But today, right now, watching Holden wait for me at the door so he can hold it like a perfect gentleman, I try to find any sense of wariness about what just transpired. The closer I get to him, the wider his smile gets and the more I’m convinced that the feeling I’m searching for isn’t coming.
I don’t know what that means. I’m only sure that today was a good day.
I just hope this idea, this means to an end, proves to be a good one too.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
HOLDEN
That wasn’t too bad, was it?” I ask.
Sophie sits in the passenger’s seat. She riffles through the bag of candy as I pull out onto the road. Her hands stir the contents inside the bag over and over, and I kind of think she’s doing it as a distraction and not because she actually wants another pack of Nerds.
“Sophie?”
“What? No,” she says, flustered. “That wasn’t bad at all. I mean, the vows were kind of cookie cutter, but what does it matter?” Her hand comes to a stop inside the bag and she looks up. “What did you think?”
I strum my fingers against the steering wheel. “I thought it was pretty great. Not that I know what a wedding is supposed to be like, but it met my expectations.”
“Then your expectations are incredibly low.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.” She snorts as she goes back to the bag of candy again. The plastic rustles as she digs through it. “Aha! I knew I saw one of these earlier.”
I look over my shoulder to see her holding a Caramello as if it’s a gold medal. The excitement on her face is contagious.
“What if I told you I got that for me?” I tease.
“Then I’d tell you that you’re shit out of luck.” She shrugs with a hefty dose of swagger before setting it on her lap. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Yes, I’m kidding.”
“Good. Because I wasn’t giving you half of this one.”
I gasp. “What happened to those vows you just took?”
“I didn’t promise anything about candy. I wouldn’t even joke about that.”
She tears the wrapper and takes a bite off the top before settling back in her seat.
A hundred thoughts fight for space in my brain as we coast out of Dogwood Lane. I scan through all the potential topics—from when Montgomery might show up to what I will do with my apartment in Phoenix if I get the job in Orlando to how serious Sophie was about Jobe killing us both if he finds out what we’re up to. As I try to sort them out in my head, my phone rings through the Bluetooth.
Pap’s name appears across the radio display.
Sophie swallows hard. “Did you tell him?”
I shake my head as the phone continues to ring.
“Are you going to?” she asks.
“I have to at some point, don’t I?”
She nods. “Yeah. I just . . . Shit just got real, didn’t it?”
“Shit just got real.” I give her my best reassuring smile. “Here goes nothing.”
I click the button on the steering wheel to connect the call. Sophie tenses beside me. Her gaze is plastered to the side of my face as I try to concentrate on the road ahead of me . . . and what I’m about to say.
“Hey, Pap,” I say.
“Hey, kiddo. What’s happening up there?”
“Ah, not much. I was going to call you earlier today.”
An amused chuckle fills the car. “Good to hear. I waited for a call for the last two hours.”
I look at Sophie. Her brows are pulled together.
“And why is that?” I ask.
“Well, I called the clinic to give you some news. Dottie said you weren’t there. And I poked around a little bit because you know it’s not hard to get Dottie to talk, and she said that something was going on with you. But she wouldn’t tell me what.”
Sophie buries her face in her hands, making me laugh.
I try to swallow the nervous energy running amok through my body. Regripping the steering wheel, I blow out a breath.
“Why don’t you share your news first?” I ask.
“Okay. Well, I’m on my way home.”
Sophie drops her hands to her lap. Her eyes are as big as golf balls as she grimaces. I think it’s supposed to be a look of horror or fear, but it’s too damn cute to take seriously.
“That is some news,” I say, trying to keep the tone light. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. The fishing boat we were renting down here had some engine issues. We’d be stuck on land for upward of a week if we stayed.”
“Can’t you rent another boat?” I ask.
Sophie nods emphatically. “Do that,” she whispers.
“We could, but my buddy Pete’s wife fell and hurt her hip this morning, so he’s flying back to Kansas City. I figure I might as well come home too.” He waits a beat before continuing. “Now, what’s going on with you? What am I coming back to?”