by Ann, Natalie
Except Wednesday came and went with no communication. By the end of the day on Thursday he was starting to think she’d had second thoughts.
He never liked the nonstop calls and texts from Linda. Detested them, to be honest.
In the beginning, things had been great with Linda. She gave him the space he wanted, and he appreciated it. Somehow though, slowly, without him even realizing it, they were talking every day. Then it was text messages each morning to say “hi” and text messages, if not phone calls, each night to say she loved him or missed him. Those messages turned into more and more. Until she wanted to know where he was and what he was doing every moment.
But for some reason, Sophia not contacting him the next day bothered him. By the time he let himself into his front door on Thursday close to eight o’clock, his nerves were standing on end.
Without thought—he had second-guessed himself enough for two days—he dialed her number. She picked up on the second ring, and he blurted out, “Hi, honey. How was your day?”
She burst out laughing, exactly what he was hoping for when he said it. “It was wonderful, dear, how was yours?” Then she laughed again, and it was music to his ears.
“Sorry.” He chuckled. “I couldn’t resist.”
“No problem. It’s funny. I was going to call you tonight. The last few days have been crazy. I only walked in the door about twenty minutes ago.”
“Then you beat me by those twenty minutes. I just walked in myself.”
He had sat down on the couch, and before he knew it, they had been on the phone for over thirty minutes talking about their last two days.
During that Thursday night conversation, they decided that Sophia would talk to Kaitlin one-on-one Friday after work, and they would tell the rest of the family together at dinner on Sunday. His mother wouldn’t think anything of Sophia coming to dinner. She often had in the past.
Now though, he was nervous about how Kaitlin handled it last night. He hadn’t heard from Sophia afterward. Chances were she was at Kaitlin’s until late and didn’t want to bother him. At least he hoped that was the case. But he wouldn’t have minded the phone call.
Pulling into Sophia’s driveway Saturday at noon, he found her in the front yard dressed in shorts and a cotton shirt, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, flip-flops on her feet and gardening gloves covering her hands. She stood back looking at the flowers she was arranging in their containers around the shrubs, and looking nothing like the sophisticated CPA from Manhattan. To him, it was the best he’d ever seen her.
Getting out of his truck, he walked over next to her to admire her arrangements, but she stepped back and stood up on her toes to kiss him on the lips. Smiling, he leaned down and kissed her again. “Hi,” he said, lively.
“Hello yourself,” she said, adding a silly grin.
“What do you need my help with?”
“That’s a loaded question,” she replied, wiggling her eyebrows.
Just like that, they were back to their old ways, completely comfortable with each other, but on a whole new level.
Once the flowers were all planted and the front yard looked better than he could have imagined—she really did have an eye for flowers and arranging them—they picked up the empty containers, along with their gloves, and stored everything in the garage.
She went to wash her hands—and her face, after he pointed out she had dirt on it—and he helped himself to a bottle of water. Coming back out, she walked up to him and pulled the water out of his hand, took a sip and gave it back. He arched an eyebrow at her saying, “Would you like some?”
“No, I’ll get mine own, but thanks.”
She was something else. Sassy, a quality he never before thought he would like in a woman. But it suited her well.
“So,” he started to say, “are you going to tell me what Kaitlin said last night?”
“It took you long enough to ask,” she said, making him wish he’d asked sooner. He should have realized she was playing with him and was going to make him bring it up. “But since you asked so nicely, I guess I’ll tell you. First I should warn you.”
She stopped talking and looked at him seriously and he started to sweat. He couldn’t imagine Kaitlin would be upset about it, but maybe she was. Maybe he was wrong about how his family would react. “I’ll talk to her, too,” he said. He was sure once he explained it all, Kaitlin would understand.
“About what?” she asked, confused.
“I’ll explain it, too,” he clarified.
“Phil,” she said patiently. “I didn’t even get to explain anything. I barely said more than ‘Phil and I’ before she began jumping up and down and pointing her finger saying ‘I knew it. I knew it all along.’”
“What?” he asked, alarmed. “You told her about the wedding night?”
“No,” Sophia rushed out. “I don’t want anyone to know about that, I told you. Anyway, what I was going to warn you about was that I never really got to say much to her. I spent the whole night listening to her talking about how she knew it all along and was wondering what was taking us so long. It seems she had ‘seen the signs.’ Those were her words, by the way.”
“What signs are those?”
She tilted her head to the side. “Really? Probably the same signs Ben saw. Or the ones that I’ve known about for years. You know, those signs that you knew about, too? I guess maybe we weren’t as secretive as we thought.”
“You told her we’ve never done anything inappropriate, right?” he said quickly. As bad as things were with Linda, he’d never cheated on her, and he never considered it. The only person who would have tempted him was Sophia, and even then, there was never anything more than harmless flirting. Flirting that he thought had hidden what he was really feeling. He had apparently guessed wrong.
She looked at him, her eyebrows high and a smirk on her face. He amended, “I meant when I was with Linda.”
“Of course,” she said reassuring him. “Your sister knows me anyway. She knows I would never sleep with someone who was in a relationship. And they know you never would either.”
“Okay. That’s good. So what else did she say?”
“Nothing really. Just went on and on about how excited and happy she was. She wouldn’t sit still and kept jumping up and down. I thought Ryan was going to tie her to the chair. At one point he told her she was making his children seasick. It’s really sweet watching how he hovers over her.”
“What did Ryan say?”
“Nothing, really. Did you expect him to?” she asked curiously.
“No. But I thought I should ask anyway.”
“I made Kaitlin swear to me she wouldn’t tell your parents or your brothers, that we would do it on Sunday together. But of course I wanted to tell her myself. She understood and even reminded me how she had to tell Ben face-to-face about Ryan.”
“So we’re all set then for tomorrow?” he asked.
“We are all set.”
***
Sunday dinner at the Harpers was a weekly event. Isabel always made a big meal and everyone was invited. It was an open invitation to all her children and their significant others.
Today everyone was there but Presley, Ben’s fiancée. Since she worked second shift at the hospital there was really no way they could have come together, unless it was brunch instead of dinner.
With everyone seated at the table, Isabel asked Ben, “Did you set a wedding date yet?”
“No, Mom. It’s taken me a month to convince her to move in with me.”
“You had to convince her to move in with you?” Ryan asked sarcastically. “How did you manage to get her to even go on a date with you?”
“There was no convincing there,” Ben replied to his brother-in-law. “She took one look at me and couldn’t say no. Matter of fact, I took her home that first night,” he boasted.
“Benjamin,” Isabel said, “I don’t want to hear another word. I refuse to believe Presley let you in her door the first night she
met you. Let alone, in her bedroom. Stop right there and don’t say another word,” she ordered him.
Grinning like a fool, Ben looked away from his mother and addressed Ryan. “So I can’t tell you what happened that first night, but let’s say it didn’t take much convincing after that.”
Sophia felt her face heat when Isabel chastised Ben. She looked over guiltily at Phil, then caught Kaitlin’s look. Thankfully, Kaitlin asked, “If you need any help packing, we’re all available.”
“Thanks, Kaitlin. But I’m going to have a moving company do it all. It’s easier that way. There isn’t much besides her clothes and a few pieces of furniture. She said nothing in her apartment holds any sentimental value to her.”
“Kaitlin,” Isabel said, “When is your next ultrasound? I can’t wait to find out what you are having,” she said excitedly, reaching up and wiping her eyes as they misted.
Kaitlin rubbed her hands lovingly around her belly. “Two weeks. So who wants to take bets on the genders?”
Ryan said, “Boys. The odds are against you. You’ve got three brothers on your side, and Lucas and me on mine. Even Lucas had a boy.”
“Girls,” Alec said, eying Ryan. “Just to make you squirm.”
Ryan snorted. “I won’t be squirming. I won’t need too. Not with three uncles pushing me out of the way,” he said.
Sophia knew it was a joke. Ryan wouldn’t be pushed out of the way of anything when it came to Kaitlin. She’d had her doubts about Ryan in the beginning, but she learned to love him almost as much as Kaitlin did. Her best friend had chosen well. Kaitlin found what Sophia had been looking for all along. Someone to love every single part of her for who she was, and for no other reason. “One of each. It only seems fair.”
“I like your thinking,” William said, winking at her.
Phil reached over under the table and grasped her hand. “Sophia and I—”
“It’s about time,” Isabel said, jumping from the table and running over to hug her. Shocked to say the least, Sophia couldn’t believe Isabel had reacted that way and looked over at Kaitlin.
“I didn’t say anything,” Kaitlin explained.
“What? What is going on?” Alec asked.
Ben looked at Alec. “You’re always a step behind. They’re together.”
“How did you know?” Kaitlin asked Ben.
“I know everything,” he said, grinning and staring Phil down, making him squirm and Sophia squirm right next to him.
“When did this happen?” Alec asked his brother, still looking baffled.
Ryan jumped in. “It’s been happening for years, Alec. Where have you been? Even I saw the signs and I haven’t known Sophia all that long.”
Snorting, Alec looked at Sophia. “Well hell, shorty. Why not me? I’m the better looking twin,” he said, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek.
“Not in my eyes,” she replied, and felt Phil squeeze her hand harder. She looked over at him and gave him a kiss in front of everyone, relieved it worked out so well. All those fears were for nothing.
Ten
“So what did Kaitlin mean when she asked you how many dates we’ve been on?” Phil asked her when they were driving back to her place from his parents’ house on the lake.
She hummed low in her throat, then turned her head and looked out the window. “Nothing.”
“Sophia,” he said patiently. “I’m not stupid.” If he didn’t know her well enough, he knew his sister by now, and there was some secret going on between them.
Fidgeting in his seat at her silence, he started to guess what it might be. “How many dates, Sophia?”
“For what?” she said, looking at him innocently. He was on to her though.
“Before you consider sleeping with someone?” he said bluntly.
She laughed. “I think, all things considered, we’re beyond that point. Don’t you agree?”
“No, I don’t. I’m never going to forget that night. Ever. But I want to move forward in a traditional way. I know you well enough to know there is a reason for everything you do. I won’t ask you what that reason is, but I would like to know how many dates.”
Her face softened, but he wasn’t sure what that was about. “There is no set number, but rather a minimum before I would consider sleeping with someone.”
“Okay, what is that minimum?”
She sighed. “Does it really matter? It’s not like you and I are strangers.”
“Sophia, answer the question,” he stated stubbornly.
“Fine. Ten. I won’t even consider sleeping with someone until we’ve been out, or together at least ten times. Even then, it wasn’t always a given.”
Ten. He figured she was more than the “three-date rule” kind of girl but didn’t expect her to more than triple that number. Oh well, he’d waited this long for her, he could wait longer.
By his calculations they were at four, if he counted dinner when he fixed her leaky washer, which he was. And he counted pizza when she called to thank him for the flowers. He was definitely counting yesterday, that was a date. He helped her plant flowers and she cooked him dinner—something they had planned in advance.
And today. Of course it was a date, they had already decided they were telling everyone they were in a relationship. They even agreed they were beyond dating. So worst case he was at four. Because today counted in his mind, too. He didn’t care that his entire family was around.
“Relax, Phil. I’m not holding you to it,” she said, chuckling.
“No. We’ll do it your way. What’s a few more weeks, right? It’s not like it hasn’t been longer.”
***
Later that night, getting ready for bed, Sophia thought back on the conversation with Phil. She would never make him wait the ten dates.
Even if they hadn’t already slept together, he was the exception to the rule. She was right when she told him he wasn’t a stranger to her. But it wasn’t that, it was more than that. Emotionally, he was worlds above what she felt for anyone else in her life.
The ten-date rule was silly really, but she didn’t want to be like her mother. Sophia wasn’t stupid, she knew most men looked at her and thought of only one thing—sex. So she went the opposite of those assumptions and held out longer.
The fact that Phil knew her well enough to know what she and Kaitlin were talking about was proof enough. No one in her life knew that much about her. Not even her parents.
She wasn’t neglected as a child, not at all. She was always with one parent or another, not to mention a new stepparent. She always had some kind of a sibling around to play with or hang out with.
The best of everything, she’d always received it. Her parents constantly had to one-up the other. If her mother spent one hundred dollars on shoes for her as a child, then the next week her father spent two hundred. It was like that her whole life.
She got whatever she wanted, went on some pretty fantastic vacations as a child, and lived in some beautiful houses along the way. Her parents loved her. The way any child in the middle of a nasty divorce could be loved.
She was the yo-yo that was bounced between them. One day loving her and coddling her, showing her off to their new significant other to prove how devoted they were. Then when her father’s new wife decided she wanted to be a mother to her own child, Sophia would be sent back to her mom. Back to visitations with her father.
When her mother’s new boyfriend wanted to jet set around the world, she would be sent to a private school, then flown out on breaks to visit Paris and Italy. Or wherever they were at the time.
Then when her father’s next wife had a child from a previous marriage and wanted Sophia around as a playmate, she found herself back with him.
Nonstop she moved. It was the norm in her life. She was loved plenty, by everyone. Even her stepparents. No one hated her and no one treated her badly, but she knew deep down she was only accepted as a way to get to her parents. Or for her parents to get at each other.
No one had
ever loved her for her. She was the pawn used to get them what they wanted at those points in their life. At the time she accepted it.
Of course, no one was the wiser, either. They thought she was an accepting child. So willing to open her arms to another stepparent or boyfriend/girlfriend of her parents. In all honesty, it was her survival mode.
She was lucky in that she had learned to adapt so easily. It helped with all the transitions in her life. And those acts—or masks she wore—often led people to believe she was content to go where they sent her.
Even all the psychotherapists her parents had lined up for her along the way said she was a well-adjusted child.
But deep down, she just wanted to be loved for her, and her only. No pawn, no purpose, no reason. Just because.
Which brought her back to Phil. He knew things about her that no one else did. Even Kaitlin, if she were honest. And it made her believe she had actually found someone to give her what she really wanted. That perfect relationship, with that perfect someone.
No, she wasn’t going to make Phil wait those ten dates. Not at all. He was already everything she had been looking for in a man for years.
He made her laugh, he made her cry—and boy had she shed a lot of tears for him. Behind closed doors. Though, he’d seen her cry occasionally, more than anyone else in her life, she realized.
There were no masks or acts with him. She was herself. She didn’t have to be perfect, didn’t have to be cool, calm and sophisticated Sophia. He had seen all sides of her along the way, and he still wanted to have a relationship with her.
As close as all the Harpers were, she knew Phil was privy to her upbringing and background. It had come up plenty in the past, so there were no secrets there.
She wasn’t even worrying about sexual compatibility. Though she dated a lot, she had only slept with a fraction of those men. Only a few in the scheme of things. Mainly because none of them—until Phil—had ever brought on any of that longing or desire she’d heard about from others. Or read about in books. Even if they did make it to the ten-date rule.
