They stopped at a shopping mall where Sophie bought a burner phone and wicked looking knife for Ephraim, some food items she insisted in having for the holiday, and a small potted fir tree. As he carried it to the car she said, “I’ve never missed having a tree for Christmas, and I’m not going to start now.”
“It’s a little small,” he said as he carefully wedged it between her cleaning bucket brought from the trunk and the package of food. Sitting in the back floor of the car, the tree was a bit forlorn.
“I had a Charlie Brown tree the year I moved back here. I was in a one room apartment with boxes for tables and a cot for a bed.”
He stared at her. “Your parents didn’t help when you moved back?”
She got in the car and started the engine before turning to back out of the parking space. “They offered, but I figured I’d gotten myself in the mess with Frank. I could get myself out.”
“What was the mess, exactly?”
She put the car in drive and headed to the shopping center’s lot exit. “I didn’t realize it, but Frank was involved with receiving stolen goods. Half of the stuff in our apartment had been stolen. The other half I sold to pay for legal fees when I was arrested.”
CHAPTER 7
Sophie drove,her eyes on the road and asked herself why she’d opened up to the man at her side. Other than Jake, who’d found out about her when he saw the order of no contact she’d filed against Frank, her parents who she’d tearfully confessed to, and her attorney in Panama City, no one else knew her history. Now, Ephraim would know she’d been a fool one too many times.
“How long did it take you to get out of hot water?” he asked quietly and she glanced at him. There wasn’t hatred, pity or anything indicating he thought less of her.
“I made my last payment to my attorney last year,” she said. “I was lucky. I didn’t have to ask my parents for a loan. He believed me when I said I was innocent.”
“And the results?”
“No charges, or at least none after I spent a few thousand proving I was just stupid when it came to choosing men.” She laughed derisively. “I made a promise to God then and there I’d never make a decision without consulting Him first.”
“Yikes. Kinda makes a man feel less than appealing.” He said, clearly making an effort to lighten the mood. She sent him a half smile. “Exactly.”
They made it to the cabin before dusk fell and Sophie insisted on carrying her tree inside. She moved a small side table to the large double window facing the forest and set the tree on it, then stepped back. A few decorations from her stash upstairs in the attic and she’d be set.
She excused herself, explaining she wanted to retrieve her Christmas decorations and went to find the ladder she used to access the attic area. Surprised that Ephraim hadn’t insisted on doing the errand for her, she propped the old wooden ladder she used to store quilts on and clambered up and into the storage loft, pushing away the wooden square in the ceiling to access the space. Dust motes floated in the air as she aimed her flashlight toward the area she stored her Christmas in. A small rustle caught her attention and she mentally made a note to put some mouse deterrent in the attic when she replaced the storage. Old houses were wonderful, but the critters also thought the wide cracks made from settling structures were great.
She shifted the box labeled tree decorations over to the opening and then cautiously lowered herself onto the upper rungs of the ladder and shifted the box to her shoulder. Movements honed by habit kicked in and she descended the ladder with the box balanced on one shoulder. Another quick climb to replace the hatch and she took the ladder back into her bedroom and propped it in the corner, ready for it to house the draped quilts again.
The box had way too many decorations for the little three-foot tree, but Sophie soon had her favorites picked out and even draped the much bigger tree skirt around the potted tree base to conceal the plastic pot and make it look more festive. She found her phone and started carols then got to work hanging ornaments.
She’d just hung the last one when she realized how quiet the house was. Where was Ephraim? She checked out the patio, thenthe bedroom and even glanced through the opened bathroom door. He was nowhere to be found.
She’d almost made it to the front door when she heard a knocking. Whirling around, expecting the shadow from the blue car at her patio door, she saw Ephraim, his arms full of greenery.
She tried to open the door then remembered the broom handle in the track. Once she removed it and opened the door, she stepped aside for him to enter. “What is this?”
He dropped the waxy green magnolia leaves and small branches on the floor in front of him and sent an almost bashful smile her way. “I thought I’d make a thing to go on your mantel.”
“A thing?” She asked playfully, touched at his thoughtfulness.
“You know.” He gestured wildly with his arms, spreading them out in a fanning motion. “People put branches and stuff along shelves and mantles. I couldn’t find any pine trees nearby, or at least none I didn’t have to climb.”
Sophie smiled and bent to pick up a small branch, full of dark green magnolia leaves. There was an odd brown one in the mix, but overall, the slight citrus fragrance she always associated with summer drifted to her. “I think it’s wonderful. And it’s called a swag.”
“Swag? Huh.” He bent down and picked up a branch then laid it on the hearth above the old, now nonfunctional fireplace her grandfather had built with the cabin. When he stepped back to survey the results of his handiwork Sophie burst out laughing at his disappointed look. “Isn’t it supposed to droop or something?”
She shook her head and picked up a couple of branches then started arranging them. With his help she soon had magnolia branches arranged, with some spilling over into a “droop” along the mantle. They even had enough to decorate the side table under the tree. Then Ephraim took note of the Christmasdecorations. He touched a small elf, clearly handmade and said, “Yours?”
She nodded. “Mom and Dad made me keep it when they moved to South Carolina. We usually get together over the new year, and they wanted me to keep it for my tree.”
“Cute,” he said and turned to survey the living space. “It looks a lot different than it did this morning.”
It did and the morning seemed so long ago, Sophie thought. She’d spilled her past to him, something she never thought she’d do. She’d engaged in a high-speed chase, she remembered with an almost hysterical giggle, and she’d had a great assistant in her cleaning.
