Free Spring Comes To Barncastle Inn by Lynette Sowell Page B

brother.
                  “Keep an eye on Hank, too,” Jayne called after him. Then, she looked at Sadie, her eyes filled with concern. “What's wrong, Sade? Something happened last night...”
                  “It's Peter—and Marin.” She tried not to sigh, but it came out anyway. “I was confused, but last night, after Marin ran off and got stuck in the tree, I saw how he's not ready to move on. No matter what he says, or does, even.”
                  “What do you mean by that?”
                  “He—uh, we—kissed the other night, before we went out to eat.” Sadie rubbed the long sleeves on her dress. “But now he said last night, they would always want Kate back. I was thinking, maybe, especially after that kiss, he was ready to move on. Not leave the memory of his wife behind, but maybe, see a life with me in it? Plus, Marin likes me, but I know she doesn't want me as a mother figure.”
                  She sank onto a nearby chair. The brim of her hat struck the wall, jarring her. “Ow.”
                  “But Luke and I thought you would only be around temporarily, for the store? Maybe until the end of the summer?”
                  Sadie nodded. “That was the idea. At first.”
                  “And now...”
                  “Nothing now. Not after last night. Like I said, it's clear to me that he's not ready.”             
                  “Did you ask him if he was ready?”
                  “No.” She didn't want to think about the answer to that painful question. Kate Appleman stood but a few steps below sainthood, the way Marin spoke of her mother. Talented, crafty, a good cook. A stunning beauty, Sadie had noted that one night she'd had supper with Peter and Marin.
                  She didn't want to share the man she loved with someone else, someone Sadie wasn't.
                  The man she loved. She barely knew Peter, but in some ways felt like she'd always known him.
                  “Luke and I had our own obstacles to overcome.” Jayne fetched an empty straw basket from the shelf. “You know, when I came home, my MBA in tow, I never imagined I'd end up with a readymade family, although I did have dreams of a family someday.”
                  Her cousin had been married nearly eight years and had blended right into the Gilbert family. Hank had her caramel-colored hair, whereas Andy resembled his father.
                  Sadie swallowed her words, and let her cousin continue.
                  “Of course, Andy was a bit younger than Marin is. He took to me right away. It was very—natural.” Jayne pulled open a drawer in the butler's pantry and rummaged through the silverware. “We have some good, sturdy spoons to use. I would have used plastic, but this is a grand occasion.”
                  “Mom, the guests are starting to arrive for the parade and egg roll,” Andy said, entering the room. His voice had lowered an octave or two.
                  “Time for the egg roll!” Hank said, hot on his brother's heels.
                  Jayne smiled. “Wonderful! Now, everyone, remember, this is a fancier time period, for the Easter parade. Our inn guests should be assembled on the lawn in their own finery by now. Andy, if you could help carry the basket of spoons?”
                  Sadie picked up her own basket of colored eggs. She'd never participated in an egg roll, or even seen one before. The rear lawn of the inn had been roped off and a series of “lanes” marked on the grass where the competitors would roll their eggs.
                  Her hat slipped off the back of her head, the ribbon jerking against her throat. How in the world did women manage in these get-ups? It was miles away from the