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"You both do," Brett says, winking at me. I give him a little kick under the table.
"Anyway, don't worry about boys just yet," I say, scooping my fries onto her plate. "It's only your first year of college. There's going to be all kinds of ups and downs, and boys are included in that. Trust me, you'll be fine."
Sophia says through a mouthful of fries, "Oh yeah, Mom. Speaking of school, I've signed up for next semester's classes, but there's been some kind of issue with the college fund you and Dad made for me. The school only accepted part of the money for tuition, and I can't remember my login to the account to check why they can't access the rest. Do you have it?"
I stop breathing, feeling my whole face going white.
Sophia rolls her eyes at me. "Yeah, sorry, I mentioned Dad," she says, misdiagnosing my reaction. "I'll try not to. Don't worry, we'll figure out the login at the bungalow."
As she digs back into her fries, Brett peers at me from across the table. "You okay?" he mouths, his foot rubbing my ankle affectionately.
No. No, I'm not. I bring my hands under the table, pretending to adjust the napkin over my lap. But really, it's to hide the returning shaking of my nerves. I grip the napkin hard, biting down on my tongue. For the first time in weeks, I had felt happy, content.Of course,something else had to come up and suck that all away again.
How do I tell Sophia that when she goes to look in her college fund, she will find nothing there?
Ugh.
CHAPTER21
Brett
When the alarm wakes me at four a.m., I groan deeply, rubbing my hands over my stinging, sleepless eyes.
Before I've even opened them, I feel Denise slip out of bed and quickly shut the alarm off.
"Come on," she says, throwing the blankets off of me. "Time to get to work."
It's the day of Tinsley Simon's wedding, and while Denise and her remaining baker have done most of the prep work, there's still quite a lot left to do if we're going to have everything ready on time. Over the next twenty minutes, we gulp down as much coffee as possible and gather a mountain of supplies and a zombie-like Sophia into Denise's car to take to the Sugar Breeze.
When Denise asked me a few days ago if I would come and help, I immediately said yes. Of course, I was going to help my girlfriend on the most important day of her career. I mean, I'd just had mine. Time to share the wealth. Especially since, most likely, it would be one of her last.
Even considering that, I'm worried about her being nervous. Something seemed to switch in her mind during our dinner last night. In the beginning, she was bright and happy. Then, about midway through, something changed. Some of her goofiness around her daughter had fallen away. In fact, she'd even turned a little green and hadn't eaten another bite for the rest of the meal. So, despite my sleepiness, I keep a close eye on her, determined to keep her in an alright state of mind.
As she drives through the early morning sunrise, her eyes are huge as they stare at the road. I swear she isn't even blinking.
"It's going to be okay," I say, reaching for her hand. But she bats it away.
"You don't understand, Brett," she says, biting her lip. Distressed, she glances in the rearview mirror at Sophia in the backseat. I turn around too, finding the young woman back asleep and softly snoring, her head uncomfortably angled to rest on her shoulder.
Beside me, Denise sighs. "I'm going to tell you what's up, Brett," she whispers hurriedly. "But Sophiacan't know. Do you understand?"
"Of course," I whisper back. "What's going on?"
"Well…." She chews her lip again, and for a horrible moment, I think she's going to talk herself out of saying anything. But as her eyes meet mine, I give her an encouraging nod, and she seems to find the strength she needs to say it. "You know the bakery hasn't been doing well since I took it over, right?"
"I disagree."
"Well, a few months ago, I was struggling to meet the rent payment. I had just enough for utilities and restocking, but none of that was going to matter if I couldn't get the rent in for the bakery on time. I'd already asked for an extension, but it wasn't helping and…." Even in the dim lighting, I can tell her face is growing pinched, forcing herself to hold the tears back. "And I borrowed some money out of Sophia's college fund. Without telling her I was doing it."
My whole body stiffens. "You did?"
"Yeah." Quietly, she takes a shaking breath, trying to remain calm. "I planned to put it all back in there before the next month was over. But then I couldn't meet the rent that month either, so I… I took the rest."
I run my hand through my hair and blow out a breath. "Denise."
"I was desperate," she hisses. "You don't understand. And that was right when I got the phone call from Tinsley's agent saying she was considering me for her wedding, and I thought this would be my lucky break. With Tinsley's down payment, I was able to pay the rent and had some leftover, which I put into Sophia's account immediately. But it wasn't going to be enough. Not even to cover just the dorm room. College is expensive these days."
Taking a deep breath to stop my reeling head, I ask her, "I know you haven't told Sophia about this, but have you told her dad?"
