Chapter Eleven
Sophie
“You haven’t heard anything, then?” Sophie asked Mr. Jenkins over the phone, her voice deflated and her hope dying. She paced the private patio near the back door. The chilled cement bit into her bare feet. When the phone rang, she’d abandoned her station in the kitchen as well as the logical need for shoes. She wanted answers.
“Not yet, I’m afraid. I couldn’t get them on the phone, but I left them another message and sent an email.”
“What do we do if they don’t respond?”
Mr. Jenkins talked through some legal options with Sophie. The least expensive of which was a formal letter demanding the agreed-upon funds—something that could be tracked better than phone calls and was more official than an email. But ultimately, if Blake refused to make the payments, they’d have to sue him.
Sophie couldn’t afford to go through another massive legal battle. Odds were Blake was counting on that. How had she not seen this coming?
“It’s not looking too good, is it?” she asked, hoping Mr. Jenkins would extend his usual gentle honesty. She appreciated that about him. The lawyers she worked with in Hawaii during the divorce proceedings were not her favorite. They’d been greedy and often turned their ideas into sales pitches to go after as much as possible. Concerned more about dollar signs than the people involved. Mr. Jenkins wasn’t like that at all.
“We can try the letter next week if we haven’t heard back. Say, Tuesday. How’s that?”
“Okay.”
“If you don’t want to go after him beyond that, you might want to adjust your budget to exclude that monthly stipend.”
At the sound of footsteps crunching against the graveled path around the side of the lodge, Sophie tucked herself against the log wall, hoping she remained hidden. It might be a lodge guest or lunch diner. “I understand.”
“Ms. Whitmore, it’s entirely possible a new check might show up, but I wouldn’t rely on that.”
“Thank you, Mr. Jenkins.” She ended the call and sank to a squat with her back pressed against the logs. She refused to cry. Enough tears had been wasted on her worst mistake. She couldn’t afford to be weak. How many years had she exhausted not being the strong woman she was always meant to be?
Sophie needed to get back to the kitchen and finish prepping the lunch rolls before the next rush, despite her urge to slip on her running shoes and hit the trail. The restaurant was Tessa’s dream, and Sophie was thrilled to be a part of it. But she wanted her own dream. She wanted to build something she could be proud of from the ashes of her life.
Denver:I think it’s time Malcom & Kat got together. What do you think?
Though her heartrate doubled at the sight of Denver’s name on her phone, a sense of peace filled Sophie. Yes, stupid Sophie, she’d almost kissed him last night. Thankfully Caroline, and then Sherlock, saved her from making such a huge mistake.
She needed the normalcy from her best friend right now more than ever.
Welcoming the brief distraction from her stresses, Sophie typed back her instinctive response to Denver’s radical idea. Readers had been chomping at the bit for this very thing to happen.
Sophie:Together together?
Denver:Yeah. By the end of this book?
Sophie:I think it’s too soon for that. But they could kiss. Let that confuse Malcom and Kat for a while. Maybe sort it out in the next book.
“Sophie?” Cadence’s voice called into the otherwise deserted backyard through the window over the kitchen sink.
“Coming.” She tucked her phone away before Denver finished his response. Any reply would have to wait until she was done with her kitchen duties and lunchtime waitressing shift. At least until she moved on to cleaning rooms and switching the never-ending loads of laundry. Her day would hardly be idle. Thankfully they’d upgraded to two washers and dryers.
Someday, they would hire someone else to do the housekeeping. The topic had been discussed in more than one monthly business meeting, but Sophie had yet to figure out what she would do to be a part of the lodge if they hired someone too soon. She wanted her own dream to chase, but she wanted it connected to the family lodge. It wouldn’t feel right otherwise.
Sophie realized she was still missing her shoes when she entered the kitchen. She could prepare all the dinner rolls and condiments she wanted barefoot, but serving guests that way would cause unnecessary scandal. “I’ll be right back,” she said to her sisters as she hurried through the kitchen. “Need to grab some shoes.”
“Hey,” Cadence said, catching her before she reached the hallway. “Something came for you.”
“Somethingelse?”
“Yeah, some package. It’s on the table. Jeffrey decided to deliver our mail today. Isn’t that strange?”
“A little,” Sophie admitted. In the thirteen plus months she’d lived in Sunset Ridge, the postmaster had never once brought them their mail. He was a friendly man, but he stuck strictly to the route when it came to deliveries. “Do you think they extended the route?”
