Chapter 13      

Sadie lurched off the sofa and ran toward the door when the doorbell sounded. It could only be Paige.

Everyone had arrived early to give her a warm welcome. Of course, Shelby had insisted on helping her set up, fussing uncharacteristically with the placement of the napkins next to the snacks. Susannah had rearranged the flowers she’d brought while the other women chatted nervously.

Throwing open the door, Sadie held out her arms. “Welcome!”

Paige moved in for a hug, and Sadie felt her heart soar like it did every time she saw her little sister.

“Everyone is so excited to meet you. I mean…see you again. You know. I mean Tory baked a cake, and she has a newborn.”

After giving her one last squeeze, Paige released her. “Good heavens, a newborn! When Haley was that little, I barely had time to go to the bathroom. Ah…before I forget. I have something for you. From Riley.” She handed over an envelope that immediately sent Sadie’s pulse into overdrive. “I’ll just take in the champagne I brought.”

“Hi, Paige,” Shelby said, rushing in to hug her. “I brought champagne too. Great minds. Oh, honey, it’s so good to see you.”

Sadie watched as Shelby ushered her into the family room. Then she turned to the card and slit the envelope with her finger.

The card was blue and emblazoned with the message “Thinking of You” in swirly letters, what Rye would call a girly card. Inside was a folded up piece of thick paper. When she opened it, she gasped.

Riley had drawn her. Oh goodness, that man. He’d only captured her face, but heavens…she’d never felt more beautiful. In the drawing she was smiling, and her chin was ducked down just a touch. But it was the look he’d captured in her eyes that captivated her the most. They were filled with love and laughter. And strength…

“My goodness, Sadie McGuiness, that’s you!” Shelby declared. “I was coming to see why you were still by the door, but wowza, I get it. Your man drew this?” 

Of course, after their magical second date, she’d totally blabbed about Riley. Her excitement had spilled out of her like sunbeams and she’d needed to tell them. Before she knew it, Shelby had snatched the drawing from her fingers.

“Look what Sadie’s man drew! It’s her. Our Sadie!”

Amelia Ann cuddled close to Shelby and oohed and aahed. “It’s stunning. He captured you perfectly, Sadie.”

“Did he?” she said, fingering the pearls she’d worn. She’d always thought God had done his best to make her pretty, giving her nice hair and decent features, but beautiful had never entered her vocabulary.

“Oh, he’s a goner,” Tory said. “No guy draws a woman like this unless he’s totally fallen. It’s like Rye writing me a song.”

“A song?” Paige said, smiling. “How lovely! What’s it like to have someone write you a song?”

“Pretty sweet,” Tory said. “I’m Tory Crenshaw, by the way. The one with the newborn baby.”

“Oh, congratulations!” Paige said. “You shouldn’t have gone to the trouble. Wait, do you mean Rye…Crenshaw?”

“Yep, that’s my man,” she said. “He’s eager to meet you once you’ve met our ‘gaggle of girls.’ That’s his name for it. He might be a little old-fashioned and sometimes annoyingly sexist, but I love the heck out of him. And now we have Boone.”

“Somehow my sisters failed to mention…ah…you’ll have to show me some pictures of Boone,” Paige said with a smile. “Babies are the best.”

Tammy introduced herself as J.P.’s wife and extended her hand, as gracious and collected as always. “You’ve made a lot of people I love very happy, and for that I thank you. I…welcome to the family.”

Paige coughed out a laugh and clasped her hand. “Oh, I didn’t expect to start crying. Sorry. It’s been…the most wonderful emotional roller coaster. Sadie…ah…you might text Riley about your drawing. He was a little nervous when he gave it to me.”

Sadie pressed her hand to her chest, feeling her heart glow inside. Amelia Ann was introducing herself, so Sadie hustled into the kitchen where she’d left her phone. Paige would be fine.

I love my drawing. You’re so sweet I want to kiss you.

His reply came seconds later. Save it for Saturday. I have some of my own kisses stored up for you. And whew! Glad you liked the drawing. I hoped it wouldn’t weird you out.

That puzzled her. Why would it?

Because it would imply I’ve been thinking about your body. Totally true FYI. I thought a head pose would be classy.

She barked out a laugh. Full body is next, huh?

Gulp. Don’t you have company?

“Okay, enough with the texting,” Shelby said, snatching her phone from her and typing.

This is Sadie’s sister, Shelby. I’m taking her back to the party. Love your drawing. Be nice to my sister or answer to me. Haha.

“Shelby!” Sadie exclaimed after grabbing her hand to see what she’d texted.

Don’t worry, I’m one of the good guys. Okay, that was lame. Have fun, ladies. 

“One of the good guys,” Shelby drawled. “I like him even more. When are you inviting him to Sunday dinner?”

The other women appeared in the doorway, surrounding Paige as if parading her through the center of town. 

“We were going to open the champagne,” Tammy said, “but we can come back.”

Shelby marched forward with her phone. “Look what this man texted back. Isn’t he adorable?”

Amelia Ann winked at her. “I like the way he said he was one of the good guys.”

This wasn’t how Sadie had envisioned at all. She watched helplessly as they passed her phone from one woman to the next, wanting to grab it away.

Tammy burst out laughing. “Oh, Paige, are you totally put off by us?”

“Not at all,” Paige said, laughing as well. “I’m so happy to be here with y’all.”

Sadie reached for Paige’s hand. “Let’s pop the champagne and toast to your first girls’ night with us.” She was eager to change the subject, and she didn’t care who knew it.

“Paige…” Shelby drawled, ignoring her signals. “You know Riley. What do you think of him?”

“Shelby McGuiness!” Susannah exclaimed. “That is none of your business. Let Paige enjoy herself.”

“He really is one of the good guys,” Paige said, motioning with her hand. “I love him to pieces.”

“And I expect he’s pretty good with his hands if his drawing is any indication,” Shelby said, fanning herself.

“Enough!” Sadie exclaimed, reclaiming her phone from Shelby again, who had lingered over the texts. “Do something useful and pop the champagne before I pop you for being a busybody.”

“I still say you need to bring him to Sunday dinner,” Shelby said, opening the refrigerator door and grabbing the champagne she’d brought. “The men folk are going to want to get a good look at him, and honestly, so do I. Sadie, you’re totally gaga for the man.”

“We’re not talking about this another second, Shelby,” Sadie said, taking the bottle from her and opening it.

“Shelby, why don’t you cut the cake out there? I’ll serve it,” Tammy said, taking her arm and steering her out of the kitchen. Thank goodness someone in the family listened to cues.

“Sadie, if you pour, I’ll take in the glasses,” Susannah said.

“What can I do?” Paige asked, looking around.

“Come sit with me in the living room and tell me more about your beautiful daughter,” Amelia Ann said, ever the smooth one. “I understand she’s in second grade.”

And so it went. They drank champagne and told stories, stories that seemed minor and insignificant unless you looked below the surface, Sadie thought, rather like the backside of a quilt.

When they opened the second bottle of champagne, Tory called it a night, noting Boone was going to need to nurse in a while. Tammy took the opportunity to say goodnight then as well. When Amelia Ann rose to her feet with them, sighing about an early conference call, Sadie finally caught on.

They were leaving Paige alone with her sisters.

She settled back onto the couch and took a mental snapshot of Shelby pouring Paige more champagne and teasing her about what a fine man Mark was. The sultry way she said it caused Susannah to start giggling. Her sisters were in high spirits, and it was wonderful to see. It was wonderful that the family fold had expanded in such an unexpected way.

Paige tucked her feet under her body and fingered the quilt hanging over the sofa she was sitting on. “This is beautiful. I was hoping to see more of your work.”

“Sadie gives most of her quilts away,” Shelby said, kicking back and putting her feet on the coffee table.

Susannah wisely moved the empty champagne bottle so she wouldn’t knock it over.

“Everyone at church is always asking her if she can make them one,” Shelby continued. “Some people have even exaggerated being seriously ill to play on her sympathy. When Mama figured that out, she was outraged.”

“I’d like to meet your mother sometime, I’ve decided,” Paige said softly, “if it wouldn’t make her too uncomfortable.”

All the spit dried up in Sadie’s mouth.

“I mean…I’ve been thinking about it since our last coffee date, and I talked it over with Mark. I don’t want her to feel uncomfortable with me around…I…want to tell her I would never do anything to hurt any of you.”

Sadie’s eyes welled up with tears, and she felt Susannah reach for her hand.

“Part of me wants to apologize for my mom,” Paige said, her voice strained, “but Mark reminded me for the millionth time that it wasn’t my fault. But still…I want to tell your mom I’m really grateful to her for raising such a wonderful family. Oh, heck…”

She put her hand over her mouth.

Shelby wrapped an arm around her.

“I got to wondering how much better my life would have been when I was a kid if I’d had y’all, but I know that’s not useful thinking.”

“I wish we could have known you when we were young too,” Susannah said. “But we can’t undo what happened. We can only be grateful we have one another now.”

“And have fun together,” Shelby said with an audible sniff. “We’ll talk to J.P. about you meeting our mama. She seems to have taken the news pretty well.”

“That’s Mama,” Susannah said. “I didn’t say anything to anybody, but Jake went to her office at church after J.P. told her. He said they had a downright nice talk.”

“I can’t wait to meet him,” Paige said. “First Rye and then Jake Lassiter. I’ll try not to geek out.”

“Just be yourself,” Sadie told her. “They’re normal people too. Well, Jake is—I’m not sure you can call Rye ‘normal.’ If it makes you feel better, we were total fan girls over Jake in the beginning, but we’ve…progressed.”

“Progressed,” Shelby said with a laugh. “I like that.”

“We’d like to invite you and Mark over to our house to meet everybody,” Susannah said, laughing, “but J.P. thought it might be more fun for the kids if we all met at his and Tammy’s place. They have the tree house, you see, and the chocolate garden.”

“A chocolate garden?” Paige asked, breathless. “That sounds magical.”

“Wait until you see it,” Sadie said, taking her hand. “Someone will tell you and Haley the story.”

“Likely Annabelle,” Shelby said. “That girl loves to embellish these days, and my is she good at it. If you listen to her long enough, you’ll start believing the flowers themselves are made out of chocolate, and you might eat every last one of them before figuring it out.”

“I can’t wait,” Paige said, looking at each of them.

“Is this Saturday too soon for y’all?” Susannah asked. “Everyone is—”

“Crazy eager to meet you,” Shelby finished for her.

“I’ll talk to Mark, but I think we’re good to go,” she said. “Wait! Sadie, don’t you and Riley have a date Saturday?”

“We do,” she said, feeling torn.

“Oh, you two should just change it to tomorrow night. Riley was going to watch Haley for Mark and me, so I know he’s free. Sadie, are you?”

She felt like a strong wind was blowing over her. “Ah…yes. I’ll text Riley later.”

“Then it’s settled,” Paige said with a nod, making Shelby snort. “Can I bring something on Saturday?”

“Champagne seems to work,” Shelby said, draining the last of her glass. “I love girls’ night, but I have to say I’m partial to how eager Vander is when I come home after one of these nights. He’s on me like a duck on a June bug the minute I walk through the door.”

“I hope Mark reacts that way,” Paige said, laughing. “I haven’t really had a girls’ night before.”

“Well, you have a girls’ night with us,” Shelby declared. “Now, I need to go home to my man and make some sweet music.”

“Shelby McGuiness, you are terrible!” Sadie said.

“You mean ‘insatiable,’” Susannah said, laughing. “I’m going to head home too. Jake gets a little worried about the dark back roads.”

“If you’d like to see my current quilting project, Paige…” Sadie gestured with her hands, hoping she would stay a little longer.

She was eager to text Riley, but she wanted more time with her sister.

“I can stay a little longer,” Paige said.

Susannah and Shelby hugged her warmly, and Sadie got a little teary-eyed at the sight of all of her sisters together at last. Paige looked so much like them.

“See you Saturday, honey,” Shelby said. “And don’t be a stranger in between. You text me anytime.”

“I don’t have your number,” Paige said. “How is that?”

“We’ve been letting Sadie be the messenger,” Shelby said. “Well, we’re going to change that right now. If you give me your phone, I’ll put everyone in your contact list.”

Paige retrieved her phone from her purse, and soon she had everyone’s cell phone, including Rye’s.

“Are you serious?” she exclaimed, eyes wide as saucers. “Rye Crenshaw’s number is in my phone.”

“He’s not the first man I would call,” Shelby said, honest as ever.

“I don’t know what to say…this is so weird,” Paige said, staring at the screen before shaking herself. “Mark won’t believe it. I mean it’s crazy enough that you’re married to Jake, Susannah, but Rye Crenshaw…”

“Yes, he’s a country god, lowercase G, just ask him,” Shelby said dryly. “All right, I am now officially out of here. Unless you need me to stay and clean up. Although I did come early and help you set up, Sadie.”

She almost gave her sister a look for that comment. Like it would hurt Shelby to clean up more than once in a night. 

“I can help her,” Paige said. “Y’all go on. And thanks. For tonight. For…being so nice and welcoming.”

“Oh, this is just the beginning,” Susannah said, kissing her on the cheek. “Bye, Sadie. Thanks for arranging this.”

Yes, everything had come off nicely. When she was alone, she might just pat herself on the back. For the youngest in the family, she was showing strong signs of leadership. She thought of the strength exuded by Riley’s drawing of her and shivered. It moved her something fierce that he thought of her that way.

After their sisters left, Sadie and Paige sat side by side on the couch. “Are you okay?” Sadie asked, taking her hand.

“I think I’m overwhelmed,” she whispered, squeezing her eyes shut. “It’s not the whole Rye thing.”

“I know it’s not.”

“It’s…this…oh, dear.” She launched herself at Sadie and hugged her. “Everyone is so wonderful. I never imagined. I’m going to start crying, and it may not be pretty. I can leave.”

Sadie wrapped her arms around her sister. “I can handle it. I might cry some myself.”

Paige completely let go, and Sadie sure as shooting did some crying too. The emotion of these last weeks seemed to have built up like a bathtub with the water left running.

“Goodness, I don’t think I’ve cried this much since I was pregnant,” Paige said after blowing her nose.

“But it’s good crying,” Sadie said, thinking about the horrible hot mess she’d been after discovering the truth about their daddy.

Sometimes she still cried over him, although she didn’t say anything to anyone.

Paige wiped her eyes. “Yes, it is. Mark says the same thing. I’ve never seen a man more comfortable with tears, but heck, at least one kid cries in his office on a daily basis. Growing up, I never did cry. My mama didn’t allow it. Said it made you weak.”

“J.P. is comfortable with tears too,” Sadie said. “He was always a good shoulder to cry on growing up. Still is.”

“Can I see your quilting stuff?” Paige asked. “I’ve been thinking about it all day. Then I should get on home.”

“Come on,” she said, standing. “I use the spare room for my supplies, but I mostly quilt here on the sofa or in my bedroom.”

They climbed the short stretch of stairs to the second level. She’d tidied up in the spare bedroom earlier, so she had no compunction about showing it off.

“Oh, my goodness,” Paige exclaimed when she turned on the light. “That’s a quilt?”

Sadie watched as her sister ran forward to the bed where her newest project was laid out. “Yes, I’ve been working on the baby quilts and a made-for-order quilt from the store, but this one is my ongoing large-scale project. It’s called The Promised Land, and it’s in the Japanese quilting style. I’ve been teaching myself some of their techniques by trial and error.” She refrained from launching into the differences. Even Ada’s eyes had glazed over when she’d tried to describe it in depth.

“Japanese?” Paige asked, her eyes glued to the quilt in progress. “There are so many small pieces, and the way you use them… Sadie, this is like a painting.”

“That’s what I thought when I saw my first Japanese quilt,” she said, coming forward to stand next to her sister. “There’s a lot of emphasis on geometric shapes like the sun I designed, and the way they use stitching…it’s like they create threads of magic throughout the quilt. The hand piecing and sewing takes a lot of time, but I find it relaxing.”

“The stitching makes it look like a gentle breeze is flowing across the land,” Paige said. 

Sadie studied the half-finished quilt. For this quilt, she was piecing the design as it came to her. So far, she had the sun and the blue sky, and yes, she’d used the classic sashiko stitch to make it seem like the wind was gently blowing. 

“I’m still playing with how I want to design the land, but I know there’s going to be a waterfall leading into a small river. Lush trees. Maybe a field of flowers in the right corner.”

Her mind started to spin new ideas, and she shook herself.

“Sadie,” Paige said, grabbing both of her arms and staring at her with big eyes. “You have to submit this to a show or a museum when you’re finished.”

She ducked her chin, flushing. “I don’t know. It’s my first large-scale Japanese quilt. I’ve been making smaller ones, working on my stitching. Every stitch has to be evenly spaced and perfect, and while that appeals to my OCD nature when it comes to quilting, I don’t think I’m on that level yet.”

“I think you are,” Paige said, shaking her gently. “Sadie, you aren’t just a quilting teacher in a craft store or even someone who sells her quilts for money. You’re an artist.”

An artist? That seemed like too big of a word for her. “I’m creative, I’ll give you that.”

Paige narrowed her eyes. “You don’t see it… All right, I’m going to have Riley work on you. If there’s one thing he knows, it’s art. Maybe between the two of us, you’ll start to believe this about yourself.”

Sadie remembered Riley saying something about her being an artist, but at the time she’d thought he was just being nice—and flirting. After all, he’d only seen a few of her projects on her phone. “I know God gave me a gift.”

“But you don’t see how completely incredible it is,” Paige said. “Can I take a picture of this? I’d like to show Mark and Haley. It’s…exquisite.”

Oh, the nerves bubbling up made her want to rush forward and cover up her work in progress. “But it’s not finished. I mean—”

“Please,” Paige said. “I promise I won’t show anyone else. Well, Jess will likely insist on seeing it once Haley tells her about it. I mean, those two share everything. I’ll probably end up showing Riley too…except you could, of course…when you invite him over.”

Her sister’s wink made her face turn from merely warm to middle-of-the-summer hot. “We’re taking things slow.”

Paige rested her weight on one leg and studied her. “You too? I thought it was only Riley holding back given his past with Jess’ mom.”

The woman who’d liked secrets, didn’t want Jess, and had made Riley hate country music. She didn’t have a full picture yet, but the image she’d formed was dark. “No.”

“But I see…no wait, I don’t see. You’re head over heels about him. I can tell. Why are you so set on being slow? Because you think he needs you to be?”

“I think I need to sit down,” she said, moving toward the rocking chair she kept by the window.

“What are you afraid of? I don’t mean to be so personal, but I love you, and I love Riley to pieces. Why in the world aren’t you two going for each other like crazy?”

She pressed her hands to her hot face. “Well, I can’t just jump into bed with him. I mean, it’s not like we’re even committed, and he hasn’t told me he loves me.” Of course, she hadn’t told him either because it was early, and truth be told, she wasn’t sure it was the big L love. The little l love was pretty clear though.

“Are you a virgin?” Paige asked.

Her eyes flew to her sister’s. “What?”

“Sorry, that was really personal,” Paige said, sinking down onto the floor in front of her. “But I’m diving into the sisterhood deep end here. I hadn’t thought about it, but you’re the daughter of a preacher and you go to church. It’s totally okay with me if you are. Mark and I were each other’s firsts. We’re both really glad about that actually.”

Oh, goodness, she thought, rocking in her chair. “There was someone in college, someone I thought I’d marry…”

“I see,” Paige said, putting her hand on her knee. “And Riley?”

“He wants to, I think,” she said, rocking forward. “I mean, yes, he wants to. And I do too, but it’s not that simple. He’s not ready for something serious. He wants to take this one step at a time. Have fun together and see what happens.”

“Yes, I imagine that’s what he’s told himself,” Paige said, “but here’s the thing about Riley. Underneath all the jokes and the entertainment, he’s really sensitive. He has this huge heart, and sure he’s a guy like all the rest…but he’s also not. I have to tell you, Riley wants someone he can have fun with and be serious about. He doesn’t want to play around.”

“I didn’t think he did,” Sadie said, “but we’ve only just met and—”

“Hogwash,” Paige said. “Time doesn’t factor into love. I mean, look at us.”

Sadie waggled her eyebrow suggestively at Paige, laughing. “Us.”

“You know what I’m talking about,” her sister said. “Okay, one last sister thing. Sex between two people who care about each other is beautiful, and I figure you and Riley will know when the time is right. Mark and I waited a little longer than I would now because it’s just so awesome between us, but in retrospect, the time we chose was perfect.”

The mere thought about having sex with Riley was making Sadie lightheaded. “It’s a huge step.”

“It is,” Paige said. “As someone who was born to two people who made a terrible choice, no one knows that better than I do. But Mark also helped me learn how to trust my heart, and I know you can trust yours. I mean, Sadie, look at your heart!”

She gestured to the half-made quilt on the bed, and Sadie felt her throat close. She took a deep breath and then another.

“We’re going out Saturday, no, tomorrow,” Sadie said. “I’ll see how things go. But I hear you. Love shouldn’t be bound by a timetable.”

But should something like lovemaking be bound by commitment? She was going to have to be true to herself because it very much did for her.