Page 55 of Down Knot Out (Pack Alphas of Misty Pines #3)

“She does.” I gesture to the tables. “Let’s take a seat where we can keep an eye on Quinn.”

Sadie walks over to join me, while Mrs. Reynolds goes to a different table to give us privacy. Not that we’re alone with my entire pack within hearing distance.

Chloe returns with a pitcher of lemonade, and Holden steps out with a tray loaded with items.

He sets glasses on the table and plops down a covered basket at the center.

Chloe fills the glasses, her hands shaking a little. “There’s banana bread, too. Quinn helped.”

Quinn doesn’t look back from playing with Sprinkles, but her shoulders tense. “Mom hates bananas. ”

Chloe’s face falls. “Oh, well, we have chocolate muffins, too…”

Sadie takes a hunk from the basket and takes a bite. “I can learn to like bananas.”

Quinn’s shoulders inch downward, and she goes back to playing with Sprinkles.

Holden and Chloe take refreshments to Mrs. Reynolds, too, and Nathaniel. Dominic abandons his woodpile to grab the railing and pull himself up, standing on the outside, and Chloe brings him a glass, then giggles when he steals a kiss to go with it.

On the lawn, Quinn throws the snorting toy again. Sprinkles bounds after it, tail a black flag, and returns it to her feet every time.

Sadie watches it all. “You’re doing a good job. With her. With this place.”

I wait for the rest, for the barb or the deflection, but it doesn’t come.

Sadie sips her lemonade, wincing at the tartness. “I’m glad you took the dog.”

I snort. “You didn’t leave me much choice.”

She tracks Quinn’s movements as she hurls the toy into a patch of clover. “You always did better with living things than I did.”

She sets her cup down and traces the rim with one fingertip. Then, without warning, she turns to me, the movement abrupt. “Are you planning to keep her? Long-term?”

My chest tightens. “That’s up to the court. And you. If you stay clean, they’ll start with visits.”

Her expression hardens. “That’s not what I asked.”

I meet her eyes. “Yeah. I’m planning to keep her. Unless she wants something else.”

Sadie’s jaw works. “She’s better off with you. Always has been.”

“Why are you here, then?”

She flinches as if I slapped her. “I had to see that she was happy for myself. And I wanted her to know I didn’t just dump her like I did her dog.”

The words hit with the force of a punch, and my hand shakes on the cup, lemonade sloshing.

Sadie watches her daughter in the yard, the lines around her mouth deepening. “You remember the summer I stopped dancing?”

Confused by the change in subject, I nod. “You said you broke your foot at camp.”

Her lips twitch. “I lied.”

Confusion fills me, and I frown. “Why would you lie about that?”

Sadie shifts in her chair, chin tilted up as if daring me to call her a liar. “Dad said I broke my foot at camp, but I was at a party. There was a casting director from L.A. there. Dad told me to wear the dress with the green sash.”

She blows out a long, ragged breath. “Someone gave me a drink.”

I press my lips together, afraid of what comes next.

Sadie stares at the table, her nails picking at the edge. “It was someone Dad worked with. A friend. It was only one drink, but when I woke up the next morning, I couldn’t move my ankle. Or the rest of me, really.”

My jaw aches from how tight I clench it, afraid to look at her in case the fury that must be on my face will stop her from speaking.

She laughs, the sound brittle. “You know what Dad said when I called him to come get me? He told me to stop being dramatic. Said nobody liked a liar.”

She wipes her nose on her sleeve. “He said I must have drunk too much and misinterpreted what happened.”

I want to vomit. I want to find our father and punch his teeth down his throat, but that would be too kind.

Sadie’s hands tremble as she reaches for the lemonade. “When I found out I was pregnant, I asked him what I should do. He said I was lucky it happened with a Patel. Someone important . Harrises don’t have scandals, he said, but a family connection could be spun as a win.”

She gags on the memory. “Told me to keep my mouth shut and make it look like a normal, happy accident. Everyone would believe it. Who would ever think the golden girl could be anything but perfect?”

The words rattle around my ribcage, scraping everything raw.

Sadie tips her head back, staring up at the porch beams, her cheeks shining. “I couldn’t stand my life, couldn’t stand being mated to the man who... So I drank to numb it all out. God, I celebrated the day that man got into a car accident and died . It was the only good thing he ever did.”

Her face crumples. “Quinn is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Blake. But she’s also…”

She falters before she forces the rest out. “She’s a living reminder. Every day I saw her face, I remembered what he did to me, what Dad let happen, and what I had to pretend wasn’t there. I love her so much it hurts. But I can’t hold her without wanting to peel my own skin off.”

Silence settles, broken only by the scratch of a bird on the roof and the slap of Quinn’s feet on the grass.

Sadie scrubs her hands over her face, nails dragging angry red lines down her cheeks. “I want to be her mother, I do. But I can’t. Not now. Maybe not ever.”

She risks a glance at me, her eyes wet and red. “You’re better for her than I’ll ever be. You know that, right?”

The knot in my throat threatens to choke me. “That’s not true. She needs you, too.”

Sadie laughs again, softer now. “Maybe someday she will. Maybe when she’s older, and I can tell her the truth.” She wipes her cheeks, still shaking. “For now, let her keep being a kid. Let her believe it’s okay to be happy and grow up in a family that loves her. Don’t let her end up like us.”

I reach for her hand, and she doesn’t pull away. Her fingers are ice cold, and she holds on as if afraid to let go.

We sit for a long time like that as pride fills me for my sister finding the strength to tell me and fury at my father and Patel. Both emotions swirl inside me as we watch Quinn and Sprinkles be silly in the sunshine.

Sadie is the first to speak. “Will you tell her I love her? ”

“She knows,” I manage, my voice breaking.

She smiles. “She deserved better parents than what she got. I’m glad she has you.”

Quinn climbs the porch steps, cheeks flushed and hair wild, clutching the pig toy to her chest. “Sprinkles got mud on the toy, but he says it’s his new favorite. He wants you to throw it next time.”

Sadie’s smile turns real, a flash of the girl she used to be. “Next time, for sure, kiddo.”

Quinn hesitates. “Do you have to leave right away?”

Sadie’s mouth works, searching for the right answer. “Not if you want me to stay for a bit.”

Quinn beams. “Will you read my story? I wrote about the salmon and the crab.”

Sadie nods, her hands steady. “I’d love that.”

I stand and help her up. “Let us officially introduce you to our pack. Then we can have lunch and show you around the Homestead.”

Her eyes widen at the invitation, and she takes a steadying breath. “Yeah, I’d like that.

Mrs. Reynolds stands and comes over, taking Sadie’s arm. “I’ve got her, Mr. Harris.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Reynolds.” I open the door for them and motion for the rest of my pack to join us. “Before you go, I’d like to speak to you about signing a new employment agreement. I’d like to take over paying your salary.”

And if it’s possible, I’ll take over governing the bank accounts that the Patel pack set up for Sadie after that worthless piece of shit that dared to call himself her husband died.

Because there’s no way in hell I’m leaving any part of my sister’s life to be governed by our father for a second longer.

Not now, after discovering what he put her through, put all of us through, all those years ago.

He’s the reason Sadie is the way she is. But I’ll be damned if I let him continue to have power over her future.