Page 22 of Love is a Game
Chapter Eight
Two weeks later, Sadie pushed through the doors of the Tethered Anchor and searched for her sister. She and Tyson were sitting in a booth not far from the door, wrapped in each other’s arms as he whispered something in her ear. Sadie couldn’t help but smile.
Her unfortunate love life sometimes brought her to the edge of despair, but Tyson and Julie were a beacon of romantic hope. If they were able to find each other in a town as small as Briar Cove, surely she could find a good man in all of Seattle. Although, with her back-to-back work trips, chances of finding any kind of man seemed slim. It was one of the reasons she was trying so hard to get promoted; a job that required less travel would leave time for things like romance. Until that happened, the whole idea seemed hopeless.
“All right, enough with the lovey-dovey stuff,” she teased as she slid onto the bench across from them.
“Hey, Sadie, glad you could make it,” Tyson said, handing her a menu.
“Sorry I’m late. Have you two ordered yet?” she asked.
Julie shook her head. “No, we just got here a few minutes ago. Long day?”
Sadie sighed heavily. “Yeah. It’s this assistant manager. He’s not really taking my assessments seriously. He seems to think I’m just there for the rebranding, but part of the reason for the rebranding is that his location has had really poor performance over the last few years, and we’re trying to give it a fresh start. Hard to do that when he doesn’t want to implement any of my recommendations. I don’t think he understands what a precarious position their location is in. If we can’t increase the RevPAR . . .”
She could see their eyes glazing over and caught herself. She knew hotel shoptalk was generally only interesting to insiders. She pulled her face into a smile she didn’t quite feel and said, “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. What’s new with you guys?”
Before they could answer, a waitress arrived at their table and took everyone’s order. Unsurprisingly, she seemed to know Julie and Tyson well. As they chatted, Sadie pulled out her phone. She had a dozen unread emails that had accumulated during the day. She hadn’t had any time to check emails while at the hotel, but she hated the idea of leaving them until the next day.
“We just pulled the kayaks out of storage,” Julie told her when the waitress left.
“Oh, awesome. Have you been out on them yet?”
Julie traced the lines of the checkered tabletop and shook her head. “We were thinking we could grab one of Mom and Dad’s, and the three of us could take them out after dinner.”
Sadie tucked her phone away. “Tonight?”
“Yeah, we should have at least an hour of daylight still,” Tyson said. “What do you say?”
Sadie squirmed. It sounded like a lot of fun, but it wasn’t worth getting behind. “I can’t tonight, I’m sorry. I’ve got a little bit of work to finish before I go to bed.”
“But you’ve already put in a full day. What more could you possibly have to do?” Julie asked.
Sadie rested her elbows on the table and sighed. “I have to get a head start for tomorrow so that I can go to the library during the day. It’s this pitch I’m putting together for the Cypress; it’s taking way more time than I expected.”
Tyson’s eyes darted to something behind Sadie. “Oh yeah. How’s that going; being at the library with Andrew?” he asked.
Sadie shrugged. She hadn’t seen Andrew that day, and she didn’t want to ruin her dinner by talking about him. “Fine.”
“You two getting along okay? You’re being nice to him?”
“Yes,” she said defensively, “as nice as he deserves.”
“Cool,” Tyson said, raising a hand in the air. “Then you won’t mind if I call him over here?”
Sadie whipped her head around and saw Andrew stepping away from the register. While he was preoccupied with his wallet, she turned back and slid down in her seat, hoping to avoid being seen. “Tyson James Monroe, don’t you dare,” she hissed.
“Price!” he called, grinning like a little boy. Julie giggled beside him.
Sadie glared. “I’m gonna kill you,” she whispered.
“You really shouldn’t threaten a police officer,” Tyson warned, winking at her.
Before she could respond, she heard the sound of Andrew’s voice as he approached. “Hey, how’s it going?”
She managed to sit back in an upright position before he stepped into her view. The last thing she needed was to be caught hiding from him. She kept her head down, though, and busied herself with the silverware in front of her.
“Hey, guys, how’s it going?” He fist-bumped Tyson, and then in a more measured tone, he added, “Haven’t seen you in a few days, Shady. Did you decide to give up your little project?”