“Are you kidding me? This isn’t the city.”
“Yeah,” he said, as if she’d just made his point. “It’s not. It’s as isolated as Iceland. I don’t know why Matt ever agreed to move out here.”
“It was my grandmother’s house. Chloe loved it. So do I.”
“Am I interrupting?” Aidan asked.
Luke pressed his lips together.
“Not at all. Thanks for bringing him home,” Sophie said, reaching for the dog and giving Aidan her warmest smile. She nestled the puppy under her chin before placing him on the quilt beside the fireplace hearth. He spun around three times before settling down with a contented sigh.
“We’re going to dinner,” Luke said.
“We, I mean Luke, wants to work out…visitations.” She stumbled over the last word, realizing for the first time that since her sister’s death, she hadn’t once left Jamison. She wasn’t sure if she could now.
“Would you like me to babysit?” Aidan asked.
“No!” Sophie burst out.
Both men’s expressions told her she’d surprised them with her vehemence. “It’s silly to have a discussion on…” She stumbled again. Clearing her throat, she continued. “…visitations without the person being visited even being there.”
Luke’s lips twitched. “Do you really think Jamie is going to have much to add to the conversation?”
Without Jamison, a night at the Tuscan Grill with Luke seemed too much like a date. “Let’s just stay here,” Sophie said. “Aidan, why don’t you join us?”
Luke’s gaze told her that he knew exactly what she was doing. Which was good, because that made at least one of them.
“Are you sure?” Aidan asked, his gaze sliding over to Luke’s hostile face.
“I made all this Stromboli. It’s way too much for just us,” Sophie said. Without waiting for Aidan’s response, she went to the kitchen to retrieve a place setting for him.
Aidan flashed Luke a triumphant smile while Sophie put down his plate and silverware.
Luke shrugged off his jacket and laid it over the back of his chair. He looked so much like Matt it made Sophie’s breath catch. Loneliness swift and deep for her sister swept through her, making her wonder when, if ever, she’d recover from the loss.
“So, what have you been doing since high school?” Aidan asked as he took the chair opposite Luke.
“I worked for the government,” Luke said.
“Someone said something about Germany?” Aidan helped himself to the green salad.
Luke nodded and cut into the Stromboli. It released a puff of warm, fragrant steam. “That’s right.”
“Are you still in government work?”
“No. I’m mostly retired, although I occasionally take on contract work.”
Luke whistled through this teeth. “It must be nice to be retired at what, thirty-three?”
“Thirty-four.”
While the two men talked, Sophie’s thoughts went back to Chloe and Matt’s memorial service. Luke’s family had filled the small stone chapel. Aunts, uncles, cousins, his little sister. Sophie had only her father, her stepmother, and George, her cousin. Matt and Luke had been raised by their grandmother who had died a year before. The will had plainly stated that in the event of their deaths, Sophie and Luke were to have joint custody of Jamison, but Luke couldn’t—or wouldn’t—leave his government job. Frustrated, Sophie chased a lettuce leaf around her plate with her fork. What made him think he could show up all these months later and act like he hadn’t screwed up her life?
How would things have been different if he’d been around six months ago? Would she have been able to keep her job at Lewis, Clapton, and Meir if she’d had someone to share custody? If Luke was really able and willing to play an equal partner in childcare, could she go back to Frisco and get her job back?
Her gaze softened as she watched Jamison wave a green bean at Luke. No. She couldn’t leave Jamison.
“So.” Luke cleared his throat and turned to her. “I heard you’ve set up your own legal counselling office.”
