The Fountain of Infinite Wishes (Dare River Book 5) (5 page)

She latched onto the topic of weather like a child might embrace a teddy bear. “The weather is amazing! Hardly any humidity at all, and only eighty degrees. It’s a blessing. How are your gardens coming along, Jake? Tammy told me they look real good.”

Their sister-in-law was a marvel at creating gardens, which was how she’d connected with their brother, J.P. Of course, J.P. had hired his best friend’s sister to design his gardens because he’d taken a shine to her. His strategy had worked because Tammy had felt the same way. Even better to Sadie’s mind, Tammy’s two children, Rory and Annabelle, adored him.

“The gardens look spectacular,” Jake told her, grinning. “My favorite time of day is at dusk when your sister and I take a walk. I might have to ask Tammy to plant a chocolate garden for the little ones we’re planning to have.” The McGuiness siblings all shared a soft spot for chocolate, and Tammy had planted a garden full of chocolate-scented and colored plants for J.P. The two of them had created a magical story about fairies living in the garden to help Tammy’s kids adjust after a traumatic experience.

Her sister’s smile stretched wide across her face, and then she kissed her husband. Again. “I love it when you talk about kids.”

Jake kissed her sweetly on the lips.
 

Sadie was over the moon that Jake’s PTSD from his Army days was improved, but all the kissing was making her want to either roll her eyes or blush. She decided to make her excuses and head inside to help out with the last of the preparations for Sunday dinner.

“How are the newlyweds?” a familiar voice drawled from behind her. “We’re gonna have three in the house today. I’m expecting a plague of bunnies or something.”

Sadie didn’t want to know what Rye meant by that, but she felt as jumpy as one of those bunnies, and she flinched a little when he snuck his hand around her waist and gave her a soft kiss on the top of her head.
 

“Hey, Sadie.”

“Hello, Rye,” Sadie said and hugged his wife, Tory, who was a few steps behind him. “You’re looking more and more beautiful.”

“I’m looking more and more
pregnant,”
Tory told her with a smile and pat to her enormous belly. “And I love it. This one,” she said, nodding to her husband, “practically pounds his chest like a caveman whenever he talks about this kid. I’ve never seen anyone so primal.”

Rye snorted while everyone else laughed. “It’s why the women love me, honey. And why I look so good in tight jeans and nothing but a leather vest on stage.”

Even though Rye was like a brother to her, Sadie had to agree with him. “No one stirs up a crowd of women quite like you do, Rye,” she said. Turning to her brother-in-law, she added, “And Jake here makes us all cry buckets with his beautiful music.” Of course, some of the songs Rye had written for his Yankee wife had made her tear up too. Come to think of it, there were plenty of things that made Sadie cry.
 

“I don’t look good in tight jeans,” Jake joked and extended his hand to his friend.
 

“Sure you do,” Susannah said, resting her head against his shoulder. “You look handsome in everything.”

“Love birds,” Rye said to Sadie, sticking his thumb out and pointing it at the happy couple. “It’s good to see it, isn’t it? Speaking of love birds, who will bet me a hundred that my sister and
her
new husband are going to be a couple hours late to the party?”

Tory punched him in the gut, and Rye tried not to laugh as he pretended to double over.
 

“I think it’s wonderful Amelia Ann and Clayton are acting like they just returned from their honeymoon,” his wife told him.

“How can people keep acting like they’re still on their honeymoon, Uncle Rye?” Rory asked, running off the deck and hugging his idol. “Are my mama and daddy acting like that too?”

Tory coughed and gave him a stern look. Sadie couldn’t blame her. Rory might be wise beyond his years, but he was still a little boy.

Rye picked Rory up and tossed him into the air. “Remember how I’m always telling you about the idiosyncrasies of adults?”

Annabelle ran off the deck as well and hugged Jake’s leg. She’d taken him under her wing as soon as Susannah had started bringing him around to family events. Dressed in a pink dress with a blue ribbon running along the hem, she looked like a tiny version of her mama. “Are you talking about those idiot things adults do again, Uncle Rye?” she asked, clearly eavesdropping like she was wont to do.

Tory gave Rye a look. “Idiot, indeed. I know your uncle is hoping to expand your vocabulary because he thinks Southerners and idiosyncrasies go hand in hand, but it’s still a pretty big word for kids your age.”

Rory shook his head. “It sure is. I’ve been practicing and practicing it, but Annabelle’s right. It’s easier to remember idiot than idiosync—” His face scrunched up as he tried to pronounce it.

“And we can say that word,” Annabelle told them with a conspiratorial smile. “Mama just won’t let us say stupid. Because it’s not nice. Right, Uncle Jake?”

He picked her up and kissed her on the cheek. “That’s exactly right, sweet pea.”

“Sweet pea,” Annabelle all but purred. “I like that. We pick them right out of Mama’s vegetable garden.”

“Heavenly for sure,” Sadie told her, tapping her on the nose and making her laugh. “I’m going inside to see if Tammy wants any last-minute help preparing dinner. Tory, you stay out here and sit a spell.”

“Like that will work,” Rye said, waggling his brows at his wife. “I keep telling her to sit down when she’s cooking, but she won’t listen, even though she’s in her third trimester. I imagine she’ll be cooking bread or something the day our baby makes its grand entrance.”

“You met me when I was cooking in a diner, Rye Crenshaw, so you shouldn’t act all surprised. Cooking relaxes me, and I need to keep myself occupied since you decided to push back your usual summer tour because you were afraid of traveling from city to city with me while I’m pregnant.”

“I’m at a place in my career when I can hold off touring for a while,” Rye said, cupping her cheek. “You and the baby are the most important things in my life.”

Tory smiled and smoothed the hair from his forehead. “That’s why I married you. But I’m still going inside with Sadie. I love being in the kitchen.”

“I’ll come along with you,” Susannah offered.

“I’m staying with the men,” Annabelle informed them all in a serious tone. “They need a woman’s influence.”

“Where in the world do you hear things like that, sugar?” Rye asked her, shaking his head.

“From you, Uncle Rye,” Rory informed him. “It’s in your latest song, ‘Sons and Daughters.’”

“It sure is,” Rye said, slapping his knee. “Y’all keep me on my toes. Come on, let’s take a walk to your tree house before we’re called in to eat.”

The kids ran off, hooting and hollering like kids do, and Rye and Jake followed suit.

“They’re going to make great fathers,” Sadie said, turning toward her sister and Tory. “I’m so happy for y’all.”

“Me too,” Tory said, and Susannah simply gave her a stunning smile. “Anything interesting happen this week? I had a man at the grocery store try and touch my belly. What is it with people trying to touch pregnant women’s bellies, anyway? I mean, would I go up to you and pat yours?”

“That sounds horrible,” Sadie said, shivering at the thought of a stranger touching her so intimately. “Sometimes I have to wonder what people are thinking.”

“I hope you gave him a what-for,” Susannah said.
 

“I handled it,” Tory said, “but since I’m trained as an anthropologist, I find it equally interesting
and
annoying. Okay, your turn.”

Susannah got this moony look on her face that implied she was thinking of the kind of story that could not be shared, then blushed profusely and said, “I had a client ask for a wax figure of General Stonewall Jackson. The man’s a Civil War buff and has more money than God. I told him I had no idea where I could commission a wax figure like that, but I’d look. Can you believe I actually found someone online?”

“That’s crazy!” Tory exclaimed. “Beats my belly toucher hands down. Do you have any news, Sadie?”

Shelby and I hired a P.I. to find our daddy.
She cleared her throat and looked away, trying to think of something else to say. Her mind seemed to be filled with sand. Oh, how she hated to lie, even by omission. “I…can’t think of anything.”

“Did you have any new quilt orders come in?” Susannah asked as they stepped back onto the deck to head inside through the back door.

Shelby waved at them from her seat on the patio furniture next to J.P., who also waved. Then their stepfather, Dale, and Rye’s parents joined in. Suddenly it was a wave party.

“I’m making one for Shelby,” she said absently, envisioning the purple and orange pattern she’d designed. It was the boldest one she’d ever created, but it suited Shelby to a T. Her middle sister had always been the most daring of the four of them, and their quest to find Daddy would require plenty of bravery from both of them.

“What are you making her one for?” Susannah asked. “Did she ask?”

She turned to look at her sister. Was that jealousy in her voice? Of course, the last time she’d made a quilt for Susannah had been for her birthday some four years ago. That year, she’d made all her siblings quilts. That was the year she’d finally decided her quilts were good enough to give as gifts.
 

“I…” Holy heck, she couldn’t say it was her way of contributing to their Daddy Search Fund. “A pattern just came to me, and it’s…perfect for Shelby.”

Her sister’s eyebrow rose. “Oh. I thought you were only making ones to sell now.”

“I can make you one too if you’d like,” she said immediately. “I thought you’d prefer the jam.”

Susannah loved jam. Of course she’d made Shelby four jars of jam too, per their agreement. They hadn’t heard from Vander again since agreeing to meet with him on Monday to discuss their options for next steps, and while that made sense—it was the weekend, after all—Sadie had needed something to take her mind off the search. And the guilt. She’d given her mama jam too, professing it was a super late Mother’s Day gift, choking on the words. She’d
lied
.
 

She was a horrible person.

“I’d like a quilt for our bed,” Susannah said, her cheeks turning pink. “When you have the chance.”

Sadie nodded over-enthusiastically. “Of course! Anything you want.”

Her sister narrowed her eyes at her—she sensed something was off, all right—and Sadie turned to Tory to escape her regard. “I’m making one for the baby too, in case you were wondering.”

Tory patted her arm. “I wasn’t, but thank you. We’ll cherish it, Sadie. I’m so happy you decided to sell your quilts through the craft shop. A talent like yours shouldn’t be hidden away.”

Her mama had always told her that too. She’d mentioned one of her projects—a cathedral window quilt she was making for a woman at church—to her boss, Debra Shumen, and the older woman had asked to see it. When Sadie had brought it in, Debra had exclaimed that her quilt making was more than a hobby. Sadie was a master at it. She’d asked her to bring some of her quilts to the store so they could showcase them by the register.
 

The four quilts had sold in two days.
 

Now, that hobby of hers was slowing turning into something more. People were buying her quilts at the store, and some were even commissioning custom-made designs. One woman had asked her to make a quilt from her deceased husband’s old clothes, and Sadie had cried while making it. She didn’t imagine she would ever make enough money to support herself through quilt making, but she had a nice nest egg starting.

Debra had even suggested Sadie start a quilting circle at the store, and darn it all if five women hadn’t signed up immediately. And paid a class and materials fee too.
 

Mostly, Sadie loved giving people something from her heart, something that would touch their lives and have a place in their homes.
 

“Sadie!” Shelby called from the edge of the deck, a few yards off. “I need you!”

She smiled at Susannah and Tory. “I’ll be right in.”

As soon as she reached her sister, Shelby linked arms with her. “We’re going to take a walk by the river before dinner,” she called out to everyone as they took off across the backyard. “Be back in a jiffy.”

Sadie had to hasten to keep up with her sister, who was moving like her tail was on fire.

“Are you
trying
to arouse Susannah and Mama’s suspicions with all that peach jam you made them? Good heavens, Sadie! Mama said you were a jam-making fiend.”

She had? “I’m sorry! I just had to keep myself occupied. I was going crazy. I also started your quilt.”

“That’s lovely, honey, but for heaven’s sake! Keep it together, will you? I mean, we’ve barely started this process, and you’re already buckling under the weight.”

Sadie stopped on the path to the river and swatted at the gnats swirling around them. “It’s a heavy weight, Shelby. Heck, Mama’s sermon today about not telling the truth almost made me jump out of my seat. It’s like she was reading our minds.”

Her sister put her hands on her hips. “Preachers often speak about lying. It is the ninth commandment, after all. Mama doesn’t suspect anything, but she
will
if you keep acting so guilty. Heck, you were wringing your hands the whole time you were talking to Tory and Susannah.”