Sophia glanced up, caught her Grandma Jen’s eye, and nodded. “I’m not mad at you, Zac. I could never be mad at you for long anyway, and I understand why you flipped out.”
“Just don’t do it again,” Darren warned, materializing behind the chair in a dark green polo and with wet hair tossed to the side. “You know your mother and I love you, and there’s very little we wouldn’t do for you.”
Zac nodded. “I know. I’m sorry, Dad.”
Wordlessly, Sophia handed Darren the phone and blew her son a kiss. Then she drifted into the kitchen and rummaged through the cupboards in search of a glass. After finding one, she poured herself and Darren a generous amount of sweet lemonade. While she sipped on her drink, she kept sneaking glances over at Darren, who was smiling and laughing while Zac did the same.
“Get a room,” Emily joked on her way past. “I haven’t seen anyone staring at someone so intensely since I caught Uncle Frank and Aunt Paula in the hot tub.”
Sophia sputtered and choked on her drink. “I didn’t need that mental image.”
Emily spun around to face her, a wicked gleam in her eyes. “Now I’m not the only one who has that image. You’re welcome.”
Sophia shot her a dirty look. “Did you come in just to put that image in my head?”
Emily filled up her glass of water and eyed her over the rim. “No, I was going to tell you that you should take Nora up on her offer, and we can merge bakeries. People love that sort of thing, and we’d have double the clientele and double the profit.”
“And double the work,” Sophia added, pausing to set her glass down on the counter. “I don’t know, Em. I appreciate how much confidence you all have in me, but I don’t know if I want to run a bakery, especially one that isn’t mine. I walked away from theGusteau’sbecause it was too fast-paced, and I didn’t like it anymore.”
Emily nodded and took a long sip of her drink. “I know, but this would be different. We would make the rules, and think about it this way: At least you wouldn’t have Valerie as a boss.”
Sophia sighed. “Yeah, you do make a good point.”
Emily washed her glass and set it out to dry. “Anyway, think about it, and let me know. I’d love to go into business with you. I think we’d make a great team.”
Chapter Eighteen
“Down, boy,” Sophia scolded, pausing to give the couple an apologetic smile. “Sorry, he gets a little too excited sometimes.”
The couple offered her another smile and patted Teddy, who continued to wag his tail back and forth. Then he tugged on his leash and pulled her in the direction of the water. She pulled back hard, and they walked along the edge of the water, with Teddy pausing every so often to sniff the ground and kick up sand. When he saw a flock of birds in the distance, he let out an enthusiastic bark and yanked hard enough to make Sophia topple forward.
She righted herself at the last second to keep herself from falling face-first into the sand and shot her dog a dirty look. After securing the leash around her palm, she wagged a finger at him until Teddy sat back on his hind legs and blinked up at her, his face scrunching up in a confused look.
He was too cute for his own good.
Reluctantly, Sophia patted him, and his tail thumped. She straightened her back, glanced out at the water, and smiled. Then she saw a flash of movement and turned toward it,spotting Olive Vasquez a few feet away, talking to a tall, broad-shouldered, angry-looking man.
Sophia’s brows furrowed together as she took in Olive’s wrinkled clothing, the hair matted to her forehead, and the tremble in her lower lip. Before she knew what she was doing, Sophia set off toward them, with Teddy falling into step beside her.
Once she was close enough to see her face, Sophia’s stomach clenched as she noticed the tears streaming down Olive’s face and the angry vein bulging in the man’s neck. He glanced over at Sophia, and his dark eyes tightened around the edges. Then he folded his arms over his chest and puffed it out, a show of strength and capability.
“Hey, Olive,” Sophia greeted cheerfully. “I thought that was you. Teddy and I were just taking a walk, and we thought we’d come over and say hi. I’m so glad you called me to catch up.”
Olive swallowed and gave her a weak smile. “Hey, Sophia. I didn’t know you had a dog.”
“I’m fostering him till we can find a forever home. Have you ever fostered a dog before? I’m really enjoying it.”
“We were in the middle of a conversation,” the man told her coldly and with a lift of his chin. “You’ve said hi already. Now, go away.”
“But Olive asked me to meet her here.” Sophia gave him a confused look and swung her gaze back to a frightened-looking Olive, who had folded in on herself. “Don’t you remember? You said that you were walking along the beach if I wanted to join you.”
Olive looked over at the man and back at Sophia. “Oh, right. Yeah, I completely forgot.”
“Listen here, I don’t know who you are—” The man took a menacing step toward her, but Sophia stood her ground and refused to back off. Teddy stepped between them, pulled histeeth back, and growled at the man. Startled, the man took a few steps back and gave Teddy a bewildered look.
Teddy’s bark sliced through the air, spittle forming on the sides of his mouth.
Olive drew closer to Sophia and tucked herself into Sophia’s side. Teddy continued to bark until the man’s expression darkened, and he stormed off. Sophia waited until he was far enough away to drape an arm over Olive’s trembling shoulders. As soon as Sophia gave them a squeeze, Olive’s shoulders began to shake, and she burst into tears. Sophia patted her back and led her in the direction of the house.
