With that, she spun on her heels, skirt swishing back and forth with every movement. As soon as she disappeared into her office, a cacophony of voices broke out, and the sound of pots and pans filled the kitchen. Teddy woke up from his nap and looked around the room in confusion.
Sophia paused to pat his head before swinging the refrigerator door open.
A few hours later, Sophia’s face was covered in flour and sweat. Her apron was stained with chocolate frosting, and she was sure it was going to smell like sugar for weeks. Rather than stop, she leaned over the counter, squinted at the recipe book propped open in front of her, and grumbled about Madison Blake.
What kind of influencer was she? And why hadn’t she just chosen a place that was more suited to her needs?
Nora’s was a bakery that catered to the needs of a small town, not a demanding bride-to-be.
One by one, the rest trickled out of the kitchen until Sophia was the only one left. When she heard Darren at the backdoor, calling out for her, she looked up from the loaf pan and blinked. Then she hurried over to the door and unlocked it. He stood in his usual dark uniform consisting of pants, a shirt with a patch on the side, and boots.
Darren gave her a quick smile as he stepped in and pulled the door shut behind him. “I saw the light on and had a feeling you were the one who was working late.”
Sophia raised an eyebrow. “You saw my car, didn’t you?”
Darren’s face broke out into a grin. “Yes, but I would’ve figured it out eventually. We were married for twenty-five years, remember?”
“No, it slipped my mind,” Sophia teased with a shake of her head. “Anyway, what are you doing here?”
“I was actually on my way to check on the security system and see if you needed anything.”
“Dad hates the new security system. You know how he feels about change.”
“You mean like when we came home that one time, and your dad was yelling at the fridge and pointing a spatula at it?”
Sophia burst into laughter. “Oh, my God. I almost forgot about that. Yeah, he still hates fridges with a screen display.”
Darren paused to pat Teddy on the head. “Do you remember a few years ago when we tried to get him a smartphone, and all of your calls were you looking up his nose?”
“He kept forgetting to switch off the camera,” Sophie remembered with a smile. “I’ve seen way more of my dad than I ever wanted to.”
Darren glanced over at her, and she saw a strange glimmer in his eyes. “We’ve had some good times, haven’t we? It wasn’t all bad.”
Sophia swallowed past the lump in her throat. “It wasn’t bad at all.”
Darren looked away first and crouched in front of Teddy. “How’s it going with him? Also, please tell me that Zoe was kidding when she said you named him Teddy.”
“He reminds me of a teddy bear,” Sophia responded defensively. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the name.”
Darren took Teddy’s face in his hands and pressed a kiss to the center of his forehead. “Sorry, dude. You’re going to have to live with the name now.”
Teddy’s tongue darted out, and he licked a path right down the center of Darren’s face. His laughter filled the kitchen, and Sophia found her stomach giving an odd little dip. When she turned her back on them, she placed a hand over her stomach and blew out a breath.
Why couldn’t she just move on from Darren once and for all?
She didn’t want to spend the rest of her life pining over him.
Chapter Eight
Sophia flipped over to another picture, and the tightness in her chest increased. Using two fingers, she traced the edge of the thin plastic and exhaled. In the photo, her mother was holding an irritated-looking Sophia to her chest and beaming proudly at the camera.
Behind her, the familiar Provincetown harbor lingered.
“You really did love it here, didn’t you, Mom?” Sophia stared at the picture for a while longer before moving on to another one of the four of them sitting on the beach, with baby Ian and Sophia in cute blue swimsuits.
With a sigh, Sophia reached for the spoon by her table and scooped up a mouthful of mint chocolate chip ice cream.
She thumbed through a few more of the pictures, even though she already knew all of them by heart, only pausing to gather her hair into a high ponytail. When Teddy placed his head on her lap and made a low whining sound, she glanced up at him. Slowly, she set the photo album down on the covers next to her and flipped onto her side. Teddy licked her hands, his eyes wide and soulful.
