more stable.” Lower, almost under her breath, she added, “Stupid.”
“You couldn’t have seen this coming, Soph. None of us plan for this sort of thing. No one would get out of bed, if we did,” Luke said in a low, even tone. “But you’re right about one thing, though. He always wanted to see you pregnant. He always thought you’d make a great-looking pregnant woman.” His eyes swept her body unbeknownst to her. “He was right.”
“Thanks,” Sophia said with a small smile. The timer dinged and Sophia pulled the plate out of the microwave. “Of course, my face is puffy, my ankles are swollen and I have to urinate constantly.” She put the plate down in front of him and smiled. “TMI, right?”
Luke shook his head; as she set the plate down, he noticed the simple gold wedding band that still encircled her left ring finger. He wasn’t surprised that she still wore her wedding band; she had always been loyal to Dan. In life, and now in death.
The minute she moved her hand away, he hunched over his plate and started to dig in.
“Something to drink?”
Luke chewed fast, and then swallowed hard before he spoke. “Water’s good.”
She brought a glass of water back to the table with her and then sat down beside him. Ranger had found his way back to the food Sophia had scrounged up for him. The Brand family had taken in so many strays over the years that it was standard operating procedure to have emergency pet supplies on hand.
“The moral of this story is, I feel pretty good and I have to stay active in order to maintain a modicum of sanity out here in the boonies. So, I don’t mind helping you out while you rest your leg a bit...if you can put your male pride aside for a second or two.”
Luke wasn’t really paying attention to what she was saying; he was shoveling in his food as if he hadn’t eaten for days. He ate like a man who was used to being surrounded by other men vying for the same food. He protected his food with one arm, leaned forward and got the food to his mouth as quickly as possible.
“Luke,” she asked with surprise, “what happened to your table manners?”
Luke paused from his shoveling for a second, sat up and moved his arms off the table. He glanced up at her. “Better?”
“Much.” She shook her head at him. “I take it you like the food? Or, were you just that hungry?”
Luke gulped the water down before he said, “It was pretty damn good.”
Sophia picked up the plate and rinsed it in the sink. “Glad you liked it.” When she returned to her spot at the table, Luke had Ranger in his lap.
“Find any clippers when you found the cat food?” Luke was examining the kitten’s claws.
“Yes. Finally. I wish your mom would find a different outlet when she’s upset. None of us can ever find anything when she’s done.” Sophia chuckled and shook her head. “I put them over there on the counter.” She made to get up again. Luke’s warm hand on her arm stopped her.
“You sit. I’ll get them.”
She decided to let him win this one and didn’t protest. He returned with the clippers and the kitten. Once seated, he flipped Ranger over on his back and put him down gently on his lap.
“You’ve done this before.”
“Yes, I have,” Luke replied. His mom’s soft spot for animals was well-known in the community; everyone knew where to drop off the strays.
Ranger was crying and squirming on Luke’s lap. “If you steady his hind legs, we’ll get this done quickly.”
She scooted her chair closer and reached out to stop Ranger from kicking his legs, while Luke started to trim his front claws. She was so close to him that the fresh scent of his skin invaded her senses. He smelled just like Daniel when he was straight out of the shower: almonds mixed with the scent of soap. She couldn’t stop herself from taking his scent deeply into her lungs. Her long intake of breath caught Luke’s attention. He looked up from his task, caught her eye and said, “Teamwork.”
Nothing in his face read humor, but she saw a glint of mirth that lurked behind the intense depth of his light blue eyes. She leaned back a bit and resisted the urge to bury her nose in his neck. That’s what she used to do with Daniel. It used to be one of her favorite things to do.
“There you go, little man. All done.” Luke easily turned the kitten upright and let him down on the ground. Ranger hopped forward a couple of steps before he stopped and licked his shoulder to release some of his irritation.
Sophia watched Ranger, glad for the distraction that pulled attention away from the way Luke’s nearness made her heart race. “I was actually starting to think that you were going to sleep through the night.”
“I’m surprised I got any shut-eye at all, to tell you the truth.” Luke leaned back in the chair and stretched out his left leg. He rubbed his hands across his cropped hair. Daniel had always worn his light brown hair shaggy and long. Sophia couldn’t remember the last time she had seen Luke without what she termed “Marine hair.” Looking at him now, she was reminded of the first time she had seen Daniel after he had enlisted in the army; he had looked just like Luke in that moment. When they had made love, conceived the child she was carrying, for a split second, she had thought of Luke.
“What?” Luke asked her, an eyebrow raised in question. She must have been giving him an odd look.
“Just thinking.”
“Anything interesting?”
“No.”
Just remembering that I had thought of you when Daniel and I conceived this child...
Luke was growing a goatee; there was a faint outline of stubble that encircled his mouth. Her fingers had the strangest urge to reach out and follow the goatee trail around his lips, of all the stupid things!
“I think we should put Ranger in the hall bathroom upstairs. What do you think?”
“What?” She hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation; she had been distracted by his lips.
“The hall bathroom. Ranger. The kitty box. What do you think?”
“Oh. Yeah. Makes sense.” Those words were followed by a wide yawn. “I think it’s time for me to start thinking about bed. It’s been a long day.”
It took several slow trips, but between the two of them, they managed to get Ranger, his food and the kitty box upstairs into the hall bathroom. Sophia molded a bed out of towels and turned on a low nightlight before she shut the door. Ranger was hooked up.
Luke and Sophia faced each other outside of their respective bedroom doors. There was an awkward moment of silence before they both finally said good-night. Once inside their rooms, they ran back into each other on their sides of the adjoining bathroom.
Luke held on to his door. “Ladies first.”
Sophia agreed. She stepped into the bathroom. She added, “Make sure you knock, mister. Let’s not have any unfortunate moments.”
He
