“Lucy?” Sophia kicked her shoes off and set her purse down by the door. “What are you doing here? Are you okay? Are the kids and Ian okay?”
Lucy rose to her feet, and Teddy followed her. “Everyone’s fine. Your dad let me in on his way out to the store. I hope it’s okay that I’m here.”
Sophia wiped her hands on the back of her jeans. “Yeah, of course, it’s okay. Is everything alright?”
Lucy’s hand went to her hair. “No, I didn’t know where else to go. I’m sorry. I know you’re Ian’s sister, and I have no right to put you in the middle, but I—”
Sophia crossed over to Lucy in a few strides and pulled her in for a hug.
Lucy’s shoulders shook, and her voice was scratchy and hoarse. “I just don’t know if I can do it anymore. Ian has been putting in a lot of hours at the station and volunteering for dangerous cases, and I just can’t keep doing this.”
Sophia drew back and led Lucy back to the couch.
After draping a blanket over Lucy’s lap, Sophia stepped into the kitchen and rummaged through the cupboards. While shewaited for the kettle to boil, she messaged Ian and tucked her phone back into her pocket. Then she carried two mugs of steaming hot chamomile and a bowl of nuts out into the living room.
Instinctively, Lucy reached for the mug and curled her fingers around it. “I don’t know how you did it when you were married to Darren. It’s so hard.”
“Being married to someone who has dedicated their lives to helping others is,” Sophia agreed, pausing to blow on her tea. She winced when the hot liquid stung her tongue. “But we knew what we signed up for, right?”
Lucy’s grip on the mug tightened. “I don’t know. Sometimes, I think I know exactly what I signed up for. Other times, I wonder if I was just kidding myself. What if I thought I was okay with it because I didn’t think it was forever?”
“Have you spoken to Ian about this?”
Lucy turned tear-filled eyes to Sophia and shook her head. “I don’t know how. I don’t want to be that wife, you know. I don’t want him to think of me as selfish.”
“Worrying about your husband isn’t selfish.” Sophia took a few more sips of her tea and set it down. “I think you should talk to Ian. Communication is really important in cases like this. It’s how Darren and I managed.”
“I wouldn’t know where to begin.”
“Start at the beginning,” Sophia offered with a small smile. “I’m sure he’ll understand.”
Before Lucy could respond, someone rapped on the front door. Sophia got up and opened the door to reveal a frantic-looking Ian. He stepped in—his uniform wrinkled—swept Lucy into his arms, and buried his head in the crook of her neck. Sophia brushed past them and opened the back door that led into the hallway connecting her apartment to the main house.
Wordlessly, Ian took Lucy’s hand and led her away.
Sophia spun around, and her hand flew to her chest when she realized a shirtless Darren was standing in the doorway to her old room, his hair a ruffled mess on top of his head and his eyes heavy with sleep. Her stomach gave an odd little dip when he pushed himself off the wall and raked his fingers through his hair.
“What did I miss? Was that Ian and Lucy?”
“Yeah, Lucy and I were talking about how hard it is to be in love with men who have lives dedicated to saving people. It’s difficult to know that you guys willingly put yourselves in danger for others.”
Darren nodded. “Yeah, I’m—hold on a second; did you say how hard itis?”
Sophia paused, took a deep, calming breath, and then nodded. “I did.”
“Not how hard itwasto be in love?” Darren’s eyes searched her face, a strange glimmer in her eyes. “Sophia Railings Cheff, are you trying to tell me that you still have the hots for me?”
Sophia covered the distance between them, pushed herself up on the tips of her toes, and kissed him. Her heart was thundering now, drowning out almost everything else. “No, you dummy. I’m saying that I’m still in love with you. I’ve never stopped loving you, Darren.”
Darren’s lips spread into a grin. “Well, it’s about time. Jeez, I was beginning to think I was going to actually have to move in here and give up wearing shirts forever to get you to admit that you still loved me.”
Sophia slapped his arm. “You could’ve just said something.”
“And miss out on this?” Darren wrapped his arms around her waist and brought his forehead to rest against hers. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Soph.”
Before they could say anything else, Darren’s emergency phone went off, and he had to race out the door. He gaveher a bright smile before the door clicked shut behind him, and Sophia sagged against the nearest wall, heart hammering unsteadily against her chest.
She had no idea if kissing Darren and admitting her feelings was the right move, but she did know that she didn’t regret it one bit.
