Page 17 of Searching for Sadie (Mystic Falls #5)

SADIE

S adie clutched the romance book to her chest as she made her way to the little bookstore on the corner. Why was she so nervous? Everyone she'd met in Mystic Falls had been incredible, but that was not doing anything to settle her nerves at the moment.

As the rounded the corner the bookshop came into view.

It was a darling little store, and she wasn't surprised.

.. it seemed everything in this town was darling.

In fact, when she rounded the corner, she almost bumped into Wes Darling himself, dropping the book she'd been clutching.

It was like bumping into a solid brick wall.

"Sorry about that," he said as he reached out to steady her shoulders. Bending down he picked up her book. "Here for the book club? I tried to go, but Kate told me to get lost."

"Yet you're still here," a voice filled with dry sarcasm said from behind him as a broad grin covered his face.

He handed Sadie her book. "I'm Wes, it's nice to meet you –"

A long pause stretched out between them until Sadie realized he was waiting for her name. "Sadie," she said quickly. "I'm Sadie. It's nice to meet you."

"He was just leaving. Hannah and Poppy are already in the back. I think we're just waiting on Lexi," Kate said.

"I'm going for a run, then I'm meeting my trainer. I'll see ya at home, Red," Wes said before dipping his head to give Kate a quick kiss. He pulled away and smirked at Kate.

Sadie couldn't help but feel like she was intruding on an intimate moment, and it made her heart ache. Then she remembered the kiss she'd had on the swing with Lucas last night and she had to bite back the grin that wanted to spread across her face.

"It was nice to meet you, Sadie," Wes said from the door.

"You too."

As he turned around and left, Kate motioned to Sadie. "Come on back. Poppy brought food and Hannah brought wine."

"Sounds perfect."

Sadie made her way through the little bookstore and a meeting room in the back.

There sat Poppy with her long auburn hair pulled back into a French braid looking very pregnant next to Hannah with her blond waves down framing her face.

They both turned to her with warm welcoming smiles and invited her in.

"Thank you," Sadie said as she came in.

"I made banana bread, and my husband made us some sandwiches, grab some and join us."

Sadie got some food and Poppy and Hannah continued talking.

She grabbed a plate with some fruit salad on it and grabbed one of the brown paper-wrapped sandwiches on it before joining them at the table.

As she joined them Kate came into the room accompanied by a shorter, round woman with a blonde bob.

"This is Lexi. Lexi, this is Sadie."

"It's nice to meet you," the woman said.

"Nice to meet you too."

As they filled their plates and joined them, it occurred to Sadie, that all the women in this room looked like her.

Well, that wasn't quite true, but they were all curvy beautiful women.

That thought almost brought tears to her eyes.

Working in the music industry, she'd gotten used to being the biggest person in any room.

And after being on the show and having the way she looked and the size of her body used against her, her confidence had taken a huge hit. But here in this room it was different. There was no denying the women in this room were beautiful inside and out.

"Sorry I'm a little late," said Lexi. "Liam and I just got back from the city. He had some things he wanted to bring from his music room there."

"Wait. You're married to Liam James," Sadie blurted out. She knew Liam James had recently moved to the area, but she was not expecting to meet his wife at a random book club.

"No. We’re not married, but we're together. We've been together for a while now."

Sadie's mind was running a hundred miles a minute as she thought back to a story she remembered coming out about Liam at the end of his last tour.

He's been photographed kissing a woman, this story stuck out to her because while most people were more concerned if he was gay or not, since his last partner had been a man.

She was more intrigued by the fact that he was kissing a fat woman, and it would appear that it was the woman before her.

"Oh my gosh, are you the woman from the photograph?"

The energy in the room instantly changed. Poppy's eyes drew together and Hannah scoffed. Fuck. That was not the right thing to say. She was just so surprised. After that and the tour Liam had left the public eye to work on his new album.

"I'm sorry. I'm not trying to make it weird. I just remember that. I work in the music industry... well, I did, and it just meant a lot to see a photo of someone like Liam James with someone who looked like me."

Lexi smiled at her and the energy in the room seemed to return to normal.

"You worked in the industry?" Lexi asked her as her and Kate each made a plate and then came to join them at the table.

"I did. I worked for Neon Mountain Records at their studio. Mostly as an assistant producer, but I'm a songwriter."

"Are you really?" Poppy asked with a grin stretched wide across her face. "That's so interesting."

Sadie nodded as Hannah poured wine, when she got to Sadie's glass Hannah paused waiting for confirmation that she wanted wine. Sadie nodded and Hannah poured her a glass of rosé.

"Thank you."

"Sadly, no wine for me," Poppy said as she opened her bottle of water.

"You'll have to come over once Liam is done setting up the studio. From what he tells me it's top of the line. It looks fancy," Lexi said with a shrug.

"Oh my gosh! I would love to!" Sadie exclaimed. "Do you know what kind of board he installed?"

A familiar wave of joy washed over her. She had missed making music, even if what she'd been doing at the label wasn't making her own music or giving artists her songs, she'd still been around music and the people creating it.

Lexi laughed before taking a sip of her wine. "I have no idea about any of that, but you should come over. I'm sure he'd be able to tell you all about it."

"So, if you were working in music, what brought you to Mystic Falls?" Hannah asked.

"Uhhh," Sadie said before downing her glass of wine. Remembering all of this was like a slap in the face. "It's kind of a long story."

"We got time," Poppy said, settling into her chair.

The promo had dropped, so she could at least say she was on the show, she just couldn't share anything else.

And looking around at this group of women, something about them made her feel safe.

Like maybe they would be there for her. The weight of carrying this burden alone was pulling her down, and she knew it.

Maybe it was time to let people in. Letting Lucas in had proven to be a good choice.

"Have you ever heard of Before First Sight?" Sadie asked.

"Yes," Poppy said, almost salivating.

Hannah smiled and gave her head a little shake. "Don't let her exuberance scare you."

"It's okay," Sadie said before taking a deep breath. "Well, I'm on the upcoming season, I can't talk too much about it, but I can say it wasn't a good experience for me."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Lexi said, compassion filling her voice.

"I can't tell you much, because of NDA's and bullshit like that, but clearly, I am here single, jobless, and alone... so do with that information what you will."

"Ugh, that sounds awful," Lexi said as she started to unwrap her sandwich.

"It was," Sadie said as she started to unwrap her own.

This sandwich isn't what she was expecting when Poppy had said her husband made them. It was a toasted fresh baguette with fresh mozzarella, tomato, arugula and a balsamic drizzle. "Your husband made these?" Sadie asked in surprise.

Poppy giggled. "I was just as surprised when he made them for me on one of our first dates."

"He's an amazing cook. He did all the cooking growing up," said Lexi.

Sadie looked between the two in confusion looking for the connection.

"I'm married to her brother," Poppy said.

"That still doesn't explain why you left your job," Hannah said, bringing the conversation back around.

Sadie sighed. "Well, I'll just say my story line ended in a way they didn't think would be a good look for them. So, they fired me."

"What?" Kate asked with indignation. "So, you had a terrible experience on the show, and from the ones I've watched, I'm guessing you left heartbroken, only to be fired."

"Pretty much," Sadie said. "And now I have to watch it all play out in front of a million viewers before I go back for the reunion show in six weeks."

The mouths of all the women at the table dropped around her. Hannah shook her head and poured her another glass of wine. "I think you're going to need this. Maybe even another bottle."

"We're here for you," Kate said with a genuine smile.

"Thank you, it means a lot."

"Don't mention it. If you want to watch the shows together for a little moral support we're here," Poppy said.

"I'll think about it. Now, aren't we here to talk about the book," Sadie asked, ready to be out of the spotlight for a bit.

And as the woman all started talking about the book, Sadie relaxed into her seat.

Once again, coming to Mystic Falls had proven to be the right decision.

But now she had another one to make. Did she want to watch the show with them or curl up and watch it in the safety of her own bed snuggling the world's best cat?

She didn't know what the answer to that was yet, but it might be nice to have support.

On the other hand, it might be better to lick her wounds in peace.

As the night went on, they discussed the book but mostly they all just chatted and drank wine and ate yummy food.

It was just the kind of night she needed, and Hannah had kept her glass full all night.

The way her head swam told her probably the better part of a bottle of wine to herself, but at least she walked here.

"So, let me see if I got this right," Sadie said, clearing her throat.

"You are married to her brother, Josh," she said to Poppy.

"And your brother, Sam, works with her husband, Graham," she said to Hannah who nodded.

"And you play hockey with Sam and Lucas and are engaged to Wes Darling who plays for the Glendale Magic with your brother," she said to Kate.

"That about sums it up," said Kate.

"Small town life," Poppy said with a smile. "There was a time I wanted to get away from it, but now I would never leave."

Kate's phone vibrated on the table. She picked it up and looked at it as she bit back a smile.

"I love how happy Wes makes you," Poppy said. "I swear I've seen you smile more since you've been with him than you did in the whole time I've known you."

Kate didn't say anything, she just nodded in agreement before saying, "It is getting late though, what you do say we wrap this up until next month."

They all started clearing away their mess.

"When does the show air?" Lexi asked.

"In two weeks," Sadie said as the dread set in.

"If you decide you want company, you can all come watch it at our new place. We can watch it, and I can show you all around. And I can introduce you to Liam, and he can tell you more about the studio."

Sadie's mouth fell open. Liam James. She'd worked with some stars in her day, but none of them were as big as Liam James.

"I'm not sure I can say no to that," Sadie said.

"Well, if you decide you want to watch it on your own, I'll still have you all over and introduce you to Liam."

As they all finished up and walked out of the store Sadie was feeling lighter than she had in a while.

With her head a little swimmy from all the wine and a smile on her face from enjoying herself she set off on her way home.

Only when she got close, she decided she wasn't quite ready to go home yet.

She climbed the stairs of a familiar porch and knocked on the door.