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braids didn’t exist. Maybe then he would confide in his mother. Pete, however, would likely not approve.
    Sadie reached the theater in time to stand in the back for the last two minutes, but she couldn’t focus on the grand finale of the show. Why had the woman run away? Had Shawn told her not to talk to Sadie? What was her connection to Shawn? How on earth was Sadie supposed to enjoy herself on this trip without knowing the answers to her questions? How long could she be expected to respect these boundaries of Shawn’s that she simply did not understand?
     

Chapter 5
     

    Shawn wanted to hit the buffet again after the show; Sadie would get her money’s worth with his ticket for sure. She wasn’t particularly hungry, but took a chance on some made-to-order crepes with a variety of yummy toppings and was pleasantly surprised by the quality. Perhaps the buffet wasn’t a lost cause after all.
    As they ate, she kept looking across the table at Shawn, wondering what he was hiding about the woman in braids. But Pete was watching her and she was pretty sure he could read her mind even though he didn’t know about Sadie’s most recent encounter with the mystery woman. Would he approve of Sadie’s chase? What would he think of the photo she had in her bag hanging on the back of her chair?
    Pete and Shawn talked about the show, while Sadie ate another crepe and turned her worry from Pete’s opinions of her actions to Breanna’s conflicts with the wedding. She couldn’t believe Liam’s mother would take things over so completely. Carriages? Eight thousand dollars in flowers? Did the woman not know Breanna at all? Had she no respect for Sadie’s position as mother of the bride?
    When those thoughts got too heavy, she ate yet another crepe and worried about Shawn again. Finally, when she felt ready to explode from both crepes and worry, the three of them made their way out of the dining room, and Shawn said he was going to check out one of the clubs.
    Sadie stiffened. “You go to clubs?”
    “Mom, I’m twenty-three.”
    “What does being twenty-three have to do with going to clubs? I was twenty-three once, and I never went to clubs. Breanna didn’t go to clubs when she was twenty-three.”
    Yes, Shawn had been away at college for four years, but she always pictured him studying when she worried where he was or what he might be doing at any given time. Could he be one of those college kids who went to frat parties and locked their friends in the trunk of a car as a joke? Oh, she certainly hoped not. She’d been locked in the trunk of a car before and it had been horrid.
    “Pete, maybe you can explain it to her,” Shawn said as they stood outside the dining room.
    Pete draped his arm over Sadie’s shoulder and gave Shawn a nod. “I’ve got your back.” They tapped their fists together. What on earth was that all about?
    Sadie looked at Pete. “You’re supporting this kind of behavior?”
    Pete steered her toward the open deck, away from Shawn. “We talked about this,” he reminded her as the doors whooshed open.
    He guided her across the open deck toward the stairs that led to deck thirteen-forward. The ever-determined hot-tubbers were there again, basking in the steaming water and occasionally running across the deck to jump into the swimming pool. She’d worn better pants tonight and wasn’t so chilled by the dropping temperatures, but she couldn’t imagine wearing a swimsuit, let alone getting wet. On the port side of the hot tubs, someone seemed to be asleep on a deck chair, and Sadie shook her head. Weren’t they cold? It had to be close to forty degrees out here.
    “I can’t believe he goes to clubs,” Sadie said when they reached the top of the stairs. They had the deck to themselves again. She narrowed her eyes at Pete. “And I can’t believe you’re supporting him in that.”
    “You’re going to let Shawn be a grown-up, remember?”
    Letting your children be grown-ups stunk like