Games of Fire

by Airicka Phoenix

  Spencer took her down the main opening, her hand still clasped firmly in his, like he was afraid she might decide to bolt. They stepped into a TV room equipped with a monster sized TV, surround sound and cream colored furniture. The carpet was white, matching the curtains and walls. Midway, it was replaced by hardwood floors that sprawled into a kitchen with cherry wood cabinets and marble counters. Something incredibly amazing bubbled on the stove, filling the entire house with the mouthwatering scent of tomatoes, roasted meat and spices. There was a set of French doors straight ahead and another opening on the left, leading down a long, narrow hallway. But none of that caught Sophie’s attention like the small gathering of people standing around an oval table just off the kitchen.

  She recognized Jackie and Jamie and even Suzy, but there were two other people there she didn’t recognize, but knew straight away. The man was the spitting image of Jamie, if Jamie was in his late thirties with brown hair and laugh lines. He wore jeans and a blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Beside him, looking very delicate and beautiful was a small woman in her thirties, with sleek brown hair, enormous brown eyes and a heart-shaped face. She wore a soft peach colored shirt and jeans. But despite all that, she was impossible to miss with the enormous beach ball she’d swallowed. Her belly swelled beneath the shirt, looking very painful and uncomfortable. But she cradled the mound as though it were the most precious thing in the world. Sophie knew instantly that this was Janice and Spencer’s father.

  Eyes the same shade of silver as Spencer’s rose up and caught them in the doorway. They widened. Sophie stiffened, expecting a great number of things from the stories she’d been told, especially annoyance and hostility, and was surprised when the man smiled brilliantly and hurried over to them with his arms open wide in greeting.

  “Spence!” He pulled his youngest son into his embrace, smacking him a few times on the back for good measure.

  Spencer didn’t return the gesture. He stood stiff and unyielding. His face gave nothing away, not even when he was set back.

  His father either ignored the cold shoulder or didn’t notice. His gaze swung to Sophie, dancing with interest. “You must be Spencer’s friend.”

  “Sophie,” she said, offering him her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  His father beamed, taking her hand and giving it a brisk shake. “The pleasure is all mine, Sophie. Call me Mark.” Not waiting for her to agree or disagree, he turned and waved the pretty brunette over. “This is my wife, Janice.”

  Janice smiled at Sophie, but there was uncertainty in her eyes, like she was being presented to a lion. She kept one hand protectively over her bulging belly while extending her other one to Sophie.

  “Nice to meet you.”

  Sophie knew she should dislike the woman on principle for being a cheat and a home wrecker, but it was hard to do when Janice stared at her as though expecting to be shunned. She reminded Sophie of a beaten puppy.

  “Likewise,” she said, giving Janice a genuine smile.

  “Love, this is Sophie,” Mark told her, placing a gentle hand on his wife’s lower back. “She’s Spencer’s friend.”

  Janice’s eyes dropped to their joined hands, assessing a moment. “Are you hungry, Sophie? I was just finishing up supper. We would love for you to join us.”

  “I would love to,” and she really did. The food smelled amazing and she hadn’t eaten anything all day. “But my parents are waiting in the driveway—”

  Janice’s eyes bulged nearly as big as her stomach. “Here?”

  “They drove us.” Sophie gestured to the foyer. “They’re in the car.”

  A small hand flew up to cover the gasp that left her as Janice turned those horrified eyes on her husband. “Mark … ”

  He rubbed her back soothingly. “Easy, love. I’m going.” He kissed her temple before ambling away in the direction of the front door.

  With him gone, Janice suddenly seemed even less unsure, like a lamb that had wandered foolishly into a nest of sleeping tigers. She swallowed nervously, turning those scared eyes on Spencer.

  “Hello, Spencer.”

  His face was an absolute mask of loathing. His eyes were chips of glacial ice. “Janice,” he bit out.

  It took all of Sophie’s willpower not to elbow him and demand he be nice.

  “This is a beautiful home, Janice,” Sophie said, trying to cut the solid wall of ice surrounding them with a plastic knife.

  “Thank—”

  “My mother decorated it,” Spencer interrupted, daring Janice to deny it.

  The color in Janice’s face was instantly replaced by a blistering red. Sophie saw tears before she dropped her gaze. She mumbled something about checking the pot before hurrying into the kitchen, keeping her back to everyone.

  “What is wrong with you?” Sophie hissed the moment they were alone. “Do you like kicking puppies, too?”

  Spencer turned those snapping eyes to her. “She ruined my family. Forgive me if I don’t roll out the welcome wagon.”

  “She’s pregnant!” Sophie pointed out, keeping her voice as low as possible. “With your brother or sister! The least—”

  “No,” he said, lips curling in disgust. “That thing isn’t related to me. I already have a brother and a sister.”

  She would have winced at the serrated blade in his tone if she wasn’t so furious. “Is that why you asked me in here? To watch you make a pregnant woman cry? Do you feel better about yourself, because out of everything you’ve ever done, this was the worst?”

  She shoved his hand away and started for the doorway back to the foyer when laughing voices filled the house and her parents walked into the room after Mark. Mark was telling them some joke about his trip somewhere. He had one hand on her father’s shoulder as though they’d been friends for ages.

  He turned towards the kitchen. “Darling, come meet our … ” he trailed off. His smile melted away. He left her father’s side and hurried over to his wife as if sensing her pain. He touched her back lightly, murmuring something to her. She shook her head, placing a gentle hand on his arm. He kissed her temple lovingly.

  The love between them was beautiful. It was so raw and pure. It spilled off them in waves of sunshine. Sophie felt the warmth of it even from a distance. The hopeless romantic in her sighed longingly, wanting that level of love for herself, while another part ached for them. Never in a million years would she ever condone infidelity. She hated people who strayed, people who hurt those they claimed to love, and she had expected to meet monsters when she walked through the door, but she couldn’t help feeling sad for Mark and Janice.

  Maybe that made her a bad girlfriend. Maybe she was supposed to take Spencer’s side no matter what she felt in her heart, right or wrong. Maybe she was supposed to hate the two gazing tenderly at each other, but she couldn’t.

  Mark turned to them, his smile back in place, but not as bright. He gestured for them to come closer.

  “Don’t just stand there keeping the doorway warm!” he called. “Get in here and make yourself at home.”

  Her parents walked over and were joined by Jackie and Jamie, who looked pale and kept glancing at his cell phone. Seeing the fear and desperation in his eyes, Sophie felt another stab of heartbreak. Sure, she would never like Aimee or Jamie, but no one deserved to be worried like that, especially with everything that had been happening recently. She knew she would have been going out of her damn mind if she was in Jamie’s shoes and Spencer had been missing. Just the thought of it made her want to touch him. Instead, she walked quietly to the sectional and sat, not feeling up for company, not with the giant pounding against the inside of her skull with a chisel.

  A moment passed and the cushion beside her dipped and a warm body pressed into her side. Sophie didn’t need to look to know Spencer sat hunched forward, hands clasped between his knees, head down. His hip and thigh burned into the side of hers, but she hadn’t felt him lean back.

  “I’m sorry,” he said quietly.


  “I’m not the one you should be apologizing to,” she muttered, restraining the urge to gouge at her temples with her nails. “Even if you don’t like her, you could at least be civil. She’s not going anywhere.” She glanced over to where his father and Janice stood. He had one arm around her back, holding her securely into his side. “And he’s still your father.”

  For several heartbeats, Spencer said nothing. He stared at the space between his feet as though the answers would all mysteriously materialize there. When nothing appeared and he remained at a loss for reasoning, he rose to his feet and padded out of the room. Sophie watched his back as he disappeared through the foyer without making any attempt to stop him. In the kitchen, Mark said something and her parents laughed. She heard Jackie’s voice talking softly to Jamie, trying to reassure him. It became apparent very quickly that Jamie was the only one actually worried about Aimee’s disappearance. Mark and Janice were entertaining guests. Suzy sat at the table, blissfully ignorant of the adults a stone’s throw away while she pored over several open books. Her pencil bobbed and weaved as she feverishly hurried to scribble something down. And Jackie, Sophie knew how the other woman felt about Aimee. She was almost positive the motherly concern was in place specifically for Jamie’s benefit.

  Such an odd family.

  Sophie exhaled, wishing she’d just stayed at the hotel.

  Supper was homemade chili with freshly baked bread bowls and salad. It was hands down the best thing Sophie had ever tasted and she nearly burned her mouth trying to inhale her meal. Even her mother was impressed by Janice’s culinary skills. Janice blushed prettily, modestly waving away the compliments.

  “Janice wants to open her own restaurant,” Mark boasted for her.

  Janice looked flustered, but quietly pleased. “After the baby’s born, of course,” she said. “Something small.”

  “That’s a wonderful idea,” Sophie’s mom said, taking another mouthful of chili. “This is amazing.”

  As the only one who hadn’t spoken since sitting at the table, Sophie watched the indifferent expression on Jackie’s face, the flat out cold look on Spencer’s and finally opted to just ignore both. Across from her, Jamie picked his phone up from the side of his dish and checked the screen as if it might have changed in the last two seconds since he last checked. He set it down only to snatch it back up a moment later. On his other side, Suzy watched the faces of the adults with somber interest. When she spoke, her words were crisp and almost adult-like, but that may have been because she spoke about school the way most girls spoke about shoes. There was intelligence in her speech, things Sophie had never heard of, and she was graduating in the fall. She used words Sophie couldn’t even attempt to pronounce. It was impressive and everyone knew it.

  After supper, Sophie offered to help Janice with the dishes. They methodically loaded the dishwasher, scrubbed the pots and mopped the tabletops. They spoke very little, but Sophie got the impression that Janice wasn’t sure how to approach her. Maybe she thought Sophie was as bad as Spencer where it was all concerned and Sophie was just too tired to assure her otherwise.

  Midway, Suzy got to her feet and announced she had a test in the morning and was going to bed. It was only seven o’clock, but no one tried to stop her. She kissed her mom, her dad and even Janice before running off. Everyone else sat around the sectional, sipping coffee and discussing what sounded like importing and exporting. It was apparently what Mark did for a living, a family business he was hoping to get Spencer and Jamie into. But Jamie wasn’t listening. He stood by the French doors, moving his arm up and down as if trying to locate a signal on his phone. Spencer sat in the armchair across the room, chewing absentmindedly on his thumbnail, oblivious to the conversation. Sophie watched him while she dried dishes and wondered what he was thinking about. He looked so pensive, like the weight of the world had somehow come crashing down on his shoulders. Was he worried about Aimee? Or was he thinking of something else? It was difficult to tell when he refused to meet her gaze.

  “Thank you,” Janice said when the last dish was stowed away and the kitchen was restored to its original glimmer.

  Sophie hung the damp dishtowel on the oven bar and turned to her with a smile. “No problem.”

  They joined the others in the sitting area. Janice gingerly lowered herself onto the corner of the sectional, next to Mark whose hand instantly went to rubbing her back. Sophie sat next to her father, careful not to glance at Spencer.

  “Sophie!” She jumped at Mark’s sudden exclamation. “What are you plans for the future?”

  Her plans? She hadn’t been aware she had any. Sure, she had considered this or that, but it had never been anything set in stone.

  “Uh … ” She was saved by a loud metallic whirring sound, like someone grinding hard on an electric guitar. All heads turned in Jamie’s direction, but the sound had surprised him so badly, the phone had nearly dropped out of his fumbling fingers. As he scrambled to maintain order and hit accept, Sophie could almost hear his heartbeat.

  “Aimee?” In two seconds flat, every ounce of hope faded from his eyes. His shoulders dropped so far, Sophie expected them to be on the floor. “No, she hasn’t phoned … ” The rest of his words faded as he turned his back and walked out of the room.

  All the air seemed to rush back into the room with his absence. Sophie hadn’t realized everyone had been holding their breath until it flooded out in a single exhale all around that sounded extra loud in the silence. Janice and Sophie’s mother gave a nervous chuckle.

  “Aimee’s parents,” Janice explained.

  “I hope they find her,” Sophie’s mother said, looking like she really meant it. “I can’t imagine what her parents must be going through right now.”

  “It’s terrible,” Janice agreed.

  “She’ll come back,” Mark assured her. “She always does.”

  “Always?” Sophie said without thinking. “This isn’t the first time this has happened?”

  Janice looked down at her hands.

  Mark was the one to answer. “She has her moments where she gets upset with Jamie and takes off for a few days. But they work it out and things go back to normal.” Suddenly everyone’s disinterest in Aimee’s disappearance made sense.

  “If she always does this, then why is Jamie so worried?” she wondered.

  “He loves her,” Mark said simply. “Doesn’t matter how you slice it, when we Rowth men love, we love with everything in us. It’s not in us to sit back when our woman is upset or in trouble. It’s like a physical wound.”

  She looked over at Spencer without thinking. Instead, she was startled to find him already watching her, his face soft, apologetic. He offered her a half smile that looked almost pleading. Her resolve crumpled and she found herself returning it tentatively.

  “We should go.” Her parents rose to their feet. “We’ve already taken up so much of your time.”

  “Mark … ” Janice touched her husband’s hand, her eyes pleading.

  He took her fingers. “Right you are, love.” He turned to his guests. “Janice and I were talking and we don’t feel right about you staying at a hotel when we have rooms here. You’re more than welcome to stay until this horrendous situation ends.”

  Her parents exchanged glances, talking in that way only people who have been together ages can.

  “That’s very thoughtful,” her father began.

  “But we’re confident the police will find the people responsible soon,” her mother finished.

  “Then at least stay for tonight,” Janice burst out. She shifted to the lip of the sectional and looked like she was trying to do something between reclining and some weird yoga position with one leg far out and the other tucked in. Sophie didn’t understand it, but Mark grabbed her hand and elbow and gently eased her to her feet. “The guestrooms are already made up and it’s getting dark.”

  “All our things are at the hotel,” Jackie said, standing. “But that’s thoughtful of you to offer.�
� Us rooms in my own house! She didn’t say the last part, but it was implied in the chill in her eyes. Sophie could only imagine how awkward that would have been for Jackie, to have to sleep in a house that had once been hers, but wasn’t anymore, down the hall from a husband that had once been hers, but was now sharing their bedroom with another woman.

  Janice must have come to the same conclusion and from the way she dropped her gaze, she seemed to have forgotten Jackie was there and hadn’t intended to extend the invitation to the former wife.

  Awwk-warrd.

  Sophie got to her feet the same time Spencer did. He walked over and took her hand.

  “I’m sorry,” he murmured softly just to her. “This place holds too many bad memories that never go away.” The last part was said with a flick of his eyes in Janice’s direction.

  Sophie didn’t chastise him over it. She really couldn’t fault him for feeling how he felt. His life had been torn out from beneath him by two women who mattered to him, but instead of packing up and moving on, both had stayed to taint his childhood home, the only place that had once held cherished memories. So was it wrong of him to be cold and bitter? It wasn’t even as though it had been years ago. There was no way a wound like that would heal so quickly.

  She answered him by pressing her face into his chest. She felt the slight kick of his heart against her cheek before his arms wound around her. He kissed the top of her head.

  “Well, we really hope you’ll come back and see us,” Janice was saying when Sophie focused again on the room. “It really was so wonderful to have met you.” Her brown eyes trained on Sophie, but she didn’t say anything.

  The drive back to the hotel was a quiet one. Sophie rested her head on Spencer’s shoulder and closed her eyes. She must have dozed, because he was shaking her awake after what felt like five minutes but had to be longer, as they disappeared into the hotel’s underground garage. Her head was thick with sleep and she felt the strong urge to snap at someone for being disturbed. But she took Spencer’s hand when he offered it and let him guide her to their room. Once there, he kissed her lightly on the cheek, told her they would talk in the morning and left her to stumble into her room and fall into bed fully clothed.