by Liz Isaacson
“What? Why?” she asked, her expression hopeful.
“I want to start a police dog training academy,” he said. “I’ve been talking to my guys in law enforcement and learning where they get their puppies. There’s an endorsement program to become a certified dog trainer, but there’s more you have to do for K9 dogs. I want to do that. Finally, I feel like this is what I’m supposed to do with my life. But there are so many unknowns, and I’m still sorting through so much.”
Sophia had softened during his speech. Ames didn’t normally say so much at once, but everything had just spilled out of him.
“I wish you would’ve told me. I can help you.”
“You’re working two jobs,” he said. “The majority of my time is spent throwing a ball for a dog.” He shook his head, frustrated and not holding it back. “I don’t know what the future holds. The dog training is a year-long program, Sophia, and it’s not in Coral Canyon.”
There. He’d said it out loud.
“But the facility would be here.”
“Maybe,” he said. “Apparently, there are permits to have more than four animals on a property.” He looked at her, a measure of helplessness infecting him. “Can we just…I don’t know. I don’t want to ruin anything with you. I’m trying so hard.” Harder than he’d ever tried with anyone before.
“It shouldn’t be hard,” she said.
“Being with you isn’t hard,” he said. “Trying not to hurt you is a little harder.” He looked away, because he didn’t want to see the hurt in her eyes. “Most of the time, Sophia, I don’t really care what anyone thinks about me. I’ve lived my life just doing my thing. But with you…I’m really thinking about you, and how my choices will impact you, and us, and all of it.”
“I’m a big girl, Ames.”
This so wasn’t going well. “I know.” He blew out his breath. “Can we be done talking about this for today? I don’t have anything definitive to share with you, which is why I haven’t said anything.”
“It’s okay to talk to me through the process.”
“I got a completely different message the night of Cy’s wedding,” he said.
Sophia nodded. “I suppose you did. Fair enough.”
They stood in the parking lot, neither one of them truly looking at the other. Ames didn’t know what else to say. He knew the day was getting hot, and he really didn’t want to argue with Sophia when she had so little time off.
“Will you still spend the day with me?” he asked quietly. “I promise I won’t use that bad boy voice again.” He’d let it come out during their conversation, because honestly, his family was not perfect.
“Yes,” she said, her voice a pinch too high.
“Great.” He folded her into his arms. “Tell me what you want to do, and we’ll do it.”
Slowly, she wrapped her arms around him too. “Maybe we can go to a movie,” she said. “I’m feeling like some very buttery and very salty popcorn.”
The buzzing nerves inside Ames settled, and he stepped back and threaded his fingers through hers. “A movie sounds amazing. Let’s go see what’s playing.”
They did spend the day together, and things improved between them. Ames could still feel that something was off, and that evening, in the comfort of his own rental, he knelt beside his bed and poured his heart out to the Lord.
Please don’t let me hurt her. Please guide me to the right piece of land, and the right training program, and the right place to be.
He’d spent hours making phone calls and taking notes. He’d printed forms from the Internet and researched training programs. He’d gotten names and numbers of people already training police dogs, and he wanted to schedule tours of their facilities and ask them questions.
None of that took place in Coral Canyon. He’d definitely have to leave town again at some point in the future. As far as he knew—because Sophia didn’t talk all that much to him about her future plans either—she was still unwilling to relocate. So he honestly wasn’t sure where they were, or what would happen, or how many more Wednesdays they had together.
“I should do the dog academy, right?” he asked out loud, and once again, Ames felt a very sure confirmation that yes, he should put his inheritance and his time and energy toward founding and establishing a police dog training academy.
Grateful, he finally collapsed into bed, the words, “Please let me know if I’m in love with Sophia Cooke,” the last ones out of his mouth before he fell asleep.
Chapter Nineteen
Patsy left the house with her purse and a smile, practically running toward Sophia’s car. She hugged her best friend, who’d gotten out to greet her. They laughed together, and Patsy said, “Thanks for coming to get me. You didn’t have to.”
“I wanted to,” Sophia said, stepping back and smiling at Patsy. She looked good—happier than she’d seen her in a while. Still, Patsy had lived in very small quarters with Sophia, and she saw something else in the woman’s eyes.
“Why’s that?” she asked, trying to keep her voice casual. She moved around the car, and Sophia waited until they’d both gotten in to even look at Patsy again.
“I need your help,” Sophia said. She put the car in drive and started down the apple-tree-lined lane. She passed in front of Cy’s motorcycle shop, where he was working today. Patsy had plenty to do in the orchard, but she’d decided that she couldn’t sacrifice friends or family for work.
There would always be more work to do in the orchard. There wouldn’t always be lunch with her friends, or a family dinner at Gray’s house, or a boating trip after church on Sunday.
She wanted to be present for her own life, and that didn’t happen under the shade of the apple trees.
“Help with what?” Patsy asked, trying not to sound too curious.
Sophia’s fingers tightened on the wheel, and then she released them. “I need to call my mother, and I don’t think I can do it alone.”
Patsy didn’t care if Sophia knew of her curiosity now. “Your mother? Sophia…what?” She didn’t talk to her mother, at least that Patsy knew. She didn’t know much, because they’d talked about her family very little. Sophia had said she didn’t go home for holidays or to visit, because there was no family to go see, and no home to go back to. She’d grown up in the military, and her family had moved a lot.
“It’s time,” Sophia said, sniffling as she pulled in a breath. “I just keep thinking that if Ames and I get married, won’t I want my mother at the wedding?” She glanced at Pasty, but what she’d said had rendered Pasty mute. “I mean, even your mother came, Pats.”
“Yeah,” she said, swallowing immediately afterward. “Yeah, she did.”
“I want to call her,” Sophia said. “I’m just not sure I’m brave enough to do it myself.”
“Of course I’ll help you.” Patsy reached over and took Sophia’s hand in both of hers. She looked out the windshield as Sophia reached the outskirts of town. They only had a few minutes before they’d meet the others, and Sophia would disappear right back into her shell. She usually let the other women dominate the conversation when they all got together, and though it had been a few years, Patsy didn’t think Sophia had changed that much.
“You and Ames might get married?”
“What? No.” Sophia wouldn’t look at her.
“You just said that. If Ames and I get married.”
“I’m just thinking too far ahead,” Sophia said, but Patsy heard the lie.
“You told me once that you wouldn’t be involved with one of those Hammond brothers,” she teased.
“You said you wouldn’t fall in love with Cy.” Sophia cocked her eyebrows at Patsy, and they both giggled.
“What’s Ames doing these days?” she asked, her voice a forced casual now.
“He’s thinking of starting a police dog academy,” Sophia said.
Patsy grinned, because if there was anyone who should be working with dogs, it was Ames Hammond. She’d seen him with the three dogs he had,
because Ames and Cy were very close, and she often found the two men and the four dogs lounging in her living room when she got back from the orchard.
“That’s great, Soph. He’s perfect for that.”
“Yeah,” Sophia said, but she sounded absolutely miserable about it.
“What aren’t you saying?”
“He has to get trained to do it,” she said. “Find a place to house them. Get the puppies.” She sighed as she pulled into a parking space at Devil’s Tower. “There’s a lot of moving pieces.”
“I’m pretty sure there’s no training academy here,” Patsy said, reading between the lines.
“No, there is not,” Sophia said. She looked at Patsy. “I feel like we’re so close, and yet so far away.”
“But you like him.” Patsy wasn’t asking, and she pushed against the giddiness building inside her.
Sophia gave another over-emphasized sigh. “Yes, okay? Yes, I like him. Probably too much. Far too much.”
Patsy picked up her purse. “I know exactly how that feels. Every single woman we’re meeting for lunch today knows how that feels.” She started to get out of the car, but Sophia didn’t move. Patsy twisted back to her, waiting.
“I don’t want to go in,” Sophia said. “You go without me.”
“I’m not going to go without you,” Patsy said. “Just come in, Sophia. You won’t be so alone if you just come in.”
Sophia finally turned her head toward Patsy, and she could see the glistening tears in her friend’s eyes. “I know how to be alone. It’s being with someone I don’t know how to do.”
“That is just not true,” Patsy said. “We lived together for four years, and you were the best roommate I’ve ever had.” She smiled and got out of the car. She went around it and opened Sophia’s door too. “Come on, Soph. I can’t go in there alone.”
“Why not? You already belong to them.”
“So do you,” Patsy said, extending her hand for Sophia to take. Thankfully, she did, because Patsy didn’t have another idea. She couldn’t physically drag Sophia out of the car against her will.
Sophia slumped against Patsy, her footsteps heavy. “Listen,” Patsy said. “Just ask Bree about the time Wes brought in that ladder to hang the art he’d bought. That’ll help you feel like you fit right in.” She smiled at Sophia, but the gesture didn’t get returned. “Because you do, Soph.”
She led the way inside, looking left and right to find their friends. Elise waved from a booth against the windows, and Patsy kept a firm grip on Sophia’s hand as she turned right and started toward them.
They were the last two to arrive, which wasn’t surprising, because Elise had picked them all up, and Elise was never late. She held her baby on her lap, but she still rose to hug Patsy and Sophia. Bree accepted a side-hug from Patsy, as did Annie, and the five of them settled down.
“Why does Sophia look like she swallowed a lemon?” Bree asked, unwrapping her silverware and laying her napkin on her lap. Everyone looked at Sophia, who sat on the end, and Patsy regretted sliding into the booth first.
She clamped her hand over Sophia’s knee under the table, causing her to flinch. “She’s fine,” she said.
Elise switched Jane to her other side, pure concern in her eyes. “Sophia? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Sophia said, but she literally couldn’t infuse any more misery into her tone. “You tell them, Patsy.”
“Okay.” She drew in a deep breath to spill the beans, but the waitress arrived, and they all paused to put in their drink orders. Sophia ordered Coke—not diet—with lemon, and that once again drew everyone’s attention to her.
“This is bad,” Bree said.
“It’s Ames, right?” Annie asked, reaching across the table to touch Sophia’s hand. “Is he leaving, Sophia?”
She shook her head and said, “Not yet. But I don’t see how he can stay here.” She looked at Patsy. “I’ve done the stupidest thing. Why didn’t I learn my lesson from last fall?”
“He just has to go away for the police dog training,” Patsy said. “He’ll come back here to open the academy.”
Elise and Bree looked from Patsy to Sophia and back, both of them with wide eyes.
“Sophia doesn’t want to talk about it,” Patsy said, drawing her shoulders straight and pushing her hair out of her face. “We don’t do this often enough, and we’re not going to spend our lunch moping.” She hoped Sophia would get the message too. After all, Patsy hardly ever left the orchard, and she didn’t want to be more depressed when she went back than she’d been when she left.
“I just have to get something off my chest,” she said. “I adore Cy, but the man seriously does not know how to load a dishwasher.” She draped her napkin over her lap and looked at Bree, then Elise, and then Annie. “Tell me it’s just him, because if none of those Hammond men can do it, I’m going to have to call his mother.”
The three of them looked back at Patsy for a single heartbeat, and then everyone—except Sophia—burst out laughing.
“You should see Wes try to light a grill,” Bree said with a giggle. “When I asked him if he’d ever done it before, he gave me the surliest look and said, ‘Of course I have.’” She mimicked him in a really low voice. “But he hadn’t, ladies. He dang near blew up our house.” She let out another peal of laughter.
“Oh, I don’t let Gray have matches.” Elise shook her head as if Gray was her naughty two-year-old and not her husband. “He can bait a hook, and boy can he run. He can hang pictures—”
“Don’t even get me started about hanging pictures,” Bree said, her voice quite stern.
Patsy beamed around at all of them, almost afraid to look at Sophia. When she finally did, she found her hanging on every word the other women were saying.
“And you know what?” Annie asked, her face glowing with happiness. “I asked their mother about them once, and she said, ‘Heaven knows I tried, Annie. I really tried.’” She laughed again, and Patsy joined in.
“But you do love them,” Sophia said, looking around at everyone as they sobered.
“Of course,” Annie said. “Colton is the best thing that’s happened in my life.”
“I’d be lost without Gray,” Elise said, gazing down at their baby.
“I love Wes with everything I have,” Bree said. “Doesn’t mean I don’t get annoyed when he drops his shoes by the back door and doesn’t even seem to see them again.”
“Yes,” Patsy said. “They’re not perfect, and they can be loud and obnoxious. But we love them.”
Sophia nodded, a new look on her face. A thoughtful look.
“I have some news,” Annie said as their drinks arrived. She waited for the five cups to be passed around and for everyone to start opening their straws. “Colton and I are going to adopt a little girl.”
A breath of silence followed, and then the women at the table erupted.
“I mean, I’m just so happy for them,” Sophia said. She was a completely different person than she’d been two hours ago, and Patsy felt like God had answered her prayers. “Can you imagine bringing an eight-year-old to live with you?”
“It won’t be easy,” Patsy said, already thinking about how she could help Colton and Annie. Bree and Elise were Colton’s best friends, but Patsy had always felt welcome and comfortable with him and Annie. They’d go to movies together sometimes, and Patsy enjoyed that.
Sophia pulled up to the house in the orchard, and the two of them got out. Patsy groaned as she walked up the front sidewalk. “I should not have had that apple pie. It wasn’t even that good.”
“That’s because you have apple juice running in your veins,” Sophia said.
Patsy smiled at her, because it was good to see the real version of Sophia back. They went in the house, and Patsy put her purse on the kitchen table. “Okay,” she said. “I don’t think we should put it off. Let’s call your mother.”
Sophia’s whole demeanor changed, and Patsy didn’t want to pretend like she
hadn’t seen it. “Tell me what the real situation is,” she said.
Sophia sat at the table, and Patsy took the seat next to her. “The real situation is that my mother did the best she could,” Sophia said quietly. “In the end, she didn’t want to keep working so hard, so she divorced my dad and left North Carolina. She doesn’t talk to me much, but last time I spoke with her, she was living in California.”
Patsy nodded, hating the way her friend deflated right in front of her. “Okay, give me your phone.”
“You’re going to call her right now?”
“Yes,” Patsy said. “Right now.” She held out her hand expectantly. “I’ll dial while you go get a bottle of water out of the fridge. By the time you get back, you’ll be ready.”
Sophia looked like she was ready to throw up and nothing more. She dug her phone out of her shorts pocket and handed it to Patsy before going into the kitchen.
Patsy started to swipe to get to Sophia’s contacts. She saw Dad at the top but scrolled down to the one labeled Mom.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, wishing she had the exact right words to use to pray for exactly what Sophia needed.
She didn’t, so she let her finger drop onto the green phone button and watched as the call connected.
Chapter Twenty
“Sophia,” her mother said, and Sophia nearly spit out the water she’d just taken into her mouth. “How are you, dear?”
She looked at Patsy, only to find her wide, blue eyes staring back. She looked shocked, though Sophia wasn’t sure why she was. The surprise shooting through her bloodstream was definitely real, though.
How are you, dear?
Dear?
“Good,” she said, clearing her throat. “I was just…thinking about you.” She looked away from Patsy and closed her eyes. “Uh, how are you?”
“Good,” her mom said, absolutely no tension or awkwardness in her voice at all. She acted like she’d just talked to Sophia that morning, and that they were all caught up on the details of one another’s lives.