Page 11 of Love is a Game
“Sure.” Julie’s nod was unconvincing. “But you guys graduated, what, thirteen years ago? Don’t you think it’s possible he’s changed?”
“Oh, he’s clearly changed.” She shuddered at the memory of those cargo shorts. “Andrew graduated number two in our class. He went to Stanford on a full ride, then got into the exact law school he wanted. What is he doing working here at the library?”
“I have no idea, but that’s a great topic of conversation for a dinner date.”
Sadie glared at her.
“Come on! You’re always telling me about your terrible dates back home. You might have better luck here. You never know.”
That was a fair point. Sadie didn’t get out enough to meet someone in person, so she’d signed up for a couple of dating apps, but it hadn’t gone well. Apparently, men made certain assumptions when they saw the blonde hair. When they met her in person, they realized pretty quickly that she wasn’t actually having more fun. She rarely made it to a second date.
“I’m only going to be here for a couple of months,” she reminded Julie.
“I know, but you could still go out just for fun. Get someone to buy you dinner, maybe take you dancing.” Julie bumped Sadie’s shoulder with her own. “You deserve that.”
“In that case, doesn’t your husband work with a bunch of single cops? Did it not occur to you to set me up with one of them?”
“First of all, only a few of them are single,” Julie said, ticking her answers off on her fingers. “Second of all, the ones who are single are younger than you, in age and maturity. Third of all, Tyson and I agreed that it could make things very awkward for him if you broke one of his coworkers’ hearts.”
Sadie scoffed. “I wouldn’t worry too much about that.”
“Lastly,” Julie began, ignoring the comment, “none of them are as perfect for you as Andrew is.”
“Okay, I think I’ve heard enough.” Sadie stood and brought her glass of water to the sink, but Julie was undeterred.
“I’m serious. I know you’ve had your problems in the past, but he has the same sense of humor as you, and he’s the only person I know who’s as smart as you. He’s been kind of subdued since his mom died, but before that he was really playful, and I think that would be good for you.”
This was news to Sadie. She turned and leaned against the sink, her brow furrowed. “When did his mom die?”
“Last year. You didn’t know?” Julie asked.
Sadie shook her head. She had assumed that Andrew was back in Briar Cove because of Mrs. Price, but if she was gone, why hadn’t he returned to California? She felt a sliver of guilt pulling at her over the way she’d acted at the library. She’d had no idea he was grieving.
“I think he needs someone beautiful and clever to cheer him up,” Julie said, pulling her from her thoughts.
Sadie rolled her eyes at her sister’s sly smile. “Julie, I love you. I appreciate the thought, but there’s no way I would ever go out with Andrew. Besides, I’ll be too busy for that kind of thing. I want to spend all of my free time with you.”
“I guess I can’t argue with that.”
Sadie gave her a wary look. “So you’re not going to try to set me up with anyone else?”
Julie nodded. “I will not try to set you up with anyone else.”
“Good. Now, I have to get back to work. You should sketch,” Sadie instructed, heading toward the living room.
“I can’t speak for Mom though.”
Sadie froze in the doorway. “What?”
“Nothing!” Julie sang, bouncing past her to grab her sketchbook. “I promise I’ll be quiet now.”
Chapter Four
“Mr. Price!” The moan came from the conference room, but Andrew could still hear it in his office. He sighed and dropped the guest ledger he’d been looking over. Duty calls.
“How’s it going in here?” he asked, standing in the doorway.
Nine high schoolers sat around the table, their backpacks and books spread discordantly around them. They each had a copy of the SAT Prep book in front of them, along with several sheets of scratch paper, and their eyes betrayed their anxiety and exhaustion. Andrew did not miss those days.