Promise Me (Asher Family #1)

Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

HUDSON

How in the hell am I going to fix this?

No, that’s not the question I need to ask myself. The question I need to ask is how I’m going to convince Sadie I’m the one who should buy that space—me, not her.

I cannot be stuck right here for the rest of my life.

I pass through the bar, heading into the back and out the employee entrance. I turn left and open another door. This one reveals the staircase that leads to my apartment and to the one above Mrs. Whittaker's store, which is currently vacant.

I couldn’t care less about who ends up moving in next door. I just want the space below.

Then again, expanding my apartment could be another project that distracts me for a few more months.

My leg is a little sore once I make it to the top of the stairs, but I ignore it.

It’s a reminder of how life doesn’t always go the way you want it to and how you can bust your ass for years and years and still end up with nothing.

It’s a reminder that I need a huge fucking distraction .

I need that space.

I’m aware that it’s selfish of me to want this simply because I’m not happy with where my life currently stands. However, I also know the locals would love my idea.

Fuck.

I drop onto my couch and stretch out my leg.

Not sixty seconds later, my door is bursting open.

“I knew he was up here.”

“I didn’t say you were wrong. He’s just a creature of habit, so I assumed he’d be in the bar.”

My younger twin brothers, Luca and Miles, walk in as if they live here.

They don’t.

“Please, come in,” I say with heavy sarcasm.

I love my brothers, so I’m not really bothered, but a few minutes to think to myself would have been nice. Now, if it were our little sister, Ruby, barging in here, I’d be swooping her into a hug. Then, I’d be pushing her to the side to get time with my nephew, Max. He’s almost six, and I wish like hell that she lived in Lovers with us, especially in moments like this one.

Miles and Luca chose to stay in Lovers from day one, and although they feel bad for me, they aren’t shy about showing how much they love that I’m back.

Hence why the two of them just barge in whenever they want.

Honestly, between them, our dad, and Linc, I got pretty damn lucky with the people in my life.

Hockey was my life, and the friendships on our team ran deep, but once I was out, their life continued down that path, and mine didn’t. I don’t have anything in common with them anymore.

Each brother flops down on either side of me.

“What did Mrs. Whittaker say?” Luca asks .

“She said yes, duh,” Miles adds. “She loves Huddy.”

I roll my eyes and sigh at the nickname Ruby gave me when she was five.

“Sadie Collins wants it, too, and she showed up when I went to talk to Mrs. Whittaker.”

Neither of them says a word. They both just erupt into laughter. Luca laughs so hard he slaps his knee.

“This ought to be good.”

“It’s not. Not even close. We fought the entire time, and now, if we want Mrs. Whittaker to sell to either of us, we have to become friends and pick who should get it.”

“So, basically, neither of you will get it?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“What’s the plan? How can we help?”

I stare at Miles. He has his own job and his own life, yet every time I’ve wanted to do something new since I moved home, he’s been right there, ready to help.

Do they still pity me?

I shake my head and push off my legs to stand. “I don’t have a plan. I guess I should go talk to Sadie.”

“You can’t go in guns blazing,” Luca says, using his fingers as fake guns and blowing on the tips of his index fingers.

Miles laughs. “Real original.”

“For those two, it hit the nail on the coffin.”

Miles laughs harder.

“Okay, jokester, that’s enough,” I say, with a little chuckle of my own.

“What are you going to say to her?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

Do I want to be friends with Sadie? Not exactly. Do I want to be able to run into her around town or join a dinner with her family and not fight with her the entire time? Yes .

How do I get that point across and not piss her off at the same time?

I’ve never had this problem before. People have always just taken to me naturally. I’m not overly nice or a suck-up; I’m just a normal guy with basic manners—except when it comes to Sadie.

I let out an even bigger sigh.

“Maybe take her a gift?” Miles suggests.

“A gift?”

“Yeah, a peace offering.”

“Say something nice to her,” Luca adds. “Do you ever give her compliments?”

I shake my head. “She’d think I was up to something.”

“Well, go get a treat and give her one. It will seem natural.”

Miles snaps his fingers. “Oh! Do it with the lemon bars. Compliment those. That’s easy.”

My face wrinkles instantly, and I cringe.

“What? Why are you making that face?” Miles asks. “What did you do?”

“I sort of told her that her lemon bars are dry, possibly used the word subpar somewhere in my comment, and that I have to wash them down with a beer.”

“Hudson!”

“You are a real piece of work!”

My hands fly up.

“Words just come out when I’m around her. I have no control. She … she knows how to find this side of me that has no idea how to be civil.”

The twins look at each other, the exact same Cheshire smile slowly taking over their lips as they turn to me.

Oh, this should be good.

“Do you like her?” Luca asks.

“Pretty sure even Dad’s dog can answer that one with a big fat no. ”

“No, like, are you attracted to her?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

I turn to grab a cold water out of my fridge. Is Sadie pretty? Yes, she’s stunning. One of the most gorgeous women I’ve ever seen. I remember the summer when this realization first dawned on me. It was fleeting because, at about that same time, Linc started noticing that everyone noticed her. He made it very clear she was off limits, which was fine. Just because I thought she was pretty didn’t mean I wanted anything more.

I went for her best friend instead.

“Okay, well, how can we get you down there to make amends?” Miles taps his chin and leans back.

“You guys don’t have to hang out and help me. I can figure this one out.”

Luca shakes his head. “This is Sadie.”

“I know.”

“I don’t think you do. Look where just being the two of you has gotten you.”

I toss the lid to the water at his head, but he’s quick and catches it.

“That’s not my fault.”

“Or—hear me out—what if”— he jumps to stand—“you just make the effort of being kind for a few days. If she says something unkind, just let it go. Mrs. Whittaker is going to see you making that effort and pick you.”

It’s not a bad idea. Maybe she would feel bad for me and change her mind about us deciding instead of her.

“I could start by going down to buy a lemon bar and apologize.”

Luca snaps his finger and points at me. “I like this idea. Get a half dozen. I want one. ”

“We will wait here,” Miles says.

I nod and chug my water, crinkling the bottle and tossing it into the trash. I do my best to jog down the steps, a poor attempt to hype myself up.

I swing the door to the bar open and ignore everyone who calls out my name.

If I’m doing this, I’m doing it now while my brain is agreeing to be nice to Sadie.

I’m out the front door and walking toward her bakery in seconds.

Then I notice her little sign out front is gone. That’s right. B’s Bakery closes at four.

Sometimes, she comes in after closing, which means there is a chance I could do this without an audience.

I peek inside the window. It's dark, but there is a sliver of light coming from the door that swings into the kitchen. I bet she’s back there.

How mad would she be if I walked around to the back and used the employee door?

Probably pretty pissed.

I turn to walk away when something occurs to me. I have a swinging door just like that at the bar, and it’s never propped open that way. Is her door broken?

I crane my neck to get a better look.

I bet it's broken.

Maybe she should worry about her current space instead of buying a new one.

I turn to leave again, but my eye catches something else that makes me pause.

Was that?

No.

Why would there be a hand on the floor ?

I back up two steps and then squat to look at what my brain told me was a hand.

What is it? Is that—holy fuck!

“Sadie!” I bang on the door. “Sadie!”

I hit it harder, but her hand doesn’t move.

“Sadie!”

My fist is balled now, banging on the door so hard that it begins to rattle.

Screw this. She’s going to be furious with me but fuck it.

I run to the bar, grab the chalkboard sign, and bang it against her glass door until it cracks. Then I kick the glass, barely letting it shatter fully to the ground before I jump through.

I’m at her side in three strides, my heart beating fast, the adrenaline of the moment sending me into fight mode.

“Sadie! Sadie, wake up. Come on, Sadie. Wake up. Yell at me. I just broke your front door. Yell at me, please!”

I don’t want to touch her; there is blood surrounding her head. She looks so pale and innocent, and fuck!

I yank my phone out of my back pocket, calling 911 as I check her pulse.

She has one.

Thank God.

As if the current situation isn’t bad enough, the smell of something burning takes over. As I answer the dispatcher's questions and listen to her instructions, I grab a towel and open the oven, waving the smoke from my face and pulling out whatever is burning. I punch some buttons, probably more than needed, because why does an oven have this many buttons right this fucking second, and turn it off.

The dispatcher assures me that help is on the way, so I sit back down on my heels at Sadie’s side until they arrive. My mind racing, I look around the kitchen to see if there is anything that hints at the cause of this, but all I see are ingredients .

Flour, sugar, eggs, and … lemons.

Shit.

A pinch hits my chest harder than I expect as sirens echo through the front of the bakery.

My stomach starts to turn.

There’s a very good chance I’m the reason the paramedics are placing Sadie on a stretcher.

A still, very unconscious Sadie Collins.