said to him earlier, Dillon probably wouldn’t have cared what the kids did. In fact, he might have been glad, because maybe having someone like the very pretty Joy as his girlfriend would have gone a long way toward making his nephew happier to be in Crandall Lake. And anything that made Aidan happier and easier to handle made Dillon happier.
But how could he be happy when he knew how Sophie felt? Sure enough, when his glance met hers again as they were sitting back down at their table, he saw the worry in her eyes and the way she kept looking in the direction Aidan and Joy had gone.
He reached over and squeezed her hand under the table, then leaned toward her and said softly, “Don’t worry. I’ll talk to Aidan. See what I can do.”
Her eyes met his again. “You promise?”
He nodded.
“Thank you.”
He wished they were alone somewhere. He wished he could tell her how things were with Aidan. How even if he did talk to Aidan, he doubted it would do any good. But how could he? They weren’t alone. And even if they had been, he wasn’t sure he wanted to confess that he was doing a piss-poor job of being a parent-replacement for his nephew. Hell, being with Sophie again, even as briefly as they’d been the other day and tonight, made him more self-conscience of his image than ever before. Even more so than when he was in front of millions of fans. The last thing he wanted was for her to see him in anything but a favorable light.
That realization didn’t even surprise him.
Hadn’t he known, the minute he’d looked into those gorgeous eyes of hers on Wednesday, that whatever it was that had drawn him to her when they were kids was even stronger now that they were adults? And that he seemed to be just as powerless to resist it as he had been then?
* * *
Sophie had a hard time falling asleep, and when she finally did, she dreamed of Dillon. The first time he ever spoke to her had been at the end of a pep rally the afternoon of a big game against Eagle Hills. She’d been a cheerleader and was wearing her uniform. He’d grinned at her as he passed on his way to the locker room.
All he’d said was, “Lookin’ good, Marlowe,” but those three words had told her he not only knew who she was but had remembered her name. Her heart had done crazy leapfrog things as she watched him walk away. He was the cutest, coolest, sexiest boy she’d ever seen.
That night, at the community center—there was always a dance on Friday and Saturday nights—he’d asked her to dance. She’d nearly fainted with delight as he took her hand and pulled her into his arms. And when he’d whispered in her ear that he’d like to take her home, she wasn’t sure she could walk off the dance floor without help.
They’d gone to the lake afterward. That was where all the kids went to make out. When he’d kissed her, Sophie’s head felt as if it was going to explode. And when his hand had moved from her waist to her breast, she very nearly did faint. Every nerve in her body came alive, and from that moment on, she was his.
The next morning, memories of her dream lingering, she knew her sister wasn’t the only one in this house who was in danger of making a monumental mistake. She also knew she couldn’t put off talking to Joy. Trouble was, Sophie hated confrontation.
She wished Beth, who’d been her BFF since they were kindergartners together, was home so she could run all this by her first. But Beth was on her honeymoon in Italy, and Sophie had vowed she would not yield to the temptation of calling Beth unless blood was involved.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Beth had said when Sophie made the promise as they hugged goodbye after Beth had tossed her wedding bouquet. “You can call or text. Mark won’t mind.”
But Sophie knew Mark would mind, and Sophie didn’t blame him. A honeymoon should be sacred. No man wanted his new bride thinking about anyone other than him. Time enough for real life when the newlyweds got back home.
No, Sophie was on her own. And since there was no one else she trusted enough to confide in, she would have to handle this problem with Joy by herself.
And I can’t put it off, either. Sighing, she got up from the kitchen table where she’d been drinking coffee and reading the news on her iPad. It was almost ten, and Joy was still asleep. Sophie had heard her sister come in at one o’clock the night before, right on time for her curfew, which Sophie had extended for the homecoming dance.
Deciding Joy had slept long enough, Sophie walked upstairs and softly knocked at Joy’s bedroom door. When there was no acknowledgment, Sophie knocked harder. Still hearing nothing, she opened the door and peered in. “Joy? Time to get up.”
“Huh? Wha? Wh-what time is it?”
“After ten.”
“Wh-why do I have to get up?” Joy pulled the cotton coverlet she used over her head.
Normally Sophie would have relented, because Joy was good about getting up on time and rarely gave Sophie problems in the morning, so Sophie gave her some slack on the weekends. But today wasn’t a normal day, at least not in Sophie’s mind. Today was the day she had to take whatever steps necessary to ensure that Joy did nothing stupid, nothing that would get in the way of the future she deserved, and more important, nothing that would break her heart down the line.
“We need to talk,” Sophie said firmly, walking over to the bed and sitting down next to Joy. “Get up and wash your face and do whatever else you need to do, then come downstairs and have some breakfast and we’ll talk, okay?”
Joy just looked at her. And from the expression on her face, Sophie knew Joy had a pretty good idea of what the subject of their talk would be. Sophie also knew Joy wanted to protest, but to her credit, she only sighed.
“Okay,” she said.
Sophie’s heart melted a little as she gazed down at the sister she loved so much, the sister who almost felt like her daughter. But even as she wanted to lean over and kiss Joy’s cheek and say not to worry, she knew she couldn’t give in to the understanding and sympathy she felt. It’s for her own good. She’ll thank me someday. Sophie squeezed Joy’s shoulder and got up. “Would you like to have pancakes today?” she said brightly.
“Sure,” Joy said.
“All right. See you downstairs.”
Fifteen minutes later, barefoot and dressed in denim cutoffs and a faded One Direction T-shirt, her long blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, Joy entered the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, she took out the carton of skim milk and poured herself a glass. She drank it leaning against the kitchen counter.
Sophie smiled at her and ladled batter into the frying pan. She’d already put syrup and butter on the table. “Want to put two plates out?”
“Sure.”
It only took a couple of minutes for the first batch of pancakes to be ready. Sophie put them on a waiting platter, covered it with foil to keep the pancakes warm, then put a second batch on to cook. Once there were enough pancakes to feed both of them, she turned off the stove, moved the hot frying pan to a cool burner and joined her sister at the table.
Since it was obvious Joy wasn’t going to ask any questions about what Sophie might want to talk about, Sophie waited until they’d both eaten a
