Sweet Horizons

by Jean C. Gordon

  He must have missed the cake cutting.

  “I got you a piece,” Sari said.

  “Thanks.” He took his seat and Shelley scrambled over from Sonja’s lap to his, but not before he caught Sonja’s glare. Was the cake cutting something the groom’s father was supposed to be present for? Or was the glare for Sari making sure he got a slice?

  “Frosting.” Shelley dipped her finger in the frosting flower on his cake and stuck it in her mouth.

  “Yep.” He kissed the top of his granddaughter’s head, while Sonja gently extracted Shelley’s finger and wiped it and her face with a napkin.

  Their gazes connected. He smiled. Sonja frowned. What was a little frosting? Or maybe that wasn’t what had earned him the frown. Jeff concentrated on his cake and his granddaughter, glad that he only had one kid. These family weddings were murder on the nerves.

  Jesse and Lauren finished making their rounds in preparation for leaving and returned to the head table. Jeff stood, hoisted Shelley to his hip, and placed his other hand on the back of Sonja’s chair to pull it out for her. Maybe he’d get a point for good manners. The five of them walked out of the ballroom into the hall.

  “You guys are all set?” Jesse asked wrapping his arm around his wife’s waist.

  “You have our itinerary and how to reach us if you need to?” Lauren asked.

  “Yes,” Jeff assured them. “It’s not like we’re novices at this.”

  “We’ll Skype when we can,” Lauren said.

  “We’ll be fine,” Sonja said.

  Jeff rubbed noses with Shelley. Finally, something he and Sonja agreed on.

  Jesse held his arms out for his daughter. “Give Daddy and Lauren kisses and hugs. It’s time for us to go on our wedding trip. Remember, you’re going to stay with Grammy and Papa.”

  Shelley nodded. “Stay with Grammy and Papa. Jesse Daddy and Ren go bye-bye.”

  Jesse and Lauren enveloped the little girl in a three-way hug. When they broke apart, Jesse said, “We could stop by tomorrow morning early, before we have to be at the airport.”

  “Two goodbyes may not be a good idea,” Sonja said, stepping forward to give Lauren a farewell hug while Jesse handed Shelley back to Jeff.

  “You’re probably right,” Jesse said opening his arms to Sonja’s goodbye hug.

  Jeff bounced Shelley and shifted his weight from foot to foot. He wasn’t a hugger. Jesse got that from his mother. “You guys have a great time. Don’t worry about anything.”

  Jeff and Sonja and Shelley watched, waving until Jesse and Lauren disappeared into the front hall and out the main door.

  “More cake?” Shelley asked pointing over Jeff’s shoulder toward the ballroom.

  “Sure, we can go see what we can find,” he answered.

  Sonja had opened her mouth at the same time as him and snapped it shut.

  Jeff knew as well as Sonja did that Shelley didn’t need more cake. But the goodbyes had gone so well, he didn’t want to upset things over something as small as cake. He and Sonja could have trouble soon enough when Shelley realized that her sleepover with Grammy wasn’t the familiar one night. He was sort of prepared for that with a set of twenty-five blocks he’d made that had pictures of the places Jesse and Lauren would be visiting on the cruise. The blocks fit together into a little house. He’d figured them working on the house every day and talking about what her parents were doing might help and give her a sense of time until they got home.

  Sonja had nothing to say on the short walk back to the ballroom, where Jeff wove around the tables with his granddaughter in search of cake, ending at the head table and Sonja

  “No cake.” Shelley lifted her hands palms up and shook her head. “Time for stories.”

  “Thank you, I see what you were doing now,” Sonja said, her praise warming him more than it should.

  “Okay, we’ll go upstairs to Grammy’s and get your jammies on for stories.” Sonja held her arms out for Shelley.

  Jeff stifled a sigh. He was more than ready to head down to the beach to his place, the mansion’s former caretaker’s cottage, lose the tux and unwind. The three of them retraced their steps to the stairway, where Sonja started up to her third-floor living area and he started toward the door.

  “No, no, no!” Shelley said, straining to reach over the polished oak railing to Jess. “Papa, stories. Papa night-night at Grammy’s”

  His gaze locked with Sonja’s and the indecision in her eyes matched his. She pressed her lips together and nodded almost unperceptively at the stairs. He took another step.

  “Papa!” Shelley screamed, loud enough for the remaining guests to hear her in the ballroom.

  With Jesse, he would have continued down the stairs, feeling he shouldn’t give in to a child’s demands. But this was his granddaughter, and he hadn’t had the greatest relationship with his son until the past few years, after his wife had died. Jeff looked over his shoulder to the little girl’s tear-stained face and Sonja’s weary looking one. He and Sonja were sharing the responsibility for Shelley. He shouldn’t dump it on Sonja and bolt.

  “It’s okay, sweetie, Papa is just going downstairs to make sure the front door is locked.” Which he’d do so he wasn’t lying to the kid.

  Shelley sniffled. “Okay. Then stories.”

  “Definitely.” Jeff caught what he thought was relief in Sonja’s eyes and bounded to the door.

  His ascent after locking the door was slower, his feet weighted by a churning in his gut. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t been up to Sonja’s flat on the top floor of the mansion before, just the two of them. He’d installed her dishwasher, put in the programmable thermostats, and done other home maintenance. Stayed for lunch a couple of times. But overhearing her talking to her ex at the reception had made everything weird, like he was a guest, not a friend, not family.

  He could ignore that, read Shelley a couple of stories, and leave. Of course he could.

  C H A P T E R 2

  Sonja rolled out of bed early the next morning. She had a beach condo showing at 9:30. Until the B&B was officially open and she had guests, Sonja was keeping her hand in real estate at a local office she used to manage. Real estate was okay, and her knack for it had been a godsend when she’d moved to Indigo Bay from Central New York after her divorce. But going into the partnership with Jesse to renovate the historic but dilapidated mansion he’d inherited and open it as a small inn-style B&B was a dream come true for her.

  She padded down the hall to the kitchen to put coffee on before she got Shelley up and ready to drop off with Jeff for the morning. I wonder what time he left last night, she said to herself as she put the coffee pod into the machine and closed the lid. After getting Shelley in her pajamas, she’d sat on the couch, started to leaf through a magazine while Jeff read a bedtime story to Shelley in her room, and had fallen asleep. When she awoke a half hour later and had looked in on Shelley, Jeff had whispered that the little girl had just fallen asleep for the third time and that he would let himself out in a few minutes when he was sure she was down for good.

  Sonja left her coffee to brew and headed to the guest room across the hall from hers where Shelley was sleeping. The little girl looked so peaceful, curled up asleep clutching the Tickle Me Elmo plush toy that had been Lauren’s when she was small. Sonja weighed whether to let her sleep and just take Shelley and her clothes to Jeff’s on her way to the showing. No, that wouldn’t be fair. Jeff had been up later than she had.

  “Sweetie, time to wake up.” Sonja gently shook her granddaughter’s shoulder.

  Shelley shot upright. “Papa?”

  “No, it’s Grammy. We need to get you up and dressed and have breakfast, so you can go to Papa’s house for the morning.”

  Sonja opened the suitcase with Shelley’s clothes and pulled out a pink Paw Patrol t-shirt with matching pink cotton shorts and socks.

  The little girl hopped out of bed. “No, Papa stay. Him told me.” She raced out of the bedroom.

  Sonja left
the clothes and followed her toward the living room. “Come on, you can have your cereal first and then get dressed. I have Unicorn cereal,” she coaxed. Sonja would have never gotten the sugary cereal for Lauren when she was Shelley’s age. But Grammys had certain privileges parents didn’t.

  “Papa have cer-el.”

  Sonja arrived at the archway to the living room to see Shelley make a flying leap toward the couch.

  “Shelley.”

  Too late. The little girl landed on top of a sleeping Jeff.

  “Ooof,” he said, reacting in time to grab Shelley as he reflexively shot to a sitting position and blinked his eyes.

  “Wake up, Papa. Grammy has cer-el.” Shelley bounced on his knee as if she’d already had her sugary treat.

  “Okay. Give me a minute, sweetie.” He lifted the little girl and placed her on the floor in front of him. Rubbing the dark stubble on his chin, Jeff looked across the room at Sonja. “I must have fallen asleep.”

  “Papa, night-night.” Shelley patted him and gave a look and a nod that Sonja could only read as I told you so.

  “The rain was coming down in torrents last night when you know who finally fell asleep. I thought I’d lay back and rest my eyes for a few minutes until it let up.”

  Sonja smiled. Her grandfather used to say he was resting his eyes when he fell asleep in front of the TV. But her grandfather was a lot older at the time than they were now.

  Jeff lifted his arm and rubbed the back of his neck, the play in his biceps evident to Sonja through the thin white fabric of his tuxedo shirt.

  “I didn’t want to get soaked and ruin the rented tux.” Jeff lowered his arm and motioned to the tux jacket on the table near the archway where she stood.

  He appeared fully awake now, his gaze moving from the jacket to her.

  Sonja crossed her arms over her chest, realizing she was standing there in the oversized t-shirt she’d slept in. The t-shirt covered everything a dress would. But she also didn’t have her makeup on. Scratch that. She’d been so tired she hadn’t taken off the makeup from the wedding. Her hand went to her head. She hadn’t brushed her hair either. She was being silly. None of that mattered. It wasn’t as if she needed … wanted to impress Jeff.

  “Do me a favor, please?” she asked. “Get Shelley dressed while I get ready for work. I have her clothes out in the spare bedroom. And I told her she could have Unicorn cereal for breakfast. The box is on the counter.”

  Jeff lifted his gaze from her crossed arms to her face. “Uh, sure.”

  “Thanks.” Men. Sonja left the room, telling herself she was not flattered.

  “Papa.” Shelley grabbed his hand and he dragged his gaze from the doorway where Sonja had stood. He shouldn’t have taken such enjoyment in seeing her a little rumpled looking. Jeff rubbed his chin and glanced down at his slept-in clothes. He was more than a little rumpled. Not that it mattered. Sonja hadn’t shown any interest when he’d been at his best. Or, rather, his eavesdropping at the reception had corrected any thoughts he might have had about her having any interest in him as more than a friend.

  “Papa. Cer-el,” Shelley insisted

  “Clothes first. Then cereal. You heard Grammy.” He scooped up his granddaughter and rubbed noses with her. Shelley’s giggle sparked a melancholy warm remembrance of his son at her age and what he’d missed letting so much of his care default to his wife.

  “Okay.”

  He carried Shelley to the bedroom and helped her dress.

  “Paw, paw.” She patted the puppy on her shirt.

  “I see.” The little girl’s action reminded him that he needed to swing by Jesse and Lauren’s to pick up their dog Xena and bring her back to his place to stay with him while they were honeymooning.

  Shelley hopped off the bed, where he’d sat her to fasten her shoes. “Potty.” She raced out of the room running into Sonja, who’d just stepped into the hall.

  “I’ve got this,” Sonja said. “I’ll take her into my bath.”

  Relief waved over Jeff. He swallowed the sour taste in his mouth. While Sonja was doing that, he could clean up in the other bathroom and make himself presentable for breakfast.

  “You can use the half bath to freshen up.”

  Sonja’s offer confirmed that he must look as grubby as he felt.

  “Potty, Grammy.” Shelley’s voice took on an urgency and Sonja whisked their granddaughter into her room, while Jeff took the three steps to the half bath.

  He unbuttoned and removed his shirt and swished mouthwash from the bottle on the sink around his mouth while he washed up with a washcloth and one of the shell-shaped soaps from the dish on the sink vanity. He finished by dunking his head under the faucet and grabbing a towel from the rack to towel-dry his hair. Slinging the towel over his shoulder, Jeff studied himself in the mirror.

  Nothing he could do about the day’s stubble. But that look was supposed to be sexy, wasn’t it? Not that sexy was the goal of his cleaning up. Presentable was. He picked up the comb and combed his hair back from his face. Not bad for a grandfather, albeit a young grandfather at forty-seven. Sonja’s compact, curvy figure, tousled dark blond hair, and flawless complexion belied her fifty years, too.

  Jeff shrugged on his shirt, buttoned it and tucked it neatly into his pants. Hmm. He’d never dated an older woman before. He grimaced at his reflection in the mirror. He and Sonja weren’t dating. They were taking care of their mutual granddaughter while the kids were on their honeymoon. And from what he now knew, there wasn’t any point in pursuing a relationship with her beyond the friendship they already had.

  “Coffee?” Sonja asked when he entered the kitchen.

  “I’ll get it.” He filled the mug sitting on the counter next to the coffeemaker.

  “There’s half-and-half and sugar there.”

  “I’m good with it straight up,” he said, noting that Sonja had herself all together now in her usual impeccable fashion—a look that had, on occasion, made his fingers itch to mess her hair or put a smudge of something on her cheek to make her more approachable.

  Jeff lifted the mug and let the taste of the strong, not-quite-bitter liquid bring him back to reality.

  “Would you like eggs? I have some sausage, too.”

  Would he like Sonja waiting on him? You bet. “No, you need to get to your showing. I’ll finish my coffee and have something at my place.”

  Shelley lifted her nearly empty cereal bowl. “More, pease. Papa have cer-el. Unicorns.”

  Sonja and Jeff both laughed, almost nervously.

  “I think that’s the longest word I’ve heard her use,” Sonja said.

  “And perfectly.”

  “Papa!” Shelley demanded.

  He picked up the cereal box and sprinkled some in her bowl, adding a little milk.

  “Fank you,” Shelley said, earning her a wide, loving smile from Sonja.

  Jeff’s mind digressed to the earlier train of thought he’d pushed down and imagined what it would feel like to have Sonja smile at him like that. “If you point me in the direction of a bowl,” he choked out. “I’ll have Unicorns cereal, too.”

  Sonja handed him a bowl from the cupboard, glancing at the clock above the sink.

  “If you need to go,” he said as he poured the rainbow colored, sugar-coated cereal into the bowl, “I’ll clean up here before I take Shelley down to my place.”

  “That would be great.” Sonja picked up her briefcase from the chair next to Shelley and bent to kiss the little girl, close enough for Jeff to breathe in the light scent of her perfume. Or maybe shampoo. It didn’t matter. Whichever, it was enough to put his senses on alert.

  “Have fun with Papa.” Sonja straightened. “I’ll text you when I finish, and we can meet at the duplex to pick up Xena.”

  “Xena say woof-woof.” Shelley grinned.

  “That’s right. Xena is going to sleep over at Papa’s house while you stay with me.”

  “Go Papa’s house. See Xena.”

  “You go
ahead. I’ll take care of this,” Jeff said.

  “Thanks. Wish me luck.” Sonja left through the kitchen door.

  “Papa,” Shelley said as the door clicked shut.

  Jeff stiffened at the tentative lilt in Shelley’s voice, bracing for a question about her honeymooning parents. He could field it.

  “Ren kiss Jesse Daddy bye-bye when she goes to work.”

  Jeff fidgeted in his chair, wary of where the little girl was going with that.

  “Grammy no kiss Papa.”

  “True.” And it wasn’t from lack of him wanting her to. But that was his problem, not Shelley’s.

  Sonja walked down the path to Jeff’s cottage, feeling more in control of herself. The showing had gone well, with the client putting in an offer for the property. And being her professional self had allowed her to get some distance from this morning’s surprise of a sleep-tousled Jeff on her living room couch. She blinked the attractive but unwanted picture from her mind and focused on the warm sun beaming down and the Sunday afternoon she had ahead of her. Maybe she and Shelley would make chocolate chip cookies after lunch and the little girl’s afternoon nap.

  Xena’s head popped up at the front window and the dog began barking before Sonja got within fifty feet of the cottage. The door opened and the dog bounded out, offering her head for a petting.

  “Good girl,” Sonja said, “keeping our baby safe.” Jeff filled the doorway, waiting for her to reach the house, and her heartrate ticked up. The short walk from the big house shouldn’t have done that. She’d have to get back to her regular exercise routine that had fallen off during all the wedding preparations the past week.

  “Come on in. You’re just in time for lunch,” he said.

  “San’wich,” Shelley added.

  Her toe brushed the uneven edge of the next slate paver in the stone walkway, and she slowed her pace to avoid tripping. She hadn’t expected them all to have lunch together.

  “That sounds great.”

  “I helped,” Shelley said when Sonja reached the door.