Promise Me (Asher Family #1)

Chapter 28

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

HUDSON

I leave the bank with a grin on my face and hop into my truck to head to my brother’s place. He isn’t at his office today, but he still has what I need.

I’d planned to make a whole spectacle of telling Sadie about this, but in the end, just having a moment for the two of us is what she’d love the most.

Luca is grabbing something from his truck when I pull up.

“I can’t believe you bought the space and put her name as co-owner,” Luca says. “Can you even do that?”

I’m not even surprised by that greeting.

“She still needs to sign the paperwork, but yeah. It’s done. Mrs. Whittaker said she’d take down the sign today.”

“Fuck, I can’t believe this. This summer has been wild to watch.”

I head for his front door. I can’t wait to tell Sadie. She’s going to be so excited. As soon as she mentioned adding a bookstore to the bar the other morning, my decision was a no-brainer. I’ll get the space from Mrs. Whittaker, and we can remodel both spaces to make both of our dreams work. I just wanted to get the paperwork in line before I told Sadie in case it didn’t work out the way I wanted.

But now, all is good.

I’m not sure how much she’ll like the idea of breaking down the walls to make one big space, but if she wants Sips and Stories by the big windows, we will need to move all the tables and the section of the bar on that side to the space I just bought. If she wants it, I’ll add her name to the bar’s legal paperwork, too.

“Do you think she’s going to freak out?” Luca asks as he shows me a couple of mock-up designs.

Since Luca does the majority of the construction in our town, of course I hired him to draft me a plan for how we could make this work. I’d called him that same day to get a couple of blueprints going.

“No,” I answer with complete confidence.

“You’re that sure about her?”

“Yes.”

He chuckles. “A month ago, I would not have believed this. It’s just mind-blowing.”

“You’ve told me this before. Can I take these?” I point at his blueprints. “I want to show them to Sadie when I tell her today.”

“You’re going now?” His eyes look like they are about to pop out of their sockets.

“Yeah.”

I’ve waited long enough.

“Jesus, Hud. One day you were avoiding all things that involve other people, and now?—”

“And now I’m done letting life pass me by.”

My brother claps his hands like a kid on Christmas morning and follows me to the door. “I’m coming with you.”

I roll my eyes, but I don’t tell him no .

Turns out, I’ve missed the way my brothers and I used to be connected at the hip.

We get in my truck and drive into town. I park in front of the bar, my gaze instantly finding Sadie outside the bakery.

Just seeing her is like a dose of serotonin.

I jump out of the truck, the thrill of telling her that I have plans for my life again racing through my veins.

I haven’t been this excited about something since hockey, and I know it’s all thanks to her.

“Ladies,” I say, greeting Mrs. Whittaker, Brooke, and Sadie. Sadie has her back to me, so I walk up ready to scoop her into my arms and share my good news, but Brooke’s gaze catches mine. I slow my steps just as Sadie turns around.

Her eyes are red, and her cheeks are wet from tears.

The caramel eyes I’ve grown to love and wake up to look back at me with an emotion I can’t place.

But her gaze is detached.

My heart drops and my stomach turns as we stare at each other.

She doesn’t need to say the words. I know she remembers it all.

“I’m sorry, Hudson,” Mrs. Whittaker says quietly. She squeezes my arms. “I thought she knew.” Then, she quietly walks away and gets in her car.

I heard her, and I can hear my brother mumbling behind me, but I ignore them all, never letting my gaze leave Sadie’s.

I swallow, licking my lips and glancing at the building for a split second before returning to her.

I’m not sure where to start, so I wait for her to speak first.

But it seems she has the same idea, because after another minute of silence passes, she turns with a huff.

“Sadie, wait,” I call out and reach for her .

“For what, Hudson? So you can trick me into getting what you want again?”

“What?” I ask, my head rearing back like she slapped me. “Trick you? I didn’t trick you.”

“Oh, yeah, so you just conveniently forgot that Mrs. Whittaker told us we had to become friends and choose who gets to buy this space. Or did you forget to tell me how much I want it? Or did you intentionally not tell me so you could get what you wanted? Shit.” She looks at the sky. Her hands are on her hips. “I should not be crying right now.”

I reach for her again, but Luca grabs my arm.

My gaze slices to him in fury, but he isn’t fazed.

“I thought,” Sadie starts, “I thought you …” She shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter now.”

“It does matter,” I rush to say. “Tell me what you're thinking. I want to hear it. I want to know every thought that’s passing through your head right now. It matters to me. You matter to me, and I want to be here for you.”

“I can’t,” she whispers. “I don’t know what to think right now. It’s a lot.”

“Yeah, it is, but please don’t shut me out. I’m here, Sadie. For all of it. To fight for it. You. Us.”

She cries harder, and I know deep in my soul that no matter what I say right now, it’s not going to help her. I want to scream pick me, this me. Pick us .

But I don't.

Instead, I nod. “What do you want me to do? Whatever you want, it’s yours.”

She stares at me as if this version of me is unfamiliar, and I hate every second of it.

“I want space. I need time to think about all this.” Then she erupts into more tears.

I can’t even pretend to know what she’s feeling right now .

Fuck.

I want to hold her, hug her, kiss her until her pain goes away.

She starts to walk away, her arms looped with Brooke’s, and I finally say what I should have said earlier.

“I didn’t tell you that you wanted the space because I was there the day you pitched your reason to Mrs. Whittaker.” Hopefully, she will give me one more minute of her time.

She turns to me, and I let out a breath.

Yes.

That’s my girl.

“I was also there every time you spoke about Sips and Stories, and Sadie, baby, let me tell you, your passion between the two was as clear as the blue sky. One you were doing for someone else, and one you were doing for you.”

More tears fall down her cheeks. I need to wrap this up because I hate being the reason she hurts.

“You wanted to find yourself again, and I thought that if I told you why you wanted this space for the bakery, you’d pick that over Sips and Stories again. That’s all I want for you, Sadie. I want you to get everything you want in life, and that means the store of your dreams and not anyone else’s.”

But Sadie doesn’t reply to my confession. Brooke tugs her arm gently, and Sadie follows her into the bakery. The faint click of the door locking is like a punch to the gut.

Like the door to the future I was so convinced I had this morning is gone.

Vanished.

In seconds.

All over again.