by Behon, Susan
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“When will you know for sure?” He was being strangely calm about this.
Sophie did the math. “As soon as a week and a half. Probably closer to two weeks. After that, I should know.” She frowned. “Why don't you look concerned?”
Reed reached for her hand and pressed his lips to her fingertips. He looked as if he were searching for the right words. “I understand your worry considering it's your body. But, if you were pregnant, how would you feel about it? Would you want the baby?”
She was still in shock. Sophie had always wanted children, but this was seriously putting the cart before the horse. “It's only a possibility at this point. There might not be anything to worry about.”
Nodding, Reed agreed. “That's true. But I want to know what you would do if you ended up pregnant.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean.” He gazed at her resolutely.
She really didn't know what he meant for a second but then it hit her. “Oh! Wait a minute! No! I wouldn't do anything about it!” Sophie shook her head. “What I mean is, that if there were a baby, I would keep it.”
Reed seemed to let out a breath he was holding. “Good. Okay. I know you have a choice and I respect you for it but the baby is part mine. I share responsibility. As for my not freaking out, it's unexpected but not a catastrophe, at least not for me.”
“Why is that?”
“I'm an adult, gainfully employed, and deeply in love with you.”
That hit her straight in the heart.
“Same here. I love you too, but we don't know anything yet! It's too early to be talking about a baby that might not even be real!”
Reed skimmed his fingertips along her arm. “Either way, I wanted you to know that I'll stand by you.”
Sophie knew Reed would stand by her. He was a good man and she loved him for it. Even so, she didn't want him to feel trapped into staying with her out of duty. She gave him a soft kiss, then put her seat belt on. “Let's wait and see what happens. We'll deal with it then, okay?”
He nodded at her, put the truck in gear, and pulled back onto the road. “I was thinking.”
Sophie glanced his way. “About?”
Winking at her, Reed said, “Do you think your mom will let us have a sleepover?”
* * * *
The next afternoon, Reed picked up Ben so they could continue their work on the shop wall. When Ben opened the passenger door, he looked at him and rolled his eyes. “That stupid grin hasn't worn off yet?”
Reed laughed. “Maybe you need a stupid grin of your own so you won't worry about mine.”
Settling into the passenger seat, Ben went to fasten his seat belt, then pulled out something that was wedged in the seat. He lifted up a pair of, oh shit, “Sunday” panties.
Raising his eyebrows at the bunny panties, he asked, “Something you want to tell me?”
He snatched them out of Ben's hands. “None of your damn business!”
Ben wouldn't let it go. “Is that a big carrot across the…”
It was too dark to see them last night so this was his first viewing too.
Reed shoved them into his front pocket. “Shut up.”
“I take it the dinner went well then?”
Sighing, Reed shook his head and told him. “Not exactly. Mom's got some kind of problem with Sophie. She screwed with the cookie order on purpose.”
“That's not right. Why would anyone want to mess with Sophie? She's nice.”
“I don't know. It's weird. She's never tried to sabotage my relationships before.”
Ben didn't say anything, but he looked conflicted. Then he shrugged. “Just so you know, I'm not a gossip.”
“You don't talk enough to be a gossip. So?”
“So, Tracy told me something.”
“About?” Reed didn't want to drag it out of him.
“Your mom.” He winced.
“What about her?” This was like pulling teeth.
“She's done this before.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair and said, “To Sophie.” Thankfully, Ben continued on without prodding. “Tracy said that Dot humiliated her outside a gas station.”
Reed had a bad feeling he knew the answer, but he had to ask. “When was this, Ben? Did Tracy say?”
Ben nodded.
“Ben?”
He sighed. “When you guys were in high school. I think they were coming back from getting pizza.”
“Tell me what she said to her.”
“She put her down and said you felt sorry for her. You can ask Sophie about the rest.” He looked uncomfortable and ready to change the subject to anything else.
“Don't worry, Ben. I'm not going to shoot the messenger. Thanks for telling me.”
“All right, then.” As usual, Ben didn't say much else but he'd given Reed a lot to think about. He'd connected the dots pretty quickly, but he wanted Sophie to fill in the rest.
* * * *
After not seeing Tracy at her counter, Ben got right to work. Reed traveled to the back in search of Sophie. “Be back in a minute.”
Smirking, Ben said, “Sure you will.”
He found Sophie in the storeroom, checking supplies. Reed tried to make noise when he walked in so he wouldn't startle her this time. She had on a red sleeveless top and tan capris. Her sandy blonde hair was up in a loose ponytail. Sophie also had on matching red sneakers, so Reed thought she was safe from tripping on anything.
Not that he'd mind catching her again.
“Did Tracy make carrot cake today?”
Sophie jumped at the sound of his voice. “Reed! Quit doing that!” Getting back to the question, she said, “No. Was she supposed to?”
Reed walked into the little room and reached into his front pocket. He pulled out her panties and said, “I thought it would go well with the bunnies.”
In a flash, Sophie snatched them out of his hand and laughed. “Where did you find them? I searched all over the cab.”
He rubbed an awkward hand across the back of his neck. “Well, I didn't exactly find them. Ben did.”
“Ben saw my underwear?” The question was hissed out in an embarrassed whisper.
Reed went on to reassure her. “Only for a second. He found them wedged in the seat when he was buckling his seat belt.”
Sophie jammed the panties into her pocket. They bulged out the side in a wadded lump. “Will there ever be a time when I'm not embarrassed in front of Ben?”
Reed pulled her in and gave her a hug. As he rubbed his hand along the length of Sophie's spine, he said, “Think of it this way. You probably made his day. Who knows the last time Ben got to see a pair of women's panties up close? Especially sexy ones with bunnies.”
She mumbled against his chest. “You're terrible.”
“I know.” Without letting go of her, he said, “Speaking of Ben, he told me an interesting story that he heard from Tracy.”
Sophie stiffened. “What did she say now?” She rolled her eyes. “Was it about the time I tried to highlight my hair in college and it turned green? My head looked like a shamrock for a month. She loves to share that one.”
Reed had to smile at that. “No, but I definitely want to hear that story later.” He pulled back so he could look in her eyes. “This story happened before college…and it involved my mom.”
* * * *
Well, damn.
Sophie knew nothing good was going to come from this conversation.
“What did he say?”
She found herself backed against the wall. Dredging this up wasn't going to make anything better.
“He said that Mom humiliated you outside of the Gas N Go.” Reed tilted her chin up so she would look at him. “Tell me what happened, Sophie. I heard the part about her saying I felt sorry for you. I can tell you right now that was utter bullshit.”
“I know that now. But since it came from your mom, I believed her.” Sophie glanced away
as she said it.
Reed tilted her chin up. “I want to hear your side of it so start from the beginning.”
She stared up at his expression and saw that he was perfectly serious. Sophie took a deep, calming breath, let it out in a whoosh and started from the beginning.
“It was that night we all went out to the Pizza Palace. We were on our way home and Tracy needed to get gas and I wanted some chocolate. When we came out of the Gas N Go, we overheard Elaine Newman talking to your mom. She was telling her about seeing the two of us sitting together eating. I guess Elaine could see you and me through the window from the street.”
“Nosy bitch.” Reed was beginning to look annoyed.
“So anyway, she mentioned that I was getting cozy with you over dinner and that I had my eye on her son. She didn't like that at all.”
Sophie looked down at her shoes, not wanting to tell him the rest.
“Go on.” Reed encouraged her to finish it.
“Elaine said I was Lucy Brandon's daughter. Your mom seemed to take exception to that. She said that you couldn't be interested in me because you had better taste than that. You must have felt sorry for me.”
He was shaking his head to refute what Dot said. “No, just…no. There's more, isn't there?”
Sophie nodded unhappily.
“Then she looked right at me and said to Elaine, 'Some might find her pretty, but trust me, she's not that great.'”
“Is that why you wouldn't talk to me?”
“I had just left from a wonderful evening with you. I was devastated when she said that. Here I thought that you might really like me and your mom made me feel like a charity case. I felt stupid for having a crush on you if the only reason you talked to me was out of pity.”
Reed looked pissed off. He turned around and paced a few steps, then came back. “How could you believe her?”
“How could I not? I was an insecure kid and she was an adult and your mother. I figured she would know if you were interested in me or not. Besides, more than a dozen people heard her say it.”
He ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “Sophie, as you probably know by now, she was lying. I was interested in you and I was trying to ask you out but you kept dodging me. I thought you were giving me the brush off.”
“Really?” She'd dodged him out of embarrassment.
“Yes, really. I told you that I had a thing for you back in school. That was the truth. Damn it! I wish you would have asked me about it. I could have told you myself.”
Sophie sighed and rubbed her hand against his chest, right over his heart.
“I was embarrassed, and at that time, not much for confrontation.” In an effort to soothe him, she said, “There isn't anything that can be done about it now. We were still pretty young then, so who knows what would have happened?”
Reed placed his hand over hers. “That may be, but it still doesn't make it right. Believe me, I had no idea any of that happened. She never said a word.”
“You know, Reed, I've been thinking. Do you think this has something to do with my mom? Some weird tension came up when I said her name last night at dinner. Before you say anything to your mom, I want to talk to mine.”
Reed led her out of the storage room and pulled out a seat for her.
“It's worth a try.” He looked her up and down. “How are you feeling?”
“I feel fine. Actually, I feel pretty good, why?”
With concern, he asked, “No morning sickness or weird cravings for pickles and ice cream?”
Sophie couldn't help but laugh. “Reed! We had sex less than twenty-four hours ago! No matter how awesome it was, if I were pregnant, I wouldn't be showing symptoms this soon!”
Reed leaned into her and gave her a hot, toe-curling kiss. He winked.
“Just checking. If I remember right, our sleepover didn't involve much sleeping.” He held his hands out innocently. “Hey, I'm just saying.”
She shooed him away. “Go help Ben, you big stud.”
* * * *
The next week passed without any trouble from Dot. Reed and Ben were needed back at the site, so they were only able to work on the wall a few hours at a time. Friday, Jack picked up his weekly order and invited her over to their family get together. He was so nice to her that it was hard giving him excuses for not being able to make it.
Sophie liked Jack, but it was too difficult being around Reed's mother right now. She couldn't sit at the Sutton family dinner table and ignore the elephant in the room. Dot hated her and she didn't have the energy to pretend she was ignorant of it.
Sophie was still working on forgiving Dot for what she'd done. It would probably take a while and barring any more incidents, she thought it prudent to keep her distance. Reed skipped the family dinner too. Sophie didn't want to be the cause of any more family friction so she told him to go to the next one.
Lately, Reed spent the night at her house more often than not. When not working, they were usually together. Max had adopted him too. He followed Reed around the house like he was the Pied Piper. He'd never had a pet before so Reed loved all the attention and canine affection.
So far, things were going pretty well at the bakery too. Since hiring Meg, Sophie's workload became more manageable. She was less swamped with work but couldn't shake being tired all the time.
Sophie chalked it up to all of the nights staying up late talking with Reed. Not to mention all the lovemaking. She would easily trade a little sleepiness for a lot of happiness.
* * * *
Chapter 16
"Craving pickles and ice cream yet?"
“No, of course not.” Reed had been asking her the same question every day since their slip up in his pickup truck. Sophie knew he would keep on asking until she got her period.
That Monday, he'd set aside some time so he and Ben could put the finishing touches on the wall. She was excited even though it was already mostly done.
Lately, Sophie had been lucky enough to make it home at a decent time, so he was surprised to see her still working when he came in.
Reed came up behind her and kissed her on the neck. “Did you get a last minute order?”
“I have to make the cookies for the MFLIC. It's my last order, then I get to go home.”
Stunned, he asked, “You're really still going to bake them? After all of this crap with my mom?”
Sophie was determined to do this. She would bake the best damn root beer float cookies that committee ever tasted.
She looked up at him over her shoulder. “I'm definitely making them. But if your mom wants to eat them, she needs to come here and pick up the order herself. No more deliveries.”
Reed gave her a swift kiss and headed out the door with his phone in his hand. “I'll get out of your hair.”
“Who are you calling?”
“Mom. If she wants the cookies, I'm making sure she knows the terms. There won't be any mix-ups or excuses this time.”
* * * *
Dot wasn't thrilled with the conditions. “Reed, I'm doing that girl a favor by ordering from her shop. The least she can do is deliver them.”
“No, Mom. Sophie runs a very lucrative business. You aren't the only one buying her cookies and she has a bakery to run. Since you ordered the cookies, you can come by in the morning to pick them up.”
Reed squeezed the phone so tightly, he was afraid he'd crack it.
“Fine, but this is the last time I order from her. The Madison Falls Market delivers without all the fuss.”
Reed didn't want to ruin anything for Sophie. “Mom, I'm sure you know Sophie's cookies taste ten times better than anything from the Market. When the ladies try them tomorrow, I guarantee, they'll come back for more.”
Dot huffed. “We'll see about that.”
Was that a threat?
“Mom, you're lucky she's making them at all. I told her not to.”
“Why would you do that?”
Reed was incredulous. “Why would I do that? You p
ulled a pretty mean trick on her by ordering a shitload of cookies and not showing up to buy them. It cost her a night's sleep, not to mention all the work she put into them! This is her livelihood, not some hobby.”
“I never…”
“Mom, whatever you have against Sophie, you better make peace with it.”
She sounded wary. “Why?”
“She's important to me and we aren't kids anymore.”
“What's that supposed to mean? And you better watch your mouth with me, boy.”
Reed needed to say it. “I know why you thought Tracy and Sophie called you a bitch.”
“So, she admitted it! I told you they were rude! You'd be better off…”
He interrupted. “Why don't you admit that this happened almost ten years ago and it was because you humiliated Sophie in public?”
“Humiliated her? I was just telling her the truth. My son is too good for anyone in that family.”
He'd had enough. “It's not up to you. Pick up the cookies tomorrow.”
Reed thumbed the End button and tossed his phone into his tool belt. Then he hung his head in his hands and groaned out his frustration.
* * * *
Sophie was putting the ingredients together for the frosting when Reed came in carrying a set of keys.
“Hey. I didn't want to bother you while you're busy, but Ben and I are all finished. As promised, here are the keys to the shop. Do you want to see the finished product?”
She jumped into his arms and hugged him. “It's done? Of course I want to see it.”
Ben was sweeping up the last of the drywall dust when they walked in.
“Are you sure you don't want us to paint it for you?”
“This is perfect! Thank you, but Tracy and I will do the painting. That's the fun part.” Sophie ran her hand along the smooth finish. “I need to get her so she can see how good it looks.”
Ben interrupted. “Tracy isn't home.”
Sophie thought Tracy was working on some new recipes upstairs. “Are you sure?”
He concentrated on sweeping. “I checked.”
“Oh, well, okay. I guess she can see it when she comes home.”
After the guys finished reloading the truck, Reed found Sophie in the kitchen and kissed her softly. “I'm going to drop off Ben. Do you want me to come back here or meet you at your house? We can have a pizza feast to celebrate a job well done.”