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“Oh,” Lena said disappointedly. “Well, I guess that’s for the best, though? It would be pretty complicated for you guys to continue working together, right?”
“Yeah, for sure,” Sadie answered with a frown before shifting her eyes up to Lena. “I haven’t broken the news to Annie yet. I wanted to see how it would all pan out.”
Lena winced and exhaled deeply. “Yeah, that’s going to be a tough one. She’s so wrapped up in all the wedding planning, constantly talking about flowers, dresses, and venues.”
Sadie looked up at Lena with a start. “I haven’t talked to her in a while—Liam and I have been so distracted with this work stuff—but she’s already planning the wedding?”
Lena’s eye roll was so intense it sent her whole head in a circular motion. “Girl, you and I are definitely going to be in matching bridesmaid dresses this summer. She’s moving at turbo speed with this thing. You should see the Pinterest boards she’s been whipping up.”
Sadie laughed heartily. “Oh, Annie,” she said with a sigh. “You and Jake will probably be next, huh?” She motioned her head to where Jake and Liam had started walking toward their table with their hands full of various mugs and snacks.
Lena burst out a disbelieving laugh. “Jake and I are in no rush. At least not an Annie-and-Ian-style rush. We have a lot of places that we want to travel to before we settle down. We’re actually going to New Zealand in September.”
“Oh, wow, that sounds amazing,” Sadie said honestly. But as amazing as it sounded, Sadie could see her own priorities lining up with Annie and Ian rather than Jake and Lena. She was much more interested in staying put and building a life than in seeing the world right now.
“Yes, and it’s not the last trip we have planned, so we won’t be following in Ian and Annie’s footsteps anytime soon,” she announced firmly.
“You girls talking about Ian and Annie’s great rush to the altar?” Jake asked, setting down his and Lena’s coffee cups before taking a seat across from his girlfriend.
“Yes, I was just telling Sadie about that,” Lena laughed. “And about how we are nowhere near ready for all that.”
“No, there are too many mountains to ski and paint,” Jake said, a twinkle in his eye. “Maybe once we knock some of them off our bucket list, right, Helena?”
As Sadie watched Lena smile at Jake knowingly, her face flushed and bright, she started to wonder what she ever saw in him. He was tall, hot, and liked all the same things she liked, but he wasn’t for her. He definitely wasn’t interested in the same future she’d always been interested in. There was no way the two of them would have made each other that happy. He and Lena were so perfect together, really.
As Liam came back from his second trip to the coffee counter with Sadie’s fruit tart in hand, she smiled at him deeply, a warmth settling inside of her.Now this one is much more interesting to me, she thought. He sat down smoothly in the chair next to Jake before pushing the tart over the table toward her with a smile.
The tart was beautiful, with a buttery shell surrounding glistening glazed berries and kiwi. Sadie looked at it expectantly as she picked up her fork.
“Oh my god, that looks so good, Sadie,” Lena gushed. “You know, I still haven’t been able to get that pumpkin thing you made at Thanksgiving out of my mind.”
“Aww, I’m glad you liked it,” Sadie responded, taking a bite of her tart. “I can give you the recipe, but I kind of made it up the night before Thanksgiving.”
“I’m not sure I’d be able to recreate it very well,” Lena laughed. “I’m not exactly known for my skills in the kitchen.”
Jake made a joke about Lena’s cooking, and Sadie and Liam laughed heartily. She looked at her two new—dare she say—friends, and her—she could most definitely say—boyfriend and felt a peaceful rightness fall over her.
Sadie had always heard that everything happened for a reason, and she’d often thought that sounded like a cop out to explain away bad things.
It wasn’t until this very moment that she’d ever seen any evidence of the good created by the bad, and it was the sweetest feeling she’d ever had.
THE END
