He swung the binoculars to the left and almost dropped them.
“Sophie.”
He understood she was in mourning. He was trying to give her space. But had she cut him out of her life without telling him?
After two full days of torturous silence, he knew he loved her. Jack hadn’t realized he could feel this alone. This isolated. It was as if she’d been his anchor and now he was adrift.
“Jack, you are such an idiot. You’re in love with her. And you haven’t told her.”
Frenchie barked.
He smiled. “I think we should go visit Beau.”
Frenchie barked again and ran to the kitchen, where Jack had hung her leash on the hook by the door.
* * *
SOPHIE SAT ON an American flag beach towel wearing her black halter one-piece and the cover-up that Mrs. Beabots had loaned her. In her ears were large gold hoops that glistened in the sun. Mrs. Beabots sat nearby in a striped canvas fold-up chair. She handed Sophie a tube of Italian sunscreen.
“Use this, dear. It’s the best.”
“My mother uses this,” Sophie said, squirting out a dab and rubbing it into her arms. As she handed the tube back to Mrs. Beabots, she spotted Jack heading directly toward them.
Maddie spotted him, too. “Hey, Jack! Come join us!”
Beau jumped up from Sarah’s side and bounded toward Frenchie. Jack laughed. “You don’t mind if we crash?” He held up a large bag. “I brought veggie sticks.”
Luke smiled. “There’s another towel next to Sophie.”
Sophie held her hand over her eyes, pretending to block out the sun, but she was actually trying to hide her frown. Jack was the last person she wanted to see. He’d called her. Texted. Emailed. She’d successfully avoided him for two days. She didn’t want to see him, yet his smile lightened her spirit instantly.
She leaned over to Mrs. Beabots. “Why do I feel like this is a setup?”
Mrs. Beabots didn’t take her eyes from the lake. “This is what friends are for, dear. Giving fate a little push.”
Jack let Frenchie off her leash and immediately the little dog raced over to Sophie and jumped into her arms.
Jack sat down and pulled his knees to his chest. He looked at Sophie. “Is it okay if I sit here?”
“Sure,” she replied, unable to stop her smile as Frenchie licked her.
Jack leaned closer. “I’ve been trying to talk to you for days. I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about Jeremy.”
Sophie stroked Frenchie’s head. “You heard?”
He nodded and gently touched her arm, letting his hand linger for a long moment. “I’m here for you, Sophie. If you need someone to talk to.”
His tone and expression were sincere. She believed him. At least at the moment. But what about weeks from now? Months or years? Was it possible for either of them to get past their grief? About Aleah, about Jeremy...?
“Jack...thanks. I—” A loud bang brought all conversations to a stop.
Rafe was standing in front of them, hitting a cast-iron skillet with a metal barbecue fork.
Mrs. Beabots winked and whispered, “Here it comes.”
It?
“May I have your attention?” Rafe spread his arms wide, his red-and-white Hawaiian shirt flapping in the breeze.
“What’s going on?” Jack asked Sophie.
She replied with a shrug.
“With my mother, my brothers, my sisters-in-law, Sam, and all my good and dear friends present...” Rafe continued. Then he reached out and pulled Olivia to her feet.
Olivia gasped, noticing something behind them. Sophie turned to see Olivia’s mother, Julia, walking toward them carrying a multi-tiered cake.
“Right on cue, Julia!” Rafe laughed.
Mrs. Beabots beamed widely. “Cat’s out of this bag!” She clapped her hands together and then placed them over her mouth.
Sophie reached over and put her hand on her knee. Mrs. Beabots was crying.
“What are you doing, Rafe?” Olivia asked.
Rafe dropped to his knee and held Olivia’s hands.
“For real?” Olivia’s eyes filled with tears. “Rafe?”
“In front of all our friends and family, including your mother, Olivia will you be my wife? Marry me?”
Olivia sank to the sand, flung her arms around Rafe’s neck and shouted loud enough for the swimmers in the lake to hear, “Yes! A million times, yes!”
Mrs. Beabots continued crying. Sophie applauded and smiled as everyone whooped, hollered and jumped up to congratulate the couple.
Sophie was surprised at her own joy. Mrs. Beabots squeezed her hand so tightly, she fleetingly wondered if she’d be left with a bruise or two.
“Isn’t it wonderful?” Sophie gushed, and then turned to see Jack’s sour expression. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Me? Uh, nothing.”
“Yes, there is. We just witnessed one of life’s most exciting moments and you look like you just watched a bad movie.”
He sighed. “Can we go for a walk?”
Sophie had the feeling that being alone with Jack probably wasn’t a good idea. She was heartsick and grieving over Jeremy and she was on the verge of believing that it would be best if she and Jack went their separate ways.
Frenchie had jumped out of Sophie’s arms and was carrying on a tête-à-tête with Beau. She wished she could be as trusting and as carefree as the two dogs.
“Okay, let’s walk.”
Jack hooked the leash to Frenchie’s collar and they moved away from their friends. Sophie noticed that Jack’s face softened. “So are you going to tell me what upset you about Rafe and Olivia?”
He scoffed. “I just thought Rafe’s proposal was too, well, stagy. It was just as you said, I felt like I was watching a play.”
“Well, I thought it was sweet. It was all for his family and close friends. Obviously, Olivia didn’t have a clue, so no one outed him beforehand. Even her mother was in on it.” Sophie remembered seeing yellowed photographs of her parents’ engagement party. There had been a big dinner at the farm. Her aunt and uncle had been alive at the time. And her grandfather. The table was piled with food, flowers and wine bottles. “To be honest, it made me think of my parents.”
“Oh? That’s how people in your family would propose?”
She nodded. “Yes, Jack. That’s exactly how my family would have done it.” She glanced at him.
He had a serious expression on his face, but he stayed quiet.
“Not your family’s way, is it?” she offered.
“I just think there should be some romance, you know? And spontaneity. I’d just do it differently, if it was me, I mean.”
“Olivia was happy...” Sophie paused, wondering if Jack was trying to say something without saying it. Why was he suddenly so interested in how people proposed?
If he was thinking they had a future together, it was going to make what she had to say to him even tougher. Maybe impossible.
Sophie’s insides felt as if they’d been ripped apart. Why should talking to Jack be so difficult? This morning she’d convinced herself they were simply not right for each other. There was too much between them. Jack stopped and took her arm. “Sophie, I’m so deeply sorry about Jeremy.”
Sophie had to snap her thoughts back to the present. He was trying to be empathetic. She nodded. “I know, Jack. I believe you. And I’ve thought a lot about, well, everything over the past few days. Especially about you and me.”
Jack moved closer and lowered his head to hers. “What have you thought?”
Sophie choked back the burning emotion in her throat. She wrung her sweating hands and then stuck them behind her back. Her mouth had gone dry.
“Jack, it’s going to take me a mi
nute to get this out, but please, bear with me.”
“Okay...” he replied hesitantly. She could hear a measure of fear slipping into his voice.
She wanted to cry, but prayed the tears wouldn’t come. “You and I will never agree about certain things. We were brought together by an accident and I don’t believe we can get past what happened. We’ve both tried, but I believe that deep down you still think I could have handled things differently.” He opened his mouth to speak, but she held up her hand. “Let me say this, please.”
“Okay.”
“I’ve realized I’m more than just a little invested in this fight against drugs. Jeremy’s death proved that to me. I’m going to do more to help addicts in the future, not less. And I know I can do it. I have the education and the energy and, most importantly, I’ll be dedicated to it.” She swept her arm toward their friends still sitting on the beach. “I look over there at Timmy and Annie Bosworth and I know that in a few years, older kids or drug dealers are going to approach them. I want to prepare kids like them. I want them to know how to resist. How to fight back. What to do.”
Tears streamed down Sophie’s cheeks as she continued. “Jack, all my life I’ve only wanted one thing from a man, and I never got it.”
“What’s that?”
“Support. A man who’s all in. That’s what I need. Looking back on my life, I see now that I wasn’t just having fun flirting or seeing how many different guys I could date. The reason I never settled on anyone was that I sniffed out their interests in seconds. Frankly, I was too serious for most of them. I only thought I had a chance with Nate Barzonni because he was a doctor. That was as close as I ever came to finding someone who would support my earnest intentions.”
Jack pursed his lips. “And I don’t measure up, do I?”
Sophie felt the last shreds of her heart rip into pieces. She could be making the worst mistake of her life. Or she could be staunching a wound before it bled out. She and Jack could have a fling, a summer romance, but a year from now, they’d still be at odds. Whenever she brought up the Alliance, or an addict she was working with, she’d be hurting him all over again.
“Jack, we’ve danced around your guilt about Aleah. Until you address it and deal with it, you’ll always blame me. Each time, I’d risk losing you.”
Jack looked stricken, then his expression hardened. “I have nothing to say to that. And nothing more to say to you.”
“Fine.”
Sophie stood on the sand and watched Jack walk away with Frenchie, her rhinestone leash and collar glinting in the sun. She couldn’t stop the sobs. They erupted in aching peals that she suffocated by shoving her hands over her mouth. Her tears seared her cheeks. She’d just sent away the man she loved, and in her heart she knew she’d never meet another man like Jack again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
SOPHIE RETURNED TO the beach, where she expected to find everyone gathered around Olivia and Rafe still congratulating them. Instead, she felt she’d walked into the middle of a cyclone.
Blankets and towels were being whisked into the air, twirling sand spirals in their wake. Beau barked at Annie and Timmy, who were picking up their pails and toys, while Sarah put away the food. Nate raced across the sand toward the parking lot, while Liz leaned against Gabe. Was he holding her upright?
Mrs. Beabots, normally the most sane person in a crisis, was handing Liz a towel.
“Liz?” Sophie asked. “What’s going on?”
“My water broke.”
“She’s having a baby!” Mica shouted, handing Gina a basket of food. Rafe had grabbed the cooler. “We have to get her to the hospital.”
“Not right this second!” Liz grimaced in pain. She dropped the towel and pressed both hands to her stomach. “Oh, Gabe!”
From what Sophie could see, the entire entourage of capable, take-charge Barzonni men were all out of their element.
“We gotta get her to the car!” Gabe yelled.
“Carry her, idiot,” Rafe shouted.
Gabe hoisted Liz into his strong arms and shouted to Mica. “Where’s your camera? We wanted a video, remember?”
“Be careful with her. She’s precious cargo!” Mica exclaimed and started to record on his iPhone.
Mrs. Beabots looked to Sophie. “I’ve never had children. I haven’t the slightest what to do.”
“Nobody panic,” Sophie said calmly but firmly. “Has the pain passed?” she asked Liz.
Liz nodded as Sarah took her other arm and Maddie brought up a stack of folded towels.
“Now, let’s walk to the car,” Sophie suggested. “Gabe, check your watch and let’s time how far apart the contractions are. If her water just broke, they could start coming quickly.”
Nate raced up, one flip-flop in his hand, one on his foot. “Car’s running. Let’s hurry.”
Sophie shook her head, resolving that she’d never have a video when she gave birth. Someday.
Thankfully, Liz made it to the car before the next pain hit.
“We’ll see you all at the hospital. Hurry!”
“Oh, my heavens!” Gina slapped her hands against her cheeks and buried her face in Sam’s shoulder. “We’re going to be grandparents.”
“You ride with me. I’ll check that we’ve gotten everything from the beach,” Sam offered.
“No!” Mica said, turning off his phone. “Rafe and I will gather it all and put it in my truck. You guys get to the hospital. Help Gabe if he needs it.”
Sophie took Mrs. Beabots’s arm. “I’ll drive you home.”
“You’ll do no such thing! We’re going straight to that hospital and we’re not leaving till the baby is born. We’re family. And that’s what family does.”
Sophie didn’t argue.
By the time they all traipsed through the ER entrance, Liz had been taken up to Delivery. They crowded into the elevator, with only Luke, who had taken Beau home, missing from their ranks. Sarah held Annie and Timmy’s hands.
“This is really cool,” Annie said, grinning up at Sarah.
“Yeah, when can we have a baby brother?” Timmy asked.
“Sister,” Annie argued.
Sarah stifled a smile.
When the elevator doors opened, Gabe was emerging from Liz’s room.
“Rafe! Mica! Mom! Everybody!” he shouted, rushing up to them. “You won’t believe this, but Liz says she’s been in labor since this morning and didn’t tell me because she didn’t want to miss Rafe’s proposal. She said it was too romantic to miss.” His dumbfounded expression said it all, Sophie thought.
“The doctor’s in there. I’m going back in.” He shot Mica a stern look. “And no, Mica, Liz decided not to film the birth.”
Sophie suppressed a chuckle. “I know just where to get some half-decent coffee.”
“I’ll come with you,” Maddie said. “We’ll need extra carriers with this group. Sarah, you want juice boxes for the kids?”
“Please,” Sarah replied.
Sophie and Maddie went to the cafeteria and ordered coffees, waters, sandwiches for the kids and a fruit plate for everyone to share.
“So, you disappeared with Jack and then he didn’t come back.” Maddie ventured a guess. “Is everything okay between you two?”
“Between us?”
“Yeah. You know. Like did you have a fight?”
Sophie wasn’t sure how to answer. They hadn’t fought. They hadn’t made up. They’d dissolved.
Maddie pressed further. “Sophie, I’d have to be blind not to see that you’ve got it bad for Jack. Katia says he’s crazy about you, too.”
“She does? He’s never said a word.”
“Yeah. I know a lot of guys like that. I now happen to be related to a bunch of them.” She laughed. “The stories I could tell
you about Barzonni men...” She waved her hand to shake off the tangent. “So, about Jack. Can you fix it?”
“I don’t know.” Sophie felt another painful fissure open in her heart that no suture could mend.
* * *
SOPHIE HAD FOUND a children’s magazine in the family lounge and was reading a story to Annie and Timmy when Gabe flung the door to Liz’s room open. “It’s a boy! Come on, everybody! Come see my son!”
As they all jumped to their feet, Sophie was struck with the thought that this was joy. For days she’d been mired in grief, but life went on. And with life came blessings and joy. And love.
“What’s the baby’s name?” Mrs. Beabots asked as they all pushed past Gabe to go inside.
“Angelo Ezekiel. After my dad. Mom was always big on angel names for her sons, too. We thought we’d carry on the tradition.”
Mrs. Beabots nodded approvingly. “I like that.”
Sophie stood with the magazine in her hand. Slowly, she dropped it and turned to leave.
“Hey!” Gabe said. “Sophie. Where’re you going?”
Pointing her thumb over her shoulder she said, “I should head out.”
“No way. Come see my boy. You’re family now.”
Sophie’s face crumpled and her tears didn’t have a chance to well up. They just fell. Friendship, coming from Gabe. The guy she’d once flirted with so brazenly. Whose brother she’d pursued, as well. “Are you sure? That you want me in there?”
He walked over to her with a smile on his face that could have broken through the darkest night. “I’m sure. So is Liz. We all are.” He put his arm around her shoulder. “You’re a good friend, Sophie.”
“So are you, Gabe.”
They walked arm and arm into a room so crowded with love, Sophie knew she was right where she was meant to be.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
JACK CARTER HAD never liked the word no. His mother told him that even when he was a toddler, she’d had the battle of the century with him each time she’d used the word. Barry claimed that Jack was a stellar salesman because he never took “no” for an answer. In fact, Jack started his own company because the corporations he’d worked for had tried to pigeonhole him. Tell him “no.” He pushed harder and longer for just about everything because he was arrogant enough to defy anyone who tried to stop him from getting what he wanted.
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