Life After Wife (Three Magic Words Trilogy, #3)(21)

“That Maria really is a rotten apple,” Elijah said.

“Yep. The lawyers had all this documentation that said Tina’s DNA proved she was Theron’s. And Fancy had signed a statement saying that Maria had actually left the child alone before they even arrived to get her, which constituted abandonment. So Maria didn’t have a leg to stand on,” Sophie finished the story.

“They ever see her again?” Elijah asked.

“Not so far. Hopefully she’s out there in California and will stay there and not make trouble. I live in fear she’ll kidnap Tina just for money.”

Elijah stretched and stood up, shaking the legs of his cotton pajama bottoms down when he did. Without a word, he went to the kitchen and heated up some gumbo soup straight out of the can.

Sophie finished her sandwich, threw away the paper plate, and washed her hands at the kitchen sink. When she turned around, Elijah was just inches behind her on his way to the silverware drawer to get a spoon. For a moment their gazes locked, gray eyes doing battle with clear blue ones, and for a single breathless second she thought he might lean forward and kiss her. But it passed with a heavy awkwardness that sent her to her room with a weak excuse that she thought she heard her cell phone, and him back to check the soup on the stove.

She slung herself on the bed, head at the wrong end, feet on the pillow shams, and stared at the ceiling. A fly crawled across it, and she tried to concentrate on it rather than the emotional upheaval in her chest. She’d actually wanted Elijah to kiss her. It was definitely time for her to start dating again if a kiss from him was inviting. After the sale, if she hadn’t found someone interesting, she would tell Kate and Fancy to start the process of fixing her up with Friday night dates.

She heard the familiar ringtone for Kate’s calls. She slung her legs over the side of the high bed, bailed off, and grabbed it on the fourth ring.

“Hello. I was just thinkin’ about you, and then you called,” she said breathlessly.

“What is going on?”

“Nothing. Not anything. I just told you,” Sophie said.

“And you are talking too fast and too furious and something else is happening. ’Fess up,” Kate said.

Sophie took a deep breath. No way was she admitting that she wanted Elijah to kiss her!

“Did you leave right after I did, from the hospital I mean?” Kate asked.

“Yes, I did, and why are you calling? Is something wrong on your end?”

“Did you talk to anyone on the way out or on the way home?” Kate ignored Sophie’s questions and kept asking her own.

“No, I did not, and stop interrogating me. I didn’t commit murder or rob a liquor store. You are a farm wife now, not a detective,” Sophie reminded her, hoping to flip the conversation toward Kate and get herself out of the hot seat.

“Okay, we’ve established that you haven’t talked to anyone since you left the hospital, so something has happened between you and Eli,” Kate said.

“Nothing happened. I told him about how Tina came to live with Theron and Fancy, and he made fun of the baby’s new name. We got into a bit of an argument about that, which ended with him saying he never ever wants kids, and then you called.”

“I smell a half-truth, Sophia Lauren McSwain. I’ll let Fancy get the rest out of you when she’s up and around. Want to go shopping in the morning for something pink and pretty to take to Emma-Gwen tomorrow night? That’s why I called,” Kate said.

“I’d love to, but we’ve got a full day getting ready for the sale. We’ve got appointments with caterers and the decorating crew, and the buyers are arriving in three days for the preshow look-see,” she said.

“I hear a whine. Tell you what: I’ll buy something, and you can pay me half. We’ll meet at Fancy’s place at eight tomorrow evening with the Welcome Home, Baby banner. Theron says they’ll release her after twenty-four hours. I figure she’ll be home right after that.”

“I’m not whining. I’d far rather go with you than spend the time with Elijah. Surely I’ll be done in time to get away by evening to welcome Fancy and Emma-Gwen home, though.”

“What happened between you and Eli?” Kate asked suddenly.

Sophie almost answered, but caught her answer before it left her mouth. “Nothing. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

“Chicken. Did he kiss you finally?”

“No!”

“OK, anything less than that can wait until later,” Kate said and hung up.

Sophie threw herself back on the bed and flipped on the television set on her dresser. Desperate Housewives was playing, but she couldn’t keep her mind on the show. It kept flitting around the idea of dating.

She definitely would have to get her own place. She’d been looking around the ranch when they were out culling cattle for the sale and had decided on the far southern corner. It faced a section line road, which would make it easy for her to come and go, and she wouldn’t have to build a road from the house back to the trailer. There was a nice grove of pecan trees and a pond not far back on the property. She’d already thought about which trees would have to be removed and which could stay for shade.

The trailer would be facing the pond and the back door toward the road. The deck would look toward the north and run the whole length of the trailer, so she could sit out there during three seasons of the year and watch the sunrise and set both.