by Debbie Mason
Sophie moved toward the ambulance. “Excuse me,” she said to the paramedic, and crouched in front of her daughter. “Mia, look at Mommy.” Her daughter doggedly stared at her sparkly blue tennis shoes, swinging them back and forth. “Baby, you’re okay. You won’t have to go back to the hospital, I promise.” Usually that would be enough to get her daughter to acquiesce. But Mia didn’t seem as worried about a return visit to the hospital—maybe because they were no longer in LA. If Sophie didn’t need the reassurance her daughter was okay, she’d probably cave. She cast an apologetic glance at Liam before saying, “They just have to check to make sure that Mr. Gallagher did his job and protected you from the smoke. You don’t want him to get in trouble, do you?”
Mia stopped swinging her feet and looked up from under her long lashes at Liam. She shook her head and obediently opened her mouth for the paramedic.
Liam held Sophie’s gaze. “Thanks, Mia, but you don’t have to worry about Mr. Gallagher. My dad won’t get in trouble. He’s been chief for as long as there’s been a fire station in Harmony Harbor.”
Sophie wasn’t sure if he was giving her a shot because she’d called him Mr. Gallagher or because she’d lied to her daughter. He’d always been a stickler for the truth. Liam and Marco had gotten into trouble at least once a week when they were younger thanks to Liam’s unwillingness to lie. It’d driven her brother nuts.
She twisted her hand around her wrist, thinking of the lies she’d told so far and how many more she’d have to tell in the future to protect herself and her daughter. Obviously she was projecting. Liam would understand that she’d been using him as an excuse to get Mia to comply with the paramedics. But when Mia pinned Sophie with a look she knew all too well, she was feeling less than kindly disposed to her daughter’s hero.
“Not quite that long, son,” his father said dryly.
Liam shrugged. She wasn’t sure if he meant the dismissive gesture for her scowl or his father’s sarcasm.
The paramedic removed the tube from Mia’s mouth and smiled. “All good. In the normal range.” Her daughter jumped off the back of the ambulance, and Liam went to stand up. “Oh no you don’t,” the thirtysomething brunette said to Liam. “Lift your shirt, hot stuff, and let me have a look.”
Liam laughed. “Yeah, not happening. I’m good, Kris.”
“So I’ve heard.” She gave him a flirty wink. Then, with gloved fingers, motioned for him to lift his T-shirt. “Your dad asked me to check you out. Don’t be embarrassed if you got a little flabby while you were convalescing. We won’t tell anyone, will we, Daff?” she said to the other paramedic who approached the ambulance.
“My lips are sealed. Just hang on a sec, and I’ll give you a hand.” The woman grinned as she started to unload her supplies in the ambulance.
Sophie’s irritation with Liam for Mia’s reproachful look faded at the reminder he’d been shot.
“You two so hard up you’re getting unsuspecting men to strip for you now? You know, there’s a club—” He winced as though remembering Mia was there and hanging on his every word.
Sophie needed to know he was okay and intervened. “Liam, maybe you should let them check you over. You were carrying Mia, and with all your equipment…”
“Soph, Mia probably weighs—” Giving his head a slight, frustrated shake, he tugged up his T-shirt. “Happy now?”
Sophie hoped his question wasn’t directed at her. She doubted she could respond even if she wanted to. And it wasn’t because of the small, puckered scar on the left side of his stomach. The ridges of taut muscle and a tantalizing, narrow trail of dark hair that disappeared beneath his turnout pants were messing with her head…and other parts of her anatomy. Parts that hadn’t been messed with in a long time.
The paramedics moved in, spoiling the sigh-inducing view. Sophie leaned to the left.
Kris glanced over her shoulder with a knowing grin. “Looks pretty good, don’t you think?” the paramedic asked Sophie.
“Yes.” The word came out as an embarrassing croak, and she cleared her throat. “Really, really good.”
Chapter Three
Sophie glanced in the rearview mirror as she drove the gas-guzzling, white Cadillac past Greystone’s open gates. Liam and his perfect abs were getting into the fire truck. She was pretty sure her face had gone the same color as the engine when she’d shared her personal opinion of his chiseled six-pack. She couldn’t say what his reaction had been to her embarrassing croak or equally embarrassing “Really, really good.” Marco had shown up and Liam had jumped at the chance to get out of there, accompanying her brother to retrieve Sophie’s car. A brother who’d made it clear she had some explaining to do.
Marco, who sat in the passenger seat, kept glancing back at Mia. “So what happened to the kid? Why doesn’t she talk?”
“Marco!” One of the toughest things about living in LA had been how much she’d missed her family, particularly her brothers. But at Marco’s insensitive question, she was beginning to wonder if she’d idealized them over the past eight years.
“What? It’s a legitimate question.”
“Yes, when we’re alone. And stop calling her ‘kid.’ Her name’s Mia,” Sophie whispered, meeting her daughter’s eyes in the rearview mirror. She faked a bright smile. “You okay, baby?”
“Seriously? She’s been sitting in pee for the last hour. How do you think she is?”
Sophie shot him an I-don’t-believe-you glare.
He had the good sense to look sheepish. “It’s okay, kid. No biggie. Your mother used to wet the bed. Didn’t you, Chunk?” Marco rubbed Sophie’s head.
She grinded her teeth and pushed her hair from her eyes. “We don’t say things like that.”
“How come?”
Sophie didn’t bother sharing her opinion on words that promote a negative body image. Marco wouldn’t get it. Moreover, he wouldn’t care. Which made the prospect of living under the same roof as her brother and grandmother worrisome at best. Rosa didn’t have a filter either. “Did you let Nonna know we were coming?”
Sophie worried the inside of her bottom lip, hoping he didn’t ask why she hadn’t. Her cell phone had run out of minutes two days before, and she didn’t have any room on her credit card to top it up. But that excuse wouldn’t fly with her brother, and she didn’t want to tell him the truth; she’d been afraid they wouldn’t want her and Mia.
“Nope, Harmony Harbor’s grapevine was working overtime. She called me when Liam and I were getting gas for your car. Pretty sweet ride, sister mine. You must be doing well in Cali-forn-i-ay.”
Sophie winced. She may have embellished a bit on her phone calls home. In her defense, she didn’t want them to worry about her. “It’s not mine. It belongs to Mom’s boyfriend.”
Her brother’s teasing expression faded. “Does it now. And how is Mother Dearest?”
She wasn’t Tina’s biggest fan at the moment, but Sophie had legitimate reasons for her problems with her mother. All Tina had done to Marco was leave Harmony Harbor and their father. But, in her brother’s eyes, Tina was responsible for tearing their family apart. The reason Lucas had joined the military and basically disappeared from their lives. Kind of like Sophie had for eight years. So she supposed she didn’t have a right to pass judgment on Marco and his hostility toward Tina. After all, he’d been the one left behind to take care of Rosa and the deli.
Like always, though, Sophie felt the need to come to her mother’s defense. Maybe because in a way she was defending her own actions. “Might be time to bury the hatchet, brother mine. Dad seems pretty happy with his new family.” Ouch, that had come out a little sharper than she’d intended.
Her brother opened his mouth, glanced back at Mia then closed it with a noncommittal grunt. Sophie realized he’d never mentioned if Rosa was happy about them being in town. “So what did Nonna say?” she asked, steeling herself for his response.
“Seeing as how she hasn’t seen you in eight years and her arch nemesis saw you firs
t, what do you think?”
Her fingers tightened on the steering wheel. Kitty and Rosa’s long-standing feud was the stuff of legends in Harmony Harbor. No one seemed to know what had happened between the two older women, but they couldn’t be in the same room without sparks flying. Rosa was the worst. If she had her way, she’d run the Gallaghers out of town. Little tough to do seeing as they were Harmony Harbor royalty. The feud between her grandmother and Kitty had been one of the reasons why Sophie had left town with her mother when she’d found out she was pregnant.
“It’s not like I could help where my car broke down,” she defended herself as she drove past the town hall and copper-domed clock tower situated on the hill overlooking the harbor with its rugged shoreline. She used to spend her summers exploring the hidden coves and salt marshes, hanging out at the sandy beaches and hunting for sea glass.
She took a moment to absorb the view that she’d taken for granted for eighteen years. She didn’t realize until that moment how much she’d missed her hometown. Founded in the early seventeenth century by William Gallagher, Harmony Harbor was steeped in maritime history. Its twisty, narrow streets were lined with homes once owned by sea captains and merchants—Colonials, Cape Cods, and Victorians. The family-owned boutiques, art galleries, pubs, and gift shops were housed in quaint sea-foam-green and ocean-blue clapboards on Main Street.
But even more than the scenic beauty of Harmony Harbor, she’d missed the friendly, relaxed atmosphere…and her grandmother. She twisted her hands on the wheel and glanced at her brother. “Aside from us ending up at Greystone, is Nonna at least happy we’re here?” she asked as she turned down the familiar street.
Marco lifted his chin. “See for yourself.”
Her grandmother paced the brick sidewalk in front of DiRossi’s Fine Foods, the Italian grocery store and deli that Rosa had started as a single mother of three preschoolers. Which pretty much made her a rock star in Sophie’s eyes.
Over her navy dress and white apron, her grandmother wore a pink sweater, her hands gripping the edges tight, a pair of pink fuzzy slippers on her feet. “She looks good,” Sophie said past the lump in her throat.
“Yeah, she does,” her brother agreed with a fond smile.
As a young woman, Rosa DiRossi had been movie-star beautiful. In Sophie’s mind, she still was at seventy-three. Her cheekbones were high and prominent, just like her proud Roman nose. Her eyes were dark and exotic with lashes so long you’d think they were fake. She wore her dark, curly hair loose and to her shoulders. The curls were natural, the color…not so much. It suited her, though.
“Still a pain in the culo,” her brother added as Sophie pulled in front of the red Colonial that housed the deli on the main floor and the DiRossi family apartment above.
At least her brother said ass in Italian. Maybe she wouldn’t have to warn him about his language after all.
“Jesus, Ma!” he yelled at their grandmother when she yanked the back car door open before they’d come to a full stop.
Rosa cuffed him on the back of his head. “There’s a bambina. Watch your mouth,” she said then pressed her hands to her chest and stared at Mia, her eyes shiny and wet. Sophie blinked back tears of her own and got out of the car, walking around to where her grandmother stood murmuring, “Molto bella. She has the face of an angel.” Rosa lifted the gold crucifix she wore at her neck to her lips and kissed it then held out her arms. “Come, come to your nonna, bambina.”
“I have to help Mia out of her booster seat, Nonna. The seat belt is finicky.”
Her grandmother straightened and slowly turned, her dark eyes roaming Sophie’s face before she pulled her in for a fierce hug. “It’s been too long, bella. Too, too long.”
“I know, Nonna,” Sophie said, hanging on just as tight. She sniffed into her grandmother’s neck, breathing in the familiar scent of lemons.
Rosa pulled back and took Sophie’s face in her hands. “You’re home now. That’s all that matters, sí?”
Everything inside Sophie went weak at her grandmother’s easy acceptance. They were welcome here. They had a home, and they were safe. “Sí.” Before she went to take Mia out of the car, Sophie thought it best to warn her grandmother or she’d no doubt comment on the smell. She whispered what had happened at the manor.
Rosa flung her hands in the air. “Poor bambina. What was Kitty thinking? Fog machines! Foolish old woman.”
Afraid her grandmother would ask too many questions in front of Mia, Sophie looked at her brother, nudging her head in her daughter’s direction and touching her mouth. Her brother sighed then nodded. He’d tell Rosa that Mia didn’t speak. Sophie would explain why to them later.
As she fought with the seat belt, Mia leaned around her. She stared at Rosa, who was half talking, half yelling at Marco in Italian, her hands moving as fast as her mouth.
Sophie smiled. “You’ll get used to her, baby.”
Rosa frowned when Sophie placed Mia on the sidewalk. “What do you feed her? She’s too small. Too skinny.”
Sophie had invented a fake father for Mia. A father with beautiful blue eyes who’d died a month before their daughter’s birth. She’d told the story so often to Mia and her mother, and anyone else who asked, that Sophie had almost come to believe it herself. Her mother had been so caught up in herself that it hadn’t been difficult to convince her that Mia was two months premature. But here in Harmony Harbor, that two-month difference might not be enough.
Sophie put her hand behind her back and crossed her fingers. “She’s only six, Nonna. I wasn’t much bigger than she is at six.”
Mia narrowed her eyes at Sophie and crossed her arms. Sophie winced. She’d have to figure out a way to explain the lie to her daughter, but right now, her grandmother was a bigger concern. Rosa’s gaze sharpened as she looked closer at Mia; then she lifted her eyes to Sophie and gave her a brisk nod. “Sí.”
In that brief moment of silent exchange, it felt like her grandmother had uncovered Sophie’s secret, and they’d made a bargain that it would stay that way.
Sophie left the small, cramped bedroom that she and Mia had shared last night to retrieve her contacts from the counter in the bathroom. She’d taken them out before her shower that morning. She lifted the towel beside the sink then bent to search the floor, her eyes landing on the wastebasket. She groaned. Her grandmother had thrown them out, and Sophie didn’t have another pair. She was farsighted and needed them. It looked like she’d be wearing her glasses for the foreseeable future.
“Nonna,” she began as she walked into the kitchen. Her heart practically stopped at the sight of her daughter at the gas stove. She raced across the pale yellow linoleum floor and grabbed Mia off the chair, hugging her tight to her chest. “What were you thinking?” she yelled at her grandmother. “I told you what happened. I told you—” Mia looked at her, her small face pale, her blue eyes wide, and Sophie choked down the rest of her panicked outburst. Weak-kneed, she moved to the kitchen table and sat down with Mia on her lap.
Rosa looked at her like she was crazy. “What’s the matter with you? I’m right here. We were heating up soup for lunch.” She threw up her hands and turned back to the stove.
Sophie couldn’t believe her grandmother didn’t understand why she was upset. Once Mia had been bathed, fed, and tucked into bed last night, Sophie had sat at this very table and told her grandmother and brother what had happened. Sure, she’d left out some details—like that her mother had left Mia alone and that Sophie had been arrested for child endangerment. Unwilling to give Rosa and Marco another reason to hate her mother, she’d told them the sitter hadn’t shown up. As for the arrest, she didn’t want to upset or worry them.
But Rosa knew the most important detail of all—that Mia had accidently burned down their apartment and nearly lost her life trying to bake a cake. She’d wanted to surprise Sophie. To celebrate Sophie finishing her hotel management degree. Every morning in the month leading up to the big day, Mia’d check off the cal
endar on the fridge, and they’d do a silly little dance around the postage stamp–sized kitchen.
It was the day their lives should have changed for the better, but obviously it hadn’t worked out that way. The police had pulled Sophie out of her final exam and arrested her because Tina hadn’t been at the apartment when Mia got home from school like she’d promised. She’d been at a hot yoga class.
Sophie pressed her face into Mia’s hair, breathing in the sweet scent in order to calm her racing heart. Mia didn’t squirm and wriggle to get away. “Sorry, baby,” she whispered, loosening her hold to stroke her daughter’s hair. She glanced at her grandmother’s stiff back. She wore her pink slippers, navy dress, and white apron, talking to herself in Italian as she stirred the big pot of potato, kale, and sausage soup.
Her grandmother didn’t understand Sophie’s fears, and she wouldn’t try. Mia didn’t inherit her stubbornness from the Gallaghers. Oh no, she got her mule-headedness from the most obstinate woman Sophie had ever known. Now, as a mother, Sophie could almost sympathize with her own. It couldn’t have been easy living and working with Rosa day in and day out…or being married to Rosa’s son. However, until the night Tina had announced she was leaving, Sophie had thought her parents had the perfect marriage. It’s why the divorce had hit her so hard. But from the vantage point of distance and maturity, she could see the signs had been there all along.
Mia wriggled out of Sophie’s arms and hopped off her lap. The powder-blue, sparkly leggings she wore under her Frozen T-shirt bagged at her knees as she walked to the refrigerator. Sophie needed a job. With her first paycheck, she’d buy her daughter clothes that fit and that were better suited to the North Shore’s climate than LA’s. She stood up and tightened the belt of her grandmother’s robe, adding clothes for herself to the list. At least for work. She could make do with the one pair of jeans and two sweatshirts she’d bought at Goodwill before they left California.