I smile.
"Big honor."
"Very big."
The echo of Jillie's words from the bakery hits both of us at the same time.
Sadie looks away first, but she is smiling when she does.
I step back as she gets into the car. Jillie waves wildly through the window. I wave back like an idiot standing in a snowy grocery store parking lot holding nothing but the strange,terrifying feeling that I have just completed the most ordinary errand of my adult life.
And maybe the best one.
Sadie pulls out carefully, tires crunching over salted snow.
I stand there until her taillights disappear onto Main Street.
Then I look down at my empty hands.
I came here for coffee, eggs, and bread.
Somehow, I leave with none of those things.
Because they’re all in Sadie's trunk.
I should go back inside and buy replacements.
Instead, I walk to my truck thinking about a little girl drawing hearts on fogged glass, a baker laughing in the checkout line, a grocery cart full of ordinary things, and the ridiculous, impossible thought that follows me all the way home.
For a few minutes in Peterson's Market, we didn't look like we were in a fake relationship.
We looked like we belonged together.
And all the way home, I can't stop thinking about how easily the three of us fit into the same ordinary afternoon.
Chapter six
Sadie
Charity Skate Event
The first sign that today is going to be a problem arrives before sunrise.
The second arrives when Jillie puts on two different gloves because she's too excited to stand still long enough to find the matching pair.
And the third arrives when Mrs. Bellamy spots me unloading pastry boxes outside the community rink and immediately asks:
"Where's Colby?"
Not hello. Not good morning. Not how many cinnamon rolls did you bring.
Just, “Where's Colby?”
I set a box onto the folding table and force a smile.
"Good morning to you too."
Mrs. Bellamy beams. "Good morning, dear. Now answer the question."
