Page 9 of Searching for Sadie (Mystic Falls #5)

LUCAS

W hen Lucas turned around and saw the grin covering Sadie's face, it did something to him he wasn't expecting. He had to fight the urge to sweep her up in his arms and spin her around.

"Nice job. I should have known," his brother said as she clasped him on his back. But Lucas was barely aware of him because his eyes were glued to the curvy little brunette that has started to take up more and more space in his thoughts lately.

When he's finally able to take his eyes off her, he turns to his brother who is giving him a knowing smile.

"Thanks, we're gonna go," he said quickly, whisking Sadie away before his brother can say something embarrassing.

As they walked through the crowd Lucas fought the urge to reach out and take her hand. It was like he was in high school all over again. He hadn't wanted to kiss a girl as much as he wanted to kiss her on top of the Ferris wheel.

The fairy lights strung up over their heads came on as the sun sunk further in the sky. They walked past a few games until they came to one with giant stuffed animals. He had to make the experience complete, right? It wouldn't be complete if he didn't win her one of these.

"What do you say?" he said as he motioned to the booth with his head.

She cocked her head with a quizzical look on her face. Fuck, she was cute.

He stopped and got a set of balls.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm winning you a prize, of course."

"You don't have to do that," she said.

"Of course I do," he said as he waggled his eyebrows before turning to the game.

He picked up one of the balls and gave a couple small testing tosses in his hand testing the weight.

Before he looked at the pyramid of milk bottles.

He threw it, aiming at the top of the bottom middle bottle, and with a crash the pyramid came toppling down.

Three more tosses and three more crumbled towers.

"Pick your prize," he said as he turned to her grinning ear to ear.

"Are you serious?" she asked.

"The pink monkey?" he asked.

She bit her lip and shook her head.

"Okay, pick your prize."

He should have known, she picked a giant orange cat. "That cat looks a little familiar," he said with a knowing glance.

"He does look like Geoge, doesn't he?"

"He does... hopefully he will be a little less trouble for you."

She took the cat from the worker and Lucas's chest filled with pride. What on earth was happening? He needed to get himself under control.

When he stopped to look around, the sights and sounds had changed with the setting sun.

While the sounds of squeals and laughter and the whirring of the machine still came from across the way, the ruckus sounds of the beer tent were starting to pick up.

With the setting sun, the carnivals in Mystic Falls always seemed to go from a wonderful family event, to a slightly more drunk family friendly event.

Just then an announcement came over the speakers. "Join our host from the Elbow Room in fifteen minutes for karaoke in the beer tent."

"What do you say? Karaoke?"

"Let's do it."

They made their way through the crowd over to the tent that was filled with a dozen picnic tables, a bar on one side, and a stage on the other. It was a staple at all the Mystic Falls events.

"I'll grab us a couple beers if you wanna grab a table. It’ll fill up in here."

"Okay," she said as they went their separate ways.

While he was in line, Lucas couldn't seem to keep his eyes off his curvy little neighbor.

There was something about her that entranced him.

She had a beautiful smile, a body he wanted to get lost in, but there was something about her that warned him to be careful with her.

A smile that sometimes didn't go all the way to her eyes, that clued him into the fact that his delectable date might have some hurt she was working through.

Maybe it was the loss of her aunt, either way, he knew he would be there for her.

As he waited for their beer, he saw Sam and Jackson join her. She greeted them with a smile before Sam made his way over to the beer line.

"How's it going?" Sam asked.

"Great," he said as he watched Jackson made Sadie laugh. Josh and Poppy joined them, though neither of them were drinking at the moment. Poppy was pregnant, again, and Josh never drank, but neither of them could resist the call of karaoke.

"Sadie seems to be fitting in," Sam said, clearly noticing Lucas's distraction.

Lucas looked at Sam who was giving him a shit eating grin.

When they were in school, Sam had been a few years ahead of him.

He was captain of the hockey team his freshman year.

But after everyone left Mystic Falls for college and other endeavors, neither of them left.

Lucas went to trade school in Glendale and became an electrician and Sam took over his family's orchard.

Neither of them had ever felt the need to leave this place.

They started a local hockey league and flourished right where they had grown up. And in doing that, they'd gotten close.

Lucas was the best man a couple years ago when Sam had gotten married.

When he got married, even though he had two brothers, he knew Sam would be his best man.

He wondered if Sadie had a sister who would be her maid of honor.

Crap! This wasn’t even a first date. He really was getting ahead of himself.

When he finally snapped out of whatever fantasy ride his brain was taking him, he looked over at Sam who was already getting beer.

"Hey, how did you get ahead of me?" Lucas asked.

"Well... I was paying attention," he said before he turned to head back to the table.

"Two please," he said as he got his beer and made his way back to the table.

By the time he made it back, Poppy had already made introductions and was happy chatting with Sadie.

In fact, she'd taken his spot next to her.

He was about to ask her to scoot down, but then Sadie looked up and connected eyes with him, and his heart skipped a fucking beat.

He was a grown ass man, what was happening?

"Could you scoot down?" she asked Poppy herself, and his heart once again did the skippy thing.

Sadie scooted closer to Poppy letting Lucas have the edge, which he needed with his long legs and bulky body. Even with that, his thigh pressed up against hers just like it had on the Ferris wheel.

It was loud in here and hard to hear, but Poppy being who she was had taken over Sadie and they seemed to be happily chatting. So, Lucas took a moment to just examine this fascinating new woman and how the community he loved was embracing her.

While he wasn't sure if she was looking for a fresh start, or running from something, Mystic Falls would be a great place to land.

"I got everything hooked up," said Josh Turner as she joined them at the table.

"I can't believe you finally talked them into using a digital catalog," Poppy said.

"It's about time," he said. "I'm Josh," he said with a welcoming smile reaching out to shake Sadie’s hand. "You look familiar."

"I'm Sadie," she said, reaching out to take his hand. "I think we met briefly last time I was in town before my aunt passed."

"Oh yes, Sadie. I remember. I heard you moved into her old place. If you need any help just let me know. I fixed a lot of things around the house for her, so I might be able to help."

"Thank you," she said.

Lucas took stock of the filling beer tent as karaoke got started. Sitting at their table was Poppy, Josh, Sam, Jackson, and Hannah Glenn.

"Where’s Graham?" Lucas asked.

"One of the cows is about to give birth. Graham didn't want to leave the farm tonight."

"Gotcha," Lucas said as the DJ called Poppy's name and the table erupted into cheers as she took the stage.

"Did you sign up for something?" Lucas asked, leaning down for her to hear.

When she turned to answer him, her face was mere inches from his, and the thought of kissing her was all he could think about. It had been a long time since anyone had made him feel this interested. And in this setting, it was like having a crush in high school.

Her breath caught in her throat and her teeth sunk into her bottom lip. she seemed just as swept up in the moment as he did.

"I did," she said barely loud enough for him to hear.

It was weird to count your blessings about having a new neighbor when you have her because her aunt passed away and left her the house, but he was doing it, nonetheless.

The night went on and Jackson and Josh each sang a song. "Are you going to sing?" she asked Sam.

"Yeah, Sam, are you going to sing?" Jackson asked, grinning at him.

"Absolutely not," Sam said.

"Are you?" Sadie asked, smiling up at Lucas.

Before he could answer, her name was called.

And as the DJ called out a new name to people in a close-knit community like this, all eyes zeroed in on her.

There was a small moment of hesitation that flitted across her face before the table all started cheering for her just like they all had for each other.

A small look of surprise crossed her face before she smiled at them at stood to take off for the stage.

While she made her way over, Lucas couldn't take his eyes off her.

Sam leaned over and said something to him. "What?" he asked, because he was going to need Sam to repeat himself.

"So Sadie, huh?" Sam asked with a knowing look.

"We'll see," he said with a smile that wouldn't leave his face.

Sadie climbed the stairs taking the stage as the starting music for Jolene by Dolly Parton started playing.

"I love this song," Poppy said, clapping her hands.

Lucas's eyes were glued to her as she started to sing, but as soon as the first note left her, he wasn’t alone.

The entire place's mouth seemed to drop as she sang. She sounded just like Dolly Parton.

"Wow..." Poppy said as she watched her. "She's so good."

She was incredible. Lucas watched her as the world fell away. When the song ended and she smiled and said thank you to the DJ, Lucas knew, somehow, he was going to make his new next-door neighbor his.

The night went on as they all talked and drank and sang. It was everything he had come to expect from town festivals, but with Sadie by his side, it felt new and better somehow.

Before long, they did last call at the beer tent, and people started talking about making their way to Smokey’s for another round of drinks and a game of darts.

"What do ya say?" he asked Sadie. "Do you want to go for another round or head home?"

"Oh umm..." Sadie said as a small crease settled between her brows. "I think I might be ready to head home, but please don't go on my account."

"I think Sadie and I are gonna head home," Lucas said to the table as everyone was finishing up their drinks.

"We're headed home too. I'm beat, and Lily is staying the night with Gran, so my bed is calling my name. But it was so nice to meet you," Poppy said to Sadie. "You should join our book club, it's super chill, you don't even have to read the book."

"Oh, yeah, that sounds fun," Sadie said as Lucas held out a hand and helped her up.

"Don't forget this," he said, holding out the giant stuffed cat.

"I would never," she said as she smiled at him, taking it from her. "It was really nice to meet all of you."

They all said their goodbyes, and the festival was starting to get broken down as Sadie and Lucas made their way home.