A Lie Unraveled (9 page)

He went to the counter and ordered coffee and a smoothie for Sophia. When he looked over, he was pleasantly surprised to see that she’d moved. She was curled up on one of the softer sofas with the book; she was smiling. “Yes,” he said, grinning at the confused girl who was waiting for his money.

* * *

“So Miss Lily-Grace, what color do you think would be nice to have on your nails today?” Destiny asked. She was enjoying watching Lily-Grace. The little girl hadn’t stopped smiling since they left the house.

Lily-Grace looked down at her newly scrubbed feet and the toes that were set into pink rubber dividers keeping them separated. “Could I have pink?” she asked.

“You can have whatever color you like, honey,” Destiny said. “You know what’s really pretty? Little flowers.”

Lily-Grace nodded enthusiastically.

“Then that’s what we’ll have. Once we’re finished here, we have somewhere else to go and then, I have a
great
idea for lunch. Today is our special girly day.”

“I have an idea, Sophia,” Justin said. “Why don’t we go to the market and pick up some things, then we can cook dinner for the others?”

“We could, but you know what would be funner?”

“More fun, what would be more fun. What’s that?” Justin was extremely pleased that Sophia was finally opening up to him. He’d been hesitant about the day, wondering if they were going to end up staring at each other, unable to find any kind of conversation that would link their worlds.

“We could barbecue. There’s a grill out back but Mommy doesn’t like it,” she said.

“Mommy doesn’t like to
use
it or she doesn’t like to eat food that’s been cooked on it?” Justin asked. There was a big difference between disliking char grilled food and having a reason for not touching the barbecue itself.

“She doesn’t like to cook out there. I don’t
know
why,” Sophia said. “She just doesn’t ever do it.”

I know why, Justin thought. When they were young it had been her family’s thing to sit and barbecue on a Saturday night. Her dad used to wear his mother’s apron that said
kiss the cook
, and a chef’s hat. What Soph had just dropped out in conversation had told him a whole lot. The woman was still pushing away grief. Maybe it was time to help heal that or at least show her a way forward. Sometimes facing our fears helped to move things forward. “Okay, that sounds perfect to me. Let’s get some burgers and buns.”

“And chicken wings?” Sophia asked.

“We can do chicken wings,” Justin said. “Any other requests?”

“Maybe, just one,” Sophia said. “Your mom, I’d like it if we asked her to come and eat with us.”

“Your grandma?” The fact that Sophia wanted to include his mom was an open acceptance of sorts. He could have yelled with excitement but he decided to play it cool.

“Yeah, isn’t she lonely now that you and Lils spend so much time at our house? Why don’t we ask her? I don’t like to think of her being home all by herself.”

“I think that would be a really sweet thing to do, Sophia. Thank you for thinking of her.” Justin was really touched by Soph’s gesture.

“Can I tell you something?” Sophia asked him.

“Of course you can,” Justin said. “You can tell me anything you want.”

“I miss my grandparents.”

“I bet you do. Not that she would ever expect to replace your other grandparents but I know my mom is over the moon to be your grandma.”

“Then you better call her and ask her if she wants to come.”

“I’ll tell you what, I’ll write down the number and you can call your grandma yourself and invite her. I think she’d like that.” Oh my word, he knew she’d love that. His mom had just been quietly waiting in the wings for her opportunity to get to know Sophia better.

“Okay, that would be great,” Sophia said a little nervously, “but would she know who I am?”

Justin shook his head. If only this little girl knew how much her grandmother and Lils talked about her. Both were so happy to have her in their lives. “Of course she would silly, she hasn’t stopped talking about you since I took you over there.”

Sophia grinned. “Write down the number then, please.”

Justin had been right and his mom was touched and happy at her granddaughter’s invitation. He and Sophia were off to get supplies. There would be five hungry people to feed and they needed supplies. “First I think we need to make stop at Wal-Mart,” he said.

“What for?”

“Well, I checked out the grill and everything was fine, but I need a new apron. Would you like one?”

Sophia nodded happily. “Does that mean I get to help?”

“Of course you can.”

“Maybe we should get an apron for Lils too,” Sophia said.

* * *

“This is how it works,” Destiny said. “You choose the bear you would like,” she explained. “Do you see anything here you would like to choose?”

“Um, can I choose any one?” Lily-Grace asked.

“Sure you can, honey, which one would you like?”

“I would like to choose—” she walked up and down the aisle, seemingly struggling to choose. “Does Soph have a pony?” she asked.

“No, honey, but this is for you,” Destiny tried to explain. She couldn’t believe this child was so selfless.

“This is for me, I want to give it to Sophia,” Lily-Grace said. “I have a sister now; I already got my present. Besides, I had my nails done, you took me to tea, we had all those yummy sandwiches and cakes. It was almost like I had a mom for the afternoon.”

Destiny was taken back with the little girl’s generosity, and the compliment; in fact, she had to fight the tears that threatened. “You know what we’re going to do? You can choose a bear for each of you.”

“Really?” Lily-Grace said. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure, go ahead, pick.” Destiny watched with absolute pleasure as Lily-Grace chose her toys so carefully, making sure that she picked what she thought was just the right thing for her sister.

“Then I would like to pick two ponies please, I want mine to be the same as Soph’s,” Lily-Grace said happily.

“You are the sweetest little thing,” Destiny said, giving the little girl a hug. “You choose which ones and then we take them over to the stuffing machine.”

Destiny watched as Lily-Grace happily moved from station to station. She would have loved to know what her wish was before she kissed the hearts and slipped them inside the new ponies. “All done?” she asked finally when the ponies both had their new wardrobes picked out. “Ready to go home and see what the others have been up to?”

“Yep,” Lily-Grace said. “I can’t wait to give Sophia her new pony. Do you think she will mind that mine is exactly the same as hers?”

“No, I think she’ll be very happy that you were thoughtful enough to choose it for her,” Destiny said. If Soph is unhappy, I hope she keeps it well hidden, she thought. Judging by her morning chatter, somehow she really didn’t think that Soph would mind at all.

“We’re here!” Lily-Grace yelled happily as they pulled into the driveway. “Hey, that’s Grandma’s car,” she said.

“She must be paying us a visit.” Destiny tried to push down the worry that was building. Hopefully she
had
just decided to pay a visit and nothing was wrong. As she opened the door, she immediately felt relieved; there a distinct smell of a barbecue cooking. Dotty must be joining them for dinner.

“I can smell barbecue,” Lily-Grace said.

“I can smell it too,” Destiny said. “We better go and see who’s having a party.” She smiled as the little girl slipped her hand inside her own. As they got closer she had to admit to being hungry despite the sandwiches and cakes they’d had with their high tea.

Destiny was just about to slide the back door open when Justin did it for her with a giant grin. “Okay, don't be mad,” he said. “Sophia said it would be nice to barbecue and I thought it’s a nice night, it’s Saturday,” he grinned, “we could make it a family night, possibly.”

She looked at his adorable apron; it said,
I’m the Daddy
. “Why would I be mad that you were going to cook me dinner?” Destiny asked. She didn’t mind at all but she was kind of confused.

“Do you like the apron? I got some for the girls too. Theirs both say,
Daddy’s Little Helper
.”

“You got one for me too, Daddy?” Lily-Grace asked.

“I sure did,” he answered.

“Thank you. Can I go and show Soph her pony?” Lily-Grace asked, the usual quiet child nearly jumping out of her skin with excitement.

“Sure, honey, you run along and find her,” Destiny said.

“Soph is just changing into some jeans. Sophia said you hadn’t used the barbecue since you’d moved back and I thought it might have been too hard for you, that’s why I was a little worried. Your parents always had the whole family night thing happening when you were young.”

“That is so nice of you, honey but it’s just a grill. My dad would have wanted us to use it and to use it because we’re all back together would have made him especially happy. He always wanted me to come clean about Sophia. He liked you, he knew something didn't seem right with what I thought I’d seen.”

Justin looked as though a load had been taken off his mind. “Whew,” he said. “I was worried that I might be pushing you too hard.”

“So long as you’re only pushing me in the right direction we’re fine.” She stood on her tippy toes to kiss him. “I’m really liking all this family, couple stuff.”

“You weren’t saying that the other night,” he said.

“And look what happened the next day, everything turned around again.” Destiny leaned her head on his chest, lapping up the warmth of his embrace. She didn’t even care about the neighbors seeing. What did it matter as long as they were all happy?

“So one other thing, Sophia wanted to invite my mom over for dinner, I hope that’s okay.”

“It’s more than okay, I love your mom.” Destiny said. “Where is she?”

“The bathroom maybe? She was in the kitchen putting some last minute touches on the dishes she brought just before. Mom also has a favor to ask you. I’ll let you in on the surprise so you don’t get stuck if you want to say no,” he said.

“What’s the favor?” Destiny asked.

“Mom would like to borrow Sophia so that the girls can have a sleepover at her house,” he said.

“Oh really when?” Destiny asked.

“Tonight?” he said.

“Okay then, I guess, if I really have to let her go and have fun with her sister and her grandma.” Destiny giggled. “Are you crazy? Why would I knock back an offer like that? Does that mean that you and I actually get to spend the whole night alone?”

“It does mean that. We will be able to sleep in the same bed, or not sleep.” He pulled her away from the glass door and towards the corner where they couldn’t be seen as easily and kissed her soundly.

“That’s not the only reason though is it?” Destiny asked. She could sense that there was another agenda. His mom had probably wanted to have the kids but she would bet money that it had been his idea. She knew he wouldn’t let the rule thing go and he was probably right, they needed to talk about how things were going to work.

“There will have to be a discussion about the rules,” he said, “and about where we go from here.”

“Oh?” That sounded ominous; did Justin have doubts? She had expected the rules thing but the where did they go from there thing? Weren’t they on their way there already?

“I’m not sure this can all work this way; the coming and the going. Anyway, let’s have dinner and then we’ll get a chance to talk later, when we’re alone.”

“Okay,” she said. She tried to push away the down mood that settled on her. They had only been doing this a few days and he was sick of it already. It didn’t offer them much hope for the future did it? She didn’t want to ruin the night with the girls. They had all had such a lovely day. “What are we eating?”

“We have a spread!” he said. “We have burgers, chicken wings and ribs and Mom has brought some salads.”

“Do you need me to do anything?” she asked.

“Nope, you can sit there and look pretty,” he said.

“I won’t turn down that offer,” she said. She wanted to keep with the festive spirit but she was concerned now. What if Justin wanted to slow things down or something? If that was the case though he wouldn’t have gone to all the trouble he had would he? He certainly wouldn’t have just kissed her that way.

It was a festive evening with the girls playing with their ponies, and Sophia reading portions of the book, out loud. Who would have thought that a child could be turned onto books in such a big way in a single afternoon? “Sophia, perhaps you should go and pack your pajamas and your tooth brush,” Destiny said when Justin went to make coffee.

“Good idea, Sophia,” her grandma said. “If we go home soon, we might just have time for a movie before bed.”

“Yay,” Sophia said, jumping up and going to do as she was told. The little girl seemed excited even if the sleepover was just with her younger sister.

“The girls are getting along great,” Destiny said.

“They’re sisters,” Dotty said. “I think they have a fair bit in common.”

“How’s that?” Destiny asked. “Sophia seems so different to Lily-Grace. That child is just so calm and Soph is always so out there, you know?”

“I know it seems that way,” Dotty said, “but they have both suffered losses. The difference is, or was at least that Lily-Grace has always been told that her mother loved her; that she got sick but she didn’t want to leave,”

“And Sophia?”

“Sophia suffered the loss of her father, she just has to learn now and accept that her father didn’t leave her by choice. I know she’ll be just fine once she figures it all out in her head.”

“That was all my fault wasn't it?” Destiny said. “That Soph felt rejected by her father? I mean, I was the idiot who kept them apart. I hope she realizes that I only did what I thought best.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Desi. You made mistakes but you were only nine years older than Sophia is now. You were a baby. It was circumstances and accidents, that’s all,” Dotty said wisely. “What counts is how you move on from here.”