Her Fill-In Fiancé (13 page)

“You mean on
someone
else,” Jake corrected, anger tensing his muscles. Sam and Drew were all about defending Sophia from outside threats, but how could they ignore how hard it was for her to shoulder a guilt she had no reason to feel? “No wonder Sophia was so reluctant to come back.”

“It's not like that!” Drew protested. “Sophia understands how hard the divorce was on Nick.”

“Oh, yeah?” Jake challenged. “And who understands how hard all that blame has been on Sophia?”

 

Sophia had never been a fan of horror movies, but she'd seen enough of them to know the stereotypes. As she moved through The Hope Chest toward the front door, she felt every bit the foolish female who leaves comfort and safety to go investigate the strange noise in the darkness…despite the axe-wielding serial killer on the loose.

And while Clearville was axe murderer free, flipping the sign in the window to “Open” and turning the lock went
against every self-preservation instinct Sophia had to pull the covers over her head and hide.

But she'd promised Hope, and Sophia had to admit, the store offered a familiarity she found comforting. She'd enjoyed wandering around the shop before it opened and checking out the treasure trove of merchandise. Even back when Sophia had worked there nearly every day, something new always seemed to turn up, though Hope always swore the beaded purse or silver vase or mosaic stepping stone had been in the store for “ages.”

“Shopping isn't always about buying what you want,” Hope insisted. “Sometimes it's about finding what you didn't know you even needed.”

And nothing in her shop was unsellable. Items that sat on shelves for months were, in Hope's opinion, simply waiting for the right buyer.

It was the idea of facing some of those buyers that had Sophia's hands shaking as she opened the door.

Up and down Main Street other stores were slowly awakening—lights flickering on, doors opening, displays rolling out to entice shoppers to enter. It wouldn't take long for people to notice The Hope Chest was open again. But it was the reaction when everyone realized Hope wasn't the one manning the store that Sophia was dreading.

She didn't know how many times the bell over the door rang before her heart stopped jumping at the sound. A rush of shoppers from a bus tour helped as Sophia answered questions about the store, the town, her favorite place to eat and the best place to stay.

As she rang up sales and wrapped purchases, Sophia realized how much she'd missed working in the store. For too many years, guilt and regret had clouded her thoughts of The Hope Chest, overshadowing even the good memories. And there
were
good memories, enough to hold up Sophia's spirits
and keep her from flinching whenever the bell announced another customer.

In between ringing up sales, she kept busy sweeping a feather duster over the various collectibles and wiping down the display cases.
Fight the good fight,
Hope had always teased.
The battle against dust bunnies never ends.

If Sophia were a betting woman, she'd lay odds on the bunnies, prolific creatures that they were. And with Hope laid up, she certainly hadn't been able to keep up with any kind of cleaning, Sophia thought, ignoring a slight twinge of unease. To the average shopper, the store likely looked the same as always, but Sophia had once known the place inside and out. She couldn't help noticing a hint of wear around the edges, like antique lace starting to yellow with age.

Pushing the thought aside, she did her best to return the store to the way she remembered even if the work left
her
feeling a little ragged. It was a relief when noon rolled around, allowing her to take a break. Hope had always closed for a quick twenty minutes, and Sophia needed the time to run an errand.

Bonnie's Bakery was across the street and a few stores down, and even if she hadn't known its direction, she could have followed the delicious scent of fresh bread right to the front door.

Stepping inside, she inhaled the sweet, yeast-scented air. A glass case displayed an array of muffins, pastries and doughnuts almost too perfect to be real, yet Sophia knew from experience they tasted even better than they looked.

“Sophia, it's so good to see you!” Debbie Mattson, daughter of Bonnie and the current owner of Bonnie's Bakery, said. “I've been hoping you'd stop by. I figured it wouldn't be too long before you could no longer resist the call of my blueberry doughnuts.”

Sophia groaned as Debbie lifted a lid off the raised platter
of sweets, the deep breath she took of the sweet confection already testing the limits of her elastic waistband. She'd seen an ob/gyn Theresa recommended a few weeks ago, who had explained the weight gain Sophia was to expect, but she didn't think the doctor could have anticipated how irresistible Debbie's doughnuts were.

Drawing on willpower she didn't know she possessed, Sophia said, “How about some doughnut holes instead?” She wasn't above bribing customers to linger over some sweets while they considered making a purchase at The Hope Chest.

As Debbie picked out an assortment of glazed, chocolate and powdered doughnut holes, Sophia added, “I also wanted to stop by to talk to you about getting a cake for my parents' anniversary party this weekend. I'm sorry about the late notice, but we're trying to keep it a surprise.”

Debbie folded the edges of the box together into a handle and set it on the counter before grabbing an album from behind the register. “I have some pictures if you want to take a look.”

Sophia already had the perfect cake in mind, and Debbie didn't disappoint. As Sophia flipped through the pages, an elaborate three-tier cake adorned with deep red roses, green leaves and elegant pearls caught her eye and she knew she'd found the one. “This one. It's exactly what I want for my parents' anniversary party.”

Debbie swung the book back around to face her. “I don't think I need to tell you that's a wedding cake.”

“That's why it's perfect,” Sophia said, anticipation starting to override her worries about the party. “My parents had a homemade wedding cake—a simple sheet cake—and I know my mother always felt she'd missed out a little by not having a ‘real' wedding cake.”

“What a great idea!” Debbie pulled out an order form and
starting filling out the information. “Do you know what cake flavor and filling you want, or is a taste test in order?”

Her blue eyes sparkled from her slightly plump face. Even in high school, Debbie had been perfectly happy with her full-sized figure.

“Running a bakery is in my genes,”
she had often quipped.
“That's why I wear a size fourteen.”

“As much as I would love to try every kind,” Sophia mused, “lemon with buttercream icing is my parents' favorite.”

“Mmm, one of my favorites, too. But then again, aren't they all?” Debbie sighed. “I suppose I might be more inclined to think about my weight if I had a boyfriend like yours watching my figure.”

Sophia forced a smile. This was what she wanted, right? For her pretend relationship with Jake to defuse local gossip? It might have worked, too, only her feelings for Jake were all too real…

“I guess I shouldn't be surprised how quickly gossip spreads.”

Debbie waved a dismissive hand. “What are you worried about? If I had a boyfriend who looked like that, I'd hand out fliers.”

Her words startled a laugh out of Sophia, but she sobered as she added, “I think I'd rather lie low. I've already given people enough to talk about.”

The blonde tore off the top copy of the two-part form. “You know small towns. There'll always be talk. Doesn't mean everyone believes it. In fact, most people know better, especially when it comes to anything Marlene Leary has to say. Hey, a bunch of us are getting together tomorrow night at Sullivan's Bar for Billy Cummings's birthday. You should come.”

Billy had gone to school with Sophia's brothers and was
still a good friend, but Sophia hesitated. “I don't know about a party…”

“Just think about it,” Debbie encouraged. “You have friends here, Sophia. You always did.”

The unexpected support tightened Sophia's throat with unshed tears. She'd been so sure everyone held her solely responsible. Maybe she'd been as quick to assume the worst about the town as she'd had been to believe they assumed the worst of her.

The bell above the door rang, and Sophia quickly ducked her head, embarrassed to think of anyone finding her crying over Debbie's pastries on her first day back at The Hope Chest.

Sophia had barely registered the other woman's bright greeting when Jake's murmur reached her. “You okay?”

He stepped between Sophia and the glass case, shielding her from Debbie's view with the width of his chest. A dark frown drew his eyebrows together, and he shot a suspicious glance over his shoulder. The fierce, protective warrior was back, ready to defend her against every threat except for the one he posed to her heart.

“I'm fine. Really,” she insisted when his golden eyes searched hers, concern written in his gaze. It would be so easy to believe he cared…

It's all pretend,
she insisted despite a very real shiver of awareness chasing goose bumps down her spine from the spot where Jake rested his hand against the nape of her neck and back up again.

Reality was Jake pulling away from her at the creek, unable—or
unwilling
—to accept that she was carrying another man's child. No one had to tell Sophia how big of a burden that was. Todd hadn't even been willing to step up and accept responsibility, and
he
was the father of her baby.

Did she really expect that Jake could somehow look past
that? That he would want her enough that he would want her child as well?

Yes,
her bruised heart whispered. It was exactly what she had foolishly hoped for, that he would want her enough that nothing,
nothing,
else would matter.

Like the way she wanted him.

Sophia knew only a little about Jake's life in L.A., yet when he kissed her, she could think of nothing beyond the moment when his lips touched hers, nothing beyond the eternity when he broke away for a quick breath to the split second when he came back to her.

Even her own past faded away until she no longer remembered the lessons Todd had taught her. Lessons in protecting her heart and not hoping for the impossible.

She should be glad Jake had stopped when he had, Sophia decided firmly. She wouldn't forget again. The next time he kissed her—

“Sophia.” Desire darkened Jake's eyes, tensing the muscles in his body, and making her aware that in thinking about his kiss, her focus had arrowed in on his mouth, mere inches from her own.

Longing threatened to turn her bones to warm caramel. In another minute, she'd melt into a puddle at Jake's feet. And there was something she was supposed to remember…what had she been thinking about? Oh, yeah, the next time Jake kissed her.…

If she leaned forward just an inch, the next time Jake kissed her could be right here, right now.

“Ahem.” The polite clearing of a throat wasn't enough to prepare Sophia for Debbie's next comment, “Keep generating that kind of heat, and you two are gonna burn my buns.”

Embarrassed, she jerked her gaze away from Jake's and tried to look somewhere, anywhere other than at the two people with her in the bakery. She did a quick double-take
when, sure enough, a dozen or so buns were cooling on a wire rack behind the counter.

Caught between the need to hide and an absurd desire to laugh, Sophia made a quick introduction, “Jake, this is Debbie Mattson. We went to school together, and I stopped by to—”

“Look at wedding cakes,” the blonde interjected with a guileless smile.

Sophia had to give Jake credit; he didn't so much as blink. “Did Sophia tell you strawberry filling is my favorite?”

But then again, Jake wasn't the one having trouble remembering all this wasn't real. He was the one who already had the reason for their breakup in mind. He wasn't a family man.

“What are you doing here, Jake?” Sophia asked, her voice a bit sharper than she'd intended.

“When I saw the sign in the shop, I figured you couldn't go far in twenty minutes. I spotted you through the window. I'm going to stick around this afternoon for the delivery Hope scheduled.”

“I told you I can handle it,” Sophia protested, continuing her argument from that morning.

Jake raised his hands in an innocent gesture. “Hey, I'll be there for heavy lifting only.”

“Don't argue when a man offers to do
one
of the things he's good for,” Debbie advised, the suggestive lift to her eyebrows acknowledging the
other
things men were good for.

Sophia was saved from coming up with an answer by the rumble of a diesel engine. “Speaking of delivery trucks,” Jake said as he glanced out the window. “Do you think—”

“Oh, great. It's the one Hope's been waiting for, I'm sure of it.”

He caught Sophia's arm when she would have raced out of
the store and took the keys from her hand. “Finish up here. I'll go help the guy get started.”

As the two women watched from the window as Jake crossed the street in an easy jog, Debbie sighed. “Forget fliers. I'd rent a billboard.”

As Sophia made her way back to the shop a few minutes later, she didn't notice the small crowd gathered on the sidewalk until she'd nearly stepped into the middle of the group. She tried to skirt around the edges and slip by unnoticed, but judging by the way all conversation stopped, she'd failed miserably.

A familiar voice, raised loud enough to carry, stopped her in her tracks. “I don't know what that woman was thinking. It will serve Hope Daniels right if Sophia Pirelli robs the store blind.”