Chapter 10
“Let me call you back later, okay? I’m carrying a lot of stuff.”
“Okay, Mom. Talk to you later.”
As soon as the line went dead, Sophia let the phone fall into her purse and released the steering wheel. She glanced at her reflection in the rearview mirror, taking in the tightness around her eyes and lack of color around her cheeks, and frowned. Then she pushed her blonde hair out of her eyes and ran a hand over her neck.
Beside her, Teddy had his head stuck out the window and was panting heavily.
She gathered her hair into a bun on top of her head, leaving a few wisps of hair to frame her face, and nodded.
With a sigh, she pushed the car door open and stumbled out. Once Teddy jumped out after her, she slammed the door shut and stood up straighter. Then she reached into the backseat and gathered the plastic bags. On her way up the cobblestoned path, Teddy weaved in and out of her feet, nose pressed to the ground and tail wagging back and forth.
On the front porch, she paused, set the bags down, and patted her pockets. She fished out the keys, shoved them in the lock, and turned. When the front door wouldn’t budge, a furrow appeared between her brows, and she glanced around. Sophia took the key out, examined it, and tried again. A short while later, she pressed her face to the glass and peered inside.
Except she knew it was pointless because her father was gone for a few days and was probably already in the city with his relatives.
Sophia glanced over her shoulders at the empty street and sighed.
Teddy pressed his face against her knee and whimpered.
After a brief hesitation, she picked up her purse, rummaged through it, and took out her phone. Darren answered on the fourth ring, sounding breathless and distracted. When they hung up, she gathered her plastic bags to one side and sat down at the top of the stairs.
Darren’s familiar truck pulled up onto her street, and she found herself thinking of the first time she’d laid eyes on him, pulling up to a house at the end of the street, his shirt clinging to his sweaty, muscular body, and his dark hair plastered to his forehead. She’d been sitting on the front porch then, too, waiting for Ian and her dad to come back out for lunch.
Sophia still remembered how it felt when Darren had looked over his shoulders at her and smiled, and her whole world had come to a grinding halt.
Darren’s car ambled to a stop next to the curb, and he emerged a few seconds later in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt that clung to his form. Sophia tried not to stare too hard as he paused to pat Teddy, who happily handed him a stick. Once Darren reached her, Sophia swallowed past the lump in her throat and rose to her feet.
Darren took the key from her outstretched hand. “Did you guys change the locks recently?”
“Ian had us change a lot of things after we installed the security system,” Sophia replied with a shake of her head. “You know how my brother gets.”
Darren nodded and examined the key. “He’s just being cautious.”
“He’s being overprotective,” Sophia mumbled, mostly to herself.
Wordlessly, Darren tried the key again, and when it wouldn’t budge, he got down on his knees and peered at the lock. She handed him a pin from her purse, and he used it to pry the front door open with a creak. Once inside, he helped her carry the groceries to the counter and cast a quick look around.
“This place looks exactly the same.”
Sophia began to take the food out of the bags. “Some things don’t change. Speaking of, would you mind taking a look at the sink in the bathroom downstairs and the one in the kitchen? I’ve been telling my dad for weeks to get a plumber, but he’s been putting it off.”
Teddy darted past them and into her old room.
Darren chuckled. “This feels just like old times. Want me to fire up the grill while I’m here?”
Sophia blushed and turned her back on him. “No, I’ve just got a busy week at work, so I don’t have time to get a plumber.”
“What are exes for? Although, at this point, it does feel more like we’re still married.”
Sophia spun around and caught the amused look on Darren’s face before he disappeared into the guest bathroom. She heard him open the water and mutter to himself. When he reappeared, he stepped into the kitchen and ducked underneath the sink. He pulled out the toolbox, paused to take off his shirt, and used it to mop the sweat off of his face.
Her mouth turned dry, and she suddenly couldn’t remember what she was meant to be doing. It wasn’t until Darren turned his back on her and went into the bathroom that she snapped out of it and realized she had drool pooling in the corners of her mouth. With a frown, Sophia cupped her hands underneath the kitchen faucet and splashed cold water on her face.
Darren’s comment hadn’t meant anything.
It couldn’t.
Halfway through fixing the bathroom, Darren’s phone rang, and his muffled voice reached her. She was putting away the cartons of milk when he came back out, snatched his shirt off the counter, and put it back on.
“I just got called into work. Sorry, Soph. I’ll pass by later to finish up here, okay?”
Sophia waved his comment away. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll give the plumber a call.”
Darren gave her a strange look. “I’ll call you later.”
With that, he hurried outside, taking the stairs two at a time. Sophia lingered in the doorway to watch him leave, a heaviness settling in the center of her chest. When he drove off, Sophia was still standing there, wondering what was the matter with her.
Teddy’s tongue darted out to lick her palm, and she was brought back to the present with a jolt.
Sighing, Sophia slammed the door shut and stepped into the kitchen.
After preparing some pasta with a creamy white sauce and strips of chicken, she settled in the living room. She paused to give Teddy a few cans of food and waited till he was curled up on the carpet by the fire before she picked up the remote. A short while later, she was still flipping through the channels when her stomach began to grumble. Reluctantly, she settled on an old black-and-white movie and settled against the couch.
Halfway through her meal, she took her plate into the kitchen and covered it in aluminum foil. She placed it in the microwave and poured herself a generous amount of red wine. Then she changed Teddy’s water for the fourth time that day and made her way back into the living room.
There, she propped her feet up on the coffee table and tugged on the blanket draped over the back of the couch. When her phone rang and Zac’s name flashed across the screen, Sophia had sunk lower against the couch and was studying her dad’s cracked ceiling. She sat up straighter, set her glass down on the table next to her, and smiled.
“Hi, honey,” Sophia greeted, her voice rising toward the end. “This is a nice surprise.”
“I had a few minutes, and I wanted to check in,” Zac replied, his handsome face appearing in and out of the frame. “How’s everything? Work going okay?”
Sophia nodded. “The same as usual. How’s it going with you?”
“…family…hours…great.” Zac’s voice drifted in and out of focus, and Sophia strained to hear him.
She pulled the phone away and stared at the screen, at a frame of her son’s frozen face, his mouth partly open and a furrow between his brows. In silence, Sophia touched two fingers to the screen and exhaled. When the camera unfroze, and Zac’s voice filled the living room, disconnected and garbled, Sophia sat up and went to the kitchen.
She was peering at the contents of the fridge when the line went dead.
Sophia tried Zac a few more times before hanging up.
Then she took an apple out of the fridge and made her way back to the living room. She stretched her legs out on the couch, dialed her father. On the sixth ring, it went straight to voicemail, and she made a low, frustrated sound. Teddy lifted his head up from his paws and looked directly at her, his bright eyes wide and unflinching.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Sophia said with a shake of her head. “What else am I supposed to do?”
After a few more minutes of channel surfing, Sophia pulled up a DIY video and found herself in the kitchen, drenched in sweat and with a wrench in one hand. Once she failed to fix the sink, she shoved the tools back into their box and drifted back into the living room. There, she lowered herself onto the carpet, tucked her legs underneath her, and squeezed her eyes shut.
Even yoga couldn’t help her relax.
When she was done, she rose back up to her feet, stomped into the kitchen, and took out a few ingredients for a cake. She was muttering to herself and whisking the batter when her phone rang, and Zoe’s name appeared on her screen. Hastily, she wiped her hands on her apron and swiped right. Zoe’s familiar face appeared, holding up an outfit to a full-length mirror.
“Uh-oh. I know that look. Who annoyed you?”
“Nobody annoyed me,” Sophia replied, pausing to reach for a vanilla sachet. “I just thought I’d try out some new recipes for vanilla cake.”
“You don’t try out new recipes unless you’re angry or restless,” Zoe responded before twisting in front of the mirror. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“I’m just having an off day. I got locked out of the house, and Dad had to come and bail me out. It’s a good thing he did, too; otherwise, the alarm system would’ve gone off.”
“Don’t you think Uncle Ian is taking it a bit too far?”
Sophia sighed. “I do, but you know how he gets.”
Zoe adjusted the phone on top of her dress, and her eyebrows knitted together. “There hasn’t been another break-in, right?”
Sophia glanced up and shook her head. “No, sweetheart, don’t worry.”
“He should ease up, then.” Zoe stepped back and walked over to her bed, where another outfit was laid out. “So, do you remember that cute guy I was telling you about? We’re supposed to go out tonight.”
Sophia stopped whisking and smiled. “Honey, that’s great. I know you’ve liked him for a while. How did he finally ask you?”
“I asked him.” Zoe held a dress up to her body and studied herself in the mirror. “Now, I have no idea what to wear.”
“You’re lucky your mom is the queen of last-minute outfits.” Sophia pushed the bowl away and picked up her phone. “Where are you going?”
“Bowling, and we were thinking of dinner after. I don’t know, Mom. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked him out first. What if he thinks I’m coming on too strong?”
“I’m sure he respects that you took the first step. Besides, you’ve got to take risks in life, right?”
“Who are you, and what have you done with my mother?”
Sophia laughed and said nothing.
While she helped Zoe pick out an outfit and settle on a hairstyle, she couldn’t help but marvel at how grown up her daughter was. Zoe had gone from being a precocious and picky young girl to a confident and strong young lady, and Sophia couldn’t have been prouder.
Seeing Zoe get ready for her first adult date reminded Sophia how unfulfilled she felt and how everyone around her seemed to be moving on except for her.
Was this how it was always going to be?