Fireworks

by Lindsey Gray

  “Yes. The pretending part would just be that we’ve been dating since February, instead of from right now.”

  Sophie mulled everything over in her head and tried to think of a way to let him down. “You know you’ll have to face my father?”

  “Yes. The Judge might be an obstacle, but I figured that’s where we could use Caroline and Drew.”

  “Use them?” She picked up a fry and took a bite, hoping it might settle her stomach.

  “Say that we kept us secret because we knew Drew and Caroline were together and didn’t want to make family stuff weird if it didn’t work out.” Sam reached across the table and took her hand. “Now, I know we can make us work. This last week without talking with you has been horrible. I can’t believe I was still considering taking Lola to meet my mother.”

  “Virginia would probably rip her to shreds and forbid you to see her. Your problem would’ve been solved.”

  “Maybe. I won’t let her do it to you. My father loves you, and Caroline will be thrilled.”

  “I don’t know about Drew.” Sophie’s gaze fell back down to her plate.

  “Hey, we’ll work it out. I promise.” He lifted her chin with his fingertips. “I promise.”

  Sophie’s eyes watered, and she swallowed hard. She couldn’t go through it again, even if it was Sam that was asking.

  “I know Virginia can be very demanding, and I can see how much her approval means to you. So …” She sniffled as a tear ran down her cheek. “I’ll pretend to be your girlfriend for your family.”

  “But, not for real?”

  “I’m sorry.” Sophie shook her head before she grabbed a napkin to wipe her eyes. “I’m just not in a place to start a relationship right now.”

  “Right now? Then you may be later?”

  She let out a soft laugh. “Slow down, Romeo. You’re a wonderful friend, and I care about you, but —”

  He interrupted, “You’re not ready, but when you are, I’ll be here.”

  Sam kissed her hand. Part of his plan was working. He only had to get Sophie to realize that he was the right guy to take the next step with.

  They talked some more as they walked out to their cars. It was close to three in the morning, but Sam still wasn’t tired.

  “So, I’ll pick you up about nine tomorrow morning?” Sam asked as they stood next to her car.

  “Sounds good. I really think it’ll work out fine.” Sophie smiled and grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze. He surprised her when he brought her knuckles up to his lips for a kiss.

  “Can’t have me being a bad boyfriend, and forgetting the goodnight kiss.”

  “Not much of a kiss, I’d say.” She had no idea where her brashness came from, but it led to something she’d thought about for over ten years.

  “You want a real kiss then?” Sam pulled her into his arms, and hers automatically wound around his neck.

  “Um, maybe, for appearance sake, we should try it out.”

  Sophie had never seen a smile as wide as the one that graced his lips, and when they touched her own, her world tipped over. Soft, yet firm — he used just a little tongue and let out a soft moan.

  Perfect.

  Sam pulled back. “You think that might be something you can get used to?”

  “Maybe so.” Her face flushed as she realized she had never experienced anything like it.

  Chapter Four

  After a rush of adrenaline from everything that happened at the hospital and her late night dinner with Sam, Sophie crashed hard the moment her head hit the pillow.

  She woke around eight the next morning to the smell of waffles drifting from the kitchen.

  “I love you so much right now.” Sophie smiled at Lexi as she plated a hot waffle. She sat down at their breakfast bar and took in one of the things she loved most about her roommate and best friend: her cooking.

  “I didn’t hear you come in until after three. I knew you were going back to Halston this morning and needed a good start,” Lexi stated humbly.

  “Thank you.” Sophie smeared her waffle with butter, before adding her favorite blueberry syrup. The first bite was heaven.

  “You must have been tired. You forgot to plug in your phone.” Lexi pointed to Sophie’s phone with the dwindling battery life on the counter. “I think you have a couple messages.”

  Sophie looked at her text messages first. One was from Sam that told her he was running late and would be there to pick her up at ten. She sent a quick text back to him, telling him that was fine. The next text was from her father with the generic ‘call me’ message.

  “Are you going to tell me what happened last night? I know you weren’t at work that late.” Lexi poured Sophie a glass of orange juice and passed it to her.

  Sophie relayed the story of how she and Sam had one of their late night dinners. She finished her waffles while she recounted Lola breaking up with Sam and then him admitting he had feelings for Sophie. Lexi’s jaw just about hit the counter when she told her that she politely declined the relationship, but agreed to pretend to be his girlfriend for the week for the sake of his family.

  “Why?” Lexi couldn’t fathom why Sophie would begrudge herself someone she obviously wanted.

  Sophie stared at the countertop as she spoke. “You know what happened with Josh. I’m just not ready to get back into that kind of relationship again.”

  “That’s bullshit!” Lexi slammed her hand down on the counter, and Sophie looked back up at her. “Josh was the scum of the earth. What he did to you was more than deplorable — it was immoral and most definitely illegal. You can’t let that asshole dictate the rest of your life. You could be happy with Sam.”

  Sophie nodded. She knew Lexi was right, but she was afraid of opening up her heart again. “He did kiss me.”

  Lexi smiled. “That’s more like it. How was it?”

  “Pretty perfect.”

  “Lucky bitch.”

  Sam arrived at Sophie’s apartment at ten on the dot. He kissed her cheek before carrying her luggage down to the car.

  “I know who Sophie McKibbin is today, but not all the back story. Can you give me the whole story?” Sam asked as he turned onto the highway and merged into traffic.

  “You know my dad is the judge in Halston, and has been single since my mom died. I had every single cougar in town trying to make me their little girl.”

  “Wow. That sounds annoying.”

  Sophie snorted at his comment. “Exactly. But about two years ago, he met Abby. She was a law professor speaking at a conference he attended. They hit it off, and she moved to Halston with her two kids a little over a year ago.”

  “You like her?”

  “From what I know of her so far, yes. Her kids are still teenagers, so it’s been fun connecting with them. I was out of the country when they met so I’ve only known her a little while.”

  “Ah, your African adventure.”

  “Yes.” Sophie smiled at the memory of the children’s faces. “It was definitely an adventure.”

  “What would tempt you to do that kind of work?” Sam was curious what would take her away from her friends and family, even missing her closest cousin’s wedding.

  “I guess you could say I was running away. I had just gotten out of a relationship that ended on very bad terms and needed to get away from everything. I had some friends from nursing school going, so I went.” Sophie shrugged her shoulders, intimating she didn’t want to go into it any further.

  “Doesn’t seem like you want to talk about the ex, huh?” Sam tried to keep his eyes fixed on the road, but was dying to see her expression.

  “It’s not that. It’s just … I’ve only talked about it with a few people.”

  “That bad?”

  “I was devastated.”

  He couldn’t help, but turn his head to look at her and caught the sight of a tear running down her cheek.

  “About him?”

  “No, not …” Sophie looked out the window and saw the Hals
ton city limits sign. “We’re almost there.”

  Sam put all his focus on the road, and drove the car to his family home.

  “It’s been a while since I’ve been here,” Sophie said, nervously before climbing out of the car.

  “You know my dad loves you. Don’t worry. Drew and Caroline are here, too.” He kissed the back of her hand before he grabbed their bags, and walked onto the front porch.

  Sam opened the door and set their bags down in the foyer. They quietly walked hand in hand to the entrance of the family room.

  “I hope you saved us some food,” Sam announced and caught the attention of his mother, father, Drew, and Caroline.

  “Sam!” his mother, Virginia, gasped.

  “Sophie?” Drew stood from his place on the couch next to Caroline.

  “Surprise.” Sophie smiled at her confused cousin.

  “This is your girlfriend?” his father, Alan, questioned and took a step towards them. Alan was the carbon copy of Sam, with just a slight graying of his hair at the temples.

  “Yes, this is my Sophie.” Sam squeezed Sophie’s hand that was clasped in his.

  Virginia placed both her hands over her mouth to keep her sobs from echoing throughout the room. Her small frame shuddered with each breath. A few strands of hair slipped from her their confines and her crystal blue eyes began to fill with tears.

  Sophie pulled him in close enough to whisper, “Is that a good reaction or a bad one?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Of course it’s good. Wonderful even.” Caroline smacked him on the arm. “Why would you ever doubt that we would be anything, but overjoyed to know you’re dating Sophie?”

  “Um …” Sophie cleared her throat and spoke up, “it was nothing against the family. When Sam and I decided to start dating, we just wanted make sure we were in it for the long haul before telling all of you because of Caroline and Drew’s relationship. We just didn’t want family stuff to be uncomfortable if we broke up.”

  Caroline was in tears when her arms surrounded Sophie. “Welcome to the family.”

  “Oh, Caroline. We’re not even married yet.” Sam shook his head from side to side before he pulled Sophie back into his arms.

  “Yet?” Caroline whispered with a hopeful look on her face.

  “Are you engaged?” Virginia asked.

  “No, not yet, but maybe soon.” Sam pulled her in closer and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. He heard Caroline sniffle as he pulled back from Sophie.

  Drew scrunched his face up in a scowl. “You better make sure you ask the Judge first, if you know what’s good for you.”

  “Of course I will.” Sam turned away from Drew to look at Sophie. “How about we get some lunch?”

  Sophie nodded at his request, and followed him into the kitchen. Unfortunately, his sister followed.

  “I want to hear everything.” Caroline passed them some plates, and they grabbed some pizza and sodas. “Did the two of you bump into each other at the hospital?” she asked and impatiently waited for an answer.

  Sam wanted to be as truthful as possible, so he took a breath and launched into their story. “Yes, in the cafeteria actually. She walked in with her friend Lexi and I heard her laugh. I knew in an instant who that laugh belonged to. All the memories of her flooded my mind. I remembered what a crush I had on her back then. I knew I couldn’t pass up the chance to get to know her again and I’ve thanked God that I have every day since.”

  “Sam,” Sophie whispered as her cheeks darkened red once again.

  He pulled her into his arms and kissed her temple.

  “It’s the truth,” he told her in a tone which confirmed he had been completely honest.

  “Aw, you guys are so cute together.” Caroline beamed. “Does the Judge know yet?”

  “No,” Sophie spoke up. “I think we will head over there this afternoon, if that’s okay?”

  “Fine by me.” Sam smiled before taking a huge bite of his pizza.

  Sophie’s phone beeped with a text message just as they finished their lunch. “It’s from Abby’s daughter Shannon. She wants me over at my dad’s house as soon as possible. Crap! I forgot to call him back this morning.”

  “Tell her you’re with your boyfriend and they’ll have to wait.” Sam wrapped his arms around her from behind and held her tight since his mother and sister were in the room.

  “You don’t know her at all. Something is up.” Sophie placed a quick call to her father to let him know she was on her way.

  Thirty minutes later, they’d made their excuses to Sam’s family, and were on the way to the Judge’s house.

  “Shannon never texted back?” Sam questioned as he turned onto her dad’s street.

  “No.”

  They pulled into the McKibbin driveway, where her dad’s car sat along with two others: Abby and Shannon’s.

  “I’m sure everything will be fine. Just hold my hand and stay behind me. He can’t hit you if I’m in the way.”

  Sam blanched, but didn’t question her instructions.

  “Dad?” Sophie called out as they entered the house.

  Shannon came screeching around the corner. Her black hair flopped against her back in a haphazard ponytail.

  “Thank God you’re here!” The slightly taller seventeen-year old girl hugged Sophie tighter than she ever had before. When she finally stepped back, she noticed Sam. “Who’s he?”

  “My boyfriend. Now, will you please tell me what is going on?”

  “Oh ho ho.” Shannon shook her head from side to side. “I think you’ll want to hear this. Go in the living room while I round up the guilty parties.”

  Shannon shoved them towards the living room before she went in the direction of the kitchen.

  “What the hell do you think is going on?” Sam asked, clearly confused.

  “I don’t know. Maybe he already proposed, and they want to let me know.”

  Sophie’s father, Vincent, entered the room with Abby, Shannon, and Abby’s son Robert.

  “Hey, Daddy,” Sophie said.

  Vincent stopped in his tracks at the sight of Sam by his daughter’s side. His six foot four stature, dark brown, short hair, and steel blue eyes formed an intimidating picture. A confused look came over his face as he scanned the sight of Sophie and Sam holding hands.

  “Dad, this is my boyfriend, Sam Crawford. Sam, this is my dad, Vincent McKibbin.”

  “Pleasure to see you again, Judge McKibbin.”

  Sam and Vincent shook hands slowly as it dawned on Vincent who Sam was.

  “You’re Caroline’s older brother.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And you’ve been seeing my Sophie?” Vincent raised one eyebrow in question.

  “Yes, sir. For six months.”

  Vincent turned to his daughter. “Did Drew know about this?”

  “No. We kept it quiet until we knew if we could make a real go of it. You understand, right, Daddy?” Sophie gave him her best little girl pouty face, and he softened given his own circumstance.

  “Sure, but we’ll talk more about this later. For now, Abby and I would like to tell you something.”

  Sam and Sophie sat down on the loveseat while Vincent sat with Abby on the couch and Shannon and Robert sat down in the two chairs that flanked the fireplace.

  “You know how close Vince and I have gotten over the past couple of years. The kids and I knew it was the right decision for us to move to Halston. More than that, we knew you and Vince were what we needed in our family.” Tears rolled down Abby’s cheeks at that moment.

  “I want to tell you I’ve asked Abby to marry me.” Vincent turned his head to look at Abby and smile. “And she said yes.”

  “What? That’s wonderful.” Sophie jumped up and pulled Abby off the couch, and into a hug.

  “Wait for it,” Shannon mumbled.

  Abby pulled back and held Sophie’s face in her palms. “I never expected to love your father the way I do and I know I don’t need your bles
sing, but I would love to have it.”

  “Of course you have it.” When Vincent stood up, Sophie wrapped her arms around him. “I’m so happy for you.”

  “Well,” he cleared his throat, “there’s more.”

  “Here it comes,” Shannon stated.

  Sophie looked around the room at each expression. Her father looked nervous, an emotion he didn’t display often. Shannon was smug, which was her usual. Robert seemed happy and smiled back at Sophie.

  “I’m pregnant,” Abby blurted out.

  That knocked the wind out of Sophie, and she plopped back down on the loveseat. Sam automatically wrapped his arm around her shoulder in comfort.

  “Pregnant? Really?”

  “After Robert was born, my ex-husband got fixed. Vince and I have been careful, but nothing is one hundred percent. I’m thirteen weeks and the doctors are monitoring me closely. So far everything is just fine.” Abby looked at Sophie, searching for a reaction other than shock.

  “I’m happy for you, of course. It’s just a bit of a shock.”

  “I know and I’m sorry this is all coming at you all at once. You see, we want to get married this weekend, and I want you to be my best … um, person I guess they call it these days.” Vincent gazed at her with a look of hope in his eyes.

  “Of course.” Standing up with her father at his wedding was something she had never imagined she’d do. Within a week, she would have a stepmother, stepbrother, and stepsister. Then, less than six months down the road, a half sibling, another part of her father to share with him.

  Chapter Five

  Drew had waited almost eight months to have a real conversation with his cousin. He never imagined it would happen at his in-laws home, but he knew he couldn’t put it off any longer.

  “You look troubled.” Caroline sat down next to her husband on the sofa. “Sophie’s not going to bite.”

  “I know.” Drew threaded his fingers through his hair. His frustration with his cousin was at an all-time high. “We have to have it out, though — one way or another. It’s been too long.”

  “She’s always going to be family. You’ll work it out.” Caroline ran her hand up and down Drew’s spine, something that always comforted him.