Chapter Twenty-Nine Sophie #2
But even as the thought formed, she dismissed it. No, that wouldn’t work for her vision. The modern aesthetic was beautiful here, in this architectural marvel, but her boathouse needed something different. Something that honored its history. Still, it was nice to imagine the possibilities.
“Wow,” she breathed, turning in a slow circle to take it all in. “This is gorgeous.”
“Isn’t it?” Caleb beamed with pride. “Mikkel did the interior design himself. The man’s a genius.”
Luke made a noncommittal sound that might have been agreement. His eyes scanned the room, lingering on the floor-to-ceiling windows and staring out at the lake as though he was yearning to be back on it, on his boat and as far away from this party as he could be.
Suddenly, it seemed like they were surrounded by a wave of partygoers: Jake dressed in clothes that showed off his impressive physique to even better advantage; Ella from the museum, who immediately launched into asking Sophie if she had any British historical mysteries she could share on her podcast; Ray, whose eyebrows had somehow survived another day of electrical work; and at least a dozen others whose names blurred together.
“You want a drink?” Luke asked.
“Yes please. Mabel’s punch will be fine. Though after last time, perhaps with a defibrillator on standby.”
He smiled, gave her elbow a soft squeeze before heading off.
The brief contact sent warmth spreading through her arm, which was ridiculous.
She’d spent the last few weeks tangled up with the man in increasingly creative positions, and yet a simple touch on her elbow had her feeling like a Victorian maiden getting the vapors.
Get it together, Bennett.
Sophie drifted toward the floor-to-ceiling windows, taking in the view of the lake.
From this vantage point, she could see all the way across to the traditional boathouses on the western shore, her new home among them, lights glowing softly in the gathering dusk.
The contrast between the two sides of Solace Lake was clear: one modern and sleek, the other weathered and historical.
Both sides beautiful in their own way.
Both with their own appeal.
She was so lost in thought that she didn’t hear Luke approach until his reflection appeared beside hers in the glass.
“Decent view,” he said, offering her a glass of Mabel’s infamous punch.
“Yes, isn’t it?” Sophie said, taking a sip and immediately coughing as the gin hit the back of her throat. “Bloody hell, that’s even stronger than the first time I tried this! Is Mabel part-timing as a petrol station?”
“Mabel doesn’t believe in measuring.” Luke’s eyes crinkled at the corners, his gaze warm as it rested on her face. “You really do look beautiful tonight, Soph.”
“So do you.”
He pulled her close and they stood together in comfortable silence for a moment, watching the lake. “How can they afford this place?” Sophie asked eventually. “I presume Mikkel makes a decent amount of money with his interior design business?”
“Yeah, but I think he had some backers, too.” Then he frowned.
“That reminds me. Forgot to mention it at the time, been so busy with the renovation. Saw something on your phone the other week. Wasn’t snooping, just came up on your screen before I could drag my eyes away.
It was a message about backers? Didn’t know you had business partners. ”
Sophie nearly choked on her second sip of punch. Oh God. It must have been a crowdfunding notification. She’d been so careful to keep her phone locked, but evidently not careful enough.
“Not exactly partners,” she said carefully, her mind racing.
She’d meant to tell him about the crowdfunding…
eventually. Once the bookshop was further along, once they’d defined whatever this thing between them was, once she’d figured out how to explain it without making it sound like she’d misled him.
Luke’s eyes, sharp as ever, caught her hesitation. “What then?”
“Just…friends,” Sophie heard herself say. “From London. They contributed to a little fund to help with the renovations. Like…a housewarming gift, sort of.”
The lie slipped out so easily it startled her. Sophie Bennett, who prided herself on honesty, was standing here telling a bold-faced lie to the man she’d been sleeping with the past few weeks.
Luke studied her face for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Then he nodded once, though something in his eyes suggested he wasn’t entirely convinced. “Nice of them.”
“Yes, it was,” Sophie agreed. She took another gulp of punch, welcoming the burn. “Very generous.”
Before Luke could press further, Grace appeared, linking her arm through Sophie’s. “I’m stealing your date for girl talk,” she announced to Luke. “Go be with Jake and the boys.”
Luke raised an eyebrow but didn’t protest as Grace dragged Sophie toward a cluster of people gathered on the deck outside.
“Found her!” Grace declared, depositing Sophie in a vacant chair. “Now spill. How’s it going with our resident boat whisperer with a permanent scowl?”
“And more importantly,” Caleb said as he joined them, “is he as good in bed as those thighs suggest?”
“Caleb!” Mabel scolded, though her eyes twinkled with interest.
Sophie felt a blush creep up on her. “I don’t kiss and tell.”
“That good, huh?” Caleb winked. “I knew it. Do you concur, Abbey?”
A blush spread up Abbey’s cheeks as an unwelcome jolt of jealousy sparked through Sophie.
“Don’t ask me; we were kids back then,” Abbey said, somehow reading Sophie’s thoughts. “Luke’s like a brother to me now.”
“Certainly not acting like a brother with our new London girl,” Caleb said.
“Leave the poor girl alone,” Grace said, though she looked equally curious. “She’s only been in town a few weeks.”
“And already accomplished what half the single women in Solace Springs have been trying to do for years,” Margaret commented drily. “Get Luke Rhodes to socialize.”
“We’re just…enjoying each other’s company while I renovate the boathouse,” Sophie said.
“Speaking of renovations,” Caleb said, leaning forward conspiratorially, “your renovation is going viral on Instagram. I saw a mood board you shared.”
Sophie blinked, momentarily thrown. “What do you mean?”
“A mood board you did for the renovation got shared by that big Bookstagram account…What’s it called…? Books and Beaches?”
The blogger must have taken it from her fundraising page.
“I’ll have to check it out,” Sophie said weakly, thinking of Luke. Thank God he wasn’t on social media.
She spotted him inside by the bar with Jake, Ray, and a few other men. He seemed relaxed, one hand in his pocket as he listened to whatever story Ray was telling, complete with wild gestures that threatened the drinks of everyone within a three-foot radius.
“Luke won’t like that,” Mabel murmured, as though echoing her thoughts. “He’s always detested social media, like when Claire was posting all those plans for the town on Facebook.”
“What was she like? Claire?” Sophie asked before she could stop herself.
The group exchanged glances.
“Claire was…” Grace hesitated, clearly choosing her words carefully. “Let’s just say she knew what she wanted and didn’t much care who she stepped on to get it.”
“All flash, no substance,” Mabel added with a sniff. “More concerned with how things looked than how they worked.”
“The type who’d rearrange your entire bookshelf without asking because she’d seen something ‘better’ on Pinterest,” Ella said with unmistakable disdain.
“But also beautiful, impulsive, adventurous, a force of nature,” Caleb added. The other women shot him looks and he shrugged. “Just trying to add a counter-balance. I mean, we all know she’s got nothing on our London gal.”
Sophie gave him another weak smile, trying not to show how each word landed like a stone in her stomach. Claire sounded exactly like the kind of woman Sophie wasn’t: spontaneous, glamorous.
A new voice joined the conversation then, loud and slightly slurred.
It was Natalie, the side-eyeing woman from the town hall meeting a few weeks back, her short dark bob disheveled and her cheeks flushed with what was clearly not her first drink of the evening.
“Are we talking about Claire?” She dropped into an empty chair, sloshing her drink as she did. “I personally got on fine with her.”
“Natalie,” Mabel said, her tone carrying a note of warning, “maybe switch to water?”
Natalie waved her off. “I’m fine. And I’m right.
You were all too hard on the girl. She was good for Luke!
Shook him up. Showed him what it’s like to color outside the lines, just like his ma was taught the same by her handsome city fella back in the day.
That’s why Luke keeps having these summer flings,” she added, gesturing to Sophie, “always chasing the high Claire gave him, the same high his mother went for.”
Sophie frowned.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Natalie said. “Luke’s flings never lasted past Labor Day.
” She tilted her head, matching Sophie’s frown.
“I guess what with it being spring, even if your fling doesn’t last past Labor Day, that’s still longer than the others since Claire.
Plus it gives him a chance to keep an eye on the renovation while”—she made an obscene gesture with her hands that had Mabel gasping—“you know.”
“Natalie!” Grace hissed.
“What? I’m just saying what everyone’s thinking. At least with a fling with Sophie, he can make sure she doesn’t make any changes he doesn’t like.”
Sophie felt as though someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over her head. Was that what people thought? That Luke was sleeping with her to control her renovation? To make sure she didn’t change his precious lake?
“Let’s get you some coffee,” Mabel said, helping Natalie to her feet and dragging her away.
As they left, an awkward silence fell over the group.
“Don’t listen to her,” Grace said, squeezing Sophie’s arm. “Natalie’s still bitter that Luke never returned her interest. Plus, she’s three sheets to the wind.”