A November Bride Read Online Free PDF Page A

Mud crawls. Rope climbs. It’s my best gig yet.”
    “Congratulations. So, no regrets, then?”
    “No regrets—yet. I don’t miss my old job. And I have time to work on my Great American Novel—although it’s more like the world’s worst first draft.”
    “Anytime you want me to read it . . .”
    “I know, I know. You’re game. I’ll remember.”
    Erik’s phone played the first notes of “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me,” and he pulled it from his pocket. “One sec. Let me just make certain this isn’t a work call.” He scanned the text. Pocketed his phone again. “Huh.”
    “Huh what?”
    “That was Sadie.”
    “Is everything okay?”
    “Yeah. Sure. She usually doesn’t text during a workday. But she said she didn’t want to wait to tell me some news—and we’d talk later.”
    Phillip stopped. “What’s the news—don’t keep me waiting.”
    “Her employer got a promotion—and is moving to Oregon. They want Sadie to move with them as their private chef.”
    “Wow, that’s an amazing opportunity.”
    “Yeah. Wow.”
    “Anything else?”
    “She’s thinking about it.” The phrase had looked wrong on Erik’s cell, now it sounded wrong. Why was Sadie even thinking about the job offer?
    Sadie had lived in Colorado all her life. She’d bought her first house two years ago and fixed it up room by room. Her friends were here.
    “Erik?”
    He was rubbing his hand across his jaw when Phillip’s voice pulled him back to the moment. “What?”
    “What are you thinking about?”
    “I don’t think Sadie will take that job.”
    “You don’t think she’ll take that job—or you don’t want her to take that job?”
    “What kind of question is that?”
    “Answer the question. Do you want Sadie to take the job?”
    “It doesn’t matter what I want.” Erik shrugged. “I don’t tell her what to do. Sadie and I are just friends.”
    “So you’ve said ever since I’ve known you. But let me ask you this. Are you being honest with yourself?” Phillip’s voice remained level, but it felt as if his words carried the weight of a lawyer cross-examining a witness. “I’ve watched you date other women. You like them for a couple of months, and then you’re done. The only woman you’ve ever been loyal to is Sadie.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Could it be that you’re in love with her?”
    “You’re a pastor, Phillip, not a relationship guru.”
    “I do couples counseling, you know.”
    “Sadie and I are not a couple.” Erik kicked a rock so that it skittered across the street. “The one time I ever tried to change our relationship to something romantic, she backed away so fast I was left holding thin air.”
    “Oh-ho! And when was this?”
    “Go ahead, laugh. It doesn’t matter anyway—it happened so long ago she doesn’t even remember that I kissed her.”
    “But you do?”
    “It doesn’t matter.”
    “Erik.” Phillip settled one hand on Erik’s shoulder. “We aren’t in high school anymore. And I’m asking you a question, man to man. Are you in love with Sadie?”
    “I never thought she’d move away. I never thought I wouldn’t see her every week. Sadie’s my best friend.”
    “The more important question, my friend? Is that all you want her to be?”

E rik pressed the Stop button on the treadmill’s control panel, his steps slowing. He’d spent several hours working on the race project, as well as a few other deadlines. Then he’d set aside his laptop and worked up a decent sweat while he ran, praying the entire time. The last ten minutes, his intercessions fell into a rhythm matching the pounding of his feet on the treadmill.
    Help me do this, God.
    I want to do this.
    I can do this. I can be the kind of man Sadie deserves.
    He grabbed the bottle of water from his dresser and gulped down half of it. And now he was going to do it. But first he’d shower and pray a little more.

    “Hey, Sadie, this is Erik.”
    “I know who this is, Erik. If you remember, I