Maggie touched Lucy’s shoulders and turned to face her. “It’s never going to be the right time, Luce, but you need to tell him anyway. He has the right to know.”
Ian stepped forward and cleared his throat. “Hey, Mags. I didn’t know you were passing by.”
Maggie jumped and wheeled around to face him, letting her arms hang limply by her sides. She lowered her gaze, and her eyes kept darting everywhere. “Hey, Ian. Sorry to drop by unannounced. Lucy is helping me with this thing for work, and she told me to stop by…”
Lucy turned around, her face giving nothing away. “She just needed some help with this big presentation she’s doing for her boss. It won’t take long.”
Ian ignored the hard feeling that had settled in the center of his stomach. “Don’t cut it short on my account. I was going to swing by Sophia’s anyway. Her bathroom sink is acting up again.”
Lucy gave him an apologetic smile. “Good luck. I hope you can figure out what’s wrong.”
Ian gave her a quick kiss on his way past and lingered.
Till he realized Lucy was studiously avoiding his gaze and rubbing a hand up her arm. When he came back downstairs, Lucy and Maggie were in the study with the door closed. He grabbed his wallet, keys, and phone off the counter and set off at a brusque pace, needing exercise to clear his head.
Ian was covered in a thin sheen of sweat when Sophia opened the front door, Teddy dutifully by her side. “Hey, thanks for letting me stop by.”
“Of course.” Sophia gave him a one-armed hug and ushered him in. “Darren’s out running some errands, so it’s just us.”
Ian nodded and glanced around. “How are the renovations going?”
“When the realtor said it was a fixer-upper, she wasn’t kidding.” Sophia huffed and let her hands fall to her sides. “Anyway, we’re doing what we can. It’s just taking its time.”
“Most fixer-uppers do,” Ian replied with a smile. He paused to pat Teddy’s head and absentmindedly scratched behind his ears. “By the way, if Lucy asks, I’m here to help you fix your bathroom.”
“So, what I’m hearing is you’renotactually going to fix it?”
Ian chuckled and leaned on the kitchen counter. “Didn’t you hire a plumber?”
“Yeah, that’s true, but he’s a chatterbox. It makes me wonder how he gets any work done.” Sophia shook her head and stepped into the kitchen. “I’m going to get myself some iced tea. Do you want some?”
Teddy pushed his snout into Ian’s outstretched hand and made a low, whining sound. “He’s a clingy dog, isn’t he?”
Sophia emerged with the pitcher and gave her dog an indulgent smile. “He is, but he’s a sweetheart. I don’t know what I used to do before him.”
Ian plucked dog hair off his jeans. “Your furniture was definitely cleaner, and your house didn’t smell like disinfectant.”
Sophia set the pitcher down and spun around to retrieve a few glasses. “Yeah, sorry about that. He’s been having a few accidents around the house. We’re working on training him though.”
“I think it’s great. I don’t have the patience for a dog.”
Sophia poured a generous amount of iced tea into both glasses and pushed his across the counter. “I’m pretty sure you’re not here to talk about how hard it is to raise a dog. What’s going on? You and Lucy get into an argument?”
“No, but she still won’t tell me what’s wrong. Maggie stopped by before I left, and I overheard them arguing.”
Sophia lifted the glass to her lips and frowned. “What were they arguing about?”
“Something about test results and a hospital visit.”
Sophia’s frown deepened. “You need to tell her what you overheard.”
Ian took a sip of her drink and winced. “This is too sweet, and I can’t bring it up with her. She’ll think I’m trying to push her and not respecting her space.”
Getting Lucy to admit she had a problem was a big step.
The last thing Ian wanted was to make her feel insecure and have her retreat into her shell.
Sophia set her glass down and sighed. “I understand your concern, but what else are you going to do? You can’t keep tiptoeing around the topic and hope it goes away. It sounds serious, and that means you need to know.”
