Promise Me (Asher Family #1)

Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

SADIE

“Do you think we made too many?” I ask, taking a step back from the counter. I place my hands on my hips and look at our end product.

Hudson, too, steps back, his elbow brushing mine to mimic my stance as he looks at the counter with me.

“You know, I think the fact we made enough for us to live off these for a few months might make the answer to your question yes, yes we did .”

“Hmmm. I was sure the third batch would bring something back to my memory.”

It’s not a lie. I did feel something while we were baking. It just wasn’t what I thought it would be.

“Nothing worked?”

I shake my head and then grin at him, letting a small laugh loose.

“What?”

“You still have powdered sugar everywhere.”

I reach up to swipe some off his cheek. I had high hopes that I’d remember something through baking, but all I felt was happy and relaxed, as if I never hit my head and have three years unaccounted for. My company in the kitchen was no doubt the reason for that.

Hudson listened carefully to me, and he did everything he was told, cracking jokes or reminding me of moments he saw me baking with my mom as a kid.

This afternoon just felt … good.

I like that Hudson was here with me.

“It’s like you’ve never baked before,” I say and start to put the endless buffet of lemon bars into boxes. “Should we donate these?”

“Or you could sell them,” he says coolly. “I’m sure if you saved them for tomorrow, people would still come rushing in to buy them, even if that’s all you have.”

I pause. It makes perfect sense. I own a bakery, for crying out loud. I should do it.

It just feels wrong to sell them. It’s almost like the idea of making money off these would ruin the joy they gave me. Giving them away, on the other hand—that makes me smile.

“Maybe next time,” I say. After all, until last week, selling them is what I did. “Let’s give these bars away.”

“Miles and Luca would love to take some, if we are just picking randoms.”

“My dad and brother too. Maybe even Betty.”

“And Brooke,” Hudson adds.

I don’t know why, but his suggestion to give these to another woman surprises me. Does he like Brooke?

“Brooke Sloan?” I ask.

He nods.

“Oh, are you two …”

He tilts his head as he looks at me. “You’ve stayed with me for three nights now. If I had a girlfriend, I would have told you by this point. ”

“Oh” is all I say.

“I suggested Brooke since she works with you, and as far as I know, she’s your only friend. You can cross that off your list of questions.”

“What?” I say with a laugh. “Brooke works for me?”

“For almost two years now.”

I grab my phone from my back pocket immediately and scroll through my contacts. I tap her name since it’s at the top of the contacts list and open up a message thread with her. It instantly brings up where our last conversation left off the morning of my accident.

“Why do you think she hasn’t reached out?” I ask before I type anything.

“She’s been out of town for her sister’s wedding. Plus, were you friends the last you remember? Maybe she was scared.”

“I mean, we said hi in passing.”

“There you have it.”

I twist my lips and look down at our messages.

We talk about books and wine dates and clothes, and there seems to a lot of chatter about firemen. And lots of emojis.

The last one she sent contains water drops, a fireman, a firework, and then a bed. It’s almost like code text.

What does that mean?

“Do I have a crush on anyone?” I ask aloud.

“How would I know?”

Hudson is cleaning up now, wiping down the counters and putting some dishes in the sink. He keeps looking at the bars, though.

“Did you eat one?” I ask.

“Not yet.”

“Well, let's grab one.” I push a box toward him as I contemplate what I could text to Brooke.

What must it feel like to have your best friend forget you ?

My heart hurts for her, so I quickly send a text.

Sadie

Hey :) How are you?

“Did you text her?” Hudson asks right before he takes a bite. The moan that follows distracts me from replying to his question. His eyes are closed, and he’s nodding with a smile. I feel the deep sound that escapes him all the way to my toes.

My phone buzzes before I speak.

Brooke

Hi! I’m good. I just got home this morning. How are you? I know it’s a silly question, but yeah.

Sadie

I’m good. It’s not a silly question. Do you want to have dinner soon?

Hudson moans again. My heart pulses and my palms grow clammy. I watch his lips and then his throat as it bobs when he swallows. Holy hell, I’ve never been so turned on watching someone eat before.

Brooke

Yes. Do you want to come over tonight? Or I can come to you.

After the third moan, I reply:

Sadie

Your place is great. Remind me of the address.

She types it back, and I pretend I don’t hear Hudson when he goes for another bar. Dinner can’t come soon enough, because boy oh boy, do I have questions for Brooke.

Brooke is waiting at the door when I arrive at her house.

It’s part of a duplex two blocks over from Main Street.

She smiles and waves.

“Hi.” I smile back. “I have so many questions.”

She lets out a small laugh.

“So do I, but I’m not sure you’re going to have answers to mine.”

I hate that I don’t remember the friendship we’ve built in the last two years, but on the other hand, I grew up with Brooke, so the moment I walk into her house, I feel a sense of familiarity. The smell of apples and cinnamon surrounds me, and even though no memories come back, my shoulders relax .

It smells like her. Maybe coming here will be better than I thought.

“I ordered pizza,” she says quickly. “I also bought stuff to make mimosas, but I’m not sure you can drink. I should have thought of that.”

“Mimosas and pizza? Is that a thing?”

She hesitates. “For us, it is.”

I love how she says is and not was .

I nod and walk right into her kitchen. “One drink won’t hurt. Plus, I walked here.”

We sit at the table and fix our plates. I expect silence to fill the room, but Brooke clearly has other plans.

“I can’t believe your brother let you walk. Alone.”

“He didn’t. I’m staying with Hudson for a while.”

She pauses with her pizza halfway to her mouth.

“I heard that, but I didn’t really believe it,” she says. She takes a bite and chews slowly.

“So, what’s it like living with the sworn enemy?”

I love how she asks it as if … as if this is just another day for her, and we are just picking up where we left off. Like we are best friends. Which we are, of course.

My heart swells.

“Well”—I take a giant bite—“have we ever talked about his abs?”

Brooke erupts into a fit of laughter. “We have, but you usually talk about them with disgust. I have a feeling that’s not the case today.”

“It’s not.” I relax back into my chair. “It’s definitely not.”

“So, are you two becoming friends now?”

“I think so. I hope so.”

This time, her smile is sly.

“What’s that face? I should probably know what it means, but you know, I don’t. ”

Her smile falters for a fleeting moment, but then grows into a full-fledged grin. “Wait here.”

She dashes from the room, and I twist to see where she went, but she’s out of sight. I finish my slice before she makes it back.

She drops about ten books on the table and then sits.

“Okay, we don’t really have to talk about what happened to you if you don’t want to. It sucks. Pure sucks. I’ve missed you, and I’m sorry I didn’t reach out. I didn’t think you’d remember our friendship, and I wanted you to have space from everyone expecting you to remember them.”

I stick my bottom lip out because the way she’s looking at me makes me want to cry.

I lean forward to hug her. “I don’t, but twenty minutes here, and I already know that I’d pick you over and over again.”

Her eyes start to glaze, and so do mine.

“Okay, I won’t cry, but I’d pick you too.”

Before we become two crying messes, I point to the books. “Are these your favorites?”

She tosses her head back on a groan, but when she looks at me, she’s still smiling. “This is going to sound so messed up, but a reader’s dream is to read their favorite books for the first time all over again, and you get to do that.” She taps the pile. “These are all your favorite enemies-to-lovers books over the last few years. Oddly enough, it’s your favorite trope these days.”

“They are?” I grab the one off the top and read the blurb. A male romance writer who marries his enemy in Vegas, and she just so happens to be his best friend’s little sister. “Oh, this sounds good.”

“That’s why it’s on the top. Take them with you. Enjoy reading them again while you can.”

“Don’t I have copies at home?”

“Probably, but you prefer e-books, and Linc said you shouldn't look at a screen more than necessary for a while. ”

I nod. “Do you talk to my brother a lot?”

She shakes her head. “He called to check in on me and kept me up to date on some things while I was gone.”

“That was nice of him.”

“Of your brother or Hudson for letting you live with him?”

“Both.” I reach for more pizza. “Hudson is also helping me try to get my memory back.”

“Willingly? Like he wants you to remember that you hate him?”

“Hate is such a strong word.” I cringe. “The last thing I remember about him was that he was playing hockey, and I swore I’d mend things between us if he ever came back, but it turns out I didn’t.”

“Of course not. Your bags were basically packed to move into the place Hudson now calls home, but then they sold the space practically overnight to someone who offered them cash, above value, overnight. Cue Hudson’s Bar.”

“Ouch. So that really is what happened. He thought as much when we talked about it earlier today.”

She nods. “To his credit, he had no idea you were trying to buy it first.”

“And I was still mad at him?”

“Mad?” she laughs. “Honey, you downright put him on your shitlist the day he came back.”

I sigh. “I don’t sound like a nice person where he’s concerned.”

She reaches over to cover my hand. “You’re the sweetest. Your relationship with Hudson has always been different, even now.”

He’s been amazing, and it makes me feel bad how I’ve acted.

“Oh my gosh, I’ve never seen you smile that way before,” Brooke says, kicking me gently with her foot. “Are you thinking of him? ”

“Who?” I play dumb.

She rolls her eyes. “Hudson.”

I scrunch my nose and feel my cheeks warming.

“Am I crazy? I mean, he’s been really great since this all happened. Maybe I’m overthinking that.”

“No way. This is good. I like this for you. In the time we started this friendship and have worked together, you’ve never once shown interest in any guy.”

“I haven’t? Well, that answers one of my questions. I was wondering when the last time I had sex was.”

I slap my hand over my lips the moment the words are out of my mouth. Mumbling, I say, “I’m so sorry. That was too much information.”

“You told me about your first blow job, so it’s really not. And unless you’re keeping secrets from me, the last time you slept with anyone was last summer with this rich asshole who was here for a wedding at the lodge.”

“I had a fling?”

“You had a fling.” She nods. “Honestly, I think you might have made it last the entire weekend he was here, but he was kicked out of Hudson’s bar, so he didn’t really leave the lodge after that.”

“Why? What did he do?”

She shrugs. “I have no clue. Can I ask you something on a different subject?”

“Go for it.” I settle in, ready to broach another topic.

“Are you going to reopen the bakery, or should I look for another job?”

Oh.

I haven’t really thought about it, and it never really occurred to me that I was putting others out of a paycheck.

I stare at the table as I finally think about it.

“Do you bake, too?” I ask .

She nods. “You’ve taught me everything you know.”

“Do you think you could run it without me for a bit?”

It’s not that I don’t want to go back. It’s just weird. Being there and not having a passion for it.

“I could, yeah, but it’s more fun with you.”

“I don’t doubt that—friends do have more fun, but maybe for just a few weeks.”

“I can do that.”

We spend the next two hours talking about the lodge and the tourists who have come through the town. She tells me about the summer festival last year and how this year’s will take place in a couple weeks. The bakery has an event, but she promises she can handle it without me and assures me she has a new recipe she wants everyone to try.

By the time I’m walking up the steps to Hudson’s apartment, I know the exact reason why Brooke and I fit so well.

She has a passion for baking that reminds me of my mother. I have no doubt that’s how we bonded and became best friends.

I push the door open slowly. It’s dark inside beyond the TV screen glow. Hudson sits up as I close the door behind me.

“Hey, I wasn’t sure when you’d be back.” He stands, wincing as he stretches his leg.

“Why don’t you sleep in your room until the new couch is here? It should be delivered tomorrow.”

“I’m not sleeping in my room, Sadie. You keep the bed. What’s in the bag?” He points to the lily-covered gift bag filled with books in my hand.

“My favorite novels, it seems. Brooke sent them with me.”

“Did you have fun?”

“I did. I learned a lot.”

I set the bag down and cross my arms.

Hudson’s eyes take in the motion slowly before mimicking my action and looking me in the eye .

It’s like he’s preparing to spar with me.

“What did you learn?” he asks.

“Well, first off, you bought the bar out from under me and moved in here, and that’s why I don’t own it right now.”

He nods.

“So I was right?”

“Don’t gloat.” I shove his arm.

“I’m not.”

He’s smirking.

“Why have you never told me this? Or why didn’t you mention it sooner?”

I’m not really mad, but it would have helped, I think.

He shrugs. “I didn’t think it mattered. I only put it together today, and it would have been from my view. I didn’t think it was fair to share since you couldn’t remember your side of it. I mean, what if I had been wrong?”

I purse my lips to keep from smiling.

That’s sweet.

God, why is he so cute? How did I miss this side of him all these years?

“All right. Thank you. But also, you suck.” I move into the apartment and sit on the couch where he’d been sitting. He takes his seat again and mutes the TV.

“What else did you learn? Maybe I’ll know a piece of that, too.”

I bark out a laugh. “Okay, so can you tell me why I haven’t had sex in more than a year?”

His expression turns stony. “Was it that prick who owns those hotel chains that I kicked out of my bar?”

I gasp. “Hudson! I think so. Brooke said some rich asshole. It has to be one and the same.”

Hudson chuckles.

I smack his arm. “Why did you kick him out? ”

“Because he slept with you and was bragging about it.”

I lean back to take him in.

He clears his throat quickly.

“So you defended me?”

He nods.

“Even though we did nothing but fight?”

“Fighting or not, Sadie, you deserve to be respected.”

I smile so wide my cheeks hurt.

“What?” he groans.

“You’ve closet liked me all these years, haven't you?”

“No,” he says quickly and unmutes the TV.

“Admit it. Yes.”

He shakes his head again, but a small smile touches his lips.

“That’s enough talking for tonight.”

I open my mouth to say more, but then close it. Of all the comebacks I could have said, the one I want to say most takes me by surprise.

If he doesn’t want me to talk anymore, maybe he could kiss me to shut me up.

Oh wow, I really do love enemies-to-lovers.

I let out a bubble of laughter at my own thoughts.

Hudson eyes me curiously.

If only he knew.