“You,” Sadie spluttered, wiping water from her eyes, “are the absolute worst.” But she couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled up.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” he asked, wading back to the sand with Sadie still clinging to his back. His body was slick and glistening in the dying light. Her tongue felt thick in her mouth. Like there was something she was supposed to be doing with it. Something that had to do with the space of skin just below Jake’s ear.
She hopped down the second they were on the shore, her red wrap dress clinging to her body and dripping water. She shivered in the autumnal chill as Jake gently moved a strand of hair that was stuck to her cheek.
“Fun?” he asked.
“Fun,” she agreed, nodding with reluctance.
Her hands twitched by her side. If she’d been wearing her apron, she would have wiped them on it, twirled the string around her finger. As it was, her fingers itched to trail up his arms, along his shoulders, and thread themselves through his hair.
She took a step closer to him without meaning to. She wanted to reach out and touch him. Wanted to close the inches between them. Just to make sure he was real. That he’d actually come back.
“Sadie,” he said in a low voice.
His body leaned toward her like a magnet.
The frogs and crickets and lapping water were their own kind of symphony.
They were both completely still.
She waited. For something. Anything. For him to tell her that he came back for her. That he wanted to start over or try again. That a piece of him had been missing for the last ten years.
His silence was deafening.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” she whispered, her body aching to lean into him, to feel him against her, to steal his warmth as wisps of steam curled off her body. And suddenly, something shifted in him. He stiffened and pulled away, taking his warmth with him.
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” He sighed and cleared his throat uncomfortably.
Before she could answer, her phone rang. And the ringtone made her heart beat triple time.
She tore her gaze from his, frantically searching for the jacket she’d discarded when they’d arrived at the pond. The lapping waves of the water turned distant. Her hand gripped the phone so hard her knuckles hurt, and her eyes went blurry as she stared at the name and picture flashing across the screen.
She should ignore it. It would serve him right. But the thought wasn’t even fully formed before the phone was at her ear.
“What?” she spat.
“It’s Gigi,” was all he said. There was a beat of silence. She wanted to hug his voice and strangle him at the same time. “She fell. We’re on the way to the hospital. You need to get there.”
Orange Balsamic Marinade
Orange represents attraction, determination, and success. When they’re combined they help the eater to entice and catch whoever it is they’re interested in. If the intended party is already interested, which they probably are if I’m any kind of smart, then all the better.
Ingredients
? c. extra virgin olive oil
3–5 T. balsamic vinegar （depending on your taste）
2 T. Dijon mustard
? tsp. salt
? tsp. pepper
zest and juice of one orange （or ? c. orange juice）
? c. honey
Directions
1.?Combine oil, vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper, orange juice, and zest, and whisk together. Marinade chicken in mixture for a minimum of 1 hour.
2.?Pour the marinade into a saucepan with the honey, and simmer until the volume is reduced by half.
3.?Use this mixture to glaze the chicken every 5–10 minutes as it cooks.
??6??
SADIE’S INSIDES WERE IN upheaval. Every time she moved, the contents of her stomach threatened to come up. She’d sprinted back to the house with Jake at her heels, and he’d insisted on driving her straight to the hospital, twenty minutes outside of town in the slightly larger city of Aurelia. With blood thrumming in her ears, her eyes manic, she let him.
Jake parked the car, and Gigi was getting X-rays when Sadie arrived. Her heart stuttered when she saw Seth leaning against the wall in the hallway. He was only a few inches taller, but stockier, broader. The freckles across his nose washed out in the hospital lighting. It was the face of her childhood. The male version of the one she saw in the mirror every day. There were dark circles under his eyes and a secret lurking in his expression.
“When did you get back?” she asked, hugging him on autopilot.
“About forty-five minutes ago.”
Jake walked up and pressed a coffee in her hands. She looked down at the cup and was surprised to see her arms clad in his sweatshirt over her still damp dress. When had that happened? She briefly remembered him turning the heater on full blast and angling the vents toward her as they drove.