Chapter Sixteen
“Yeah, I know, I know.” Sophia downed the rest of her drink and stood at the sink. After washing the mug, she twisted to face Teddy, who was sitting underneath the counter, his tail wagging incessantly. “Stop looking at me like that. You already had breakfast.”
Teddy made a low whining sound.
She wagged a finger at him. “No, stop giving me those big, cute eyes. That’s how dogs gain weight and have health issues. We’re not going to do that.”
Teddy blew out a breath and gave her another look.
With a sigh, Sophia brushed past him and into the living room. She pulled the curtain aside, saw Stu holding the hose and watering the bushes, and smiled. For a while, she watched her dad, completely in his element outside, talking to himself as he tended to the lush green backyard. When Teddy pushed his snout against her palm, she let the curtain fall back into place. Then she hurried over to her apartment, changed into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, and grabbed some of Teddy’s toys.
Outside, there were a few clouds gathering on the horizon and a slight nip in the air. She climbed down the stairs, with Teddy close on her heels, and paused at the bottom. Once shesat down and drew her knees up to her chest, Stu spun around to face her with a smile, his weathered face free of some of the shadows and tightness that had plagued him over the past few weeks.
His eyes were lighter, and his smile was bright, like he was radiating joy and peace from within.
She liked seeing him like this.
Teddy pressed his nose to the ground and circled the backyard, pausing to glare at the fence encircling the area, high enough to offer them privacy without compromising on the view of the sparkling water in the distance. Then he darted off in the other direction, chasing after a bird that flew a little too close to the ground. Sophia and Stu watched until Teddy gained momentum and ran right into the fence.
All at once, they both burst into laughter.
Teddy shook himself off and wandered over to where Stu stood. He tilted his head in her father’s direction and wagged his tail. Stu gave him a firm pat with one hand and kept his grip on the hose with the other. Once Teddy took off again, Stu walked over to the faucet and switched off the hose.
“Did you know that the sunflower isn’t just one flower?”
Sophia stretched her legs out in front and placed her arms on either side of her. “I think you mentioned this before. Something about how the fuzzy brown part has close to one thousand individual flowers?”
Stu nodded and wiped his hands on the back of his khakis. “Sometimes, two thousand, and each of those will produce sunflower seeds.”
“I love that you spout off facts like that off the top of your head,” Sophia told him with a smile. “I’m always learning things.”
“Did you know that the fastest-growing woody plant in the world is bamboo? It can grow about eighty-eight centimeters in a single day.”
Sophia let out a low whistle. “That’s impressive.”
Over the next few minutes, Stu gave her a few more facts until he caught Teddy pawing at the ground underneath one of the bushes. With a frown, Stu waved the dog away and wagged a finger at him.
“Here’s another fact for you: If Teddy ruins my garden, he’s going to be the one to replant everything.”
Sophia burst into laughter. “Yeah, I’d love to see you try and make that happen, Dad, when he doesn’t even have opposable thumbs.”
Stu stood up straighter and spun around to face her. “You making fun of your old man?”
Sophia pressed her lips together. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Stu crossed the distance between them and sat down on the last step next to her. He turned his face away and fixed his gaze on an unmarked spot on the horizon. “You know, your mom used to make fun of me, too.”
Sophia swallowed. “Yeah?”
Stu nodded, a shadow settling over his face. “I know I don’t like to talk much about her, but you deserve to know everything.”
“Maybe not everything,” Sophia teased, pausing to drape an arm over her father’s shoulders. “Just, you know, small things. You never told me how the two of you met.”
“We reached for the same set of pajamas.”
Sophia chuckled. “Really?”
Stu shook his head and swung his gaze back to hers, his bright eyes shining with tears. “No, we were fighting over the last can of tuna. I remember thinking that I really didn’t want it that badly, but I didn’t want to stop talking to her, either.”
