Darren looked up, a flicker of surprise on his face. “You’re welcome.”
Silence stretched between them.
Then Darren was making his way out of the door while trying to avoid Teddy’s slobbery kisses. As soon as he was gone, Sophia slumped against the counter and sighed. Ian showed up a short while later with his kids and Zoe in tow. Immediately, they all went to work reorganizing the living room to make more room for people while Sophia stayed in the kitchen, with Lily on speaker and butterflies already in her stomach.
By the end of the day, Sophia’s feet hurt, and she could barely keep her eyes open. When she crawled into bed, rather than spend the night tossing and turning, she fell asleep right away. In the morning, when she got up, Ian, Lucy, and the kids were already in the main house, setting up for the Labor Day celebrations. Hours later, Sophia was muttering to herself about a recipe when Lily and Ben showed up.
She pulled them both into a hug and sniffed.
Wordlessly, Lily stepped into the kitchen and took over, allowing Sophia a reprieve. The two sisters exchanged a quick look before Sophia hid herself in the kitchen, pouring over the cooking along with her cousin, Angie. Together, the two of them worked in silence, occasionally glancing over at the clock to make sure everything was in order.
Once the sun dipped below the horizon, bathing the world in a kaleidoscope of bright colors, more and more of the Wilson clan began to appear. Aunt Heather showed up with Uncle Ed in tow, and they immediately set to work in the backyard, setting up chairs and tables amidst peals of laughter.
A day later, when all of the Wilson clan came down early to visit, Sophia felt as if she was wound up so tight that she was going to burst into a million pieces. Her cousins Tammy and Luke were in the kitchen, on clean-up duty along with Tammy’s husband, James, and Luke’s wife, Denise, the four of them snickering and stealing food off the plate when Sophia wasn’t working.
When Abby, Tania, Josh, and Emma stumbled in, shoving each other and complaining, Cousin Angie kicked them all out. Sophia found herself oddly grateful for her no-nonsense cousin, who knew how to manage an entire kitchen staff because of her position as head chef at the Herring Cove Inn. Angie ran a tight ship, and Sophia was all too glad to defer to her, especially whenAngie managed to convince their cousins, Jeff, Emily, and Tara, to set the food out on plates.
Jeff’s kids, Jason and Maria, were tossing the salads while Emily’s kids, Charlotte and Savannah, finished setting the rest of the tables. Now and again, Rob and Terry came in to tease their sister, Angie, but it lasted until Angie chased them out of the kitchen and glared daggers at their back.
Conversation rose and fell around Sophia while she struggled to tune it all out.
It wasn’t until Zac’s name flashed across the screen that she came back to the present with a jolt and realized she’d been staring off into space, a whisk held in her hand. With a sigh, she ducked into the storage room in the back and pulled the curtain shut. As soon as she answered the call, she knew something was wrong.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” Zac began, raising his voice toward the end. “I really wanted to be there, but there’s a lot of unrest in the country right now, so they’re not allowing anyone to leave.”
Sophia sagged against the shelves behind her. “But it’s Labor Day. Can’t they make an exception?”
“It’s not really safe for anyone to travel,” Zac replied, his voice drifting in and out of focus. “I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you, okay?”
Sophia pushed herself off the shelves and swallowed. “Are you sure it’s safe to stay there?”
“…no one…trying…later.”
Zac’s voice was abruptly cut off, and Sophia drew the phone away from her ear and tried to swallow past the lump in her throat. But the longer she stood there, thinking about Zac and the kind of dangers he faced, the worse she felt.
She should’ve tried harder to stop him when she had the chance.
Now, her baby was on a different continent, and he couldn’t come back home.
When Darren found her on the floor, with her head between her hands and panic clawing its way up her chest, he crouched in front of her. Slowly, Darren drew her to her feet and into his arms. The familiar smell of old spice and aftershave washed over her as Darren kept a hand on the small of her back and led her into the hallway.
Without anyone noticing, the two of them ducked into her old bedroom, and Darren kicked the door shut with the back of his leg. He steered her in the direction of the bed, and she sat down. Wordlessly, he handed her a glass of water and stepped back outside. Once he returned, Sophia stood up and set the glass down on her desk.
“Everybody is waiting for us.”
Darren shook his head and blocked the door. “Not anymore. I told them to start without us and that you weren’t feeling well. Everyone understands.”
Sophia frowned. “Why would you do that?”
Darren raised an eyebrow. “Did you expect me to find you on the floor in the storage room and not react? Come on, Soph. You know me better than that.”
“I wasn’t passed out or anything. I just needed a minute.”
“What’s going on?”
Sophia took a step back and ran a finger through her. “Zac is stuck in Africa. They won’t let anyone leave Botswana right now. I’m worried.”
Darren blew out a breath. “Why don’t we make a few calls? I’ve got an old army buddy of mine who might be able to help, and didn’t you say you had an old friend whose husband is a pilot or something?”
