Sophie's Heart (31 page)

T
he kids have made a change in the plans,” Alec told his sister just four weeks before Christmas.

“You mean for Christmas?”

“Right.” Alec went on to explain, and then waited for Janet’s response.

“I think that’s great,” she said, utterly surprising him.

“You do?”

“Yes. It still gives us time, but it lets you start your own tradition. Maybe someday we’ll be coming to you. Have you told Mom and Dad?”

“No. I was hoping—” Alec cut off when Janet laughed.

“You want me to be the bad guy!”

“Do you think she’ll really be upset?”

“No,” Janet answered honestly. “I think she’ll understand, and it’s not like you won’t see her at all. I have to call about something else, so it’s no problem. But don’t be surprised if she calls you.”

“I won’t. Rita says we all need to sleep in on Christmas. With as tired as I am right now, she’s sure to be right. We’ll probably see you around 1:00 or 2:00.”

“All right. We can open gifts right away and have a feast for dinner that evening. I’ll run it all past David, but I think he’ll like the change. How many days can you stay?”

“I think until Thursday or Friday, but it might depend on the weather. I really don’t care to get snowed out of my own home.”

“Speaking of home, how’s Sophie?”

“She just found out that her grandmother has cancer.”

“Oh, Alec, no.” Janet sounded on the edge of tears.

“Yeah, she was pretty upset last night, but the kids told me at supper that she’d heard the operation was a success.”

“Good. How is the work going?”

“Hers?”

“Yes.”

“She’s amazing, Janet. I wish some of the guys that work for me were half as industrious. You can’t believe how clean this house is. Sometimes I feel guilty because I enjoy it, and Van never had it this nice.”

“I can see how you would, Al, but all Sophie does is clean. She doesn’t carpool kids, serve on committees, bake for school, pay bills, or any of the other million little things that Vanessa had added to her job description. You realize that I’m not slamming Sophie. I think she’s wonderful, too, but cleaning someone’s house and cleaning your own house are like night and day.”

“I see what you mean.” Alec had had thoughts along this line, but having Janet agree with him lifted his burden.

“Well, I best get off here and put a call in to the folks.”

“All right. Tell them we’re looking forward to seeing them.”

“I will. We’ll see you in about four weeks.”

“Will do. Good night, Janet.”

“ ’Bye, Alec. Kiss the kids for me, and tell Sophie hello.”

They hung up then, and Alec got to thinking about how close it was to Christmas. He hadn’t a clue as to what he should buy, but he knew he had better get started. The following day was not too pressured, and he decided then and there to go while the kids were at school. He took a moment to pray about it and then spotted a Christmas catalog. Hoping it would give him some ideas, he picked it up on his way upstairs.

Sophie was wearing a shiny, dark-green track suit with a white turtleneck under the jacket and white tennis shoes, looking as “Christmassy” as her surroundings. She had just blown a huge bubble with her gum—one that popped all over her mouth and had Tory in stitches.

“I’m not going to walk in the mall with you, Tory,” Craig warned, “if you’re going to carry on.”

Sophie knew that the statement was also directed at her. She and Tory shared a laughing, conspiratorial look and tried to get serious, but weren’t very successful. Christmas shopping in the mall, however crowded, was too much fun to be serious.

“Have you decided what to buy for your cousin Jeremy?” Sophie, who was really trying to behave, now asked Craig.

“No. He likes computer games, but they can really get expensive.”

“I know what I want to get Beth,” Tory chimed in. “But I want Rita with me.”

“Well, I think it’s time to meet her at Penney’s, anyway,” Craig told his sister. “So let’s get her and have the girl stuff over with.”

Sophie was not sure why he remained, since he had never stayed when they’d shopped before, but she didn’t comment. He’d been doing so well until the news of her grandmother, and even though the report had been positive and continued to be so, Craig was still short with everyone and everything. Sophie had tried to talk to him, but had had her head taken off for the effort.

“Isn’t that Melissa Barton?” Tory suddenly asked.

“Where?” Craig’s expression turned frantic as his eyes scanned the crowd.

“Oh, yes,” Sophie agreed. “Let’s go and talk to her.”

“
No
,” came Craig’s low, furious voice, but for once Sophie ignored him. She marched up to where Melissa was sitting alone on a bench and stopped right in front of her.

“Hello, Melissa.”

“Oh, hi, Sophie. Hi, Tory. Hi, Craig.”

“How are you, Melissa?” Sophie asked, even though the young girl’s eyes were still on Craig.

“Fine.” She finally looked at Sophie. “My mom’s in Prange’s, so I’m just waiting for her.”

“How did your debate go?”

Melissa frowned at her, but then her face cleared. “Oh, it was fine. I used that closing comment just like you suggested, and the teacher said it was good. Didn’t Craig tell you?”

“I forgot to ask him,” Sophie admitted.

“Did you get those words off the board today, Craig?”

“Yeah.” Craig’s face was a little pink, but his voice was polite.

“Then I might call you because I missed one.”

“Oh, sure.” He was proud of himself for sounding more at ease than he felt. “We’ll be home a little later.”

“I didn’t get a chance to talk to you at school, Craig, but I’m having a Christmas party after school on the twenty-second. Can you come?”

“Oh, sure.” Again he mentally cheered at his own casual tone. “I think that would be okay. I mean, I should probably check with my dad to make sure, but I’ll let you know.”

“Okay. Oh, there’s my mom. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah. ’Bye, Melissa.”

“’Bye, Craig.”

Melissa didn’t remember to bid anyone else good-bye, but Sophie didn’t mind. She watched Craig, who was watching Melissa, and then held his eyes with her own once he looked back.

“Thanks, Sophie,” he finally said, and Sophie smiled with all the love she felt inside.

“You are welcome, Craig. Shall we get Rita now?”

He only nodded and again they began to walk. Rita was not directly in front of Penney’s. Tory spotted her in front of the hair salon and darted off in that direction. Sophie and Craig followed at an easy pace.

“Look at this, Sophie,” was the first thing Rita said. “Isn’t this a cute haircut?” She was pointing to a large poster in the window.

“Yes, it is.”

“She looks like you,” Tory said now.

“That’s what I was thinking,” Rita added. “It’s always perfect when you find a match with a different haircut.”

“Why is that, Rita?” Sophie did not understand.

“Oh, it’s just for fun, but that way you can see how you’d look in different hair.”

“How long is your hair, Sophie?” Tory wanted to know. She’d never seen it down.

“Not very long. Maybe middle of my back.”

“That’s pretty long,” Tory said while fingering her own shoulder-length locks. “Hey, Rita,” Tory changed the subject just that fast, “I want to get something for Bethany at The Elephant and Canary. Will you come with me?”

“Sure.”

The three Riley children started away, but Sophie followed more slowly. The woman in the poster did have her eyes and mouth, and her hair was
gorgeous
. Sophie thought about what Rita had said for the rest of the afternoon.

Three nights later, on the Thursday before Christmas no less, Sophie accompanied Brad to his company Christmas party.

“We waited too late to book on the weekend, but maybe this will be better.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, I think it actually might be helpful since people will have to watch the clock as well as what they drink. Oh, my.”

“What is it Brad?”

“The restaurant has a bar. I forgot to tell you that, Sophie.”

“Is all right, Brad. I will not get drunk.”

As she did often, she caught him off guard. His head snapped around in surprise before he saw the glint in her eyes.

“Seriously, Sophie, is that going to offend you?”

“I will be fine, but I thank you for asking.”

“Your dress is pretty, by the way.”

Sophie fingered the dark-green collar that stuck out of the top of her coat. “Thank you. I wanted to look like Christmas.”

“Well, you do.”

“So does your red and green tie,” she mentioned.

“My mother gave that to me last year.”

“Your parents are alive, Brad?”

“Yes. They live in Iowa.”

“I have seen Iowa on map. Is farm country. Pigs.”

Brad chuckled. “Yes, as a matter of fact, that’s just what my folks do—raise pigs.”

“How interesting. This is where you grew up, on farm?”

“Yes.”

It was very nice to talk as friends, Sophie found, and before she knew it they were at the restaurant and hurrying inside to escape the cold. The group had a banquet room and, although some of the jokes were rough and the air was thick with smoke, they had a very nice time. Sophie had a wonderful conversation with a woman on her right, and she was able to see firsthand that Brad had a real love for the people with whom he worked.

His testimony was strong, and yet he did not turn people off. No one offered him anything to drink, and his coworkers seemed genuinely pleased that he had brought a date. To a person, they all guessed that Brad had met Sophie at church. Although Sophie told people that she and Brad did indeed go to the same church, they were utterly delighted when they learned that they met when Brad had taught her to drive. She relayed all of this to her date on the drive home, and Brad seemed very pleased and uplifted by her encouraging comments.

“I know you are have impact, Brad, and I am excited for you.”

“Thank you, Sophie. For the most part they are a great group of people, and there are a few who have come to me when tragedy has struck their lives. I pray in time the Lord will open even more doors for my witness.”

The ground was icy by 11:00, so Brad saw Sophie all the way to her stairs before he said good night, but she was no more inside her door than she realized she had forgotten to do something in the kitchen. She didn’t bother with her coat this time, but carefully navigated the steps and then used her key to get inside.

Going right to the light over the stove, Sophie then pulled the large roasting pan from the cupboard by the oven with a minimum of noise, but was still wrestling the 12-pound turkey from the freezer when her boss appeared.

“Here, let me help you with that.”

Sophie moved back and let him place it in the pan. She made room in the refrigerator and then thanked him when he put it inside.

“You’re welcome.”

“I am sorry to come in late and wake you,” Sophie said with real regret.

“I was still up, and actually I’m glad I caught you.” He pulled a chair from one end of the kitchen table, and Sophie understood that she was to sit down. Alec sat at the other end and said, “I need to ask you how the kids did with their Christmas shopping.”

“I think well. Tory found present for Beth, and Craig found present for Jeremy. Rita is still looking for gift for Brian, but she says she knows what she wants.”

“Good,” he said softly and fell silent. Sophie had the impression that he was not done, but he only sat there.

“Did you need me to shop for you, Mr. Riley?”

Alec looked at her as if he had just realized she was there. “Vanessa always did it,” he said, his voice contemplative. “Last year we didn’t have anything. I mean, the kids and I didn’t shop. It was still too painful. I wanted to do better this year, but I don’t know what to buy. I mean, they always need clothes, but I don’t know the sizes.”

Alec fell silent and Sophie said gently, “It still seems sudden to you. Like it was day before and not year before.”

“Yeah.” Alec’s voice held wonder that someone had guessed so correctly. He wasn’t even looking at Sophie when he continued. “I never thought we would do anything but grow old together. We were health-conscious since heart problems run in both our families; car accidents simply didn’t figure into the picture. I can still see Craig’s face after he’d gone to the door. It was an officer and the county coroner; they’d come to tell me I was a widower. The numbness set in right away. It started in my heart and just spread outward until I couldn’t even feel my fingers.