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“No, she drove her new scooter to the store to pick up a cake.”
Sophie smiled and handed him her phone. “Here. It’s only in the online edition.”
Alex glared down at the phone, but as he scrolled, his worry started to ease.
I’m the woman who wrote a few weeks ago to complain about my son’s new girlfriend [Strumpet on My Street]. At the time, I did not appreciate your response, but I’ve since realized you were partially right. I was suffering from a serious medical condition at the time and I was not seeing everything rationally. I’d like to publicly apologize to my son for the harsh words I wrote. He’s an adult and can make his own decisions.
I’ve gotten the medical help I needed and am now looking forward to a new relationship with my family. My life has been too lonely for too long.
Veronica says: At least I was partially right! I’m glad you’ve gotten the help you needed to ensure that you and your family are healthy and happy in the future.
“Well.” Alex handed the phone off to Shane. “That was progress. But no apology for Sophie yet.”
Sophie grinned. “It’s okay. I’d say that’s pretty amazing progress. And she speaks to me now. We’ll get there.”
“Maybe. But she still needs to make up for all the crap she spread around town.”
Sophie shrugged. “You know what? I’m a big girl. I can handle it. And I managed to hold on to my job with just one tiny warning for stepping out on my shift that day. I couldn’t keep up my perfect record forever.” She leaned closer. “I’m a very bad girl, after all.”
Oh, Jesus, she was a bad girl, even if she was wearing his very favorite good-girl dress. He traced a thumb over the demure neckline. He loved the bright red of the fabric.
Shane handed him back the phone. “Quite a turnaround,” he said.
“Come on.” Alex tipped his head toward the front door. “Let’s set the table.” His mother was hosting a dinner to celebrate her cleaned and updated new kitchen.
Sophie headed into the kitchen to hang out with Merry while Shane and Alex got plates and silverware from the sideboard. The cabinet hadn’t been in their family home, but Alex recognized the silverware. He traced a thumb over the checked pattern of the handles. Another thing he’d forgotten.
“Hey, look,” Shane said. “It’s my Christmas plate.”
Alex glanced over at the red-rimmed plastic plate. He snatched it. “That’s my Christmas plate!”
“No, yours was green with a Christmas tree in the middle. Mine is the one with Santa.” He snatched it back. Suddenly Alex could remember this exact argument, back when he and Shane were young boys. He’d felt that Shane had always gotten the best of everything, because Shane had been older, but he’d also thought everything Shane had was better, simply because it belonged to his big brother.
Alex found the green plate in the same drawer and traced a finger over the chipped edge. “I’m glad you brought me back here,” he said quietly.
“Wow. Are you sure? It wasn’t quite what I’d envisioned when I asked you to come home for a few days.”
“You mean the lawsuit, becoming a town scandal, Mom’s hospitalization and three weeks spent fixing up her house?”
Shane quirked an eyebrow. “That about covers it.”
“Strangely enough, it’s been worth it.”
“Sophie?” Shane asked.
Alex shrugged. “That’s part of it. But it’s more than that. I was so angry at you when I left home. Even angrier than I was at Mom. I felt like you’d betrayed me. We were supposed to be in it together.”
Shane shook his head. “No. I was your big brother. I was supposed to protect you.”
“I guess I thought that, too. But I was wrong, Shane. We were kids. Both of us. You were only a year older than me. How the hell were you supposed to handle all that bullshit any better than I could?”
“I don’t know, but I should have.”
“We were both mixed up,” Alex insisted. “Both confused.”
Sophie stepped into the room, then stopped in the doorway of the kitchen. He met her eyes. “And we were scared,” he said.
She watched him for a moment longer, understanding in her soft brown eyes, then she turned and retreated back to the kitchen.
