Fall for You (20 page)

“
No. Maybe Tracy would know? Do you have her number Mrs…I mean, Lucy?”

Lucy gave him the number and after ten minutes of trying to politely get off
the phone, Reed finally managed it after promising to rearrange Lucy's living room furniture for her.

His next call was to Tracy.

She picked up right away. “Hello?”

“
Tracy? This is Reed. Have you heard from Sophie?”

“
Isn't she with you? Never mind, stupid question. I tried calling her but got voicemail.” Teasingly, she added, “I thought she wasn't answering because she was getting busy with
you.” There was a pause. “I take it that since you're calling me, you can't find her?”

He was getting a bad feeling.

“
I can't get a hold of her. She's probably at work, but I think I'll go check on her anyway.”

“
Okay, I'm on my way home. I'll meet you there.”

Reed hung up and glanced down at Max. “Our pizza party has to wait. I'll go remind your lady that she needs some food.”

Max looked
at him dolefully. Reed didn't know if it was because he missed his human or his chance at pizza.

Twenty minutes later, he tried to open the back door and remembered he didn't have keys anymore. Reed tried the front, but that was locked too. When he knocked on the back door again, he heard a faint noise. “Sophie? Are you in there?”

Reed thought he heard her voice but had no way of getting the
door open. Now the bad feeling intensified to full on worry. He considered breaking the door in until Tracy whipped into the parking lot and jammed on her brakes. Thankfully, she came out with a set of keys.

“
She's in there. I can hear her.” Reed had to get inside
now
. He barely stopped himself from taking the keys from her.

When Tracy unlocked the door, they took in the mess before them. A
metal bowl half full of frosting was knocked over on its side. The rest of the sugary confection was splashed haphazardly in white spatters on the tiles. Everything on the table, including her utensils and baking ingredients, had been swept aside and cast on the floor too.

Reed yelled her name. “Sophie!”

He heard a faint, “Reed?” coming from the storeroom. A chair was wedged up under the doorknob.
“Oh, holy shit!” He and Tracy both went for the door. Reed threw the chair aside and Tracy turned the knob. Sophie was shakily pulling herself up off the floor.

Reed yanked her into his arms and wouldn't let go. “Are you okay? What happened?”

* * * *

Sophie tried to talk, but her throat hurt from yelling. Tracy gave her a bottle of water. After a few sips, she said, “I don't know. I was getting
some root beer extract for the frosting and I thought I heard Tracy come in.”

She swallowed more water to soothe her throat. ”I called out to you, but the door slammed shut and I got locked in here.” Sophie gave a tremulous smile. “Any longer and you would have found me eating my way through a five-pound bag of chocolate chips.” She tried to pull away from Reed. “Can I get out of here now?”

He quickly stepped back and let her out of the closet-like room and back in the kitchen. Sophie looked at the mess on the floor and the chair lying on its side. “What the hell happened?”

Reed came up next to her. “That's what I'd like to know.”

She saw her ruined frosting painting the floor in sugary smudges. Still a little dazed, Sophie said, “Well, damn. Now I have to start over.”

Tracy put
her arm around her. “Sweetie, don't you think it would be a better idea if you went home instead?”

Sophie shook her head. “No, I'm not going anywhere until I frost these cookies.”

Reed spoke to her slowly as if she were in shock. “Sophie, do you have any idea who did this? Has anyone threatened you? Maybe some kids or a disgruntled customer?” He waved his hand around at the mess. “Shouldn't
we call the police?”

She had an idea who did it, but didn't want to believe it. Sophie only knew of one person who didn't like her. If she told Reed who she suspected, it would make him more upset.

For the time being, she said, “I don't know who did it. But the police have better things to do than deal with some dumped frosting.” It was impossible to fake another smile, but Sophie didn't want
Reed and Tracy to worry about her.

“
I'm okay. I just have to get this cleaned up. Did you get the pizza?”
She wasn't kidding about breaking into the chocolate chips.

Reed frowned but answered the question. “The pizza is at home with Max.”

“
How did you get in the house?”

“
Max was freaking out so I found your key…under a frog.”

“
It wasn't under the mat, now was it? “ She felt a little defensive.
“What's wrong with Max?”

“
He's okay. Dude got excited and had to pee.”

“
Please tell me you let him out.” Sophie didn't need another mess.

Reed smiled reassuringly. “Your carpet's fine. If you're set on finishing these cookies, Tracy and I will clean up.”

Tracy was already picking up the spilled ingredients.

“
I'll wait here until you're done.” He gave Sophie's shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Are
you sure you don't want to call the police? You could have been seriously hurt.”

Sophie was positive. “I'm okay. It's only a little sore throat.”

Reed glanced down at her hands. Gently, he lifted them to get a better look and his eyes widened in alarm. “My God, look at these bruises! How long were you pounding on that door?” He looked ready to strangle someone.

“
I'm fine.”
Not really. “
I bruise
easily. Let's forget about it, okay?” Sophie wanted this day over with. “First things first, though, I really have to go to the bathroom!”

After seeing to her needs, she washed her hands and looked in the mirror above the sink. Her face was too pale and her eyes were still wide with panic. If she could see it, they could see it.

Sophie was still trying to grasp that someone had really locked
her in and trashed everything on her worktable. Her claustrophobia just made everything worse.

Trying to find some calm, she took some deep breaths. Sophie had to get the trembling to stop. She kept telling herself that it was scary, but it could have been worse.

By the time she came back out, Reed had finished cleaning up.

Tracy was washing her hands in the sink. “Okay, Sophie, go on and mix
the frosting and I'll ice these damn cookies. By any chance, is this the order for the MFLIC?”

Sophie only nodded.

Her friend tried to sound casual, but her voice cracked. “Figures. Okay, let's get to it and get you the hell out of here. Reed, would you call Lucy and let her know Sophie is all right?”

He smiled reassuringly. “I'm on it.”

Sophie took the cookies back to her house. She wasn't taking any more chances before this order got picked up in the morning. The whole drive home, she tried to work out a way to tell Reed her suspicions about his mother. Messing up a cookie order was one thing but locking her in at the bakery had been personal.

Her throat was still sore and her hands hurt like hell. She wished she'd
remained calm in the storeroom, but panic made her stupid.

Reed followed her in his truck. When they pulled into her driveway, she saw Sarah's blue Mini Cooper.
Great.
He must have told her what happened when he called earlier. Sophie really wasn't in the mood for company but knew Lucy would want to see that she was all right.

Coming up behind her, Reed took the cookies before Sophie could carry
them. He put an arm around her and walked with her to the front door. Lucy opened it and ran straight for her.

“
Oh, Sophie! Oh, honey! Are you okay?” She squeezed the air out of her in a tight mom hug. Sophie was able to give her a few pats on the back before Lucy finally let go. She checked her from head to toe then asked, “Do you need to go to the hospital?”

That was the last thing she needed.
Sophie ushered Lucy back into the house.

“
Mom, I'm okay. Seriously! My throat's a little sore. It'll be perfectly fine in the morning.”

Lucy didn't look convinced. “Are you hungry? We brought over more pizza since Reed is with you. I know how much men like to eat.” She smiled at Reed and then wrapped him in a warm hug. “Thank you for saving my daughter.”
What?

“
That's a bit overly dramatic
don't you think? It wasn't life or death. It just sucked!”

Reed winked at her over Lucy's head and let her hug him a second time.
He was enjoying this!
“You're welcome, Lucy. How about that pizza?”

Sarah and Max were waiting for them in the dining room. Her sister got up to give her another hug. “You okay, Sis?” She pointed to a bottle of wine on the table. “I brought over something to calm
your nerves.” Sophie would absolutely love a glass of wine but couldn't have it until she confirmed she wasn't pregnant.

“
Thanks, Sarah, but I don't think I would stop at one glass. I still have to get up early and I'd hate to go to work with a hangover.”

Reed stared at her with a perceptive grin on his face. He knew why she vetoed the glass of wine.

“
How about some pop or iced tea?” She pushed
the soft drinks. “Iced tea would taste really great right now.”

Sophie was still talking like she had a frog in her throat.

Speaking of frogs…“How did you guys get in?”

Lucy was looking at her strangely. “Honey, we used the key under the frog.”

“
How did you know about it?” She used to think it was a great hiding place. Sarah answered for her mom. “Where else would you put it? It wasn't under
the mat.”

Sophie tried to ignore the “See?” look on Reed's face.

“
Remind me to give you and Mom a copy. Are we ready to eat yet?”

Lucy sat down in the chair across the table from her. She pointed to the seat next to Sophie. “Go and sit next to Sophie, Reed. We won't mind if you want to hold her hand.”

Lucy and Sarah shared a look.

“
So, are you and my daughter officially dating?”

Reed glanced
sideways at Sophie. She fielded the question. “Yes, Mom. Reed and I are seeing each other.”
Seeing a whole lot of each other.

Lucy looked pleased. “Good, it's about time you two got together!”

Reed and Sophie asked, “What?” at the same time.

She handed out plates of pizza. “You two have been circling each other since high school, right?” At Sophie's quizzical expression, Lucy said, “I told
you before, Sophie, a mother always knows.”

Sophie thought now was a good time to ask her about Dot. After tonight's episode of crazy, she wanted answers. It helped that Reed was here too. He could hear whatever Lucy said for himself. “Mom, I was wondering about something. Did you and Dot Sutton go to high school together?”

Lucy lost her smile and glanced at Reed. “Yes, we did, why?”

Reed asked
the next question. “Did you two get along?”

She reluctantly answered. “Well, we did at one time. She was Dot Morgan then. We were in the same homeroom. You see, we were both M’s since my maiden name was Murphy.”

Lucy eyed Reed again. “Your mom was very driven in school. She was in about every committee or club she could join. Dot was dating your dad our senior year.” Letting out a slow breath,
she went on. “But, if she saw us talking, she thought he was flirting with me. Jack was head over heels for her so that was just absurd.” She turned her gaze to Sophie. “Besides, I was already going steady with your dad. Hal was two years ahead of us.”

“
What happened?” Sophie encouraged her to continue.

Sighing, Lucy shook her head in regret. “It's a sad, senseless story, really. Just a bunch
of misunderstandings and jealousy. Part of it was my fault.” Looking Reed in the eye, she said, “I'm not proud of this, mind you. But one day I was sneaking a cigarette in the girls’ room between classes. I'd started smoking because I thought it made me look sophisticated.” Lucy frowned. “I'd only taken a few puffs when Dottie came into the bathroom crying. I asked her what was wrong and she told
me that she was stressed out. She said she couldn't be in charge of one more thing.”

Lucy paused to eat some pizza and take a drink. Everyone at the table leaned forward to hear the story.

“
Anyway, someone nominated her to head the prom committee. She didn't want to do it but couldn't say no. There was so much on her plate and with her other responsibilities, it was kind of the straw that broke
the camel's back. Dot was so upset she was shaking. In all my teenage wisdom,” Lucy rolled her eyes. “I thought a cigarette would calm her nerves. I told her to take the rest of mine since I had to get to history class. She took it but made a disgusted face at me. She didn't want any part of it, but I told her to try it.” Lucy put a hand over her heart. “I regret doing that to this day.”

Sophie
had an idea where this was going.

Lucy took a deep breath and continued talking. “I never thought it would happen and I'm sorry that it did, Reed. By the time I got to class, Dot got accused of smoking in the bathroom, but I knew she was only holding it. Dot told Principal Rogers that it didn't belong to her and that it was my cigarette. I got two days’ suspension.” She bit her lip. “But, Dot
was suspended for a week since she was the one who got caught with it.”

Reed tried to make the connection. “So she's mad at you for getting her in trouble?”

Lucy winced. “It gets worse. Your grandparents grounded Dot and wouldn't let her go to prom with Jack. She was devastated considering she already had her dress and was in the running for prom queen. Jack went by himself since he was in the
running for king.”

Sophie put her hand over her mouth. “Oh no. I bet I know what happens.”

Lucy shook her head. “Not quite. To add insult to injury, Jack made prom king and I was voted prom queen. I didn't think I would win. It was always supposed to have been Dot. Jack and I were just friends. But since we won, we had to get our picture made together and have one dance. That's all there was
to it.”