Sisters by Choice (Blackberry Island #4)(42)

Heather couldn’t believe it. “Marketing? But I don’t have any training.”

“You’ll learn on the job. These are great ideas. We need that. I’ll tell Elliot to expect you.” Sophie smiled as she stood. “You have made my day, Heather. Thank you.”

Heather wasn’t sure what to make of the sudden turn of events. She returned her computer to her locker, then turned and found her mother in the break room. Amber did not look happy.

“I can’t believe you got a promotion like that.”

“You were listening?”

“Of course I was listening. Sophie was pissed. I was sure she was going to fire you and then where would we have been? I was going to tell her she couldn’t. But as always, things work out for you without you doing anything at all.”

“Mom, I worked for hours on those designs.”

“Whatever. I’m going to talk to Sophie. It’s not right that she treats me so badly. I’m going to tell her that I’m insisting on a better job and a raise. She’s just so full of herself now that she has this stupid company.”

Her mother continued talking but Heather wasn’t listening. Instead, she was thinking about her new job in marketing. She’d seen Elliot around, of course, and knew who he was. She could learn a lot from him. She vowed she would arrive extra early, stay late and do everything she could to impress him. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and she was determined to make the most of it.



Chapter Twelve


After leaving work, Sophie forced herself to go to the grocery store. She had no food in the house and couldn’t face yet another pizza delivery. She bought a couple of frozen dinners, along with a rotisserie chicken and several salads from the deli case. She even got eggs for breakfast, along with more coffee. Although maybe she should be drinking less coffee what with her not sleeping very well lately. Not that the lack of sleep was necessarily caffeine induced. Last night it had been because of her Kristine guilt, but most of the time it was about work.

She knew she was slipping further and further behind every day. As Bear continually pointed out, she couldn’t do it all and she was unwilling to let go. If she kept this up, the company was going to be in serious trouble, but knowing that and doing something about it were not the same thing.

She called out to Lily as she put the groceries on the counter. “Hey, pretty girl. How are you feeling today? Sorry I’m so late. You must be hungry.”

But instead of hurrying into the kitchen to demand dinner service, Lily was nowhere to be seen. Sophie quickly walked through the kitchen to the hallway, calling the cat as she went.

“Lily? You okay?”

She stepped into the bedroom where she’d set up Lily’s litter box and birthing place and turned on the light. Lily lay in the box, four small kittens at her side.

“You had your babies.” Sophie hurried over and dropped to her knees. “Oh, little girl, you were all alone. I’m so sorry. I wanted to be here to help.”

Lily regarded her quietly. Sophie didn’t know if she was judging or pointing out she’d gotten through it just fine. Either way it was done and it seemed as if everything had turned out all right.

Sophie shifted to a sitting position and stretched out her hand toward the cat. She wanted to reassure her without being threatening to her babies. Lily leaned into her fingers, purring loudly. Sophie smiled at her.

“You’re such a great mom. Look at you. At some point we have to get all this cleaned up but for now—”

Her gaze shifted to something in the corner of the box. Something that didn’t look right and hadn’t been there that morning. Sophie went cold all over as she realized the something was a small body.

“No,” she breathed. “No, please no.”

Fear gripped her as tears spilled down her cheeks. She wanted to back away but knew she had to confirm the kitten was dead. Only she couldn’t imagine doing that. Thoughts of how CK had died in her arms slugged her in the heart, making it impossible to breathe.

“Oh, Lily,” she whispered. “Was it bad?”

The cat only purred and closed her eyes.

Without being aware of what she was doing, Sophie pulled her phone out of her pocket. But when she went to make the call, she wasn’t sure who to talk to. Normally, Kristine was her go-to person, but right now things were weird, and Amber was totally useless and Heather was too young and who else was there?

She hesitated only a second before scrolling through her contact list.

“Hey,” Dugan said cheerfully. “I was just thinking about you.”

“Can you come over?” she asked, not bothering to keep the trembling out of her voice. “Please?”

“Sophie, what’s wrong?”

“Lily had her babies and I think one died. I can’t deal with this. I know I should be strong and it’s the circle of life, but I just can’t.”

“I’ll be right there.”

“Hurry.”

Sophie stayed where she was, terrified to even look at the lonely kitten, yet unable to walk away. She cried and petted Lily and waited. It didn’t take long for Dugan to walk into the room.

She pointed to the small body in the corner. “I think it’s dead.”

He squatted next to her and kissed the top of her head, then reached for the kitten. Sophie flinched and turned away. Lily kept on purring as if she had no interest in what had happened. Dugan collected the tiny creature and stood.