A few of her guests tripped over themselves and held up their phones.
Sophia rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest. On either side of her, Zac and Zoe did the same. Maddison kept coming up with excuses to touch Darren, who kept trying to get away from her. Once the situation was finally contained, Darren sprinted back into the firetruck and left without so much as a nod of greeting. Sophia and the rest of the staff left shortly after.
All of them were in Stu’s kitchen, making dinner, when Darren came in, dropped his hat and shoes by the door, and stripped down to the boxers and shirt he had on underneath his uniform. Zoe pulled him in for a hug first before giving him a pointed look.
“What?”
“That woman was all over you today, and it was her wedding.”
Darren brushed past Zoe and paused to ruffle Zac’s hair. “I was just doing my job, ladybug. What was I supposed to do, throw her off?”
“For starters.” Zoe leaned over the counter and gave him a meaningful look. “Come on, Dad. You can’t be parading other women around Mom like that.”
Darren stopped rummaging through the fridge and looked over at her. “Parading women? Sweetheart, it was the woman’s wedding.”
Zac was at the stove, stirring the sauce. “You’d never know it because of the way she was acting. I don’t even know how her husband managed to stand there and not do a thing.”
Darren swung the refrigerator door shut and spun around to face them. “Some people are like that. Not all relationships are the same.”
Zac and Zoe exchanged a quick look.
Sophia looked up from chopping the salad. “Your dad didn’t do anything wrong. Zoe, why don’t you and Dad set up the table while Zac and I finish making dinner? I don’t want to be too late, so you can drive back.”
“Actually, I was thinking that I could spend the night tonight. Zac and I can stay in Uncle Ian’s old room since Dad is staying in yours.”
“I thought you hated sharing a room with your brother?”
Zoe shrugged. “I do, but it’s been a while since all of the Cheffs were under one roof, so I’m not missing out on this.”
Sophia lowered her head to hide her smile. “It’s a good thing Uncle Ian has two beds in there then. It’ll be a little cramped, but I’m sure the two of you can manage.”
The front door clicked open, and Stu stepped in, hair matted to his forehead and a bright smile on his face. “I heard I missed quite the show at the wedding today. Is it true the bride tried to set herself on fire?”
Zoe grimaced and pulled a face. “It was her wig, Grandpa, but I mean, how much hair spray do you have to use to reach that point?”
“Enough to summon a firetruck to your wedding,” Zac added in between loads of laughter. “Did you see the look on her face, though?”
“You two should be nicer about this,” Sophia scolded, pausing to push away the vegetable bowl. “How would you like it if either of you had their wedding stopped because of a fire?”
All through dinner, the five of them swapped stories and laughed. By the end of the night, when everyone had retired, Sophia found herself on the pullout couch in her father’s living room, uncomfortable but happier than she’d ever been.
It had been too long since she’d felt this close to her family.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Teddy, stop trying to run ahead of me,” Sophia scolded with a slight shake of her head.
She paused to give her dog a pointed look, and he gave her a sloppy grin in response.
Smiling, Sophia returned to the path in front of her and gripped both of the handlebars like her life depended on it.
In a lot of ways, it felt like it did.
She hadn’t been on a bike since she was a teenager trying to find a sport that she could commit to. After a series of mishaps, including one where she ended up pinned underneath the weight of a bike and needing to be rescued by a cute medic, Sophia had given up the sport altogether. For years, she’d wondered if the timing had been wrong.
Now, Sophia was beginning to wonder if the fear was all in her head.
With nothing but a paved moonlight sidewalk in front of her and the sound of the waves crashing against the shore in the background, Sophia felt at peace. Having spent the last hour pacing the entire length of the living room after a series of failed projects and a burnt cake that she’d tossed straight in the bin, Sophia hadn’t known what to do with herself until Teddy hadbounded up the stairs to the attic and refused to come down until she’d crawled in after him, pushing past cobwebs and ignoring the creaking sound the floorboards made.
