by Julie Caplin
‘Will do.’ He sauntered past her, as if this was all completely natural for him.
When he finally closed the bathroom door behind him, Sophie sank onto the bed, and dropped her head into her hands. Dear lord, how was she ever going to get the image of his perfect body out of her head? She was so screwed. Despite everything, she totally fancied the pants off the man. He was bad news. A relationship no-no and despite all her resolutions, she couldn’t help thinking that if she were that sort of girl, after a no-strings fling with Todd, she could die a very happy woman.
Chapter 15
When they walked back into the kitchen at ten-thirty, Bella had lined up what looked like dozens and dozens of cupcakes ready for icing and Wes was standing drinking a glass of water.
‘Thanks for coming back, I wouldn’t have blamed you for doing a runner.’ Bella wiped her hand across her forehead. ‘I’m so tired, I can’t think straight. Any ideas for another holiday theme, Soph? I’m relying on you. And I am so sick of red, white and blue frigging frosting.’ She pointed to the batches of cakes behind Wes which were already decorated in patriotic swirls. ‘I also need to cook up more cookies, decorate another cheesecake and come up with an idea for a showstopper of a Fourth of July cake to take home with me.’
‘I did think of an idea for the cupcakes. How about white fondant icing with bunting triangles of red, white and blue, some spotty, some not? A bit Cath Kidston.’ Sophie wasn’t sure how big Cath Kidston was over here, but Bella nodded as if she knew what she was talking about. She tried to catch Bella’s eye while Todd and Wes weren’t looking.
‘Brilliant. They’ll look lovely. In fact, I could do those year round, change the colours to match the seasons. You’re a genius, Sophie,’ said Bella, her words running into each other as she did everything she could to avoid looking directly at Sophie.
‘Once Todd’s done the washing-up, we can get him to cut out the triangles.’
‘I can do that too,’ rumbled Wes’s low voice.
‘OK,’ said Sophie. ‘Bella, why don’t you carry on making the cakes, while I colour the icing and roll it out, and then the boys can use the cutters to make the bunting flags.’
There was a flurry of activity around the kitchen as everyone took up their new positions.
Sophie sidled up to Bella. ‘You haven’t asked him yet, have you?’
Bella yanked open a drawer and pulled out a rolling pin and some metal cutters. ‘Here, Todd. As soon as Sophie gets cracking, you’ll have a job.’ She gave Sophie a sharp nudge.
‘Coward,’ said Sophie with a teasing smile.
‘I just need the right moment,’ Bella muttered back.
‘What are you two whispering about?’ asked Todd. ‘Coming up with more jobs for us poor hapless skivvies?’
‘Yes, although it would help if you made a start on the washing-up,’ said Sophie.
‘You’re quite bossy, when you get going,’ observed Todd with a quick gentle nudge in the ribs, as he rolled up his sleeves.
‘I have my moments. Now get to work, my man.’
‘Aye aye.’ He crossed over to the big industrial sink piled high and calmly began to run water.
For the next hour the four of them worked in quiet sync, gentle chatter punctuating their flow, as Sophie and Bella guided operations. Sophie noticed that Bella avoided looking at or touching Wes, while he, when Bella wasn’t looking, watched her with a naked hunger in his eyes that had Sophie puzzled. He clearly liked Bella and she liked him, so what was the problem and why was Bella so wary of asking him out?
When several dozen cupcakes had been baked and frosted, three batches of cookies had been baked and the second cheesecake had been decorated, Bella called for a coffee break.
‘Thank you, God,’ said Todd, heading straight to the machine, abandoning his post at the sink with glee.
‘I need to head off, I’ll take my coffee to go,’ said Wes.
Bella watched him go, her mouth slightly pinched. ‘Thanks for your help.’
‘Anytime, Bella babes, anytime.’ The wide, white-toothed, crescent smile he gave her didn’t quite reach his amber eyes.
‘So Sophie,’ said Bella, dismissing Wes with brittle determination, ‘I’ve seen this amazing cake on Pinterest.’
Wes took his coffee and as he walked out he raised his fingers in a casual salute.
‘You did?’ Sophie could spot a diversion tactic a mile away.
‘Yes, look,’ she showed Sophie a picture on her phone, ‘you cut it and you can see the stars and stripes in every slice. I’m trying to work out how the heck you assemble it.’
Todd had made Sophie a coffee, and she nodded thanks to him as she poured milk into her mug. ‘Alternate sponges of red and cream filling … hmm, and then if you made a blue sponge but cut out most of the middle and filled it with a red sponge … yes, that would work. Although I’m not sure how you’d get the stars running through. White chocolate chips in the blue sponge, perhaps?’
‘You beauty!’ shouted Bella. ‘Genius, of course.’ She slapped Sophie on the back, narrowly missing spilling her coffee.
Sophie lifted her cup as if to bat away the compliment. ‘Team work. Actually, I stole that off The Great British Bake Off.’
‘I don’t care, it works for me and I love that show. Did I say how grateful I am for all your help?’ She shot Todd a quick, warm look. ‘Even yours.’
He toasted her with his coffee. ‘Anytime, cous.’
‘You did,’ said Sophie, examining the contents of her coffee cup.
‘No really, I’d have struggled with this many commissions. With you helping, I’ve been able to keep on top of those. Now that wedding season is coming up, it’s getting busier.’ She turned pleading eyes on Sophie. ‘You are sticking around, aren’t you?’
Todd rolled his eyes.
Sophie patted her hand with a reassuring smile. ‘Don’t worry. I’m here until the end of November.’
‘Darn it, can’t you stay a bit longer, I’ll have Christmas cakes to do.’
‘I’ll be wanting to go home for a rest. You’re a slave driver.’
‘Sorry, am I too much? I am, aren’t I?’ Bella bit her lip, her face creasing in sudden worry.
‘You’re fine. I love helping you. I’m most at home in a kitchen.’ Sophie paused and then looked at her and Todd, his invitation to the beach still in her mind. ‘You’ve been a lifesaver. Both of you.’ She swallowed slightly, ashamed of admitting it, but with Bella it was hard not to tell her everything. ‘Without you … and Todd, I’d have hidden away in the apartment. You’ve kind of dragged me out. I’ve always thought I was quite sociable and outgoing – and I am, once I’m out – but I’ve realised I spent quite a lot of time on my own … waiting for things to happen, letting things happen to me, rather than going out and making them happen, like I used to do.’ She realised there’d been a before-James life and a post-James life and now, in hindsight, the latter hadn’t been quite as good as she’d hoped at the time. Even with Paul, she’d pretended that going out with him was stretching her wings again, but she’d been kidding herself. She’d known all along that she was playing safe and avoiding doing anything that would really challenge her.
If she’d acted that way when she’d failed her A levels she’d still be at home waiting on tables in the local pub. It was almost as if she’d been sleepwalking through life for the last two years.
‘Does that mean you’re going to come out to the beach?’ asked Todd, as if he could read her mind.
‘I—’
‘You should go,’ said Bella suddenly, nodding as if it solved a huge problem. ‘Todd needs back-up and my family isn’t going this year.’
‘I heard,’ said Todd, his face dimming.
‘Sorry.’ She patted him on the shoulder and turned back to Sophie. ‘We normally go to our beach house, which is down the road from Uncle Ross, but we’re staying home this year. Todd and Martin usually end up spending more time at our place.’ She risked a gla
nce at Todd. ‘My mom’s a bit less … formal.’
‘That’s the understatement of the century. Bella’s mom would welcome a porcupine that wandered in off the highway.’
‘You don’t get porcupines on Long Island. National Geographic fact.’
‘OK, a deer.’
‘Mmm, not sure, Mom gets pretty mad that they eat all the roses in the yard.’
Sophie pressed her lips together hard to stop laughing at them but a tiny snigger slipped out.
‘Honestly, you two are worse than brother and sister.’
Bella laughed. ‘If you go out to Long Island, you’ll have a … great time. Todd’s mom is a fabulous hostess. You’ll be well looked after, that’s for sure. And the house is wonderful, right on the beach. And you can spend every day there. And the weather will be great. And the fireworks are amazing. Yeah, you should go.’
Todd rolled his eyes at her. ‘Keep going Bella, you’re really selling it.’
‘OK, Todd’s mom is a little bit anal about everything being perfect.’
‘You said it, not me,’ he quipped, folding his arms and crossing his legs at his ankles. For once his smile seemed forced and his stance wary, as if he were ready to bolt at any second.
‘But she’s OK … like I said … a great hostess. And … she’ll probably love you. Just tell her you know Prince William and … yeah, actually do that, she will love you.’ Bella turned to Todd. ‘And that will stop your dad thrusting the latest debutante your way.’
Todd glared at her. ‘That’s not why I invited Sophie,’ he bit out. ‘Don’t make it sound like I’m using her.’ Fury flashed in his face.
‘Oooh,’ said Bella in a high-pitched teasing tone that only a cousin or a sister could get away with. ‘Touchy much.’
‘Bella, leave it,’ he growled, not meeting Sophie’s eyes.
‘OK. OK. Well, I, for one, am so looking forward to the holiday. I’m going to sleep three days straight and let Mom wait on me hand and foot.
‘Yikes! The cookies.’ She jumped up and rushed over to the oven, rescuing the chocolate-chunk cookies in the nick of time.
Todd had turned away and was looking into his coffee cup. Sophie wasn’t sure what to say, still slightly surprised that Bella, who’d spent the last few weeks warning her off Todd, seemed so keen for her to go with him all of a sudden. Bella was clearly worried about him and thought that Sophie going with him would help in some way, which of course was what made her decide to go.
Todd had done so much for her, it sounded like he needed her support.
Chapter 16
Todd’s text arrived as she zipped her bag up, struggling to pull the sides together. The leather holdall she’d borrowed from Bella bulged but after a thorough briefing from Bella on dress code – ‘smart, definitely smart dresses for dinner, a cover-up is fine over your suit at breakfast, bikinis are OK at lunch if you’re at a pool party and just about anything goes on the beach, although not topless’ – and a quick Google on the Hamptons, Sophie was confident that she’d packed and shopped accordingly. The second bag, with its still-warm foil-wrapped contents, she was even more confident of. It had been worth getting up an extra hour early.
Following a post-work shopping spree at Nordstrom Rack and Banana Republic, she now had the perfect capsule wardrobe which included some floral shorts, two gorgeous summer dresses, high- and low-heeled sandals as well as a vest top and two new T-shirts for the beach. Like most of her purchases, the tiny bikini had been an impulse, vanity buy.
Just because Todd was out of bounds didn’t mean she wasn’t going to feel good in what she wore. She didn’t want to let him down in front of his mother, who in her imagination was a patrician older lady, a dead ringer for Nancy Reagan or some elder states-lady.
It felt good to be getting away for a few days. Paul had popped down twice, inviting her for coffee during the week, and both times she’d blown him off citing pressure of work, which of course he was completely understanding about. She had no intention of explaining herself or letting him realise that she’d been a fool … again.
Over the last few evenings, she’d been busy helping Bella with the July Fourth cakes and proud as she was of them, she’d reached the point where she never wanted to assemble red, vanilla and blue sponges again. The fiddly cake construction had been a roaring success and once the first one had gone on display, she and Bella could barely keep up with the orders. Yup, she definitely deserved a break and with the weather forecast predicting temperatures up in the thirties, it felt like she was going on holiday.
Todd’s eyesore of a car rumbled at the kerbside as he hopped out and took her bag.
‘That all you got?’ he asked, peering beyond her as if a fleet of Louis Vuitton suitcases might come rolling out any second.
‘That’s it.’
‘Fine by me.’ He sniffed. ‘Something smells good. Bella baking already?’
Sophie nodded, not elaborating, and stowed her second bag by her feet.
‘Let’s get out of here,’ he said as she strapped herself in, ‘the traffic is hellish once you get off the highway. There are only a couple of roads in. And the train is painful. Unless you’re a Coldplay fan and you time it right and get the same train out as Chris Martin.’
‘What?’ asked Sophie, not convinced he wasn’t pulling her leg but he looked pretty serious.
‘Well, now Gwynie’s remarried, he probably doesn’t make the trip out so often, and probably by helicopter, but once quite a few years ago I caught the train and he was there, playing his guitar quietly in the corner of the carriage.’
‘Wow, that is cool. Do you actually see many celebrities out there?’
Todd lifted his shoulders. ‘There are plenty around, but the ones who don’t want the fuss act normal, and there’s a kind of code, you leave them alone. Even the paps play fair. Besides, there are plenty of wannabes who are looking for lots of attention and loving the limelight. Thankfully they tend to steer clear of the beach, and stick to the pool parties.’
‘I thought that’s where Mr Man About Town would want to be?’ teased Sophie. ‘I’m sure an armful of bikini-clad babes would be a good look on you.’
‘Why don’t I think that’s a compliment, English?’ He poked at her leg.
‘Sorry, I don’t have you down as a beach bum or a surfie. You have creases down your Ralph Lauren shorts and you wear deck shoes.’
‘That’s habit and charm, my laundry lady can’t help herself,’ he said, casually easing the car into the faster stream of traffic as they headed along Atlantic Avenue. ‘I kick back when I get to the beach, I might even have a pair of denim cut-offs in there.’ He indicated the horribly expensive-looking leather bag in the back seat.
‘Oh lord, how will the beach bunnies cope?’
He grinned at her. ‘I’m sure I don’t know, although one look at your legs, English, and they’ll be breaking out in hives of jealousy.’
Sophie snorted. ‘I’m not sure about that.’ Although it was nice to get a compliment.
‘Although I’m dying to see these famous wonky boobs of yours.’
‘I so wish I’d never told you that.’ She shut her eyes, wincing, but he laughed and flicked on the radio. ‘Fancy some music?’
For the next mile they squabbled light-heartedly about their respective music tastes. When Sophie said that her favourite bands were Wolf Alice and London Grammar as well as singers like Sam Smith and Rag N Bone Man, she knew that Todd would have a comment to make.
‘I’d have had you down for up-beat Jess Glynn, Megan Trainor kind of stuff,’ said Todd. ‘You’re the original sunshine girl.’
‘Just goes to show, I have hidden depths,’ she said smartly. ‘Whereas you have Foo Fighters written all over you.’
‘Really. No hidden depths here at all?’ Todd pouted with toddler cuteness that made Sophie laugh.
‘None.’
‘Sure?’ he asked, the pet lip trembling now.
‘One hundred per cent ce
rtain.’
He sighed with mock pain. ‘English, you wound me.’
‘Good. Although this track is quite good, I don’t mind a bit of Muse.’
They drove for little over an hour, before Todd said, ‘Fancy a break? A walk on the beach before we try and find breakfast?’
Sophie stretched, already feeling a bit stiff. ‘That would be great. And,’ she gave him a slightly smug and very triumphant smile, ‘I brought breakfast. A flask of coffee and … home-made cinnamon rolls, baked this morning.’
‘No way! English, I might just have to marry you.’
‘The last man that said that to me turned out to be married already.’ Sophie turned her head to look out of the window, grateful for Todd’s timely reminder. James, Paul, Todd – they were all as bad as one another. Commitment-shy in different ways.
He turned off the highway and they followed signs to Jones Beach Island. She was following their route on her iPhone on the maps app and could see that it was a long narrow island with a beach running the whole length and a road running straight down the middle. She felt slightly disappointed, there was absolutely nothing to see, just black tarmac that seemed to stretch forward in a dead-straight line, with signs announcing less than romantically named Fields.
They parked in something called Field Six, the most enormous car park off the highway.
‘It’s early yet. By 10 a.m. this car park will be filling up. We’re only twenty miles from New York, it gets pretty busy out here.’
She grabbed her bag. A stiff sea breeze tossed at her curls, pushing them into her face, bringing the slight taste of salt on the air. Dragging in a hefty lungful, she stood for a second, closing her eyes while she savoured the fresh bite of the wind and the warm sunbeams on her face.
Low-level utilitarian buildings fronted the beach. It wasn’t pretty in any way.
Todd caught her scrunching her face in disappointment and tapped her playfully on the tip of the nose. ‘I know, but it’s the first ocean stop. I get my first fix here. When we get out along the beach away from here, you’ll see. It stretches for miles.’