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“What’s her name?” I interrupted, fully aware that whatever he had just said was solely meant for Sophie’s ears. Still, Danny and I had become close enough over the last few months that I could rib him without hesitation and he could take it with good humor—and vice versa.
“She sounds very special.”
“Oh shit. Alex,” he laughed. “I thought you were Sophie. Where is she? Where’s my sister?”
“She’s a little preoccupied trying not to burn the almonds.”
“Oh.”
“Tell me about this woman of your dreams.” I joked, expected Danny to end the call, but he didn’t, which I regarded as just another step closer to being family.
“I can’t tell you, Al, don’t want to jinx it . . . Anyway, the reason I’m calling is to find out if there’s anything in particular Sophie wants for the baby shower. I’m doing some recon with Becks—”
“If it's anything outrageous, speak to Becks. Sophie’s very adamant that you ask Becks first.”
Danny grumbled, “I can plan my sister’s baby shower how I want to, but fine, I’ll speak to Becks,” and hung up.
“Everything alright?” Sophie asked. She probably had one ear on my conversation and the other on what was happening in the kitchen.
“Danny thinks he’s in love,” I said, giving her that look that meant trouble. “Which, given what I’ve learned about him so far, could be terrifying.”
“Who’s Danny?” Sam asked, sitting down.
Maya carried the Parmigiano dish to the table, placed it on the trivets, and sat down beside her husband. Sophie followed with the salad and took her seat at the same time I did. Her hand automatically went for my thigh, and I interlaced our fingers.“Sophie’s brother,” I replied. “We suspect he might be in a secret relationship with Vicki—”
“But we also hope it’s not true,” Sophie said quickly, her eyes pleading that the real truth wasn’t as horrifying as the thought of Danny and Vicki in a relationship.
After everything Vicki had put Sophie through, all the unnecessary reprimanding, the unfair rebukes, the undeserving hatred, it was perfectly normal for me to still harbor some anger toward her. What she had done was wrong, rude, even bordering on unforgivable—though Sophie, the forgiving person that she was, had already put it all behind her.
I loved that about her, her remarkable ability to move on. She made me a better person. The few times I bumped into Vicki at the grocery store or saw her at the gas station, I’d been civil. I had to be, since things like that were bound to happen when we lived in the same town.
But I would much rather we didn’t have to make small talk at Thanksgiving, or ever.
Sam dropped his fork and leaned back in his chair, his lips quirking into one massive grin. “Vicki. Do you mean Victoria Lang?Yourex-fiancée?”
“Hush,” said Maya, patting her husband’s arm. “Today’s not the day, Sam.”
He glanced in her direction, fluttered his eyebrows like he couldn’t disagree more, and sat forward with his elbows on the table. “Today’s exactly that day.”
Beside me, Sophie's ears seemed to perk up, her shoulders straightening as she leaned forward. I understood her intrigue. Vicki was my ex and her boss. It would be strange if she didn’t want to know a little more about our failed relationship. Even though we had talked about it on a few occasions, I knew she wouldn’t mind hearing about it from a third party, someone on the outside who had watched in.
“Why don’t you like her?” Sophie asked, getting straight to the point.
“How about we don’t talk about Vicki tonight?” Maya offered, looking a little nervous. She wasn’t a fan of Vicki either, though she had never shown it. Not like Sam. “Sophie, why don’tyou tell us if there’s anything else you need for the nursery? We’ve got so many things we aren’t using anymore.”
“Or,” said her husband, “we can talk about Vicki for a minute and air out all the dirty laundry.”
Maya didn’t look happy at all. Sophie, on the other hand, looked desperate to hear what Sam had to say, and I . . . well, I knew it would come to this sooner or later. And it wasn’t like the laundry wasthatdirty.
Sam finished off his wine and looked Sophie dead in the eye. "I've known Alex since our residency. Way before Vicki came along. And if anyone knows Alex, they know that he is good, that he cares—not just superficially, but deeply. He can come across as rude and arrogant, what do you expect from someone with such a handsome face? But he's always ready to admit when he's wrong, to put things right."
“You flatter me, Sam,” I teased, hating how my cheeks were beginning to burn from all the attention. Who knew being put on the spot by close friends could feel this embarrassing?
He gave me a hard nod and turned his attention back to Sophie. “Alex is the kind of man who stands by his principles, and what you see is what you get.”
“I agree,” Sophie said, finding my fingers again and giving them a tender squeeze.
“And Vicki, well, she was a firecracker from the beginning.”
