“Hey.” He swept Lucas up into a hug. “How’s Grandpa?”
“Good.” Lucas squirmed free and ran into the house, followed by William.
Spencer looked to Tyler, waiting for his assessment.
“They’re planning to release him later today.” A giant smile overspread Tyler’s face. “Our old man’s one tough guy.”
A relieved laugh made its way up from Spencer’s core, and he pulled his brother in for a quick hug. “Thank the Lord.” If Dad was coming home, then everything would be fine. He’d take over the paperwork, get everything squared away.
“By the way, Mom wants to have a celebration dinner tonight.” Tyler gave him one last clap on the back and released him.
“Tonight?”
Tyler gave him a playful shove. “Yeah. Why, you have plans?”
Spencer shoved back. “Maybe.”
Tyler’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? I didn’t think you’d get over Sophie that quickly. I am good.”
Tyler may have been awake when Spencer got home last night. And Spencer may have poured his heart out to him. And Tyler may have helped him see that Sophie’s leaving before he got his heart in any deeper was a good thing.
Spencer kicked one boot into the other. “Actually, the plans are kind of with Sophie. She called to say she’s staying a couple more days to clean out her grandma’s house. And she wanted to come see the cherry blossoms.”
“Spencer, she’s—”
Spencer held up a hand. “I know. She’s going to leave. And I’m prepared for that.”
“Really?” Tyler’s eyebrows were so high they almost got lost in his hairline. “Is that why you about stuffed William into the trash when he asked for a piggyback ride this morning?”
“I didn’t—” But Spencer couldn’t deny that he’d let his mood affect his interaction with his nephews this morning. “I’ll go apologize.”
Tyler grabbed his arm. “There’s no need. He thought it was funny. It’s just—”
Tyler peered past Spencer toward the orchard, but Spencer got the impression he was seeing farther, into the past. “I know how much it hurts to be left. And I may not have been there for you the first time. But I’m here now. And I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Spencer clapped a hand to his brother’s shoulder. “I know what I’m doing. You don’t have to worry about me.”
Tyler rubbed at his forehead. “I’m the big brother. It’s my job to worry.”
Spencer didn’t have the heart to remind him that for most of their adult lives he’d been the one to take on the big brother role. He appreciated Tyler’s genuine concern.
“So anyway,” Spencer said after a moment. “Do you think Mom and Dad will mind if I bring Sophie?”
“No.” Tyler huffed. “You know Mom. Always the romantic. The last thing she told me when I left was to make sure you didn’t let Sophie go this time.”
Spencer spluttered. “Let her—? But she— I—”
Tyler lifted his arms and stepped into the house. “Take it up with Mom. She seems to think you two are meant to be together. Of course, she still watches fairy tales, too, so . . .”
Spencer joined his brother’s laugh as he bounded down the steps and headed toward the workshop. But the truth was, he was beginning to agree with Mom.
If only Sophie was, too.
Anticipation coursed through Sophie as she turned into the driveway of Hidden Blossom Farms. It was because of the cherry blossoms, she told herself. It had nothing to do with the almost visceral need she’d felt to see Spencer again.
He was leaning against the shed when she pulled up, looking like he belonged in some outdoor magazine in his faded jeans and white t-shirt, hands perched easily in his pockets, dark hair rumpling slightly in the breeze. Sophie’s grip on the wheel tightened, and her mouth went dry. This was a bad idea. Being here with him was only going to confuse her more. Make her want something she couldn’t have.
But she couldn’t hold back the smile that stretched her lips as soon as she stepped out of the car.
“Hey, Soph.” She’d always loved the way he said her name. The way he lingered a moment on the “o.”
“Hey, yourself.” She drew in a deep breath of the blossom-tinted air. This was the scent of spring she’d been craving. A warm breeze lifted her hair, and she brushed it back. “It’s so peaceful out here.”
Spencer smiled and crossed the driveway to stand next to her. “How was your grandma’s?”
“It was—” She paused before the word “fine” could slip out. She was determined to be completely open with him. “It was sad but good.” Going through Nana’s stuff had brought back wave after wave of memories. And even though it hurt that she wouldn’t be able to make new memories with Nana, it had been comforting to think about all the memories she’d already collected.
“Actually.” She opened the rear door of the car and leaned inside, reaching around Nana’s favorite cookie jar—an ugly thing in the shape of a tree stump with a squirrel on top—that she couldn’t bear to part with.
“This reminded me of you.” She pulled her head out of the car and passed him the ship in a bottle that used to sit on top of Nana’s bookshelf.
“Wow,” Spencer breathed, lifting the tiny bottle to examine the intricate ship inside.
“I was thinking about that time we went to the museum, remember? And you stood and looked at that ship in a bottle for like twenty minutes.”
He met her eyes. “I remember that day. It was the first time—”
He dropped his eyes back to the bottle. But he didn’t need to say it. She remembered their first kiss, too.
It’d been dark by the time they’d emerged from the museum, and they’d been laughing about something stupid—Sophie couldn’t remember what anymore. But when they stopped laughing, the air had seemed to shift around them. Spencer had grazed a hand lightly over her cheek, then leaned down and brushed the softest kiss onto her lips. When he’d pulled back, she’d tugged him closer for another, deeper kiss.
Sophie touched two fingers to her lips, remembering how it had been different from any other kiss she’d ever had. It had felt real. True. Life-changing.
She looked up at him now, and when their eyes met, she could almost pretend that the last five years had fallen away, that they were still together. That he still loved her.
But of course the years had happened. They weren’t still together. He didn’t still love her.
And she didn’t still love him.
Obviously.
“See that?” Spencer pointed to something inside the bottle, and Sophie closed the space between them to get a better look.
“There.” Spencer shifted so that his shoulder was pressed against hers. “See that fine detail, the carved dragon on the helm. Isn’t it amazing?”
Sophie nodded, but the only details she could concentrate on were his hands, curved around the glass; his eyes, crinkling as he squinted at the ship; his arm, brushing against hers. And his scent—that fresh clean smell she’d missed so much.
“Anyway.” Spencer held the bottle out to her. “Thanks for showing me this.”
She shook her head and pushed it back to him. He’d always been so terrible at accepting gifts. “I want you to have it.”
He gave her another doubtful look but closed his hand around it. “Why?”
“Because you like it. Because it makes you happy. Because I—” She broke off in confusion. She couldn’t say the words that were about to roll off her tongue too easily. “I just want you to have it.”
Spencer’s eyes seemed to slip right past her defenses, see right into her heart.
He took a step back, clearing his throat. “Thank you. Let me put this in the house, and then I’ll give you the tour.”
As soon as he disappeared inside, Sophie pulled in a few deep breaths. She had to be more careful.
She wasn’t staying indefinitely, and she was determined not to break his heart this time.
Even
if it meant breaking her own.
Chapter 20
Spencer set the ship in a bottle on a high shelf in the living room. As long as the twins didn’t scale the shelf—which he couldn’t entirely rule out—it would be safe.
He should get back out to Sophie, but he needed to collect himself. He couldn’t read too much into the fact that she’d given him a gift from her grandma’s house. Or the fact that she’d stayed in Hope Springs a few extra days. That she’d sought him out.
A burst of noise from outside pulled him to the door. He shoved it open as he caught sight of the chaos in the yard. The twins were chasing each other around Sophie’s legs as Tyler tried to talk to her over their squeals. So much for peaceful.
“Lucas! William!” he jogged across the lawn. “Here comes the tickle monster.” If he caught their attention, hopefully they’d leave Sophie alone.
But they weren’t interested in him.
“Boo!” Lucas waved his hands at William as he took off around Sophie again.
Spencer scooped to pluck first Lucas then William off the ground. The boys wiggled, but he firmed his grip, chancing a glance at Sophie. Amusement sparkled in her eyes, and a smirk played on her lips. Something inside him eased. She’d never hidden the fact that she didn’t want children, but the way she was looking at these two . . .
Whoa, there, buddy. Where you going with that thought?
Right.
Enough of that.
“Now, boys, this is how we greet a lady.” He shifted them to the ground and crouched beside them. “You hold out your right hand, like this.” He stuck his hand out, waiting for the boys to mimic him.
“Good. Then you take her hand in yours, and you shake it, like this.” He grasped Sophie’s hand, ignoring the rough rhythm his heart took up. He pumped her hand gently twice, but he couldn’t bear to let go quite yet. “And then”—he winked at the boys—“if you really want to be a gentleman and you really like her, you kiss her hand.” He flipped Sophie’s hand over in his and brought it gently toward his lips.
Behind him, Tyler cleared his throat. Loudly.
Spencer jumped and dropped Sophie’s hand. He kept his head down.
“Now you try it.” He gave Lucas a gentle push in front of him, practically using the boy as a shield.
Lucas shyly held out a hand, and Sophie crouched to take it. “It’s nice to meet you.” She shook Lucas’s hand, but her eyes were locked on Spencer. He could feel it even though he hid his own gaze in Lucas’s hair.
“Nice meet you,” Lucas repeated woodenly, and they all laughed.
“Do you want to kiss her hand?” Spencer murmured to his nephew.
“Ew.” Lucas wiggled away, but William pushed into his spot. “Me turn.”
He grabbed Sophie’s hand and yanked it toward him, knocking her off balance.
Spencer’s hand shot out to steady her, but William kept pulling until her hand was at his mouth.
Instead of the quick peck Spencer had been about to demonstrate, William dropped a big, juicy kiss right in the middle of Sophie’s open palm.
Spencer flinched, but Sophie’s laugh washed over them. “I see you have your uncle Spencer’s way with women.”
Spencer ignored Tyler’s hearty guffaw at that.
“Hey, come here,” Sophie whispered to William. He shuffled a few steps closer, and she leaned over and dropped a quick kiss on his cheek. “You’re quite the charmer.”
He giggled, then ran off in the direction Lucas had gone, screaming that he was the kiss monster.
“Guess they learned a new game.” Spencer straightened, pulling Sophie up with him.
“Great.” But Tyler’s eyes were directed pointedly at the spot where Spencer still gripped Sophie’s elbow.
Spencer let go and crossed his arms in front of him.
Sophie turned to Tyler. “You have lovely boys.”
Tyler groaned as the twins disappeared behind the house. “Not sure lovely is the word I’d use.” But he took off after them with a smile.
“He’s a good dad.” Spencer couldn’t help but be impressed with how well Tyler had adjusted to caring for the twins.
“I can tell.” Sophie dropped a casual hand onto his arm. “He said your dad’s coming home from the hospital today. That’s such great news.”
“Yeah.” Spencer was caught up in the way her eyes gleamed. She was genuinely happy for his family, he could tell.
“I’m sure you want to be with him for that. We can do this another day.” Sophie took a step toward her car.
He grabbed her arm to stop her. “He won’t be home until later this afternoon. Actually, we’re having a little celebration tonight—”
“Oh. Of course. I’m sure he’ll—” She tried to pull away again.
“Soph.” He didn’t mean to sound so exasperated, but couldn’t she see he was trying to tell her something? “I’d like it if you came to that. With me.”
Her lips parted a little, and he had to fight down the temptation to kiss her right then and there.
“With you?”
He slid his hand down her arm to grasp her hand. “With me.”
Hesitation hovered in her eyes.
“Please? For my dad? He won’t stop talking about the lovely girl who brought him flowers. I mean, he knows your name, but he calls you that anyway. Lovely girl.” And Spencer could see why. She was lovely. In every way.
She laughed. “Fine. I’ll come.” She squeezed his hand. “But only for your dad.” The sun played tricks with her eyes, transforming them from brown to gold and back again.
The urge to kiss her was stronger than ever.
He had to stop this.
He let go of her hand and strode in front of her to the shed. “Let’s go see the blossoms.”
“Uh, Spencer?”
“Yeah?” He kept walking.
Distance.
He needed distance.
“Isn’t the orchard that way?”
He didn’t need to look to know she was pointing east, to where the cherry blossoms hovered like puffs of pink cloud above the earth. “Yep.”
“So then why—?”
He pressed the keypad to open the shed’s garage door and waited for the realization to dawn on her.
“Oh.”
Behind the door sat the mud-caked ATV he hadn’t had a chance to clean off. Spencer glanced over his shoulder, eyeing Sophie’s clothes. She looked relaxed in a pair of jeans and a soft lilac shirt. In place of her usual heels, she wore a pair of running shoes. He grinned. Apparently, she’d learned from her first trip across his yard. He liked when she went casual like this.
No, make that loved it.
His gaze traveled to her eyes, which were comically wide.
“You up for this?”
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, but she nodded.
“All right, then—hop on!” He swung a leg over the seat and watched as determination settled over her.
She strode to the machine, gave it one last apprehensive glance, and threw her leg over it behind him.
“That’s my girl!” He caught himself. “I mean—”
But she was laughing, and she’d wrapped her arms around him, and he forgot whatever he’d been planning to say.
“You ready?” He managed to croak.
“Let’s do this.” Sophie’s arms tightened around him as he throttled the ATV up slowly.
His heart on the other hand—that shot from zero to past all hope of recovery in half a second flat.
Spencer’s fist overflowed with the petals he’d offered to carry for Sophie when her collection had become too large for her hands.
They’d left the ATV at the edge of the orchard and had been walking and talking for he didn’t know how long.
Being out here, seeing the trees through her eyes, was refreshing. She exclaimed over every blossom-covered tree, stopped to examine a patch of grass or the occasional mushroom. At one point, she stopped to show him a spot where the petals had
fallen to the ground in a near-perfect heart shape.
She listened as he explained the work they did to maintain the orchard through the seasons.
“Isn’t it hard, though?” she asked now. “I mean, there are so many things you can’t control.”
He sighed and ran a hand over the top of his head. “Yeah, it’s hard. And there are days I wonder if it’s worth it. If we can keep the place afloat much longer. But then there are days like this . . .”
Perfect days.
She moved closer and nudged him with her shoulder. She felt it, too, didn’t she? How right it was for them to be together. To be here.
His phone dinged with a text, and he stopped to fish it out of his pocket as Sophie kept walking, her face tipped toward the sky, hair dangling low down her back. It took an incredible force of will to take his eyes off her and check his phone.
The text was from Tyler. ETA one hour.
Spencer tucked the phone into his pocket. That meant they had to get back to the real world soon.
A gust of wind sent a torrent of blossoms dancing through the air. Ahead of him, Sophie began to twirl in the midst of them, her arms lifted to her sides. She spun faster and faster, until she collapsed to the ground in a heap of giggles.
Something in Spencer broke loose.
He didn’t want to resist how he felt anymore. Was powerless to, anyway.
His footsteps were certain as he walked to her side and reached to help her up. “Come on, I want to show you something.”
Chapter 21
“Where are we going?” Sophie leaned into Spencer and yelled to make herself heard over the rumble of the ATV’s engine. It was the tenth time she’d asked, and for the tenth time, Spencer shot her a mysterious look over his shoulder but didn’t say anything.
“Hold on!” he yelled now.
“What?” She was already holding on. Never wanted to let go, if she was being honest.
“Hold—”
A spray of cold water sloshed over her. She let out an involuntary shriek and looked up in time to see they’d driven into a fast-flowing creek.
A wet, thick blob landed on her cheek, and she shrieked again. Water flowed into her shoes.
Not Until Forever (Hope Springs Book 1) Page 13