In a Book Club Far Away(50)

Adelaide lowered her head. “I was not raised to be a sob story, to have a sob story, or to tell it.”

Sophie laughed. “You are far from a sob story. Are you kidding me? Look how you brought us together, how you help people every day.” She lowered her voice. “But even if you did become a sob story, I’m not going anywhere.”

“I’m here, too, Ad. To support you every step of the way, even if you become really, really pathetic.” Regina pressed her lips into a grin.

“The way you two turn a conversation. You don’t give me a chance to stay sad. You guys are the epitome of Bossypants.”

“Har har.” Sophie smiled. “The book was eh. Funny, yes. Insightful? The jury’s out on that. Although”—she looked up at the ceiling—“she talked about what makes a good boss, and she said it was about hiring people and getting out of the way. That’s what we do for one another. We look out for one another and see in what way we can or can’t help, and where. So, when you see me and Regina, know that we can help. And then get out of your own way so we can work our magic.”

Regina took Adelaide’s hand, and Sophie’s with the other. “Exactly. Remember. The SOS applies to you, too.”





PART FIVE




But going forward required a singular leap of faith—and he was a man of little faith, particularly when it came to himself.

—His at Night by Sherry Thomas





CHAPTER THIRTY

Sophie




Present Day, Monday

By Monday morning, Sophie waved the white flag that she needed a hospital shift change. Her back hurt from the visitor pullout chair, and her lungs craved fresh air. After Adelaide’s admission that she no longer wanted another child, Sophie had begun to feel claustrophobic. Because while she had agreed with Adelaide that a person should be able to change their mind at any time, it was also an entirely different issue to actually move forward with it. Change was harder when it involved other people. Change required knowing exactly what outcome one wanted, didn’t it?

Sophie had scheduled the Genevieve handoff at 9:00 a.m. so mother and daughter could share a few moments together, and Regina, fresh and energetic, would take the hospital shift until the next morning. But when the two arrived, Adelaide was asleep, so they migrated to the hospital cafeteria instead.

Sophie’s phone beeped a notification while in the hallway, a reminder of her flight back home. It was scheduled for the next day.

She couldn’t leave, could she? Neither she nor Adelaide had planned for this extra surgery, and while Regina was staying the rest of the week, Regina wasn’t tuned in to Adelaide’s needs. Their roles had divvied up naturally, and Sophie would daresay it was working, though things were still slightly awkward between them.

But Sophie’s biggest obstacle was not Regina,

While at the elevators, Sophie went to her messages app and clicked on Jasper’s last text.

Hey, I’m not coming home tomorrow.

Adelaide still needs me.



Little dots showed that he was responding.

Seriously?



Seriously.

I’m changing my flight to Sunday.



“Everything okay?” Regina asked minutes later while buckling Genevieve into a child’s seat. “You look upset.”

“It’s nothing.”

Regina’s eyes gazed downward at Sophie’s phone, which flashed with text notifications. “Sure?”

“Yeah. You know Jasper… he doesn’t know how to insert a line in his texts. He literally sends every sentence as a separate text, and my phone blows up unnecessarily.” She smiled with effort. While every part of her wanted to divulge her issues with Jasper and what Adelaide had revealed—because she knew it would release some of this pressure from her chest—she reminded herself that she and Regina were not on solid footing.

Regina shrugged. “Okay. But look, I have something to tell you.” She sat down, and from her backpack she pulled two brown bags: one for Genevieve and another for Sophie.

“For me?” Sophie was gobsmacked at the gesture. “Thank you.”

Regina waved it away. “It’s nothing. Just some cinnamon rolls. But anyway, listen up. I ordered a c-a-k-e.”

“A c-a-k-e for what?” Sophie dug into the bag.

“For who else?” She covered Genevieve’s ears. The little girl stared up at her and smiled a toothy grin, all the while clutching her sippy cup with one hand and crackers with another. “For her party,” she whispered.

“What party?”

“The party I’m planning. For her birthday.” She lowered her hands. “This weekend. First of all, are you going to be here? I’m planning it for Saturday, since I leave on Monday. Get this, I even elicited Missy to help.”

“Who’s Missy?” Sophie unwrapped the warm cinnamon roll from the plastic wrap. “Wow, this looks amazing.”

“Remember? One of Adelaide’s contacts in her binder? Anyway, she said she would handle the invites on her end and can almost guarantee that mommies in their circle could be flexible with the timeline. I was thinking that maybe we should have everyone come over while Adelaide’s out for her follow-up appointment. We’ll soon find out what time that will be, right?”