“Now?” she prompted.
Trevor flashed her a smile. “Now I understand.”
“It’s gorgeous here,” she agreed, still somehow feeling as though there was an underlying meaning to his words. One she didn’t comprehend. Couldn’t comprehend.
“Perfect for painting,” he murmured, sensing her earlier thoughts.
Before Sophie could form an answer, Max and Lilly came tearing out of the front door, matching grins on their faces. As Trevor killed the engine, delighted shouts of “Uncle Trevor” could be heard echoing through the country solitude.
Trevor threw open his car door and was beset by hugs before he could even get out of the car properly. Sophie smiled at their excitement. It was plain to see how much they loved Trevor and likewise how much he loved them in return. He would be a wonderful father. Pride stirred in her heart.
The pregnancy was making her emotional to a fault. She ducked her head as she got out of the passenger side door. A few discreet blots with the back of her hand dashed her tears away before Danielle and Justin approached the unfolding tableau.
“Sophie.” Danielle sounded surprised but not at all dismayed to see Sophie standing outside her house. Trevor’s sister came immediately to her and caught her in a genuine embrace.
“I’m so glad to see you,” she told Sophie as she stepped back. “I’m so glad you’re here. With Trevor.”
Justin smiled warmly at Sophie before enfolding her in another hug. “Welcome.”
Sophie thanked him and stepped away, looking to Trevor as he circled the front of the car and came to stand by Justin and Danielle. He carried a child in each arm. “Sophie and I are here to tell you some news.”
Danielle’s smile slipped. “Good news, I hope?” Her gaze darted from Trevor to Sophie, then back again.
“Let me guess what it is,” Lilly demanded from her perch. “I love guessing secrets!”
“Well, it’s not exactly a secret,” Trevor began, only to be interrupted by a very insistent Max.
“No!” The little boy shouted. “Let me guess! I want to guess first!”
“I said it first, Max,” Lilly shouted right back, glaring at her brother. “Whoever says it first gets to go first, right Uncle Trevor?”
“Whoa,” Danielle cut in firmly, holding up a hand. “Stop fighting, you two. Nobody’s guessing, so there’s no need to argue. Why don’t we go in the house before you tell us, Trevor? I just finished baking strawberry rhubarb pie and we can all have a slive. Besides, it’s too hot out here to stand around in this sun.”
The sullen expression on Max’s face lasted only seconds. Abruptly, his face lit up. “I get the first piece of pie!”
“Then I get the biggest,” Lilly countered.
“No, I get the first and the biggerest,” Max informed her, his mouth tightening into a stubborn line Sophie found all too familiar.
“It’s not biggerest,” Lilly said with a smug smile of her own. “There’s no ‘r’ in it.”
Sophie chuckled at the bickering siblings. Trevor was trying to hide the grin on his face and Justin was shaking his head in a gesture of the long-suffering. Danielle stepped in before things got ugly.
“Enough fighting,” she commanded. “We’re all going into the house. Now.” Then she paused, seeming to remember herself. “Please,” she added.
Trevor returned Max and Lilly to the ground and Danielle’s family members dutifully filed back into the house. Trevor took Sophie’s hand in his as they brought up the rear. His hand dwarfed hers, strong, warm, and reassuring. It felt good, right, the way her hand fit in his. She didn’t want to let go. Ever.
And that was the problem when it came to Trevor, she realized as she stepped inside Danielle and Justin’s house. She wanted too much from him, more than he was willing to give. He wanted to be a father to their child, but had made no commitment to her romantically.
Her troubled thoughts momentarily faded as she became aware of Danielle’s tastefully decorated home. The front door opened into a living room that was spacious and homey, with polished hardwood floors, two overstuffed sofas, a coffee table and a handsome piano. A glass jar stuffed with wildflowers sat atop it, undoubtedly Lily’s handiwork. The overall effect of the room was simple, classic country.
“Your home is beautiful,” Sophie said.
“Thanks.” Danielle beamed at her. “We love it here. Why don’t you all have a seat in here while I go to the kitchen and dish up the pie? Justin, tell Sophie about the history of the house while I’m gone.”
With another smile, Danielle disappeared into an adjacent room, leaving the remaining occupants to wander to the sofas and follow her orders. Max and Lilly immediately jumped onto Trevor’s lap, still eager for his attention. Sophie knew the feeling.
She turned to Justin, thinking that his calm, often reserved personality served as the perfect foil for the animated Danielle.
“You probably don’t want to hear the house’s history,” he said wryly. “My wife thinks everyone loves the past as much as we do, but I realize that most people find it boring.”
“Not at all,” Sophie assured him. “I’d love to hear about the house.”
Justin raised a skeptic brow at her but was too polite to argue. “It was built in 1832 by a Pennsylvania German farmer named Johann Gehman,” he began. “Gehman and his wife Maria had four sons, all of whom fought in the Civil War. Only one, Jacob, returned alive. Anyway, when Danielle and I moved in, we found Jacob’s canteen lodged in the rafters in the attic. Later, when we were doing some remodeling, we found a secret tunnel that goes under the house and leads to the barn. We think the house was part of the Underground Railroad.”
Sophie glanced around the living room, finding it incredible and inspiring that so much had happened within these walls. “How fascinating,” she said to Justin. “The past can give such meaning to the present.”
“Sometimes for all the wrong reasons,” Trevor said softly.
An awkward silence descended as Justin tried to puzzle out the hidden meaning in Trevor’s words and Sophie absorbed it.
“I got a loose tooth,” Lilly said abruptly to Sophie. “Wanna see?”
“Oh yes,” Sophie said, desperate to ease the tension.
“Right here.” Lilly opened her mouth wide and wiggled a top tooth in demonstration. “When I lose it, the Tooth Fairy’s gonna bring me something under my pillow.”
“Money?’ Sophie guessed.
“Uh-uh.” Lilly shook her head, her dark hair bouncing around her little shoulders. “That’s what Dad said too. I think the Tooth Fairy’s gonna bring me a new set of crayons and some paper.”
“Do you like to draw?” Sophie asked her with an encouraging smile even as she experienced a slight wince of heartache. Elizabeth would have been very much like Lily, about the same age.
Lily grinned at her. “I love drawing.”
“Me too.” Sophie winked. “I knew we’d be good friends.” Careful not to exclude Max, she turned her attention to him. “What about you, Max? What do you like to do?”
Max scrunched up his face as he deliberated over his response. “Make mud pies,” he said at last.
“I used to make mud pies when I was your age,” Sophie recalled. “I always tried to feed them to my sister.”
Max’ s face lit up at the idea. “Did she ever eat one?”
“No.” Sophie laughed. “She never believed me when I told her it was just chocolate.”
Max giggled.
Just then, Danielle reappeared bearing a large wooden tray laden with dishes of pie. Her bright smile was still firmly in place as she deposited the tray on the low, black coffee table at the center of the room. Despite the potential awkwardness of the situation, Danielle was being her usual charming self. A surge of gratitude washed over her as she returned Danielle’s smile. The woman really was a dear.
“Can I get drinks?” Danielle asked. “Coffee or tea? Well, maybe it’s too warm out for that. Iced tea or lemonade? Lily,
Max and I just squeezed some fresh lemonade this morning.”
“I’ll have a glass of that world-famous lemonade,” Justin said easily. He turned to Sophie. “You’ll never taste better, I swear it.”
“I’ll have it too, then,” Sophie replied.
“Ditto,” was Trevor’s response.
Sophie rose from the sofa as Danielle turned back toward the kitchen. “I’ll help,” she offered, following in Danielle’s wake.
The kitchen was large and airy, with big windows and cream-colored walls. Danielle closed the door behind Sophie and turned to her.
“I’m glad you’re here, Sophie,” she said.
Sophie read the question in Danielle’s gaze, but knew Danielle was too polite to pry. She did owe Trevor’s sister an explanation. After all Danielle’s warmth and kindness, it was the least Sophie could do.
“I apologize for the way I left the island,” she said. “It was rude of me, after you’d been so welcoming.”
“Forget it.” Danielle turned and pulled open the refrigerator, taking out a large pitcher of lemonade. “Would you mind grabbing the glasses for me? They’re in the tall cabinet to your left. Yes, that’s the one. Max and Lilly can have glasses too. It makes them feel important when we have guests.”
Sophie grabbed two glasses at a time, resting them on the tray Danielle had set on the granite island. She watched as Danielle poured the lemonade.
“Sophie, this is probably none of my business.” Danielle slanted her a glance. “But do you love my brother?”
The question took her aback with its startling frankness, but it was just the sort of plain honesty she’d come to expect from Trevor. The more time she spent in Danielle’s company, the more she realized how very much alike they were.
Danielle grimaced and set down the pitcher on the island. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to answer that. It’s just my little-sister instincts getting the best of me. Trevor means so much to me and I desperately want to see him happy.”
Faced with such candor, she had no choice but to answer with the same. “Yes,” she said. “More than I ever thought I could or would.”
If only Trevor felt the same way.
Danielle broke into a relieved smile. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that!” She gave Sophie a quick hug.
Sophie returned the embrace, feeling like she’d just gained an important ally. Danielle pulled back, her gaze searching Sophie’s.
“Wait a second.” Danielle raised a black brow. “You didn’t tell him, did you?”
“No,” Sophie confessed. “Danielle, this is difficult. You’re his sister. My relationship with Trevor is rocky. Very rocky.”
“How rocky?” Danielle asked, a frown marring her pretty features.
The smile Sophie sent Danielle was her best attempt at cool unconcern, but it felt strained. “Let’s just say he’s been seeing another woman.”
“What?” Danielle’s voice was loud and indignant, echoing in the high-ceilinged kitchen. “You’re kidding me.”
“No.” Sophie shook her head. “I wish I was.”
The kitchen door opened a fraction and Justin’s dark head popped in. “Are you two planning on hiding in here forever?”
The look Danielle sent him was warm and brimming with love. Jealousy hit her just watching the two of them. Why couldn’t she and Trevor have the special kind of love that didn’t need words?
“Sorry, hon,” Danielle called out cheerfully. “While you’re back here, why don’t you carry the tray back into the living room for me?”
Justin obliged his wife and in no time all were reassembled in the living room, plates and glasses at hand. Danielle settled herself next to Justin opposite the couch Sophie shared with Trevor and the children.
Danielle took a sip of her lemonade. “Well? What’s your good news?”
Trevor and Sophie looked at one another. He gave her one of his grins, then turned back to Danielle and Justin. She wished he’d reached for her hand again, taken it in his. She wasn’t certain how Danielle and Justin would react.
“Sophie and I are going to have a baby,” Trevor announced.
Was it just her imagination, or was there pride in his tone? She didn’t have time to examine it. The room erupted in spontaneous excitement.
Surprised congratulations were offered, not quite loudly enough to drown out Lily’s artless question. “Can I be your flower girl?”
Sophie’s alarmed gaze flew to the child. She wasn’t sure how to respond without deflating the hope so evident in Lily’s bright eyes. Trevor, however, had no such problems. He ruffled Lily’s hair. “Of course you can, monkey.”
“Yay!” Lilly clapped her hands together.
Sophie frowned. “Lily, honey, I’m not sure—”
Trevor’s hand crept over to give her thigh a surreptitious squeeze of warning. Her words died on her tongue, not because of Trevor’s silent warning, but rather the placement of his big, warm hand. Her body reacted to him like it never had to any man.
“You’re not sure, what?” Lily demanded, barging in on Sophie’s musings.
Trevor’s fingers squeezed again, not painfully, but just enough to make her heart trip over itself. “Ah, when the wedding will be.” Sophie hastened to respond, eager to turn her thoughts somewhere else. Anywhere else.
Trevor kept his hand on her thigh, either unknowing or uncaring of what he was doing to her.
“Well this is wonderful news,” Danielle announced, drawing everyone’s attention back to her. She rose from the sofa. “Sophie, I have to give you another hug.”
Sophie pried Trevor’s hand from her leg and stood, returning Danielle’s embrace yet again.
“Welcome to the family,” Danielle said, then whispered her next words into Sophie’s ear. “Give Trevor a chance, Sophie. He’ll come through for you.”
Sophie hoped and prayed Danielle was right. Her future happiness depended on Trevor being in her life as more than just the father of her child. She wanted him as her husband, as her partner. In short, she wanted him as her everything. All she had to do was make him fall in love with her.
It was as easy and as hopelessly convoluted as that.
“Aunt Sophie, look at me,” Amy squealed from her roost atop Trevor’s shoulders. Her happy voice echoed through the quiet of the movie theater parking lot.
Sophie sent Amy a smile. “You grew up so fast.”
Amy giggled, her small hands tangled in Trevor’s hair. Trevor winced when she gave a solid tug to turn him in the opposite direction.
“You were going the wrong way,” Amy protested. “The car’s this way.”
Trevor shot Sophie a wry smile. “I was taking a shortcut.”
Sam, who was walking at Sophie’s side and rolling her eyes at Amy’s antics, muttered what sounded distinctly like, “Little sisters are dumb.”
Sophie chuckled and ruffled Sam’s hair. “You don’t really think so, Sam, and you know it.”
Sam shrugged and kept walking, her head bent down to watch the bubblegum-dotted pavement pass beneath her. “Maybe. Maybe not. But today was fun, Aunt Sophie. Thanks.” She looked up at Sophie then, her face so strikingly similar to Elizabeth’s. “It was just like it used to be, you know, before.”
Sophie put her arm around Sam and pulled the girl close to her side. “Yes, I know, sweetheart. I’m sorry I wasn’t myself for so long.”
“It’s okay,” Sam said with the easy forgiveness of a child.
“Yeah,” Amy chimed in, “because you got a knight in shining armor and then everything got better, right, Aunt Sophie?”
Sophie’s heart skidded to a stop as she turned and met Trevor’s gaze. He truly was her knight in shining armor. He had saved her life more than once and healed her heart. He had shown her that loving again wasn’t a mistake but a chance worth taking. It was a lesson she’d almost learned too late.
“I guess I did get a knight in shining armor, Amy,” she murmured, unable to tear her gaze away from
Trevor’s as she answered her niece. His gaze shimmered with warmth and with something else, something she couldn’t quite read.
Had it only been a month since Trevor’s stunning declaration he would leave New York City? It seemed like something that had happened in the distant past, its memory blurred around the edges. The days since then had been so wonderful she’d lost count. True to his word, Trevor had taken an apartment near Sophie’s home, although she’d yet to visit him there. He’d accompanied her to doctor appointments and was the picture of expectant fatherhood. She could still recall the way he’d gripped her hand and smiled, tears unabashedly swimming in his eyes, as he watched her sonogram. In short, he was amazing. But there was still something missing, some hidden piece of the puzzle that would make its picture complete.
Love.
Maybe it was too much to ask for. It was certainly something Trevor didn’t seem ready to give. She pulled herself from her thoughts as they reached her SUV and she dug into her purse for the keys.
“I have them,” Trevor said, startling her with his nearness.
She looked at him. “You have what?”
His mouth kicked up in a smile. “The keys, remember? They’re in my pocket.”
“Oh,” she said lamely. How had she forgotten something so simple so soon? “Let me take Amy from you.” She reached up and retrieved her niece, who giggled happily as she was passed through the air between the grownups.
Trevor fished the keys from his pocket and unlocked the doors. “What are you doing tonight?” he asked casually over his shoulder.
“Nothing,” Sophie responded, painfully aware her voice sounded anxious. No need to be so obviously desperate for his company, she reminded herself.
“Good. Come to my place for dinner.” He pulled open the back door with a flourish. “Sam, your carriage awaits.”
Sam laughed and rolled her eyes as she scrambled into the vehicle. Sophie put Amy inside the SUV next. As she made herself comfortable, she looked up at Sophie, her eyes bright. “Maybe he’s gonna repose to you, Aunt Sophie!”
Sophie was momentarily struck speechless by her niece’s childish lack of tact.
“It’s propose, not repose,” Sam filled in for Sophie. “Like everybody knows that one, Ames.”
Reprieve (Love's Second Chance Book 1) Page 19