Falmouth Echoes (A Cape Cod Series Book 2)

Chapter 11

“So, you want to have everyone here at your dad’s?”

Sophia looked up from her recipe book and frowned. “Why are you saying it like that?”

“I can’t remember the last time you hosted a big family gathering, but I seem to remember someone breaking out into hives at the thought of hosting all those people,” Darren teased, pausing to wipe his hands on an old rug. “You sure you want to do this?”

Sophia stood up straighter. “That was the old Sophia. The new Sophia is perfectly capable of having a lot of people over without panicking.”

“Or hiding in the bathroom because there isn’t enough food?”

Color crept up her neck and stained her cheeks. “It was one time.”

Darren came to a stop on the other side of the counter, his mouth twitching. “Does that exclude the time you hid under the covers because you couldn’t get the cake just right?”

Sophia narrowed her eyes and scowled. “I hate you.”

Darren burst into laughter. “No, you don’t. Especially because I just finished fixing the guest bathroom and the sink.”

Sophia rolled her eyes. “Fine, I only hate you a little.”

“I’ll take that.” Darren set the rag down on the counter and stepped back. “Anyway, I’m sure you could rope Dana, Dean, and Kelli to help out. Wasn’t Dana talking about being an event planner or something?”

“She changes her mind every five minutes,” Sophia replied with a sigh. “It’s not a bad idea to recruit them, though.”

“Ian, too,” Darren reminded her. “He’s really good with maximizing space.”

“It sounds an awful lot like you’re trying to get out of helping me.”

Darren held both hands up and took a few steps back. “I would never. I do have to cover for Jared at the station, though, so I’m going to have my hands full into Labor Day.”

Sophia pointed a spatula at him and frowned. “Fine, I’ll allow it, but you still have to come and help whenever you can. No one knows how to pick a playlist like you.”

“I’m pretty sure our kids would disagree with you.” Darren took his phone out of his pocket, a furrow appearing between his brows. “I’ll come up with something, though.”

“Thanks.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“Not just for this…for everything else, too.”

Darren looked up, a flicker of surprise on his face. “You’re welcome.”

Silence stretched between them.

Then Darren was making his way out of the door while trying to avoid Teddy’s slobbery kisses. As soon as he was gone, Sophia slumped against the counter and sighed. Ian showed up a short while later with his kids and Zoe in tow. Immediately, they all went to work reorganizing the living room to make more room for people while Sophia stayed in the kitchen, with Lily on speaker and butterflies already in her stomach.

By the end of the day, Sophia’s feet hurt, and she could barely keep her eyes open. When she crawled into bed, rather than spend the night tossing and turning, she fell asleep right away. In the morning, when she got up, Ian, Lucy, and the kids were already in the main house, setting up for the Labor Day celebrations. Hours later, Sophia was muttering to herself about a recipe when Lily and Ben showed up.

She pulled them both into a hug and sniffed.

Wordlessly, Lily stepped into the kitchen and took over, allowing Sophia a reprieve. The two sisters exchanged a quick look before Sophia hid herself in the kitchen, pouring over the cooking along with her cousin, Angie. Together, the two of them worked in silence, occasionally glancing over at the clock to make sure everything was in order.

Once the sun dipped below the horizon, bathing the world in a kaleidoscope of bright colors, more and more of the Wilson clan began to appear. Aunt Heather showed up with Uncle Ed in tow, and they immediately set to work in the backyard, setting up chairs and tables amidst peals of laughter.

A day later, when all of the Wilson clan came down early to visit, Sophia felt as if she was wound up so tight that she was going to burst into a million pieces. Her cousins Tammy and Luke were in the kitchen, on clean-up duty along with Tammy’s husband, James, and Luke’s wife, Denise, the four of them snickering and stealing food off the plate when Sophia wasn’t working.

When Abby, Tania, Josh, and Emma stumbled in, shoving each other and complaining, Cousin Angie kicked them all out. Sophia found herself oddly grateful for her no-nonsense cousin, who knew how to manage an entire kitchen staff because of her position as head chef at the Herring Cove Inn. Angie ran a tight ship, and Sophia was all too glad to defer to her, especially when Angie managed to convince their cousins, Jeff, Emily, and Tara, to set the food out on plates.

Jeff’s kids, Jason and Maria, were tossing the salads while Emily’s kids, Charlotte and Savannah, finished setting the rest of the tables. Now and again, Rob and Terry came in to tease their sister, Angie, but it lasted until Angie chased them out of the kitchen and glared daggers at their back.

Conversation rose and fell around Sophia while she struggled to tune it all out.

It wasn’t until Zac’s name flashed across the screen that she came back to the present with a jolt and realized she’d been staring off into space, a whisk held in her hand. With a sigh, she ducked into the storage room in the back and pulled the curtain shut. As soon as she answered the call, she knew something was wrong.

“I’m sorry, Mom,” Zac began, raising his voice toward the end. “I really wanted to be there, but there’s a lot of unrest in the country right now, so they’re not allowing anyone to leave.”

Sophia sagged against the shelves behind her. “But it’s Labor Day. Can’t they make an exception?”

“It’s not really safe for anyone to travel,” Zac replied, his voice drifting in and out of focus. “I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you, okay?”

Sophia pushed herself off the shelves and swallowed. “Are you sure it’s safe to stay there?”

“…no one…trying…later.”

Zac’s voice was abruptly cut off, and Sophia drew the phone away from her ear and tried to swallow past the lump in her throat. But the longer she stood there, thinking about Zac and the kind of dangers he faced, the worse she felt.

She should’ve tried harder to stop him when she had the chance.

Now, her baby was on a different continent, and he couldn’t come back home.

When Darren found her on the floor, with her head between her hands and panic clawing its way up her chest, he crouched in front of her. Slowly, Darren drew her to her feet and into his arms. The familiar smell of old spice and aftershave washed over her as Darren kept a hand on the small of her back and led her into the hallway.

Without anyone noticing, the two of them ducked into her old bedroom, and Darren kicked the door shut with the back of his leg. He steered her in the direction of the bed, and she sat down. Wordlessly, he handed her a glass of water and stepped back outside. Once he returned, Sophia stood up and set the glass down on her desk.

“Everybody is waiting for us.”

Darren shook his head and blocked the door. “Not anymore. I told them to start without us and that you weren’t feeling well. Everyone understands.”

Sophia frowned. “Why would you do that?”

Darren raised an eyebrow. “Did you expect me to find you on the floor in the storage room and not react? Come on, Soph. You know me better than that.”

“I wasn’t passed out or anything. I just needed a minute.”

“What’s going on?”

Sophia took a step back and ran a finger through her. “Zac is stuck in Africa. They won’t let anyone leave Botswana right now. I’m worried.”

Darren blew out a breath. “Why don’t we make a few calls? I’ve got an old army buddy of mine who might be able to help, and didn’t you say you had an old friend whose husband is a pilot or something?”

Sophia stared at him. “Do you really think that’s going to work?”

Darren’s expression softened as his eyes moved over her face. “I think it can’t hurt to try.”

Over the next few hours, the two of them placed phone calls to everyone they knew, hiding in her room while the rest of the clan celebrated outside. A part of Sophia felt bad for ignoring her guests and focusing on her son, but the other part of her knew they understood. Not a single one of them was going to hold it against her.

She couldn’t tell if it made her feel better or worse.

All she knew was that the longer she went without being able to help Zac come back home, the more panicked she got. When she started to pace the entire length of her room, it was Darren’s warm embrace that stopped her. It was the feel of his arms, strong and steady around her shoulders, that anchored her— made her feel like everything was going to be okay.

Hours later, the Wilson clan began to trickle out, little by little, leaving Ian, Stu, Lily, and Ben behind. Sophia came out of the room, offering them all an apologetic smile, and burst into tears. Lily led her to the couch, draped a blanket over her shoulders, and handed her a mug of tea.

All of them stayed up late into the night, calling everyone they could think of.

When Stu pushed Ian out the door in spite of his protests, Sophia rose to her feet. Lily draped an arm over her shoulders and steered her in the direction of the apartment. There, she helped Sophia into bed, tucking her in and staying until Sophia’s eyelids grew heavy.

In the morning, when Sophia jolted awake, drenched in sweat, and with her stomach twisted into knots, she realized Teddy was licking her palm. Absentmindedly, she patted him and stumbled out of bed. In a daze, she changed out of her clothes, washed her face, and made her way down the hallway and into the main house. Her dad was already in the kitchen, nursing a cup of coffee, while Lily stood at the stove, stirring eggs around.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Ben and Darren in the backyard, removing streamers and folding up chairs. As soon as they stepped in through the sliding glass doors, Sophia offered them both a grateful smile. Darren’s entire face lit up, making him look like a little boy again.

It reminded her of the open and vulnerable look he’d worn the night they’d fallen in love—when it felt like anything and everything was theirs for the taking.

Sophia couldn’t look away from the sparkle in his eyes or the mischievous grin on his face.

Until Lily cleared her throat and handed her a cup of coffee.

She nearly spilled the drink all over the front of her shirt when her phone rang, and Zac’s name appeared. Sophia beckoned Darren over, and the two of them stood side by side as she swiped right. Once Zac’s face filled the screen, his face flushed with color and a frown hovering on the edge of his lips, Sophia’s heart dropped.

“Sweetheart, thank God you’re okay. We’ve been making phone calls all night—”

“Do you have any idea what you did? I’ve been here for years, trying to build a name and reputation for myself, and in one night, you undo all of that.”

Sophia’s breath hitched in her throat. “Zac, honey, we were just trying to help—”

“They’re doubting my commitment to the program now,” Zac interrupted with a lift of his chin. “Because you had to call in a few favors and reach out to some of your contacts. I hope you’re both happy. At this rate, I doubt I’m going to be able to stay here.”

“We were just trying to help,” Darren told him with a frown. “We all were. You had us worried.”

“Thanks for nothing,” Zac grumbled, pausing to glower at both of them. “Everything I’ve done here has been undermined by what you did.”

Sophia clutched the phone tighter. “Zac, honey, we were just—”

“I really don’t want to want to know what you were thinking, Mom,” Zac interrupted, his expression tightening. “You just have no clue, do you? Imagine if I showed up at the bakery and started telling all of your customers that you were incompetent.”

“Your mother and I were trying to help.” Darren draped an arm over her shoulders and stood up straighter. “I understand you’re upset, but there’s no need to take that tone with us.”

Zac grumbled something under his breath, and his eyes tightened around the edges. “That’s just it. Neither of you get it. It feels like you were waiting in the wings to sabotage this for me.”

“Of course not.” Sophia’s stomach clenched, and her eyes filled with tears. “We just wanted to be sure you were okay.”

Zac pressed his lips together and didn’t respond.

Then he hung up, and Sophia was left clutching the phone with both hands. Darren pried the phone away from her fingers and led her out through the sliding glass door and into the lush green backyard. He pulled out two chairs and set them opposite each other.

Sophia sank into the chair and scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’ve never seen him that angry before. He’s never going to want to speak to us again.”

Darren took both of her hands in his and squeezed. “He’ll get over it, Soph. Zac just let his emotions get the better of him. Don’t worry.”

Sophia searched his face. “Did we do the wrong thing?”

Darren shook his head. “I don’t think we did, but it’s going to take some time for Zac to see that. It’s going to be okay.”

Sophia sighed. “I hope you’re right.”

Because she couldn’t bear the thought of her eldest child being mad at her, justified or otherwise.