Witcher Upper - Amy Boyles Page 0,7

back and pulled him towards the barn. “You ever seen a foundation get poured?”

Dooley scratched his bald head. “Why, I don’t believe that I have.”

Liam pointed to the truck. “Come on and I’ll show you how it gets done. You’re gonna love this.”

I sighed and silently thanked the Lord that Liam was working with us. By the time Liam walked Dooley over to the truck, he looked at ease, the tension line in his shoulders having vanished.

Happy that we’d put Dooley’s fears to rest, at least for today, I headed on back down to Sadie. I grabbed my coffee cup from the truck bed and lifted it as if in toast.

“To Liam, for taking one for the team.”

Sadie stared at her phone. She didn’t react as if she’d heard me.

“Sadie? Earth to Sadie! Everything okay?”

Her gaze snapped to mine. “Yes. Why wouldn’t it be?” she said tensely.

I shrugged. “I don’t know; you’re the one who looks deep in thought. You sure you’re good?

Her gaze cut back to her phone. She stared at it another moment, flashing the case in my direction. Our phone cases were custom-made, a gift from Sadie to both of us when we first started our company. They each had Magical Renovations printed on them with a peach blossom below the words. That’s our logo, one that I designed.

She slipped the phone into her pocket and closed her eyes. “Yes, everything’s fine. Just some stuff with my mom.”

I quirked a brow. “Your mom? You never talk to her.”

Sadie shivered and, for a second, looked vulnerable. “She’s been calling lately. Wants to make up for stuff that happened a long time ago.”

I hiked a shoulder to my ear. “Maybe you should talk to her.”

She shook out her ponytail. “You haven’t lived in town long enough to know what happened.”

I bristled at the comment. No, I hadn’t grown up in Peachwood like everybody else who lived here, but Sadie and I had been friends for years. I trusted her and thought she trusted me.

“I’m not trying to pry,” I said, “but if she’s offering an olive branch, maybe you should take it.”

She shook her head fiercely. “Just forget it, Clem. Forget it.” She glanced at her watch. “I’ve gotta go. I’ve got an appointment with some bathroom tiles.”

I curled up the blueprints and handed them to her. “Let me come. After that we can head over to the antique store for furniture.”

Sadie stumbled over her words. “Oh, sorry, but I’ve got, um, it’s a new tile guy. He’s really weird. Only likes to talk to one person at a time.”

Okay, I was gonna try hard not to have my feelings hurt by that. True, Sadie and I worked independently and then came together near the end to shimmy up any design ideas, but her not wanting me to come along to meet a new contact was weird. It wasn’t like her.

As Sadie slipped into her Camry and headed off, I couldn’t shake the feeling that my best friend was lying to me. But why? What did Sadie have to hide?

Chapter 4

I took Dottie’s peaches over to the Peachwood Quilting Bee as a gift to Malene for making me the chocolate silk pie.

The quilting bee was located in the back of the Peachwood library, of all places. Once a week three older ladies got together to quilt and gossip.

I parked my old Ford, which sputtered and squealed to a stop, right as Shane was walking into his bar. He took one look at me and crossed the street, heading over.

At the same time I noticed the ladies in the quilting bee through the windows. Malene saw Shane trotting, and she waved over the rest of her friends to take a gander at him. Next thing I knew, three wrinkled faces were pressed against the glass, ogling Shane Prader.

I rolled my eyes. I swear, those old ladies would give catcalling construction workers a run for their money.

Shane came to a stop in front of me. “Hey, Clem. You out buying for old Dooley?”

I groaned. “Not at the moment, thank goodness, but I did have to deal with him today. I swear, between Malene, Willard and Dooley, I really don’t know which of them is the worst.”

As Shane laughed, the corners of his eyes fanned. “Listen, I’m getting off work early tonight, and I was wondering…”

Oh my gosh, was Shane Prader about to ask me out on a date? Everyone knew that he’d been seeing a nail technician a couple of towns