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Joshua brought out a whole new level of love in me that I can’t explain. His smile melts me. Truth be told if in the same situation, I would have brought him home from college too if asked. I’m sorry Heath. I’ll be just like my mom and dad.
Sophie wiped away a tear.
I have the best friends in the world. Supportive and comforting. Kai and Micki. Their husbands too.
A new friend in Deandra and her husband Will.
My parents and in-laws who have always been loving and supportive of me.
My brother Ross and his family.
I will beat this disease. I will survive this hell.
Walking into Russack today I felt out of place. I no longer belong there. Maybe there is a different path God has in store for me. That’s not such a bad, thing, is it?
Now to find my way.
Now to tell Josh.
Sophie was getting sleepy. She closed the notebook and sat it on the solid, pine end table beside her chair. Her dad had made the matching set of tables a long time ago. They meant more to her than the expensive furniture that she and Josh had purchased. She snuggled the dogs beneath the blanket and closed her eyes. Sophie felt like a weight had been lifted off her chest.
Chapter 16
Josh
Sophie was asleep in the recliner when he got home. He left the office early worried about her. There was a reason she had come to the office. When his call was finished, Josh had gone to the receptionist area and assumed Jagger had taken her home since they were both gone. He went to the kitchen and Ally was moping, so he avoided her. Two Russack women in a bad mood was more than he could bare.
He went straight to the kitchen thinking he would start dinner. He father-in-law had told him he brought food over earlier and stuck bags of it in the fridge. Sophie hadn’t even heard him. He had shushed the puppies. Not even their whimpering had woken her.
Josh laid her drawing materials on the breakfast table and started something simple. That was about all he could handle except grilling. Too cold tonight, too grill outside. Spaghetti with a jar of alfredo sauce. He took it out of the bag his mother had already prepared for him. All he had to do was warm it up. He followed her instructions, taped on the Tupperware lid.
Then he sat at the table, with his plate of food and stared out into the backyard eating alone. He was doing this more and more often these days. He missed eating with Sophie and the kids. He missed his family.
Heath had his own life. Ally had her whatever it was that her eighteen-year-old self, thought she was doing. He didn’t even know or want to contemplate it. It was too scary for him.
He had heard bits and pieces of the conversation with Brian this afternoon before he got on the long call with the mayor of Cooper. They were discussing Russack taking over the town’s maintenance. It was a large deal that he wasn’t sure he could handle right now. He talked with Jagger about it before he left. He was going to put together a proposal this weekend, what he thought the cost to Russack would be. The resources required based on the details the mayor had told him. Jagger was going to do the profit analysis too. He was grateful he had this young man. He was doing the legwork that he didn’t have the heart to do anymore. Josh was worn down.
Sophie’s hand on his shoulder startled him. “You’re awake.” He gazed up at her. “You want some of this?”
“No. I’ll grab some of the oatmeal your mom made. I guess dad brought it here? I left it in his car.”
“He did. He was a little concerned that you didn’t wake up.”
“I was exhausted, Josh.”
She waited by the microwave that hung over the stove. The oatmeal mixed with fruit was in a bowl spinning round and round. Sophie glanced at him. “What’s wrong?”
“Just tired.”
“Who were you on the phone with this afternoon?” She asked. The microwave dinged, and Sophie removed her bowl. She stirred the contents making sure everything was evenly heated then she joined Josh at the table.
“The mayor. He wants a proposal on Monday morning from us about taking over the maintenance of the town.”
She was shocked he could see. “You don’t want to do it.” Sophie blew on her spoon full of oatmeal. She apparently had warmed it a little too much.
“How do you know that?” Josh asked her.
She shook her head at him. “Josh, as long as we’ve been together…I know those little inflections in your tone of voice and what they mean.”
