She blinked the mist from her eyes as she pulled her hand away. “I told you, I had a dream. Right before you found out you were pregnant. You’ll see.”
The doorbell rang and the guests began to pour in, piling the living room up with presents. She managed to keep Daphne seated for most of the party, except for her bathroom breaks and when the guests had to try and guess how many squares of toilet paper it would take to circumnavigate her waist.
After the carrot cake, Daphne dove into the gifts, and Sophie breathed a sigh of relief. Daphne had laughed her way through the party without anything raising her blood pressure. Sophie snuck to the back bedroom and made her promised phone check-in with Craig, who had slipped out to SGI to get some work done.
She’d barely got her message across when the doorbell rang. Hanging up quickly, she skirted the living room and made her way to the door. Laurie, a masseuse at Working It Out, made her apologies for being late, but instead of joining the group, she pulled Sophie into the kitchen. She thrust the newspaper at her. “You need to see this.”
“What?” Sophie asked, plopping the heavy bundle on the countertop. “The Sunday paper?”
“It’s the Saturday edition. I get it for the ads so I can plan my shopping. But that’s not why you need to see it.” Laurie’s hands deftly moved the pages. “Scene and Heard.” She drummed her hand against a series of black and white photos.
“I know what it is. It’s the society column.” She turned her attention to the page, and promptly closed her eyes in defeat. He had warned her not to risk it. She opened them again, taking in the photos of David being kissed by four different women. The only one he kissed was her. She recognized Tessa and his executive assistant, one of the few people David had taken the time to introduce her to. And then there was that annoying redhead she’d pulled him away from, but the angle of the shot made it look like they were closer than acquaintances should be. She’d made sure that twit’s lips never touched him.
She turned to Laurie. “It’s not how it looks.”
“Whatever you say, but I’m not worried about you. Daphne reads the paper cover to cover every morning. That kiss you are planting on him, that’s not a we’re-just-friends kiss. Which is the lie you’ve fed to your sister.”
“I never lied.”
Laurie crossed her arms over her chest. “Daphne and I talk every day, and she has no idea about you and David. She suspects, though, and is always asking if he’s been around and how you are acting.”
So Laurie kept Daphne up on the happenings at the club. The club.
“Did they mention Working It Out?” She scanned the tiny print below the photos. Laurie’s finger came down hard. “Strong Gyms CEO, David Strong, has multiple mergers on the horizon at his father’s, former SGI President Lance Strong, retirement party Friday night. Current plaything, Sophie Delfino, may want to hold tight to her half of popular women’s fitness center Working It Out.”
Plaything. She didn’t even warrant girlfriend status.
She stepped back against the refrigerator. A picture of her and David, followed by him with three other women, and a mention of her club. Daphne would be screaming before she’d heard half the explanation. Her blood pressure would soar.
“You can’t keep her from seeing it. If I found it, more of her friends will.”
Sophie straightened her spine, making herself as tall as possible. “I have nothing to hide. But I’m not going to rush out there and ruin her party. Once Craig gets home, I’ll tell them both together. He’ll keep her calm.”
Laurie’s head shook from side to side. “I hope so. If her blood pressure goes up any higher, she’ll have to check in to the hospital for the rest of her pregnancy.” The laughter from the other room spilled into the kitchen. “I better go join the party. Good luck.”
Sophie sank down at the table and stared at the pictures again. The picture of her and David made her smile. His eyes were closed as he leaned down and kissed her while she sat at the bar. He didn’t always do that, but it warmed her every time he trusted her enough to close his eyes and enjoy the moment.
Of course, she couldn’t enjoy the moment for long. Daphne wouldn’t realize how much that kiss symbolized, how far she’d come with David. A few weeks ago, he wouldn’t have even considered spending the night, and now he found her bed more nights than he didn’t, made the effort to understand why she did things, and had started to share things with her.
She was winning the war, battle by battle. If Daphne were healthier, Sophie would take a hard line with her, force her to realize her baby sister had become an adult, capable of taking risks and dealing with the aftermath.
If that weren’t the joke of the century. As if she had a contingency plan for David balking at her attempts to broaden his mind to the possibility of a relationship. Every day, she fell deeper into the abyss, and while he was at least in the water now, he stayed in the shallow end.
With a sigh, Sophie admitted she’d need Craig’s help telling Daphne. She didn’t dare mention the newspaper column until he got back. Craig might know how to make her accept what was going on. Though, he was in the dark, too. She’d have to tell him first, calm him down, and then tell Daphne.
Once Daphne had the baby, Sophie would never keep anything from her again. Best to tell the little bits as things began than hit someone with a freight train later.
…
“How did I know you’d be here?” Craig said as he sauntered into David’s office. “I wanted to give you the update on the Deliver-Ease rollout.”
Craig slapped a report down on David’s desk, much too close to the travel itinerary he’d printed out. Luckily, Craig didn’t seem to notice as he plopped back in a chair and rubbed his face.
“Good news or bad news?” He slid the itinerary in a drawer and then opened the report.
“Good. Everything is right on schedule, ready to train the trainers and greeters in December so the bugs will be worked out by January when the world goes on a diet. The managers are a little skeptical, though. When you visit, be sure to really push. I have some motivational ideas in the report.”
He spent every December and January traveling the country, putting in face time at most every Strong Gym in North America. He’d spent the last hour reworking the schedule so Sophie could go with him. She’d only been out of the state once. Plus, he couldn’t go that long without her. He’d found one of his managers to take over for her at Working It Out while they were gone.
“David!” Craig yelled, slapping the desk. “Do you know when you stopped listening, or should I start over from hello?”
David blinked hard. “Deliver-Ease is part of my vision for the new-year speech. We’ll turn a profit on it by this time next year. My presentation is complete, but I’ll look over your suggestions.”
“Good.” Craig nodded. “I need to talk to you about something else.”
David swallowed hard. “Business or personal?”
“Both.” Craig checked the cell phone attached to his belt. “Are you still interested in buying Working It Out?”
“I’m not following you.” Sophie hadn’t said a word about selling. Though, there was something she’d come to ask his help with. Of course, he’d been selfishly preoccupied with the fiasco that was his father instead of remembering to ask her what she needed.
“Daphne wants to spend the first year with the baby, and after that, she’s thinking she wants a change.”
Craig kept talking, but David stopped listening. He didn’t give a damn what Daphne wanted. “Have you discussed this with Sophie?” he interrupted.
Craig waved his hand dismissively. “Sophie’s just there until Daphne comes back. And if Daphne isn’t coming back… Sophie will be happy to get back to her career. She made a lot more money there, anyway. Of course, she’ll stay in place through the transition.”
“You can’t make decisions for her.” David had seen firsthand the ugliness that could cause. He got anxious just thinking about telling
her about the house and the trip.
“You don’t know Sophie.”
He swallowed the words he itched to say. She wanted to wait until after the baby to tell Craig and Daphne. She always put them first, yet they barely gave her a second thought. David got up from his desk and walked to the wall of windows, staring down at the dots on the street below.
“I’m surprised you’re not interested,” Craig said.
He was plenty interested. He’d twice offered to buy it from Daphne. Hell, last week he’d bought the building. But Working It Out was Sophie’s as much as Daphne’s. That Craig was trying to unload it without talking to her was causing his temperature to rise.
“All Day Fitness made her an offer last year…”
David set his jaw and directed his words to Craig’s reflection in the window. “Sophie is an owner, too. You can’t make these decisions without consulting her.”
“Well, you two sure got chatty.” Craig grinned, getting up from his chair. “Sophie’s a silent partner. She’ll do whatever Daphne wants, and Daphne wants to sell. So we’re selling, as soon as possible.”
David’s breath escaped like steam from a teakettle. He couldn’t hold it in. “She bends over backward for you both, and she never even gets a thank-you.”
Craig’s smile widened. “You’re the one bending her over backward lately.”
David’s blood boiled in his veins. He spun around and saw the smirk on Craig’s face. He grabbed Craig by the shoulders and slammed him into the wall.
“Don’t you ever talk about her that way. I don’t care how long I’ve known you.” David unclenched his hands and dropped Craig’s body. He turned, taking long strides until he reached the windows again. He didn’t trust himself. He needed physical distance from Craig right now.
“My God, man. I was kidding. What have you done?”
…
He was late. And Craig was never late. The man was as anal retentive about punctuality as he was about calorie counting. It had Daphne on edge, and she was already exhausted. Sophie had carefully hidden the newspaper, tucking it deep in the Tupperware cabinet before she cleaned the aftermath of the party. Daphne and her belly couldn’t get back there if she tried.
“I told you to stay in bed,” Sophie scolded as Daphne came into the kitchen. “He’ll be here any second, and if he finds you vertical, we’re both going to get it. Scoot.”
She gently pushed until Daphne again took her place on her bed. “He’s an hour late.”
“I know, which means he’ll have to pick up dinner on his way.” She hoped she sounded cheerful and reassuring, the complete opposite of Daphne’s quiet, somber tone. She reached for the phone. “I’m going to try him again, and this time, I’m putting in our dinner order. He should let us eat pizza for being late.”
Daphne’s gaze stayed on her as she left a third message on Craig’s cell phone. Sophie actually thought about lying, pretending Craig had answered. Anything to take that look from her sister’s eyes.
As she set the receiver back on its cradle, Daphne chewed her lip. “I know I’m being hormonal, but maybe I should call David. Craig was going to meet with him. Maybe they’re still together.”
Sophie nodded. If they weren’t together, David could find Craig. Before she could dial, the phone rang. Finally. “Craig?”
“No, it’s me. Thank goodness you answered. We have a problem.”
Sophie knit her eyebrows together, recognizing the breathy voice, but stunned to hear her calling her sister’s home number. “Tessa?”
The color drained from Daphne’s face, and she reached for the phone. Sophie jumped from the bed, taking the cordless with her. As different as Sophie and Daphne looked, their voices were almost identical, especially over the phone.
“Yes. There will be some pictures in tomorrow’s paper from the retirement party, all completely innocent. Well, except the one of him with Sophie, but that’s to be expected. Is she the jealous type? Maybe you could run interference.”
“I’ve seen the pictures.” She kept her voice slow and calm. Just what the hell was going on here?
“Has she seen them? Did they upset her?”
“She’s fine.” She didn’t know Tessa and Daphne knew each other, but with the way this conversation seemed to be going, Daphne already knew something about her relationship with David.
“Good. Lance will handle David.”
She felt her face contort. She didn’t like the idea of David being “handled” any more than she liked what this conversation might mean.
What was it they always said in detective books in situations like this? “So everything is going according to plan.”
“Amazingly smooth. If she keeps working her magic, Lance should have his grandbaby by next Christmas. I had my doubts, but Lance knew if he cleared the way with the business, David would be forced to reexamine his personal life. Sophie coming along when she did was the lucky break we needed to make this work.”
Sophie pressed her lips together, and she stared hard at her sister. Baby?
“Did David accept Craig’s offer to buy Working It Out?” Tessa asked.
Craig was in on this, too? “Craig hasn’t come home yet.”
“I’m sure he will take the offer. He bought the building last week, so it’s a sure thing. He obviously wants the club.”
“Obviously.” David bought her building? Last week? Craig was selling her club? She plopped down on the bed at Daphne’s feet. The room spun like a Frisbee in slow-motion.
“He still hasn’t asked her about the trip?”
“She hasn’t mentioned it.” What trip? Daphne grabbed for the phone, but Sophie turned to block her.
“He will. You should have seen them last night. They were magic. They just need a little push.”
“And who better to push them.” Sophie rose from the bed. She made her way to the kitchen and snatched the newspaper from its hiding place. No point in sparing Daphne’s feelings. She obviously knew more about what was going on than Sophie did.
“It’s the only way with David. The man is committed to being miserable. If not for Lance’s pushes, he’d stay that way.”
“How so?” Sophie asked, making her way back to Daphne’s room and plopping the open newspaper in front of her.
“You know, becoming CEO, gaining controlling interest. Back when he was bodybuilding, Lance even had David’s scores lowered to make sure he would stay focused on his studies.”
Sophie’s jaw dropped open, mirroring her sister’s slack-jawed expression. Of all the people to betray her.
“I gave him the house we decided would be best for her. Though, I’m debating offering up the colonial so she feels like she has a choice.”
“Two things.” Adrenaline burned through her veins. “This is Sophie. And David is completely right about you.”
“Oh God.”
“You might want to add on a prayer behind that, because when I tell David, he’s going—”
“You have to let Lance tell him.”
“I have to do nothing, especially for the people manipulating us.”
“Please, they are each other’s only family. If Lance can’t explain it to him, David is going to rage. He’ll never believe you weren’t in on it, and you’ll lose him, too.”
She had far more faith in David than that, but agreed to give Lance a few hours to tell him. She had to deal with Daphne and Craig first. She didn’t know who to be more angry at. This was where lies took you.
…
Daphne had only wanted to make something go right for her baby sister. Sophie gave so much of herself to make other people comfortable and happy. She deserved a little happiness for herself.
Daphne had been anything but thrilled when Craig told her David would be leading the Sensational Sex class with Sophie. After all, on the morning of their wedding, David had told Craig not to get married. Craig had sworn for the last five years that it was nothing personal, that David was just worried because of his father
’s failed marriages. And when it seemed David and Sophie were interested in one another, he’d stopped calling Craig to go out or giving him some new project at work. The pairing had sparked an idea that had snowballed out of control. Sophie had been fantasizing about him for a decade. She deserved to have a couple of dreams come true. And after talking with Sophie, it had been obvious she was hiding something. So Daphne knew she’d need some help.
She and Tessa had worked at the same Strong Gym years ago. A few phone conversations and Daphne had learned more about David Strong’s manipulating family than she ever cared to know. No wonder the guy had such issues with marriage. But by then, it had been obvious something was going on between David and Sophie, so she’d played along, dropping hints, relaying information to Tessa, even helping to pick out a house.
Selling the club seemed like the right thing to do. She didn’t want to work as much after the baby came, and to be able to do that she would have to ask Sophie to keep running the club. Daphne had promised Sophie she’d be free to go back to her life once the baby arrived.
Daphne only wanted to help, to smooth the way for her sister to live out a few dreams, the way Sophie always did for her. But watching Sophie rub her temples, Daphne knew she’d blown it.
“Let me explain.”
She didn’t stop the slow circles she pressed into the sides of her head.
“I just wanted to help, to make things easier for you.”
“I’m not thinking about me right now, Daphne.” Sophie spoke without opening her eyes or slowing the pace of her fingers.
“You promised Tessa that you would let Lance tell him.”
“I might, I might not.” Sophie’s body seemed to rock with each press of her fingers.
Both sisters jumped as the front door slammed shut and footsteps pounded their way through the house. Craig’s forced smile barely masked his angry glare. What had happened to him?
“Sorry I ran late. You must be tired from the party. Sophie and I will talk in the other room.” He jerked his head fiercely toward the living room, but she stayed rooted.
Compromising Positions (Invested in Love) Page 22