“Well then…” I lean back in my chair. “We’ll have to go to the range sometime.”
She tilts her head as a small smile crawls across her perfect lips. “You shoot?”
“I do. Gampy taught me.”
“Then it’s a date.” She inhales sharply as her words play back for her. “I mean—”
“I know what you mean.” I bring my small sake cup to my mouth and sip the warm liquid. “Not a real date.”
“Right.” She swallows hard. “Not a real date.” She pauses, staring into the distance.
I can almost see the wheels spinning in her head. I study her, urging her to admit she wouldn’t mind going on an official date. But she doesn’t, turning her bright eyes back to mine, the moment of hesitation passing.
“I hope you’re prepared to be emasculated, though.”
“Why’s that?”
She leans toward me, her powdery scent mixing with the smell of ginger that permeates this place. “Because I will shoot you under the table.”
“Bring it on, Bennett.” I waggle my brows.
“You got it, Bradford.”
We continue to enjoy our meal as she tells me how her up-cycling business took off almost overnight. How within a few months, she had saved enough to get her master’s degree, so she decided to study interior design instead of art history. I tell her about the charity branch of the architectural firm I founded several years ago that helps people who’ve been displaced from their homes due to natural disaster or circumstance rebuild. She even offers to volunteer her own time in the future. Then our conversation veers toward a discussion about whether we’ll be able to finish Gampy and Meemaw’s house before Thanksgiving so we can celebrate there.
As we leave the restaurant, I’m so wrapped up in listening to her talk about all the food her mother made every year for Thanksgiving, I barely register someone calling my name. It isn’t until Londyn stops talking and nudges me that I look up.
“Wes?” a tall, slender brunette asks, eyes narrowed as she approaches.
It takes me a minute to place her, but once I do, a warmth fills me as memories rush back.
“Sophia? Oh, my god.” As if no time has passed since we’ve seen each other, I wrap her in my arms, kissing her cheek. “It’s so good to see you.”
“You, too. I wasn’t certain it was you, but I took a risk.”
I drop my hold on her, feeling like I’m staring at a living, breathing memory of my summer days with Gampy and Meemaw. She was as much a part of their family as Julia and me. That was the type of people my grandparents were. If you touched their lives in some way, you’d always be family.
“I’m glad you did,” I offer. “Truly.”
“I didn’t mean to pull you away from your…” She glances at Londyn. “Wife?”
“No.” I shake my head. “Londyn is…”
I hesitate, unsure of what to say. Unsure what Londyn is to me. Unsure what Londyn wants me to be to her. Unsure what I can say so she doesn’t read too much into it. The last thing I want is to say something wrong and scare her off. So I go with the truth.
“She’s my interior designer,” I say. “I bought Meemaw and Gampy’s old place on the auction block a few months ago, and we’re restoring it.”
Sophia places her hand over her heart, her eyes gleaming. “That’s wonderful.”
I turn to Londyn, her expression unreadable. “Sophia was one of the babies Meemaw cuddled at the hospital,” I explain. “She stayed in touch with a lot of the families, and they became part of the family, too. Sophia and I practically grew up together. For years, I thought she was actually my sister.” I laugh at how naïve I was back then. We were around the same age and always together. What else was a four-year-old supposed to think?
“Nice to meet you.” With a smile that seems unusually forced, Londyn extends her hand toward Sophia, and they shake.
“You, too.”
“So, what are you up to these days?” I ask, trying to make polite conversation.
“I’m a lawyer, actually.”
I laugh heartily. “Gampy said you’d make a damn good attorney, what with the way you always tried to negotiate for one more cookie after dinner.”
She grins. “Well, I’d like to say my negotiation skills have improved slightly. But it was actually your grandfather who inspired me to take this path. And to do some pro bono work with the Innocence Foundation, like your gampy.”