Page 15 of Searching for Sadie (Mystic Falls #5)

LUCAS

L ucas was just pulling in from a quick trip to Glendale.

He’s gone there to get a starter for Sadie’s car.

Then he stopped by the market and got stuff to throw some burgers on the grill and had a six pack in his fridge calling his name.

But as he was just about to crack open a beer, he heard a scream coming from his backyard.

It sounded like Sadie.

His heart flew up to his throat. He could tell she was going through something, but he didn't want to push it.

There was a small part of him that had watched Sleeping with the Enemy too many times with his mom as a kid and was worried that maybe she was running from a man. A man who had just found her.

Not on his watch!

He scrambled to his back door before yanking it open. Only he didn't find Sadie fighting with a big scary man.

No, his brain needed a minute to digest what he was seeing. Sadie was screaming... but at a cow. A big highland cow.

A big laugh erupted out of him. Her eyes snapped over to him and he tried his hardest to bite back that laughter.

She looked at him wide eyed and shook her head. "Cow." Was the only word she managed to get out.

"Yeah. It sure is."

Reaching into his pocket he dug out his phone and started looking through his contacts.

She scoffed, her eyes still on the massive beast before her. "How? Cow."

"Well look at you, you're a poet," he said as he held the ringing phone to his ear.

"Hello," answered a deep voice with a thick Scottish Brogue.

"Hey, Graham. I think Angus got out again."

There was a long string of Gaelic muttering as Graham did something. "I'll be right there," he finally said before hanging up.

"Don't worry," Lucas said, walking over into Sadie’s yard. "Angus here will be gone soon." he said as he patted the massive animal on its rear flank. The thing just turned its head and mooed before returning to munch on the hydrangeas.

"You know this cow?" Sadie asked with her hand over her chest.

"I do. The woods back there back right into the Glenn Farmland. Old Angus likes to meander over from time to time. Graham is on his way to get him right now."

She stood there catching her breath, staring at the cow.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "I heard you scream."

"Well, George is out," she said pointing to the giant orange furball in the tree. "And when I came to get him... let's just say I wasn't expecting a giant horned cow to be eating my flowers."

"Well, ol' Angus here will be put back soon. Are you sure you’re okay?"

Her eyes closed and a huff of breath left her body. "I mean... This isn't even the most stressful thing that's happened today."

That confession twisted something in his heart. He still had no clue what she was going through, but he wanted to know. He wanted to be there for her. And when he really thought about it, he found he wanted that more than he had wanted anything in a while.

“Well, I picked up a starter for your car today. Hopefully that will take care one of one of the stressors in your life. I can pop it for you while I wait for Graham.”

“I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You’re not asking. I’m offering, and I already have the part.”

“Thank you,” she said looking up at him with enough earnestness in her eyes to nearly take his breath away.

"I got some burgers to put out on the grill. I was just about to hop in the shower after I finish your car, but then I was gonna grill. Do you want to join me? By that time our guest here should be gone," he said, giving Angus another pat and he answered with a loud long moo.

She bit her lip and Lucas prepared himself for the sting of rejection, but that lip trapped between her lips turned up ever so slightly.

"Okay, I'll bring dessert."

He tried not to let the joy he felt at that show on his face. "Perfect! I'll meet ya out on the deck in a bit," he said. When what he really wanted to do was jump up and down like he'd just won the fucking lottery.

After he got the starters swapped out a big truck pulled up Graham got out. Graham made his way over to Lucas who led into their backyard. Graham shook his head and muttered to the cow in Gaelic.

"Sorry about this. This one here likes to wonder," Graham said, giving the cow a big smack on the ass.

"No harm done... well, maybe some hydrangea damage done."

"Oh, did Angus eat her flowers?" Graham said with a small cringe.

Lucas nodded.

"I'll make it up to her," Graham said as the trailer groaned beneath the weight of the massive bovine.

Just then Sadie came out of her house to join them. Graham shut the back of the trailer before he turned to Sadie. "I do apologize about yer flowers, I'll repay ye," he said with a slight bow.

Lucas could never put his finger on it, he liked Graham, but something about it always seemed like he never quite fit in this century.

"Don't worry about it," Sadie said, waving him off. "It's totally fine."

"I apologize all the same."

Lucas and Sadie stood there in their driveaway as Graham drove off with a trailer and the mooing beast.

"Does he always wear a kilt?" Sadie asked with her head cocked to the side.

"Not always, but a lot. He owns the farm up on the hill and he runs it as if he were in 1750's Scotland."

"Really?" Sadie said looking over at him with a face that showed too much fascinating for his taste. Even he had to admit that Graham was an extremely attractive man.

"Yeah, he's married to Hannah. They just had twins a few months ago."

He was just sharing information... not trying to dissuade her from being attracted to Graham, because that would be silly.

"Hmmm," she said.

“I’m gonna hop in the shower before I get the burger’s ready. Meet you on my back patio in fifteen?”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

After he was out of the shower he popped open a beer and got to work seasoning the burgers before heading out. As he got the burgers on the grill Sadie’s screen door opened and he had to bite back the grin that wanted to spread wide across his face.

"Do you want a beer?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said with an easy smile that settled deep inside of him.

"So, how was your day? Ya know, before the cow?" Sadie asked as she sat in a chair on his patio.

"I can't complain," he said as he took the top off her beer and handed it to her, before rethinking. "Do you need a glass or anything?"

Without answering she raised the glass bottle to her lips and took a long pull from the beer. "Nope, this is good."

He knew that a big dopey grin had to be covering his face, but he couldn't seem to help it. "What about you?" he asked. "How was your day?"

Her eyes connected his as she took another long swig of beer before answering. He didn't like the dark look in her eyes one bit.

"It was fine," she said with a dismissive shake of her head.

"Was it though?" he asked as he made his way over to the table and pulled out the chair next to her and sat down.

She just blew out a deep breath as he popped off the top of his own beer.

"That bad, huh?"

Her brows creased and she still remained silent.

"Sorry, you don't have to talk about it. I'll stop being nosy."

"No. It's fine. I'm just not sure what I can talk about."

He looked at her and cocked his head. He wasn't following, but he wished he could help because the dark cloud seemed to dim her light.

She seemed to grow a bit heavier when she talked about it.

But she couldn't talk about it was different than she wouldn't talk about it and he wasn't really sure what she meant.

"What do you mean?"

She sighed and ran her hair through her auburn hair. "Well..." as her brow pinched. Whatever had that look on her face could fuck all the way off.

"If I tell you something, can you please keep it between us. I mean the news is dropping tomorrow, so I think it would be okay if I told you, even though the scary lawyer was here today."

"Woah. What lawyer?"

"Mums the word until the post goes live tomorrow. Promise?"

He gave a tentative nod.

"Well... part of the reason I moved here was because I was on a reality show."

His mouth fell open. A reality show. That wasn’t what he was expecting.

"Reality show?"

"Yeah, I was on Before First Sight."

"Isn't that the dating show on Streamflix?"

"Yeah," she said on a long exhale before tucking her feet up underneath her. "That's the one."

"And it didn't go well, I take it."

"It did not."

"What happened today?" he asked as he stood it go flip the burgers.

"Some people from the show came to find me to remind me of my contractual obligations to the show, and of course, of my NDA, which is why I'm being so careful with my words."

The sizzle of the burgers filled the silence as he searched for what to say. "Well, I'm here if you need to talk. I'm not talkin to anyone for the rest of the day and I have a solo job tomorrow, so…" he mimed his locking his mouth and throwing away the key.

She gave a little chuckle. and just like that he felt like he'd just scored a goal.

"Let's just say, it was an awful experience. I'm really not looking forward to reliving it," she said before draining her beer.

"I'm sorry you had such an awful experience. Shows like that can be vultures."

She just nodded and the darkness was back in her eyes. Fuck, he hated it so much.

"Yeah, so I left the show, was fired from my job, and I'm here... living in my great aunt's house... well I guess it's my house, but there ya have it."

"Wait, you were fired?! Because of the show?"

She nodded. "Yes, after they were supportive of my going on it, when they found out how my story line ended, they decided it wasn't a good look for the label and fired me. And gave my sister my job."

The metal spatula he was holding almost fell to the ground at the admission of all that.

"Okay... I'm going to need you to slow down and explain that a little more."

She let out another sigh as she collapsed into her chair. "Do I have to?"

"No, you don't, but I'm here to listen if you want. That all sounds pretty awful. Your sister took your job?"

"She doesn’t think she did. She thinks I left them high and dry, and she can't help it if they were in a tight spot and needed her to step in after I was the one to get her a job there in the first place."

"I'm really sorry, Sadie. That sucks."

"Thank you," she said quietly. "It does suck... but I do actually feel a little better talking about it. Dealing with it for the past couple months under an NDA has been tough. Feeling along with the dread of the show airing has been really hard."

The fact that he had allowed her a safe place to talk about it made him feel so damn good.

All he wanted to do was wrap her up in a hug and protect her from what was coming, but that wasn't an option.

Firstly, because there was no way to protect her from what was coming.

Secondly, because that was not what a good neighbor would do, that is what a boyfriend would do.

That is not what she wanted or needed right now.

"Cheese?"

"Of course, cheese," she said like he was crazy. It was a brief moment of levity in their heavy conversation.

Just then her phone dinging on the table, she snatched it up. "I'll be right back."

And just like that she was dashing back into her house.