The Quite Ridge

Chapter 9- Sadie

I didn’t expect him to be there. Not sitting in his truck. Not that close. Not before I even made it inside. For a second, I almost stayed in the car. Just waited. Let him go first. But I didn’t. And then I was standing there, right in front of him, too aware of everything at once. Him. The space between us. The way he didn’t look away.

“Morning,” he said.

Like it was normal. Like standing that close to someone you didn’t know shouldn’t feel like anything.

“Morning,” I said.

My voice held. Barely.

I should’ve kept moving. That would’ve made sense. I didn’t. When he asked about yesterday, I gave the easiest answer I had. Safe. Nothing that opened anything. He didn’t push it. Didn’t question it. Just let it sit. That should’ve made it easier. It didn’t. Because he wasn’t distracted. Wasn’t looking past me. Wasn’t rushing the moment. He stayed. And so did I.

When he mentioned Maddie, it grounded things just enough to breathe again. Normal conversation. Nothing more. But it didn’t change the way it felt. When I asked if he ran the place, I didn’t mean to. The question just came out. His answer was simple. Like it didn’t matter. But it did. At least enough that I noticed.

The silence came back again, and this time I felt it. Not awkward. Not forced. Just… there. Like if I stayed any longer, it would turn into something else. He stepped back first. Like he already knew that. That was the part that stayed with me. I turned toward the office, forcing myself to move, forcing the moment to end where it should have.

It was nothing. Just a conversation. Just a normal morning. But my chest still felt tight when I walked away. And I knew—

it wasn’t just nothing.