"Hi, Francine."
She paused to stare at Sofia before beaming widely. "My, aren't you a pretty thing."
Sofia returned her smile and held out her hand for a shake. "Aren't you sweet? Are you Simon's neighbor?"
"This is Francine. Fran, this is my friend, Sofia. She's the Maid of Honor for Barron's wedding."
"Oh, how wonderful. The Best Man and the Maid of Honor." She clutched the Tupperware she was holding close to her chest. "Just like a romance novel," she gushed.
Sofia laughed. "Well...let's hope it's not a one-bed situation at the cabin!"
The joke went over my head, but Francine chortled in glee. "Oh, I do like this one," she told me.
We both had that in common.
"Was there anything you needed me to do for you before I left?"
"Oh no! I just wanted to give you this." She handed Sofia the small Tupperware container. "These are fresh out of the oven."
Sofia peeked inside before gasping. "Oh, my goodness, are these snickerdoodles?"
And just like that, the rest of the gang came rushing over. Sofia's eyes narrowed at each of them with a frown, protectively clutching the container closer to her chest.
"I think they're for everyone to share, Sweetheart."
The nickname drew a pointed stare from Barron, which I chose to ignore.
"There's plenty for everyone," Francine lifted the lid and invited them to take one, much to Sofia's displeasure.
"Well, we gotta hit the road. I'll come by for some tea when I'm back, Fran."
"Oh, you are a good boy." She reached up to pat my cheek affectionately. "Can't wait to hear about your weekend."
She glanced at Sofia before giving me an impish wink. Luckily Sofia was too busy slapping Ryan's hand away from taking too many cookies to notice.
I settled into my car and turned to Sofia, a lightness relaxing in my chest at the sight of her beside me, munching away on her third cookie.
"You have your phone? Let me show you how to connect your music."
Sofia turned to me with a mischievous look. Soon, a discernible three-note piano rift rang out through my speakers. I shook my head and groaned in mock annoyance. I had been played. Sofia's frenzied laughter drifted over Britney Spears'...Baby One More Time.
The ride to the cabin was a lot of fun even though Sofia seemed to exclusively have only 90's cheesy pop songs on her playlist. Either that or she was choosing violence today.
Admittedly I couldn't resist a bit of'N Sync, so it wasn't long before I joined her in belting out the full lyrics toBye, Bye, Bye.We also both agreed that JC Chasez was the superior vocalist of the group and should've been the breakout star.
"So, you got the clothes I sent back with Barron, right?"
We were almost at our destination. Topics had been depleted, and we had been riding in comfortable silence for the past ten minutes.
"You mean Brian's clothes? The ones you messaged to remind me they were returning with Barron? Those clothes?"
My mouth twisted at her smart-ass tone.
"Yeah."
"Mmm hmm. Although I don't think Brian wants them back after seeing you free balling in them."
"So...you still talk to him."
