by Joanna Sims
“You’re welcome,” he replied, with a hint of sarcasm. He wasn’t about to climb up on the step stool again. Instead, he tossed the box of Band-aids down the length of the counter.
Silently, she rinsed the rag and wrung it out before she turned back to him. “What are you doing here, anyway? Your parents said you wouldn’t be here for another week.”
He almost told her the truth, that he had come home early to see her. That he knew his family was away and she was alone. But he didn’t. Instead, he said plainly, “Change of plans.”
A flash of anger flushed Sophia’s cheeks. “Well, I wish you hadn’t changed your plans. Not if all you intend to do is fight with me the entire time you’re here. If you hadn’t noticed—” she pulled her sweater tightly over her belly and splayed both hands over her stomach “—I’m a little bit busy here with your nephew, and the last thing I need is to have you hanging around, bullying me.”
When she stopped talking, the anger ebbed as quickly as it had risen. The last bit of her energy slipped away with the anger. Suddenly, she felt exhausted. She always felt exhausted now because of the baby, but she did her best to fight it all day long until the fatigue finally won out. Sophia moved over to the table and sat down heavily.
Sophia’s words struck him as if she had slapped him in the face. The last thing he ever expected Sophia to call him was a bully. He raised an eyebrow at her. “Bullying you?”
He would have joined her at the table, but his leg was killing him. Instead, he leaned back on the counter and crossed his arms over his chest.
Sophia waved her hand before she rested her chin on it. “All right. Perhaps bullying is the wrong word. But you know what I mean. You’ve always looked for a reason to pick a fight with me. Always. And to tell you the truth, now that Daniel’s gone, I thought things might be different. I thought you might actually make an effort to be nice to me. Stop giving me such a hard time all the time.”
Next to his mother, Sophia was the only person who could easily cut through his B.S. and make him feel like crap. They were the only two women whose opinion actually mattered to him. And she was right. He was doing exactly what he had promised himself he wouldn’t do with her. He had promised himself that he wouldn’t fall into the same old pattern with her. He’d stop looking for reasons to fight with her and handle her gently. Things would be different. He would change his ways and get along with Sophia. That’s what Daniel would have wanted. That’s what he needed to do, for everyone’s sake, including his own.
“Okay.” Luke’s tone was steady and quiet. “We’ve obviously gotten off on the wrong foot here.”
Sophia drew her eyebrows together. “We?”
Luke eyed her, blew out his breath and then started over. “Okay...I got off on the wrong foot here. Let me go upstairs, take a shower. We’ll try it again later.”
Sophia nodded. Seemed like a good idea. The two of them were going to be under the same roof for the next month or so. They were going to have to learn how to get along. She was willing, if he was willing. “I’m in Daniel’s room. Your mom fixed up your room for you, of course. We’re sharing the bathroom. That a problem for you?”
“No.” He took a step forward, but stopped abruptly. A sharp pain ripped through his left thigh.
Sophia saw Luke’s tanned face pale as he bent over to put his hand on his leg. She forced herself to stand up. “Should you be walking around so much? Why don’t you have a cane?”
Luke straightened upright and took in a deep breath through his nose. He should be using his cane, but he had some stupid notion that he didn’t want Sophia to see him with it. He hadn’t wanted her to think he was weak. Screw it! She was going to see him use it eventually anyway. It might as well be now. It had to be now. “It’s in the hall. With my bag.”
Sophia went into the hall, grabbed the cane and brought it to Luke. “A whole heck of a lot of good it was doing you over there.”
Luke leaned on the cane. He suddenly looked beat. “I don’t like the damn thing.”
Sophia didn’t like Luke’s pallor, or the beads of sweat that had popped out along his forehead. Luke had always been so combative with her, but she still cared about him.
“Do you need help?” she asked.
Luke had to stop himself from snapping at her. He measured his words, regulated his tone. “No. I’ve got it.” Offhandedly, he added, “Thanks.”
Luke slowly made his way to the hallway. He looked between the narrow stairs and his duffel bag at the entrance. He considered leaving the bag behind. His leg was throbbing. He just wanted to get to his room and get off his feet.
“Luke?” Sophia’s voice made him stop.
“Yes?”
“Is your coat meowing?”
Chapter Two
For a moment, Luke stared at Sophia and tried to make sense of her words. Then it hit him. The kitten! “Shit! I mean, shoot!” He was going to have to start watching his mouth in his mother’s house. And in front of Sophia. One raised eyebrow in his direction made Luke acutely aware of Sophia’s displeasure with his use of profanity in her presence. Luke looked down into his gaping pocket at the sleepy-eyed kitten. “Sorry, little guy. You were so frickin’ quiet I forgot all about you.”
“What do you have?” Sophia peeked into his pocket. “A kitten? You have a kitten? Where’d you get him? Or her?”
Luke leaned his cane against the wall and used both hands to scoop the kitten out of his pocket. “It’s a ‘he.’ Billy suckered me into taking him. That ride from the airport wasn’t free.”
“Ah, yes. I’ve heard about Billy and his strays.” Sophia moved closer, her face delighted. She loved kittens. So had Daniel. “Hi,” she said to the kitten. Then, to Luke, “What’s his name?”
Luke examined the kitten, took in his coal-black fur and his giant golden eyes. Black and gold were Ranger colors. “Ranger.” The name popped out of his mouth, and it seemed to fit.
“Ranger,” Sophia repeated. Daniel had been a ranger in the army. Briefly. “I like it. Daniel would have liked it, too. He loved cats.”
Luke put the kitten on his shoulder. “Yes, he did.” He supposed that was the real reason he had decided to keep the little guy. It’s what Dan would have done.
Luke reached for his cane, accidentally pushed it, and the stupid thing slid down the wall and landed on the ground. Sophia and Luke both eyeballed it. With her hands on her hips, Sophia finally said, “I can get myself down there, but I’m gonna need help getting back up.” She patted her bulging belly with a self-effacing smile. “I’m a little top-heavy nowadays.”
Luke used one hand to hold the kitten on his chest. “I’ll get you back up.”
Sophia tilted her head. “Teamwork, then.” She carefully lowered herself down onto her haunches and picked up the cane. With her other hand she reached out and clasped Luke’s outstretched fingers. Luke braced himself and used the strength of his biceps to bring her up steady and smooth. As he pulled her up, while her eyes were averted, Luke took the opportunity to admire the angles of her beautiful face. How many times had her image kept him company while he was away? He knew her face well. He had memorized every landmark years ago. The slightly upturned tip of her nose, the smattering of freckles across the bridge. The honey tone of her skin that perfectly matched the honey highlights in her long, straight hair. Her full mouth. She had married his brother, but he had seen her first. Fell in love with her on the spot. Had loved her ever since; secretly and from a distance. Always from a distance.
“Here ya go.” Sophia handed the cane over and then scratched the back of Ranger’s neck. “Why don’t you leave him with me while you take a shower? I could use the company.”
Luke had been wondering how the heck he was going to get himself, his bag, and now the kitten all upstairs. Her suggestion sounded like a good one. “What about the whole pregnancy-and-cat thing...”
Sophia waved it off. “Oh, please. We’ll just trim his nails so he won’t accidentally scratch me a
nd you’ll handle all the kitty-box duties. My mom had cats when she was pregnant with me, and I turned out fine. Not to worry...”
“All right.” Luke tried to pull Ranger from his shoulder, but the kitten was determined to stay put. Ranger used his claws to cling to Luke’s overcoat as if it was Velcro.
“Here, let me help you.” Sophia carefully extracted Ranger from Luke’s coat. She held him in the crook of her arm and gave Luke the once-over. She moved her finger up and down. “Why do you still have your coat on, anyway? Here, take it off and I’ll hang it up. No sense in you taking it upstairs.”
Luke shrugged out of the overcoat, glad to have it off, and handed it to Sophia. She nodded her approval and hung it up on the coat rack by the door.
“One more thing,” Luke said with a gruff tone. He checked himself and adjusted his tone. “If you don’t mind.”
“Hmm?”
“Drag my bag over here for me, will ya? I’ll get it on my shoulder from here. I don’t want you lifting it. It’s too heavy.”
“No prob.” Sophia dragged the bag over to Luke. She smiled up at him. “Teamwork!” That smile of hers was rarely aimed his way. It caught him off guard, made his stomach clench in response. Without a word, he bent over at the waist and lifted the bag up with a grunt. Once he hooked it onto his shoulder, he headed up the stairs.
“Take your time,” Sophia called after him. “I’ll just close the door to the kitchen so he has to stay in there with me. We’ll see you when you come down.”
* * *
Luke awakened from his nap, groggy and disoriented. At first he didn’t know exactly where he was; it took him a minute to figure it out. He had no idea how long he had slept. All he knew is that it had been light outside when his head hit the pillow and now it was dark. He reached over and fumbled for the lamp on the bedside table. Then he squinted at his watch. It was still on Afghan time. His fuzzy brain calculated the time difference and figured it was closing in on 9:00 p.m.
He couldn’t believe he had slept so long. Nearly six hours. He had popped a couple of pain pills before he crashed on the bed. Those pills must have done the trick; he usually could sleep for only an hour or two at a time.
Luke hung his legs off the side of the bed for a moment before he slid off the mattress. He stripped off the rest of his clothes, undressed his wound and headed for the shower. He examined the antique claw-foot tub, with unreasonably high sides, and worked out the most practical way to get himself in it. Once in the shower, he pressed his hands against the back of the wall and let the steaming water run down his back. The water stung as it hit the wound, but it was a good pain.
As the water pummeled his skin, Luke’s mind drifted, as it often did, to Sophia. She had surprised him. Honestly, he had expected to find a sniffling, hormonal, wretched woman who spent her waking moments blaming him for Dan’s death. He blamed himself, after all, so why shouldn’t she? If he hadn’t chosen a military life, perhaps Dan wouldn’t have joined the army out of the blue. And if he hadn’t joined, he’d still be alive today.
He’d thought for sure that Sophia would blame him. He had counted on it. Planned for it. But she didn’t seem to. And she certainly wasn’t wallowing and weeping. That was a major relief. There were a lot of things that Luke knew how to do. If he had to jump out of a plane to get the job done, he could do it. If something needed to be blown up, not a problem. But comfort a hysterical female? Not his area of expertise.
Luckily for him, Sophia had her act together. He should have known she would. He had no idea what possessed him to doubt her in the first place. Sophia had always been headstrong, determined and upbeat. In the ten years he had known her, he’d never once seen her let life get her down. It was one of the things he had always loved about her. So had Dan, for that matter. Dan and he had disagreed since they were kids, about everything, all of the time. But they had always agreed about the merits of Sophia.
Out of the shower now, Luke dressed the wound, pulled on jeans and a white undershirt. He was starved. He headed downstairs to raid the fridge and see how Sophia and Ranger were getting on.
Sophia was sitting at the table, writing. Ranger was sitting on the table next to her pad of paper, legs tucked up beneath him, eyes closed. He opened his eyes when he heard the kitchen door open, stood up, stretched into a back arch and then sat down on his haunches.
“Mom would have a fit about that,” Luke said. Sophia knew he meant Ranger sitting on the table.
Sophia wrinkled up her nose. “I know.” She sighed, heavily. “I know. But to tell you the truth, I was so impressed with his determination to get up here, I didn’t have the heart to tell him no.”
Luke remembered Ranger’s valiant escape from the box. He had felt the same way. “He has that effect.” Luke moved to the table and reached out to stroke Ranger’s fur. The minute he touched the little guy, he started to purr.
“How’s your finger?”
Sophia held up her bandaged finger. “Still attached. How’s your leg?”
Luke shot her a wry expression. “Still attached.”
Sophia smiled at him, which made the dimple on her left cheek appear.
“What are you doing?” Luke asked. He picked Ranger up and held him next to his heart.
“Making a list of things to do tomorrow. I swear, these lists are the only thing that’s kept me sane while your family is at your uncle’s for Thanksgiving. He’s in pretty bad shape after that surgery he just had. Did you know about that?”
Luke took a seat at the table. He nodded yes.
Sophia clicked the pen so the tip came in and out. “You know, you should really call your folks and let them know you’re here.”
“I’ll let it be a surprise.”
“Okay,” Sophia replied, skeptically. “If you say so. But you know how your mom is....”
“She’ll be fine.”
Sophia made a noise and went back to her list. After a minute, she slapped the pen down on the paper. “Wow. My brain is really fried. You haven’t eaten.” She pushed herself up. “You’ve gotta be famished.”
“I am.”
Sophia opened the refrigerator. She twisted to the side and looked at him. “Chicken and stuffing okay? I made myself a little impromptu Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. Happy belated Thanksgiving, by the way. It’s a bummer you had to spend your holiday traveling.” She paused to take a breath and then continued. “So? Chicken and stuffing okay?”
“That’s fine,” Luke said. You always had to wait for Sophia to come up for air before you spoke. “I can fend for myself, you know. I don’t want you overdoing it on my account. You’re...you know.”
She pulled out some Tupperware. “Pregnant? I know. Kind of obvious. But it’s not like I’m disabled or an invalid.”
Luke’s shoulders stiffened. “Neither am I.”
Ah yes. The infamous Brand family pride. She knew it well. She found it as equally annoying in Luke as she had in Daniel. “You’d think you wouldn’t be so cranky after such a long nap.” Of course, the Brand men were well-known for being impossible to get along with if they were hungry. Sophia stopped what she was doing and leaned back on the counter. “I wasn’t calling you an invalid, but the truth is the truth. Your leg is screwed up. Mine isn’t. So, do you want me to help you out or not?”
The expression on Luke’s face undoubtedly sent his military underlings running for cover. She knew him well enough not to be impressed. “Yes? No? What shall it be, Captain?”
“Do you always have to be so dramatic over every little thing?” Luke answered a question with a question; another Brand family trait.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” She popped the lids off the containers and piled food high on a plate.
While Sophia prepared his meal, Luke couldn’t take his eyes off her. Thoughts of her had been his constant companion, but this was the first time he’d ever been alone with her. This was the first time he’d ever had her all to himself. The circumstances weren’t ideal, but hav
ing Sophia with him now felt as if the planets had aligned for him. And he was enjoying just sitting back and watching her.
“How are you feeling?” he asked her.
Sophia’s ponytail swung to the side as she spun her head around to look at him over her shoulder. “Honestly, I’ve had a great pregnancy...all things considered. I’ve been exercising, of course, staying active. I have a friend who’s a personal trainer and she helps me choose the right foods, pick safe exercises. I haven’t even been all that tired, until recently.” She shrugged one shoulder. “The worst of it is missing Daniel, wanting him to be here with me. He always used to say that he couldn’t wait to see me pregnant.” Sophia paused for a minute to compose herself. At times, the emotions would well up without warning and she would have to push back the tears. “I suppose we shouldn’t have waited so long to have a family. We were waiting until he finished school and my practice was more stable.” Lower, almost under her breath, she added, “Stupid.”
“You couldn’t have seen this coming, Soph. None of us plan for this sort of thing. No one would get out of bed, if we did,” Luke said in a low, even tone. “But you’re right about one thing, though. He always wanted to see you pregnant. He always thought you’d make a great-looking pregnant woman.” His eyes swept her body unbeknownst to her. “He was right.”
“Thanks,” Sophia said with a small smile. The timer dinged and Sophia pulled the plate out of the microwave. “Of course, my face is puffy, my ankles are swollen and I have to urinate constantly.” She put the plate down in front of him and smiled. “TMI, right?”
Luke shook his head; as she set the plate down, he noticed the simple gold wedding band that still encircled her left ring finger. He wasn’t surprised that she still wore her wedding band; she had always been loyal to Dan. In life, and now in death.
The minute she moved her hand away, he hunched over his plate and started to dig in.
“Something to drink?”
Luke chewed fast, and then swallowed hard before he spoke. “Water’s good.”