Take Me Home for Christmas (Whiskey Creek #5)(57)
Author: Brenda Novak

S

P.S. Matches on table

For the candles. To add to the romantic atmosphere. He got that.

“She’s gone to a lot of trouble to make it nice.” Eve sounded slightly petulant, but she was the one who’d asked to come here. They could just as easily have had dinner out or at her place. Ted was fairly certain she’d wanted to scope out the situation, to stake her claim—not that he could blame her.

He was carrying the salad and wine into the dining room when the doorbell rang for the second time in fifteen minutes.

“I’ll get it,” Eve said and before he could return to the kitchen for the bread, his mother walked into the room.

* * *

Sophia had brought some of what she’d cooked home so she could have dinner with Alexa in the guesthouse. They’d eaten together. Now they were lying on her bed, staring at the shadows the lamp cast on the ceiling. They still had unpacking to do, but this quiet moment was the best she’d had all day. Alexa never used to rest her head on Sophia’s shoulder when Skip was alive, not since she’d been a very small child.

“That was such a good dinner,” Alexa said.

“I liked it, too,” Sophia responded.

“I bet Ted thinks you’re the best cook in the world. I bet he’s glad he hired you.”

Had Ted and Eve enjoyed it? They’d been in the back of her mind ever since she’d left the main house. But she refused to succumb to the jealousy that slithered beneath her skin. She’d spent her own money at the grocery store for the flowers and candles because she’d wanted, in her own small way, to thank them for all they’d done. She wanted Ted to be happy and knew a woman like Eve could do that for him.

So she had nothing to feel sad about, she told herself. She wanted Eve to be happy, too. Maybe she couldn’t have the relationship she wanted—with either one of them—but she wished them well in spite of that and owed them both for their kindness.

“How come you’ve never made those noodles before?” Alexa asked, breaking the silence again.

“You mean the pasta? I didn’t have that recipe.”

“Don’t lose it.”

“I won’t.” She combed her fingers through her daughter’s hair. “Do you think you’ll like living here?”

“It’ll be different, but…it’s okay. What about you?”

“It has a lot going for it. It’s nice and cozy and clean.”

Alexa raised her head. “You’re getting better at looking on the bright side.”

Sophia laughed. She was afraid to look anywhere else. “You didn’t say much about your day at school.”

“I told you it was okay.”

“I know. But…what does ‘okay’ mean?”

Her daughter shifted onto her stomach and propped herself up on her elbows. “That nothing’s changed.”

“What about detention?”

“Boring!”

“At least you got your homework done while you were there.” As wrung out as Sophia was, she was grateful for that. “Connie didn’t give you any trouble?”

Lex plucked at the comforter. “She kept glaring at me. And once, when she passed by to get a book from the back of the room, she whispered that she’d kick my you know what if she ever got me alone.”

Sophia adjusted the pillow to make it higher. “What did you do?”

“I ignored her.”

“Good for you!” She reached out to stroke her daughter’s cheek. “What about Babette and the others?”

“I do my best to ignore them, too.” Alexa suddenly gave her a shy smile. “There was one good thing that happened today.”

“You got a C on your math quiz. I consider that good, since it’s an improvement. Next time you’ll get a B, right?”

“Right. But this is even better.”

“Really? Then I can hardly wait to hear about it.”

An endearing expression appeared on her pixie face. “Royce Beck walked me to my fifth-period class.”

“Royce… I’ve heard that name before.”

“Because he came to my birthday party last year.”

“I hope his dad wasn’t an SLD investor.”

Alexa winced but laughed. “So do I! I don’t think he was. At least, Royce didn’t act mad, like everyone else.”

“Sounds as if this boy is somehow special to you.”

There was a slight pause as well as another blush.

Despite enjoying this time with Alexa, and the relief of seeing her daughter slowly returning to her former spirits, Sophia was so tired. Sleep seemed to be washing up around her ankles like a warm surf, pulling at her. But she didn’t want to fade out on Alexa, so she fought the heaviness of her eyelids. “Well, if he has any taste, he’ll like you back.”

“Maybe not.” Her smile grew pensive. “He might choose Babette now that…now that everyone thinks she’s so hot.”

That gave Sophia a shot of energy. “Don’t tell me she likes him, too!”

“She always likes the same boys I do,” Alexa said with a grimace.

That meant her daughter was still setting the standards. “Did she see him walk you to class?”

“Yes. She walked past us on the way.”

“I doubt that’ll help your friendship.”

Alexa rolled her eyes. “What friendship?”

Feeling her exhaustion return, Sophia covered a yawn. “Where do you think we should move?”

“What about Los Angeles?”

“You want to live in a bustling city?”

She pursed her lips, considering. “It would be close to Disneyland.”

Sophia smiled. They could use a trip to “the happiest place on earth.” She took Lex’s hand for a moment. “That’s a plus, but L.A. is such a big place. Feels to me as if we might get lost.”

“But doesn’t getting lost sound kind of nice? At least no one would know Dad or what he did.”

“True. That’s a definite benefit. And there’d have to be more job opportunities….”

“Do you like the job you have now?”

Surprisingly, Sophia did. Although she missed the massages and spa treatments of her former life, the sense of accomplishment she got when she looked around Ted’s house more than made up for the lack of pampering. She just didn’t like feeling so indebted to Ted, hated that they couldn’t be on an equal footing. And it had cost her Eve. Tonight was proof. She’d thought maybe Eve would come to the guesthouse and tell her she’d enjoyed dinner, at least acknowledge her proximity. She would’ve liked to know that Eve didn’t resent her presence on Ted’s property. But Sophia talked with Alexa for another hour before they went to bed, and there was no knock or call.