat back as the conversation between the two men settled into the kind of bickering that usually drove him nuts. Today he’d noticed something new.
Jack hadn’t answered the question.
He never did.
Why was that? Connor knew better than to jump in and demand he do so right now. Jack was a master at evading any topic he didn’t want to talk about, and that seemed to encompass just about every personal question possible. They’d all had rough times in the past. They’d all acted on impulse at some point in a way that threw them into hot water and landed them here, subject to the General’s whims.
So what made Jack so damned hard to pin down?
Suddenly Connor reached his limit. Bad enough he wasn’t at all sure he could persuade Sadie to marry him. He needed everything else pinned into place—no questions asked.
“You’re going to marry Alice,” he snapped at Jack. “You’re going to get us this ranch—not because we deserve it but because Sadie and Cass and the rest of them—including Alice—do. Got it?”
Jack—mid-sentence—stared at him for a long moment.
And nodded.
Jean Finney. How on earth could she have forgotten Jean Finney? Sadie glanced at the greenhouse clock again, and rummaged through the cupboard where she kept her remedies. She wouldn’t find what she was looking for, of course—a week ago, when she’d handed Jean a bottle of the elixir in her stores, she’d known it was the last one, and that she’d have to think of something before Jean came back for a refill.
At twelve weeks pregnant, it was crucial she get it. Jean had first come to her last summer to confess that barely two years into her marriage, she’d had three miscarriages. Sadie had seen the desperation in her eyes, heard it in her voice and known she’d do her damnedest to help. She’d made Jean take six months off trying, while she concocted mixtures of herbs to support her body’s reproductive health. Jean had quickly fallen pregnant when Sadie had given her the go-ahead to try again, but as she’d said, it had never been getting pregnant that was the problem; it was staying that way.
As Sadie gathered the ingredients for the tonic, she knew it was no good. She could mix them in exactly the same way as she had before, but without that connection she normally felt to the plants, the balance would be wrong. And with Jean, the balance simply couldn’t be wrong.
“Mom—what should I do?” she whispered aloud, her hands trembling. Jean always came at eleven o’clock and it was past ten. She had the roots and herbs laid out before her on the table. The sterilized bottle. All her tools to prepare the tonic.
But it was no good.
“Mom?”
Sadie gripped the edge of the table, closed her eyes and tried to calm her mind. What would her mother do in this situation?
“Mom, I need help—”
The greenhouse door whipped opened and Sadie gasped, opened her eyes and saw Connor.
“Sorry; I didn’t mean to interrupt… Were you praying?” He slowed to a halt.
Sadie supposed she had been, in a way. She’d asked her mother to send help—but all she’d gotten was—
Sadie stared at Connor. Let go of the table. Took a deep breath. “Come here,” she ordered.
His brow furrowed. Was he suspecting a trap? “Okay.” He moved through the narrow space between the tables loaded with seedlings, and came to join her.
“I need help,” she said.
“Anything.”
His quiet assurance took her breath away, and Sadie clutched the edge of the potting bench again, battling vertigo. She’d been rude to him for days but he was ready to do anything she asked. Why was that? Why was he here?
“I need you to stand behind me.” Her voice betrayed her nervousness, and Sadie fought to steady it. After a moment, Connor did as she asked, moving behind her.
“Like this?”
He was so close, Sadie shivered with awareness, bit her lip, reached behind her and lifted his hands near her waist. “Hold on to me.” She sucked in a breath when he settled his hands lightly but firmly on her hips. Even though she’d been ignoring him since their last fight, her body had taken notice whenever he was near, and Connor had done whatever he could to stick as near to her as possible.
Now every nerve in her body was at attention, and desire tugged deep inside her. She wanted him to kiss her again. She’d missed the taste of his mouth on hers.
Missed this aliveness he passed to her when they touched.
She wanted him, she admitted to herself. No matter that he was a player. That he would break her heart.
“That’s it. Stay like that,” she managed to say.
Focus, she told herself, but it was difficult. Not only had his touch turned on the world, as if he’d turned up the volume on a radio, but it set her nerves buzzing with a sweet ache for him to do far more than hold her so innocently. She swallowed, made herself reach out and begin to prepare the herbs and roots she needed to make the tonic for Jean. As soon as she touched them, instinct told her everything she needed to do, and for the first time in weeks her hands moved over the ingredients and implements on the table with the confidence they’d always used to hold. Creating the tonic felt so right, Sadie knew this was the work she was meant to do. Knowing exactly how to measure and add the herbs was like coming home, and tears of gratitude started in Sadie’s eyes, but she didn’t have time for that. In fact, she barely had time—
Connor lifted her hair away from her neck and kissed her.
Sadie nearly dropped the bottle she’d begun to fill. She couldn’t describe the sound she’d just made, half a sob, half a plea for more.
But she couldn’t do that right now. “Hold still,” she hissed, and kept working. Connor held still, his mouth still pressed to her neck, and they were standing like that when the door opened again a minute later.
“Oh, sorry! I’m early—” This time it was a female voice.
Jean’s.
Sadie elbowed Connor away, and immediately the connection went out, making the world feel so gray and mute she wanted to scream. “I was just finishing up your tonic.”
“I can see that.” The amusement in Jean’s voice made Sadie blush.
“Connor was… helping.”
“I can see that, too.”
Sadie swung around to stopper the bottle and hide her burning face. When she had control of herself, she turned back. “You can’t use this until tomorrow,” she told Jean. “I just finished it and it needs time to steep.”
“I’ve got enough for today. Thank you, Sadie. And cross your fingers for me—I’ve never made it this far before.”
Sadie knew the next two weeks were the dangerous ones. She gripped Connor’s hand suddenly, needing to check one last time. Instantly, she knew the mixture was correct. She knew, too, it was crucial Jean have it. Handing it over to the woman, she let go of Connor and gave her friend a quick hug.
“I know there’s no guarantee,” Jean said. “I know my body will do what’s right. But I’m hopeful this time—”
She didn’t finish her sentence. She didn’t need to.
“I’m hopeful, too,” Sadie said—and meant it with every fiber of her being. She refused payment like she always did in cases like these. You couldn’t put a price on a pregnancy.
“I’ll see you next week!” Jean waved on her way out.
“Rest a lot,” Sadie called after her. “Get that husband of yours to help you out.”
“Will do!”
When she was gone, Sadie turned back to Connor. “Thank you.”
“You going to tell me what that was all about?”
“I’m not sure I can explain it,” she answered truthfully.
He took that in, and Sadie wondered what he was thinking. She wished he would touch her again, but squashed the thought. Not when she knew what type of man he was.
“Tell me this, then,” he said finally. “Did I help?”
“Yes.” He’d definitely helped. She couldn’t have done it without him. “You might have saved a baby.”
Just for a second something shifted in his eyes. A softening—before he covered it up by moving closer.
“Thank you for letting me help you. It’s what I came here to do.” He pulled her into an embrace.
She resisted. “How many other women are you helping right now?” she made herself ask. She wasn’t going to be won over with a kiss or two and an assist with an herbal remedy.
“None. Sadie—” Connor sighed. “Lass, I’ve never done serious. I’ve never done long term. Lila and Bridget know that. They flirt with me, I flirt with them, we see each other when we see each other, have a little fun—”
Every word he said felt like a knife to her heart. He was just like Mark. It was all a game—a chance to get what you wanted by using the other person.
“It’s not like that with you.”
“Of course not,” she said sarcastically, pulling free of his arms. “Of course I’m the one woman who’s different. The one woman who’s changed your mind about everything.”
Did he think she was stupid?
“You have every right to doubt me.” Connor hooked his thumbs in the belt loops of his jeans. Shrugged. “I’m being honest about who I’ve been. And I’m being honest about how I feel about you.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because I’m telling you the truth; just like I’ve always told the women I date. Hell, Sadie—I’m single. In the Air Force, I put my life on the line every time I went on a mission. If I wanted to flirt—or fuck—” He got a hold of himself. “No one got hurt but me. I made sure of that. Lila and Bridget have their own reasons for not wanting something permanent.”
“How can all of you be so… calculating?” She’d never been like that with her affections. She either fell for someone or she didn’t. To choose how much to want someone—to simply fuck someone just for the sake of fucking—the idea was completely foreign to her.
Connor chuckled, but it wasn’t a happy sound. “That’s just it; this isn’t me being calculating. This is me—caught—in something I hadn’t looked for.”
That didn’t make her feel better. So he hadn’t wanted to fall for her. Hadn’t wanted to be a one-woman man. Didn’t that mean he’d struggle to break free of the feeling?
“Let me help you. I’ll do anything you ask. That’s why I’m here.” He put his arms around her. As he pressed kisses to her forehead, her cheeks, her chin and finally her mouth, Sadie closed her eyes and tried to sense what was true as her connection to her surroundings turned on again.
Was he here to help?
All this time she’d thought Connor had come to take her place—to step into her shoes so that she could leave the ranch. What if she’d been wrong? What if he was here to do exactly what he’d just said?
Help her.
She wanted to believe it.
She clung to him as his kiss deepened, and for once she didn’t fight it. Instead she let down her defenses, let herself feel his strength—let herself sag against him. She was rewarded when his arms tightened around her. This was nothing like the offhand way Mark used to kiss her, or the selfish way he used to touch her—as if he could take without giving anything back.
Connor had opened to her as much as she was opening to him. He was fully present, and his attention nurtured her as much as the rain did the plants growing out in the gardens.
When he finally pulled back, his breathing was rough and so was hers. “Will you let me stay, lass?” he asked in a light burr.
“You’ll do what I tell you? No questions asked?” She couldn’t possibly explain what she needed him to do.
“No questions asked.”
“You’ll help with the garden?”
“Anything.”
Why not take him at his word? Why not take one more chance?
Surely her heart could survive being broken one more time.
“Okay. You can stay. For now.”
Connor wasn’t sure what he’d expected when Sadie took his hand in the greenhouse. In a way, he hadn’t expected anything. Sadie was so full of contradictions he’d stopped trying to puzzle her out, but part of him had hoped against hope they might make love.
Instead, they spent the remainder of the day working together, first in the greenhouse and then in the garden outside, Connor struggling to keep his libido under check. This close to Sadie, he couldn’t help want her all the more. He helped fetch and carry various types of soil amendments and fertilizer and had jiggered the irrigation system to Sadie’s requirements, but mostly he watched her as she worked. Once he realized she wanted to keep a connection between them—touching him frequently as she added the amendments to the soil around one plant, sprayed a homemade concoction to rid another of aphids and adjusted the water near a third, he made a point of touching her arm, her shoulder or her back so she didn’t have to interrupt her work. He had no idea why they were doing this, but he figured touching each other couldn’t be a bad thing. Maybe it was her funny way of building a connection to him. Maybe it was a test.
If it sped them toward his goal of getting to know her—getting to marry her, he didn’t care.
By the end of the day he was burning with need for her, but while Sadie allowed him to kiss her good-night, she broke away from him when he tried to angle her into the guest room for a more intimate encounter.
“I’m… not ready for that.”
There was something so raw and truthful in her voice Connor didn’t feel played. He knew she’d been through a lot. Knew the man who’d dated her before him hadn’t treated her well. Knew the texts she’d seen from Lila and Bridget made her doubt him. He couldn’t blame her. Connor hated the thought that any man had touched her, but he got that anger under control. Sadie needed his gentleness.
“I can wait,” he made himself say. He hoped he was right.
She laid her hands on his chest and he struggled to stay still. He’d never waited before. He’d either been with a woman or hadn’t. He realized now how much sweetness he’d missed. Anticipation was a heady sensation.
“I like to touch you,” she said simply. “I shouldn’t, but I do.”
She was killing him. “Know what you mean.” His hands ached to cup her breasts and feel their softness, but in this situation he needed to keep a cool head.
“I think…” She met his gaze and searched it. “I think… maybe.”
He stilled. Such a simple statement—but he couldn’t think of another that had affected him so much.
She didn’t trust him yet, but she’d left a little opening to her heart he might be able to pass through. He’d prove to her he could be the man she wanted. Fast. Because he wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold back. Bit by bit his desire for Sadie had crept up on him until it consumed him, making clear thought difficult.
“Any time,” he added. “You come looking for me, I’ll be here. I’ll be here tonight, as a matter of fact.”
Sadie grinned. “Really. You’d like me to look for you tonight?”
She really was killing him. “Yeah,” he admitted. “I’d like that. But like I said, I’ll wait.”
Sadie’s lips parted. For a moment her own desire was visible on her face. Relief swept through him. He was right; he hadn’t lost her irrevocably with those damn texts on his phone.
He forced himself to pull away. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Sadie nodded and slipped down the hall to her own room. She hesitated in the doorway almost long enough to make him think she’d changed her mind, before heading inside and closing the door behind her.
After a night full of dreams so erotic he woke up more frustrated than rested, Connor took an ice-cold shower, and spent several hours working with Lena. He’d just come back to the house mid-morning when a familiar red Ford truck pulled up and parked, and a man climbed out of it just in time to head Jo off as she approached from the carriage house.
“Who’s that?” Sadie asked, coming to the door.
“Grant Kimball. He wants one of Jo’s puppies,” Connor said curtly. He didn’t like how often the man was coming around.
“Are you sure? Looks to me like it’s Jo he’s interested in.”
She was right.
Grant didn’t seem to be in any hurry. He’d leaned against his truck, cocked his hat back and was chewing the fat with Jo.
“Something about that guy rubs me wrong,” Connor told Sadie.
“I’ve never seen him before. Is he new in town?”
“Near as I can make out. I’m going to make sure he isn’t bothering her.” As he turned, Sadie held out a hand to stop him.
“Take it easy. I’m all for letting this guy know Jo’s got people who care about her; I don’t want anyone to hurt her again. But if he’s just flirting, don’t scare him away. She could use a good relationship right about now.”
Connor was sure that was true, but that relationship was supposed to be with Hunter—not Grant. He kept going and arrived at Jo’s side in time to hear Grant say, “I’d like to get on your list for next time.”
“That list is a mile long,” Jo told him. “Could be years before your name comes up.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to keep stopping by to see where I’m at.”
A faint flush on Jo’s cheeks told Connor she liked the attention Grant was paying her.
Connor didn’t like it. “There’s no need to pester the lady. She’ll call you up when it’s your turn. Do you have this man’s phone number?” he asked her.
“Not yet.” She dug out her phone and passed it to Grant to put his information in.
“Your address, too,” Connor said. “So she knows where to bring the dog.” And he knew where to go to find out more about Grant.
“I’m kind of in between places right now,” Grant said evenly. “But here’s my number.” He handed the phone back to Jo. “Where are they at, anyway? The puppies.”
The flicker of Jo’s gaze to the carriage house betrayed their whereabouts before she even said a word. Connor stifled a curse. He didn’t like the idea of Grant knowing where the dogs were kept.
“Mind if I see one?”
“Yes, she minds,” Connor said, stepping between them. “Jo takes her business seriously. She knows every family before she gives them a dog. When she gets to know you, she’ll be ready to talk business. Got it?” He’d made all that up, but he had a feeling it was mostly true.
“Sure,” Grant said after a long moment. “I can see you all are busy. I’ll come back another time. So we can get to know each other,” he said to Jo.
Jo nodded.
Grant got back into his truck, started it and peeled out.
“Lunch is ready,” Sadie called from the porch. “What was that all about?” she asked when Connor and Jo reached the back door.
“He wants a dog,” Jo said.
“I’m not sure that’s all he wants,” Connor said darkly. “Jo, don’t trust that guy. Something’s off about him.”
“I think he’s kind of nice. And he likes dogs.”
“Just be careful,” Sadie said.
“I will. I’m not an idiot.”
Connor sighed. Jo was no dummy. And maybe his dislike for the man was simply due to the circumstances they were in. Jo was meant for Hunter, not Grant. “Just go count those dogs. Make sure they’re all where they’re supposed to be.” He couldn’t overplay this, and he couldn’t explain about Hunter, either. He’d do what he could to squash the budding relationship between Jo and Grant, but he’d also tell Hunter what was happening. Maybe the General would send the man early.
“The door’s locked.” But Jo set off toward the carriage house. Connor took Sadie’s hand and guided her along with him as he followed Jo. When Jo opened the door to the room where the puppies were living, she counted quickly. “Five. Everyone’s here and accounted for.”
Connor dropped to his knees and let the puppies overrun him. Max in particular liked to lick his nose and Connor laughed and shoved him gently aside, only to have the puppy come back for more.
“He knows he’s yours,” Jo said, softening a little.
“You gave him a puppy?” Sadie sounded surprised.
“Max likes him.”
“But—”
“Max likes him,” Jo said again obstinately. “Arnold Meyers will have to wait.”
Connor looked up to find Sadie watching him speculatively.
“People wait for years to get one of her puppies,” she told Connor when they finished up and left the carriage house, Jo hanging back to secure the door. “I’ve never seen her play favorites like that before.”
“Max likes me,” Connor said with a grin.
Sadie’s answering smile warmed him right to the core.
All day, Sadie puzzled over Connor in her mind. She didn’t know how to reconcile his kindness and consideration with the man who collected women like playing cards and lied to his parents about getting married. He put up with her strange requests all afternoon, working in the garden side by side as if they were tethered together, but not pushing her past her comfort zone as far as their physical relationship was concerned.
Could a player show such restraint?
Would a two-timer be so gentle around her? And around Jo’s puppies? Mark certainly wouldn’t have been.
After dinner, he helped her with the dishes, and afterward led her out onto the back porch, but when he bent toward her as if he’d snatch a kiss, Sadie pulled back.
“Nope.”
“Why not?” His tone was light, but his question was serious.
“You know why not. I’m not some woman you keep around for fun.” He was hard to resist, especially after she’d spent the day so close to him, but she needed to resist him.
He didn’t pretend not to understand. “Like I said, while I was in the Air Force I didn’t want anything serious. I wasn’t ready for it. That’s changed.” He pulled out his phone. “I probably shouldn’t show you this. It won’t make me look good.” He tapped it a few times and showed her the screen. She read texts he’d written to several women making it clear he needed to end their flirtation. “I’ve met someone,” he’d written to each of them. “I have to take this seriously.”
She wasn’t sure how to react. She was pleased to see the messages but… “You were flirting with all those women at once?”
“I told you it wouldn’t make me look good.” Connor shrugged. “I told you why I kept things light. My line of work can get… grim.”
“You haven’t told me much about your line of work.”
Sadie sat down on the wicker couch. Connor joined her.
“It’s my job to save pilots who go down behind enemy lines—among other things,” he said, as if that explained everything.
“Sounds dangerous.”
“Know a job in the military that isn’t?” he asked her.
“No, but that sounds more dangerous than most.”
“It can be.”
“Thinking about something specific?” She could tell he was.
“My last mission was… interesting.” He shifted closer to her and the rattan couch creaked. “We dropped into Syria, looking for a plane that went down. We found the plane, but the pilot was missing. I have to admit I expected the worst—that he’d been found by enemy forces. Taken hostage.”
Sadie suppressed a shiver that traced down her spine. She could only imagine the wreckage of the plane, the sere landscape and their desperate search.
“Then a man came—an old man. A Syrian. Halil.” Connor shook his head. “He kept beckoning to us. ‘He’s over here, over here!’ We didn’t know if it was a trap. He was ancient. Thin—you wouldn’t believe how thin. We followed him.”
Sadie bit her lip. Connor must have known he could be killed at any time—
“It wasn’t a trap. He led us to a makeshift camp. Just a tarp and a little fire. Hardly anything. But he and his wife, Fatima, had been tending Shaw—the pilot—doing their best to save him. He would have died if they hadn’t.”
Connor took another sip, but all Sadie could do was watch him. “Why did they do it? Wouldn’t they have been in danger?”
“Damn straight.” Connor nodded. “They were refugees on their way to the border where they hoped to cross to safety. They knew damn well plenty of people in the area wouldn’t be sympathetic to Americans. That’s why they carried him to their camp. They were trying to hide him. Fatima was as old as he was—I have no idea how they carried Shaw.”
“That’s amazing.”
“You have no idea.” His gaze was distant, and she was sure he was back in Syria again.
Connor chuckled suddenly. “In the middle of all that, he wanted to do things right; to introduce himself. He told me his name, then his wife’s. He was so proud of her.”
“What was she like?” Sadie didn’t want to move. Didn’t want to break the spell. She wanted to know exactly what had happened.
“She wore a long dress, a head scarf, but her face wasn’t covered. I think she must have been beautiful when she was young. She still was in a way. Frightened, though. Or maybe just shy. But I swear, when Halil looked at her, she smiled and you’ve never seen anything like it. Those two were in love. In the damn desert, starving probably, trying to walk to safety—eighty if they were a day. Totally in love. Halil told me they’d been married for sixty-two years. You know what he said?”
Sadie shook her head.
“Find a good woman. Make her your everything—your life. Then you will know peace no matter where you go.”
“What happened to them?” Sadie knew Connor probably had no idea.
He hesitated so long she thought he wouldn’t answer.
“They had hundreds of miles to go to the border. They’d been walking with their family, but they were too slow. They told the others to go on ahead. They knew their chances of making it were slim.”
She thought he was done and her heart ached for Connor. It must have been so hard to leave them there—
“I put them on the helicopter. Took them back with us. They saved Shaw.” His gaze pleaded with her to understand.
Sadie sucked in a surprised breath. Of course she understood; how could he do anything else?
But that must be why Connor was here. Why he’d gotten in trouble with the Air Force.
“I couldn’t leave them. I don’t know where they are now. No one will tell me,” he confessed. “All I can hope is I did the right thing and they’re safe.”
“Of course you did the right thing,” Sadie cried. “They saved our pilot.”
“That’s not what the Air Force thinks. So I ended up at USSOCOM under your dad’s command.”
She took that in. “And the General sent you here to build a walled garden?” What a finish to the man’s career. Connor didn’t deserve that.
“Gets me out of his hair, doesn’t it?” Connor said lightly, but she could tell the whole series of events had made a lasting impression on him. He’d saved the pilot and two refugees.
And lost everything over it.
“What are you going to do now?” She couldn’t imagine how he must feel.
“Build you a walled garden, for starters,” he said simply. “Don’t feel bad for me, Sadie. I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be right now.” He leaned over and kissed her.
And Sadie let him.