Fireworks

by Lindsey Gray

  “We’ll be all right?”

  He held her a bit tighter. “Yes, Mom. We will.”

  July Fourth arrived with a bang and several orgasms. Sam and Sophie made love off and on since the afternoon before. The next morning, they’d made an appearance at breakfast in the Crawford kitchen.

  “Missed you two last night,” Caroline said, eying Sam and Sophie.

  The couple sat down at the breakfast table before they acknowledged her comment.

  “We went swimming yesterday afternoon and wore ourselves out. We were napping in the guest house.” Sophie hoped her poker face had worked on Caroline. She didn’t want to get into their girl talk with Sam’s parents around.

  “Swimming? Yeah, sure,” Caroline replied.

  Sam kicked his sister in the shin under the table. When Caroline looked up, he tipped his head to the right, indicating he didn’t want to talk about it in front of their parents.

  Caroline nodded and passed him some blueberry muffins.

  Sam noticed Drew hadn’t paid any attention to what had happened since they arrived at the table. When Drew finally looked up, his vision was set on Sophie.

  “Sophie?” Drew asked.

  “Yes,” she responded, looking at him.

  “I went to see Josh yesterday.”

  Caroline dropped the knife she had used to butter her muffin with a loud clang. Virginia and Alan moved from the heart of the kitchen to the table in order to hear what Drew would say.

  “And?” Sophie swallowed hard as she thought about how their conversation might have gone. She grabbed Sam’s hand under the table and held it on her own her lap.

  Drew cleared his throat nervously. “He knows he was wrong and I do believe he’s sorry. He asked to talk to you or see you.”

  “I don’t know.” Sophie turned to Sam to judge his reaction.

  “It’s up to you. If you want me to be, I’ll be right by your side.” Sam rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand.

  “What else did he say?” Sophie asked Drew.

  “Um, he’s in therapy. I think he knows now how bad he’s gotten since you left. He’s lost weight. Since he’s started working from home, his work has slipped. The house …” Drew shook his head as he thought of all the emptiness. “He’s put almost everything in storage in case you wanted it someday.”

  Drew looked up to Sophie and hoped she’d believe in his words. “What he did to you was horrible, but it sounds like Ken was the real ringleader behind the whole thing. I never liked that guy.”

  Sophie nodded in agreement. Ken had always given her the creeps, but he was Josh’s brother. She thought he’d be family, and despite her feelings, she had trusted him.

  Drew continued. “He knows he was wrong and I think he just wants a chance to apologize. You both need some closure, right?”

  Sophie nodded, again. It was the absolute worst time to think about Josh. She prayed the memories of the night before and that morning with Sam wouldn’t be marred by the conversation about her ex-fiancé. Drew was right to talk to her about it, but she wished he’d waited a few more days before they discussed it.

  “After the wedding and when things have settled down, I’ll call him.”

  Sam gave her hand a squeeze and she saw Drew give her a small nod.

  Virginia directed the conversation toward the day’s festivities as breakfast continued. The parade was the main topic. Sam was excited for Sophie to see the float he’d worked on.

  “The fireworks will be spectacular,” Virginia said with a bit of whimsy.

  “They always are,” Caroline agreed with a dream-like voice of her own.

  “I want to take you some place special to watch the fireworks,” Sam whispered to Sophie.

  “What? Where?”

  “It’s a surprise. Don’t worry. We’ll have a great view of the show.”

  Sophie smiled before she placed a light kiss on his lips. “If you’re with me, any view will be great.”

  The couple made it to the festivities in downtown Halston just after one o’clock. Even after their large breakfast, Sophie’s stomach rumbled at the sight of the food pavilion.

  “Oh, my God! Fried beer? When did they invent that?” Sophie drug Sam over to the booth with the large sign that offered all kinds of fried delights.

  They each ordered the fried beer. It consisted of five servings of ravioli-type pasta with small amount of beer nestled inside that were fried and served with melted cheddar cheese. Sophie couldn’t resist a fried Snickers bar while Sam got a fried Oreo for dessert.

  A few carnival games caught Sophie’s eye and Sam set out to win her a few prizes. She couldn’t contain her astonishment when she came face to face with Ken, who ran the fish bowl toss.

  All rational thought left Sophie as she stormed over to the booth.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” she seethed.

  Shock crossed Ken’s round face. “Sophie? When did you get back?”

  “I’ve been back for months. Now answer my question, Ken!”

  Sam had reached Sophie and stood behind her as the scene unfolded.

  “The — the pharmacy opened a branch here a year and a half ago. I’m the manager.” Ken waved his hand above his head to show the Martinson’s Pharmacy banner.

  “You mean they made you a manager after you gave your friends and family drugs that are banned by the FDA.” Sophie’s voice rose to an octave to be heard by anyone within a hundred yards.

  Ken laughed nervously and walked outside of the booth toward her. “Lower your voice, please.”

  “I will not lower my voice, you piece of shit! Do you know what those pills did to me?”

  “Didn’t work. No harm done.”

  “Wrong answer, fucker!” Sophie reared back and threw her best left hook.

  Ken went down with a loud thud, but she wasn’t even close to finished with him. She jumped on top of his prone form, and then scratched, slapped, and punched him until Sam pulled her off of him.

  “I’m not done with you!” she screamed as Sam held her tight.

  “I’m afraid you are, miss.”

  Sophie was wrenched from Sam’s embrace and her wrists were instantly locked in a pair of metal handcuffs.

  “You’re under arrest for assault. Come on.” A Halston deputy began to pull her toward a squad car.

  Sam was about to protest when Sophie shouted an order at him. “Call the Judge!”

  He nodded and pulled his phone out to dial his number. The Judge answered on the third ring.

  “Crawford, this better be good. I’m just about to test some fireworks.”

  “Sophie’s been arrested. Is that a good enough reason for you?”

  Chapter Eleven

  “I don’t think you’re going to need that phone call,” the Judge stated as he walked into the holding cell area to find his daughter behind bars.

  She laughed when she saw the smile cross her father’s face. “Bet you never thought you’d see me here, huh?”

  “Not something I envisioned for my daughter.” He crossed his arms in front of his chest and watched while she stood and flexed her swollen hand. “Does it hurt?”

  “Like a bitch,” she laughed. “But it was worth it.”

  “You know this wouldn’t have happened if you would have brought charges against those two in the first place.” The Judge’s fatherly smile soon turned into a grimace.

  Sophie refused to answer him. It was clear she’d had several lapses in judgment in the past. She didn’t think a jail cell was the best place to fess up to all of them. “How much trouble am I in?”

  “That depends.”

  “On what?” she asked, grabbing on to the bar with her uninjured hand.

  The Judge’s lip quivered for a few seconds before he let out a boisterous laugh.

  “Dad!” she screamed.

  “Oh, Sophie. It’s so nice to see you squirm, even just a little.”

  “Come on,” she whined. Not only did her hand hurt li
ke hell, she desperately wondered what Sam thought of her after the attack.

  “Ken and I had a little talk. I reminded him it wasn’t too late to bring charges against him and his brother. That being said, he decided not to press charges. Deputy?” he called out.

  The deputy that had arrested her came into the cell area and unlocked her cell. “You’re free to go, Miss McKibbin.”

  “Thank you,” she exclaimed, stepping out of the cell and into her father’s arms.

  “If we hurry, we’ll make the fireworks show. I think there is someone waiting for you.”

  “Thanks, Daddy.”

  Sam was just where the Judge said he’d be. Sophie assumed the spot on the hill that overlooked their hometown was the special place he’d told her about earlier that day.

  “Should I ask if you were impressed by my mad fighting skills?” Sophie waited for him to turn around before she moved any further.

  “Get over here, Laila Ali.” He opened his arms to her and she eagerly walked into his embrace.

  “I’m sorry I missed the parade.”

  “Don’t worry. My mother took plenty of pictures.” Sam kissed the top of her head and sighed with relief that the Judge was able to get her out of the trouble she had created for herself.

  “God, you must think I’m such a mess.”

  He stepped back and cupped her jaw with his left palm. “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met — eons away from a mess. You have no idea how sexy the sight of you taking that guy down was to me.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, really.” Sam leaned in and gave her a soft kiss. “I love you, Sophie. You could beat the crap out of the whole Halston Police Force and it wouldn’t change a thing.”

  Sophie’s breath caught in her throat at his declaration, but she knew she had to tell him how she felt. “Maybe later, Crawford. I think I’d like to watch some fireworks with the man I love.”

  The fireworks burst through the air and illuminated their faces with shades of blue and purple light.

  Sophie placed her hands on his chest as his fingers threaded through her hair.

  “I think we’ve got some fireworks of our own going on right here.” Sam kissed her once again.

  “I think you’re right.”

  Epilogue

  Three years later

  “Ophie?”

  Sophie turned from her laptop to find her two-year-old sister, Addison, approaching with a sleepy look in her eyes. “Hey, did you have a good nap?”

  “Yep. Where Am?” Addison was still having trouble with the elusive letter S. Sophie was Ophie and Sam was Am just for her.

  “Painting in his studio. He’s making a special picture for Mom and Dad’s anniversary. Remember the party we’re having?”

  Addison nodded, then held her arms up indicating Sophie needed to pick her up.

  Once Addison was settled in Sophie’s lap, she began to ask more questions. “Tell me about you and Am’s party. I don’t ‘member.”

  Addison had been the flower girl at Sam and Sophie’s wedding at just fourteen months old. Sophie had told her the story several times in the last few months since Addison discovered herself in their wedding pictures.

  “It was on Valentine’s Day. You wore that red and black dress with little roses all over it. I wore a white dress with lace that Mom and Shannon helped me pick out.” Sophie had taken to calling Abby ‘Mom’ to keep the confusion down for Addison. Abby was thrilled, regardless of the reason.

  “Am wa’ red!” Addison clapped and bounced on Sophie’s lap as she remembered the small detail.

  “Yes, Sam wore a red tie like his Dad, Robert, and Drew. And Shannon, Lexi, and Caroline wore red dresses.”

  “Red flower!” It was all coming back to Addison.

  “Red roses, yes. See, you remember.”

  On their first Valentine’s Day together, Sam proposed over bacon cheeseburgers at their favorite diner. They were married in a small church ceremony the following year. With Sam’s proposal came a new opportunity for both of them: a move back home.

  Halston was where they belonged, even if it was such a short drive from Kansas City. They’d found a house not far from her father’s and moved in before she took a job as the school nurse at Halston Middle School.

  By that time, Sam had left his job at Lakeland and was devoting all his time to his art. It paid off in spades during his first showing at a small gallery in Kansas City. He caught the eye of a critic from New York and was soon selling paintings faster than he could paint them. He was even commissioned for a few. Sophie was still his favorite subject, made obvious by the portrait of her that hung in their living room.

  “Then we had a party with lots of cake. You got it all over your dress and we had to strip you down to your diaper. We danced and sang and had the best time.”

  “Yeah,” Addison sighed as she cuddled into her sister’s arms. “I want a party.”

  “When you turn three, we’ll throw a big party.” She kissed the top of Addison’s head.

  Sophie turned her head when she heard the door from the studio close.

  “How are my two favorite girls?” Sam asked before giving them each a kiss.

  “Good,” Sophie answered. “This one just woke up from her nap. Just in time, too. Dad will be here soon.”

  “I’m finished for today. I’m going to go clean up.”

  Sophie frowned and let out a little pout. He knew how much she loved getting him clean after one of his sessions, but with Addison there, her favorite pastimes would have to wait.

  “Next time.” Sam winked before running up the stairs to wash away the evidence of his work.

  Not a minute later, Sophie heard a car park in the driveway. Addison scurried off Sophie’s lap to see who it was.

  “Daddy!” Addison screamed and pounded on the front window.

  Sophie walked to the front door and opened it to see her father running up the front steps.

  “Hi, Daddy,” both girls sang when he reached the doorway.

  Addison jumped into the Judge’s arms as soon as the door was shut. “Hey, baby.”

  He kissed the top of Addison’s head.

  “Hey, baby,” he repeated, smiling and kissing Sophie’s cheek. Despite the huge age difference, both of the Judge’s girls were his babies.

  “Thanks for watching her today,” the Judge said as he juggled Addison and tried to sit down on the couch.

  “You know it’s not a problem. This is the time of year when I have the most free time.” July was her only real break for the school year. June was full of wrapping the year up, while August was spent preparing for the next one.

  “You’ll never guess who I saw at the pharmacy yesterday.”

  Sophie froze mid-step. Did he see me? she wondered. When she looked up to see his brow furrow and his eyes squinting, she knew he had.

  “Are you going to tell me if I’m going to be a grandfather soon?”

  “Sssh.” Sophie sat down on the couch next to Addison and their father. “Sam doesn’t know yet. I went to the doctor this morning after I took the test last night. I’m trying to think of a way to tell him.”

  After everything that had happened with Josh, she was afraid she might not be able to get pregnant. Turns out, Sophie wasn’t the problem.

  She finally got her closure with Josh not long after she and Sam got together. He explained that at the end of their relationship, he was fighting off depression. Josh admitted taking Ken’s advice was the worst thing he could have done, and that he knew he should have confided in Sophie. After they broke up, he went and got himself tested. It turned out he had a low sperm count and was the cause of the lack of conception.

  After their talk, Josh was finally able to pull himself out of his depression with the help of his therapist and the right medication. Last Sophie had heard, he had taken a job in Chicago and was doing well.

  “You could blurt it out like Abby did,” the Judge suggested, but then shook his hea
d. “No, don’t do that. I almost had a heart attack.”

  “Maybe …” Sophie took Addison from her father’s lap and placed her on her own. “Would you like to help me with a present for Sam?”

  Addison giggled and nodded.

  “Okay, this is what we’ll do.”

  The next morning, Sophie took the time while Sam was out of the house to finish the project she had started with the Judge and Addison.

  It was ready and waiting under a cloaked canvas when Sam arrived home that afternoon.

  “What could you have to show me in my studio?” Sam questioned with a laugh.

  “Come on. Addison helped me put it together.” Sophie was nervous, but happy that she didn’t have to keep the secret from him any longer.

  Sam noticed the covered canvas on his easel the moment they walked into the studio. Several scenarios raced through his mind, one staring the darling two-year-old getting paint on some of his current projects.

  “Since we’re celebrating Dad and Abby’s wedding anniversary with a painting, I thought we should celebrate our dating anniversary with one, too.”

  Sophie pulled the cover off the canvas that turned out to be a poem carefully written in Sophie’s beautiful script with colorful hand and footprints cascading down beside the words.

  “Read it,” Sophie encouraged.

  Sam smiled as he scanned the words painted in bright colors.

  I want to introduce to you

  Someone I wish you to meet right now

  But my brain seems to be quite askew

  And I really don’t know how

  I thought of all the creative ways

  To finally let you know

  That in about two hundred and forty days

  I’ll have something special to bestow

  It seems like we’ve waited such a very long time

  To make all of our dreams come true

  There is no reason or no rhyme

  But that’s always been the story of me and you

  Another adventure is about to start

  In our journey as husband and wife

  You and I will be a part

  Of molding a new life

  A little bit of pink or blue

  It doesn’t matter to me