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When both of her sisters have men standing beside them, it’smyeyes Sadie finds in the crowd. She looks away, quickly enough that had I not been watching her closely, I might have missed it. But I don’t miss it, and I’ll hold onto that moment as long as I can.
While Eloise starts discussing the renovation plans, making everyone laugh as she recounts the time she found a pelican living inside the house, I grab a water bottle from a bucket ofice sitting at the refreshment table. I move toward the side of the stage, watching Jake grow uncomfortable as Eloise talks about how much he helped while also making jokes about his grumpiness, playing it up for the crowd. I never thought I’d see my best friend so smitten, but I’m not even a little surprised it was one of the Markham sisters to do it. All three of them just have that sort of presence.
Finally, Eloise finishes, and Merritt thanks the crowd one last time. Sadie gives a tight smile and a wave, and they all file off the small stage. Sadie is furthest from me, but I assume she’ll come this way with everyone else, descending the small stairs and passing right by me. Instead, she hops off the front of the stage and makes a beeline across the yard, heading straight for the house.
As though she’s decided to go right back to avoiding me.Swell.
I’m contemplating whether to follow her when Jake stops in front of me. “Is that for me?” he asks, holding out his hand for the unopened water bottle.
“Nope. For Sadie,” I say, proud that I don’t trip on the words even a little.
Eloise nudges Jake with her elbow. “See? I told you he likes her.”
“It’s just water,” I protest, watching Sadie disappear through the back door of the bed and breakfast.
“I didn’t disagree with you,” Jake says. “He hasn’t exactly been subtle about it. He flirts with her every time she’s in town.”
“Flirting is different,” Eloise says. “Thisis different.” She looks at me, her wide ocean eyes bright under the twinkle lights that stretch across the yard. “Isn’t it, Ben?”
I shrug and run a hand through my hair. “I don’t know ifSadiethinks it’s different. But I might.”
“You might?” she asks, like the word concerns her.
“Does it matter when Sadie seems determined not to take me seriously?”
Eloise purses her lips to the side. “Do you like logic problems?”
“What, like word puzzles?” I ask, unsure of the sudden shift in conversation.
She nods. “Or crossword puzzles—anything that requires you to look for clues.”
“You used to do them all the time when we were kids,” Jake says. “Remember the book Frank kept on the counter at the barber shop? You solved half the puzzles in that thing.”
Eloise brightens. “Perfect. Then you have a lot of practice already.”
“Practice for what?” I ask.
She reaches up and pats me on the shoulder. “Just treat Sadie like one of those puzzles. It might take a few tries, and you might have to really dig for clues, but eventually, you’ll figure her out.”
I look at Jake, but he only arches an eyebrow. “Sounds like good advice to me.”
Eloise nods her head toward the house, and I take that as permission to go after her sister, unsure whether it makes me look completely besotted or just desperate. I’m not sure I’m either, but Iamsure that Sadie intrigues me more than any other woman I’ve met in the past year. Maybe the past five years.
Certainly, that’s worth a risk, right? Worth trying to solve the puzzle?
I climb up the back stairs of the giant old house, admiring the fresh paint and newly replaced floorboards. There used to be a screened-in porch on this end, but the thing was almost beyond repair. Eloise and Merritt decided to close it in, turning it into a sunroom with giant glass doors that lead onto the patio.When the weather’s nice, it’ll be easy to open the windows and let the ocean breeze blow through the house. But they’ll also be able to use the space when it’s too hot to even breathe outside, much less sit and relax a while.
There are only a few lights on in the house—the party is pretty well contained to the backyard—but I know the property well enough to make my way through the unlocked back door, through the sunroom, and into the kitchen. I don’t see Sadie anywhere, but I hear creaking overhead, so I make my way toward the stairs.
I’m halfway up when I start to wonder if this is a terrible idea. What if she’s in the bathroom? Or looking for some privacy? Or hiding from me?
What if this is exactly the wrong answer to the first clue in the puzzle?
I’m still debating, paused on the third step, when Sadie appears at the top of the stairs, having just left one of the bedrooms.
She startles when she sees me, a hand flying to her chest. “Geez, Ben. You scared me.”
It’s maybe the first time she’s ever called me Ben. Not Benedict or Mr. King or Mr. Cumberbatch or any of the other nicknames she usually flings at me. Just …Ben.I like it.
