Sophie's Heart (41 page)

“Where are we go?”

It was the following day. Sophie had enjoyed many visitors the day before, but now it was just after lunch and Sophie, having spent two nights in the hospital, had been discharged. Alec picked her up in his truck, after cleaning the cab for the occasion. But when he didn’t take the right turn for Holly Court, Sophie became suspicious. It was the moment Alec had dreaded.

“I’m taking you to Mrs. Nickelberry’s,” he said easily.

“Why?”

“Because the doctor said you were not to climb stairs or work, so you can’t get to your apartment, and there’s no one home all day to check on you.”

“I do not need checks.”

Alec didn’t answer.

“I want to go back to my apartment. I can climb stairs once. I can even go to work after I rest. Maybe not today, but tomorrow.”

They were in Gladys’ driveway now, and Alec finally turned to look at her.

“You’re staying here.” His voice was calm.

Sophie’s face flushed with anger. “This is fool.”

“Foolish,” Alec corrected automatically, and Sophie exploded at him.

“
Do not correct Sophie’s English when she is anger, Alec Riley!”

Alec had all he could do not to laugh, but he managed to nod seriously.

“I will go in,” Sophie now spoke to the windshield, sounding very confident, “and tell Gladys to take me home.” She flung the door open at that point, but only managed two steps before she felt like she’d come against a brick wall. Alec didn’t bother with any of her things, but walked slowly behind her as she labored up the path and steps. His hands reached for her several times, but she managed on her own.

Gladys must have been aware of their arrival because the front door opened to Sophie as if by magic. The older woman greeted them warmly, but did not gush. One look at Sophie’s face and then Alec’s, and she knew how it had gone.

Sophie couldn’t believe how awful she felt. She had been ready to take on the world in the truck. Now she stepped inside Gladys’ house and just stood there until she felt her coat being removed and then someone’s hand propelling her from behind. When she was ordered to lie down on the sofa, she did as she was told. Her eyes closed in momentary rapture over how soft and comfortable it felt, and when she opened them Alec was standing over her. He looked about nine feet above her, but even then she could see the merriment in his eyes.

“When you’ve had a few hours’ rest here on this sofa and finally get to the house, will you scrub the kitchen floor on your knees or clean the bathrooms first?”

Sophie couldn’t stop her smile. “I am crab, and I do not want to be bossed.”

Knowing that better than anyone, Alec only smiled and told Gladys he was going for Sophie’s things. After bringing them in he didn’t linger, but warned both Gladys and her patient that they were sure to have visitors in the form of his children. And he was correct. The Riley children had known Sophie was headed to Gladys’ and didn’t even bother to go home after school. Sophie, who had just awakened from a nap, was ready to visit.

“How are you?” Rita asked first.

“I am fine. I want to come back to work, but your father said no.”

“I thought the doctor said no,” Craig commented.

“I am fine,” Sophie said, but the kids only exchanged a look. This was not lost on Sophie.

They all plot against me. I do not want to be babied. I want to go back to work.
But in the midst of Sophie’s tempestuous thoughts, she remembered how awful she felt just walking in from Mr. Riley’s truck.
You are not as strong as you’d like to think, Sophie. You had better do as you’re told.

She came out of her own reflections to hear Tory speaking. She was sharing something that had happened at school that day, and when Sophie saw the comical look on her face, she laughed and gasped.

“Are you hurt?” The child wished to know.

“My side,” Sophie explained. “But only if I laugh.”

Gladys had joined them and told Sophie this was normal.

“It will pull for quite some time. You may need to take it very easy, even after the doctor says you can be up and around.”

For the first time Sophie only nodded. It was beginning to look like she would be laid up for several days. A moment later, when Gladys asked the Riley children to come to supper on Friday night and bring their father, she knew it was true. It would be sometime next week before she could return to work.

“Well, Alec, hello,” his mother said into the telephone with surprise. “Is everything all right?”

“Do I really call so seldom that I panic you with the sound of my voice?”

His mother laughed. “I’m just surprised. Are you calling about spring break?”

“Yes. Did you get my letter about April 6?”

“Yes. It said the kids are done that day.”

“Right, we’ll leave right after school and try to put in several hundred miles. It will make a long second day, but we’ll be into Naples the afternoon of Palm Sunday.”

“That sounds fine. I’m already baking some of the kids’ favorite cookies.”

“I figured as much. Listen, Mom, what I really called about was to ask you if Sophie could come down with us.”

“Of course, Alec,” she answered without hesitation. “I was going to ask you if Craig might like to sleep in the bungalow this year, but it would be perfect for Sophie.” She stopped speaking then, and Alec knew what was coming. “Is there something you want to tell us, Al?”

She heard his sigh.

“I’d like there to be, Mom, but right now, no, there isn’t. I haven’t even asked Sophie yet, so I’m not even sure she’ll come. But if she does, you can bet she’ll think I’m asking her along to work.”

“But you’d rather she didn’t.”

“Right. It was only two weeks ago that she was in the hospital, and I think she needs the rest.”

“But it’s not just that, is it?”

“No,” he admitted softly. “I’d like to get to know her better, but I haven’t figured out how to go about it.”

“I take it she has no knowledge of your interest.”

“None whatsoever.”

“And the children?”

“Just Rita.”

“How does she feel about it?”

Alec chuckled. “She tried to be subtle, but she basically asked me straight out why I wasn’t dating Sophie.”

Kay joined his laughter. “You’ve never experienced that before, have you?”

“What’s that?”

“I mean, when you courted Vanessa there were no children around. Now you have six eyes watching your every move.”

Alec had never thought of that before and didn’t know if he wanted to laugh or groan. If he ever did get Sophie to see that he was interested in her, he’d have all three of his children observing every detail. It was something more to pray about.

He and his mother talked of the store his folks owned and operated, the weather, his father’s back, and general things for another 20 minutes. Alec, who had been talking in the bedroom, was tired enough to go to bed, but resisted. He rose from the chair and dug in his closet for his shoes. It was still very snowy out, but the roads were dry and he was in need of a run—hopefully one that would clear his head and help him to carry on patiently until he knew without a doubt that he could talk to Sophie about what was happening in his heart.

Thirty-Five

F
lorida?”

“That’s right. We’ll drop as far down into Illinois as we can on Friday, then drive all day on Saturday. We’ll arrive at my folks’ sometime on Palm Sunday.”

“And you want me to work in your parents’ home?”

“No,” Alec said and could have kicked himself for doing this without the kids. “We go to my parents’ place for spring break every year, and this year we’d like you to come with us. It’s a vacation.” Tempted to remind her that she was not completely back on her feet, Alec thought better of it. He had learned two things about Sophie in the last weeks: She did not like her schedule altered, and she did not like to be sick.

“How much is cost?”

“There isn’t any. We stay with my folks and eat their food. Mom bakes for weeks before we come. They even have a bungalow in the back of their house that she’s got all ready for you to stay in.”

“But there must be cost.”

“No, Sophie, not any more than if just the four of us were going.” Well, this was almost true. They would need an extra motel room for the nights down and back, but he wasn’t about to mention this. “My parents are looking forward to meeting you,” he added.

She looked very suspicious and uncertain. It sounded wonderful. Indeed, it sounded too good to be true. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Mr. Riley, but surely she would be expected to work.

“You will not want work?”

“Just the everyday things, and we all pitch in with that.”

“Everyday things,” she repeated.

“You know, the dishes and setting the table, laundry, and stuff.”

Sophie nodded and thought for a moment. “Is long way?”

“Yes. Here,” Alec rose from the kitchen table and went for the atlas. He opened it to the pages that showed the U.S. map and pointed.

“The route we take is about 100 miles longer than the most direct one, but the highways are excellent and the roads are less traveled. From Wisconsin we drop down into Illinois, then down to Missouri. We angle into Tennessee; it can get a little hairy around Nashville. Then we go down to Alabama and finally into Florida. Naples is way down here below Ft. Myers.”

“Is far,” Sophie breathed as her dark eyes studied the trail his finger had traced.

“Yes. About 1500 to 1600 miles.”

“You stop and sleep?”

“Yes, two nights. You and the girls will share a room, and Craig and I will bunk together.”

Sophie was aware of the fact that she hadn’t said she would go, and her look said as much to her employer.

“The kids really want you to go, Sophie.” Alec sat back down at the table. “I asked them even before I called my folks, and they thought it was a great idea. I’m not telling you that to pressure you, but I think sometimes you try to stay too distant.”

“I do not want to push in,” Sophie admitted. “I am not their mother, and I do not wish to interference.”

“Interfere,” Alec corrected, “and you’re not. I would tell you if it was a problem.”

Sophie nodded. This she could believe. Mr. Riley was very good about coming to her over the different matters that arose, and he was always direct and kind.

“Will you come?”

“Yes,” Sophie said, her eyes now back on the map. “But if you change your head, you must—”

“I’ll tell you.” Alec cut her off, glad she wasn’t looking at him.
Change his mind? Not a chance.
He sat studying her lovely profile, still amazed at the way she had been here for months and he had never seen her. She’d been right under his nose. His mother would have said, “If she was a snake, she’d have bit you.” Well, he had been bitten all right, but this was no snake.

“The road looks like snake.”

“What?” Alec nearly shouted at her, thinking he’d said something out loud.

“I said road looks like snake. All curvy.”

“Oh, yeah.” Alec was so relieved he chuckled softly. Sophie looked at him, trying to understand the joke, but he didn’t share the reason for his nervous laugh.