Page 7 of Searching for Sadie (Mystic Falls #5)

LUCAS

L ucas held the door as Sadie grabbed her purse from the entry table and slung it over her shoulder.

"All set," she said gazing up at him with her deep brown eyes.

While he hadn't meant for this to be a date, it sure felt like one. And with the way his gaze was glued to her round ass as she locked the door behind her, which he would stop looking at… any minute now.

When she was finished, they set down the street.

It was about a four block walk to main street and only a few more blocks to the square.

The sun was at an angle in the sky that made their shadows before them look tall and stretched out, but even still the curves of her shadow next to his made him smile.

His hand itched to take hers. He had to remind himself, even though this felt like a date, that wasn’t something that they'd discussed.

It might not even be something she was looking for.

"How are you enjoying Mystic Falls?"

The way she chuckled before answering him wasn't lost on him.

"What's funny?"

"Nothing, just this place. I remember the first time I came to visit my aunt. I was probably about eight maybe. I always loved coming to visit. While I grew up in Tennessee, it never felt as smalltown as this does."

He nodded. "Yeah... we definitely have a whole Mayberry thing going for us."

"You do."

"Do you like it? I know it's not for everyone."

"I do. While I never thought I would end up here, it might be just what I need."

"Oh yeah?" he asked, hoping she would continue. It sounded like there was a lot more to that story and he would love to hear it. In fact, he found himself hanging on her every word, hungry for any new morsel of who she was. He hadn't felt this way for a long time. Longer than he cared to remember.

"Yeah... I was just ready for a change."

It looked like that was all he was going to get for now, and that was fine, he was a patient man.

As they turned the corner the sounds of the carnival filled the air.

Summer was a fun time here in Mystic Falls, but honestly this town didn’t need an excuse to throw a carnival.

There was at least one a month. He knew this kind of life wasn't for everyone, but he loved it.

The whole town was like having a giant extended family.

The silence they were walking in was oddly comfortable. Lucas enjoyed a comfortable silence. But the urge to reach out and hold her hand that accompanied it, that was new. Unbeknownst to him, a small smile had pulled across his face as Sadie looked up at him.

"What?" she asked.

He cocked his head not entirely sure what she was talking about.

"You were smiling."

"Oh," he said, giving his head a little shake. "I guess I'm just enjoying the warm weather and the good company."

Her mouth turned up a little before she bit her lip and looked at the sidewalk. There was something about her that he couldn’t put his finger on... but he found himself wanting to put his fingers all over her.

As they continued down the block the town square came into view.

A small gasp left her lips. The pride that puffed his chest was new.

Especially since he hadn't done anything to help with this particular festival.

This was all the fire department. But still he found himself proud of his little town.

As they got closer the smell of barbequing meat made his mouth water.

"A Ferris wheel?"

He nodded. "Wanna take a spin later?" he asked with a wag of his eyebrows.

This time the smile stretched all the way across her face, his mind instantly started making a list of things that made her smile. He realized he hadn't seen a smile this big from her before, but he would see it again before the night was over. He would make sure of that.

"I don't think I've ridden one of those since I was a kid."

"Well, it looks like we need to rectify that before the night is over."

They continued into the square that had been blocked off. On one side the fire house was manning a couple giant grills making food. The other had a string of booths with things for sale and some fun games to play. The other two had a variety of fair rides.

"Are you hungry?"

"I could eat," she said, glancing up at him, but not too long. She was too busy taking in her new surroundings. "Wow! This is straight out of a Hallmark movie."

"Yeah... That's not the first time I've heard that," he said as they made their way to the grill.

"Two pork chops sandwiches and two apple fry pies."

Sadie moved to get money out of her purse, but Lucas already paid by the time she got it out.

"I got it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, this is your welcome to Mystic Falls meal."

Another smile. That was two. How many more could he get?

They sat down at the picnic table and were soon joined by Sam and Jackson.

"And who have we here?" Jackson asked with a smile.

Lucas gave Sam a nod of greeting before turning to Sadie to see her looking up at him, her eyes unsure.

"This is Sadie. She moved into Ms. Maple’s old house," he said to them. He turned it on her and a smile came across her face again. He wouldn't count that one though... that wasn't genuine, and not for him alone. "This is Sam and Jackson."

"It's nice to meet you," Sam said.

"Welcome to Mystic Falls, how did you end up here?" Jackson asked.

"Oh... When my great aunt passed away, she left me her house... and I'm kind of in a transition right now, so I thought why not."

The way her hands fidgeted in her lap didn’t escape Lucas's notice. There was something she wasn't sharing. Plus, there was the way her curvy body drew his eye and the way her smile lit him up.

Sam cleared his throat pulling Lucas out of the dream state he seemed to find himself in when he was around Sadie. When his eyes met Sam’s, he seemed to be waiting for an answer.

"I was just asking how the job was going?"

He'd been putting in the electrical for Popstar Liam James who had just moved to Mystic Falls not too long ago.

"Oh good! It’s a lot more intense than what I'm used to. I've never helped install a whole state of the art recording facility."

At this Sadie's ears seemed to perk. She turned to him with a questioning look, so he continued.

"But I'm almost finished. Which is good because I think they just moved back the other day. They've been staying at Lexi's but I'm sure they're wanting to get into the new house."

"I'm sorry, but where did you put in a music studio?"

"Do you not know about our new celebrity in town?" Jackson asked with a smirk that he only had when he was excited to dish.

Sadie cocked her head with a questioning look on her face. "Who is it?"

"Liam James." The look on Jackson's face made Lucas smile and Sam shake his head.

Sam had been a good friend of his for years.

And while he was so happy he had found Jackson, they were an unlikely pair.

Sam was an outdoorsy, flannel wearing guy you would suspect to run an orchard, while his husband, Jackson, was a short Black gay man who used to do drag.

He tore it up at the Elbow Room, the local karaoke joint.

"Wait. He lives here?"

She looked up at Lucas with wide eyes and a grin spreading wide across her face. She was radiant. Again, he found himself wishing he could count this smile, but this one was for Liam James, not him. He wasn't jealous.

Of course he wasn't, that would be silly.

"Yeah, he is dating my sister's sister-in-law?" Sam said with his face all scrunched like he was trying to figure it out.

"I went on a walk today around the falls and I swear I saw him, but I thought I was just going crazy."

"Nope, he's a resident of our wonderful little town," Lucas said to her.

"Wow! That's amazing. And you worked on his house?"

Lucas just nodded. "I'm an electrician."

"Well, I kinda figured that out with the Fipp’s Electrical truck in your drive."

"What about you? What do you do?" Jackson asked.

All eyes turned to her, and she seemed to once again squirm in her seat.

"Ummm... I actually used to work at a recording studio before I moved here."

"Really?" Lucas asked.

“Mmm -hmmm”, she nodded.

"Did you live in the city?" Jackson asked again.

"The city. No. But I'm from a city. I moved her from Nashville."

"You sing country music?"

"Me? No. I'm not a singer."

"Well, singer or not, you should come down to Elbow for karaoke tonight."

"That might be fun," she said looking up at Lucas. Something about the way she looked to include him settled deep inside of him.

"I'm always up for the Elbow Room," Lucas said.

Then she smiled. He was counting this one. Three smiles for him.

"Do you want to walk around and take a look?" Lucas asked her. He thought she might like to meet more people. It wasn't hoping for a little more alone time with her, at least not all of it.

"Oh, yeah." She moved to stand. "It was really nice to meet you," she said to Jackson and Sam.

"You too, we'll see you around."

Lucas gathered the trash, and they made their way over to the trash can.

"I can't believe Liam James has a house here."

"Yeah, and I'm not sure if you follow hockey, but the star player for the Glendale Magic is from here and one of his teammates spend a lot of time here since he's dating the bookstore owner. Have you heard of Conner McPhee or Wes Darling?"

"I don't really follow hockey that much."

He scoffed. "It's the best sport."

She smiled at him again. He was up to four and counting. "I've never been much into sports. Music has always been my thing."

"That makes sense. Ms. Maple gave me piano lessons when I was growing up... as she did with the rest of the town I feel like."

"Yeah, she was the best."

They made their way through the crowd coming to the little fairway that had some games setup.

The smell of the barbeque and the din of the crowd created a certain kind of nostalgia.

That coupled with the fact that he was here with a new woman he may have a little crush on made him feel like he was in high school again.

"So, you worked in music in Nashville?"

Her eyebrows drew together before she responded. "I did. I worked for a studio, but I left that job before I came here."

"What brought you here? Besides the house?"

"Oh," she said, her body tensing slightly beside him.

"Just the man I've been looking for," said a booming voice he recognized as a strong hand clapped him on his shoulder.

"Hey dad, this is Sadie. She just moved in next door."

"Well, Sadie, welcome to Mystic Falls. Do you mind if I steal my son for a minute?"

"Oh, of course," she said quickly. The look of relief on her face was not lost on him.

"What do you need?" he asked, anxious to get back to Sadie.

"We have a booth set up. Your brother was supposed to man the dinner breaks, but he’s stuck at a meeting. Could you do it?"

When he’d told his mom he could help it was before he thought about asking Sadie to come with him. He looked back to Sadie who was looking at one of the vendors before turning back to his dad. He wanted to say, ‘no I'm on a date’. Only he wasn't actually on a date.

"Oh umm... yeah?" he said, his eyes still glued to Sadie who seems to be examining a basket of crystals in Bridget's booth.

"Lucas, can you cover dinner shifts at our tent?" he asked again.

"Yeah, that's fine. Let me go tell Sadie, but only for a dinner break."

"Of course, I'd do it myself but I'm still at the store."

"Okay, let me go tell Sadie. I'll be right there."

He made his way through the crowd over to the purple tent Bridget put up during town events.

While it wasn’t really his thing, it drew a crowd.

She read tarot cards and had all kinds of little magic trinkets, books and tarot cards for purchase.

There were people in town who swore she actually had magical powers.

While Lucas didn't buy it, she was a brassy older woman who always made him laugh.

"I know that look in yer eyes," said the woman herself in her thick Scottish brogue.

"What?"

"Yer smitten with the lass."

While he wanted to argue, she wasn't wrong. Smitten was the right word for what he was feeling.

"Be careful with this one. She looks like she's been through it," she said, placing a gentle hand on his thick forearm.

Lucas just nodded. Bridget's intuition about people was always spot on. And in this case, it was the same as his. There was something going on with her that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

"Excuse me," he said to Bridget before making his way over to Sadie.

She was still there in the tent, but she had moved on from the little basket of crystals to the table with an assortment of different teas.

"Sadie," he said, reaching out to gently touch her shoulder. As he did, he felt what he could only describe as a jolt of electricity shoot through him. Being an electrician, he'd felt that a time or two.

She turned with a startled look on her face. Apparently, she’d felt it too.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly, pulling his hand back. "My dad asked me to cover the dinner breaks over at our tent. You can come help or feel free to look around. It should be more than thirty minutes."

"Oh, yeah. I think I can occupy myself. What tent are you in?" she asked, looking down the road.

"I'm down at the Fipp’s Market tent. We are selling snacks and some other stuff."

"Okay, I'll explore and then come find you in a bit."

"Okay... I'll see you soon."

He turned to leave, the tingle still in his body. Why did he feel like he was on the edge of something important? He ran his hand through his ruffled blonde hair as he weaved his way through the crowd. Thirty minutes, then he would start finding ways to make her smile again.