Take Me Home for Christmas

“But leaving means you’d need a job. And what will you do without a car?”

“Depending on where I go, I might be able to take public transit. Or ride a bike.”

“What kinds of jobs will you apply for?”

“Maybe I could get on as a hostess at a restaurant or a receptionist at a day spa. Or I could do in-home daycare.”

“You have to be licensed for daycare.”

“I could get licensed.”

He didn’t say it, but she could tell he didn’t think she’d make enough to survive. “Where’s Lex?” he asked. “Wasn’t she coming home tonight?”

“She was, but her cousins wanted her to stay with them. I don’t normally let her sleep over at Colby’s. I don’t trust Skip’s brother to stick around and supervise, but...she hasn’t had much of a social life since everything happened, and I couldn’t bring myself to say no.”

“That’s understandable.”

“I hope everything’s okay.”

“The decision’s been made. Worrying won’t help.” As he rested his arms on the edge of the Jacuzzi, she couldn’t help admiring his biceps. But she loved his hands most. She’d always loved his hands.

“I was thinking of getting a tree tomorrow,” he said, changing the subject.

Her headache was back and rising to new proportions. She rubbed her temples in an effort to ease the pain. “For the garden? What kind of tree?”

He gave her an expression that said, Are you really asking that question? “There’s a little thing called Christmas coming up.”

“Oh. Of course.” Thanksgiving had been hard for her. She wasn’t looking forward to Christmas.

“I thought maybe you’d like to go with me,” he said.

She knew better than to think Eve would be pleased if she accepted. “No, thanks. I’ve got other plans.”

Her response seemed to surprise him. “Like what?”

“I’m walking over to the library in the morning.”

“For...”

“They’re offering that typing class Alexa took last summer.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” He squinted through the steam. “I’m willing to wait until afternoon, if that’s more convenient.”

Wasn’t Eve going with him?

Either way, being around Ted would only confuse her, make her want things she couldn’t have. For once, she was going to protect herself. She was going to get out of the mess she was in and figure out how to stand on her own two feet, even if it killed her.

And sometimes she thought it would. When she woke up this morning and realized what she’d done, she’d been ready to give up. Booze would beat her even if she overcame everything else. So why try?

Then she’d remembered the night Eve had appeared in her room and dragged her out of bed to eat the first real meal she’d had in days. Maybe, because of their current circumstances, they couldn’t be friends, but that moment had left an indelible impression on Sophia. She needed to honor the spark Eve had given her, as well as the promise she’d made that night to keep fighting, regardless of how bad it got.

“I’m afraid I don’t have time for stuff like that this year,” she said. “After the library, I’ve got to get online and see if I can find an inexpensive car. There are places advertising that they’ll finance anyone. ‘Good credit. Bad credit...’ You’ve heard the ad.”

“You have a busy day planned.”

“I need to take advantage of my off-hours. I’ve got to become independent.” She spoke with the determination she felt, but a small part of her still feared that the odds against her were too high.

“Can you make time for an AA meeting tomorrow night?” he asked.

“I have no way to get there,” she said. “That’s why I’m hoping to buy a car as soon as possible.”

“I’ll take you until you can arrange your own transportation.”

She raised a hand. “That’s okay. I’d feel too guilty dragging you to something like that. You don’t deserve the humiliation or the tedium of hearing everyone’s story.”

“What’s your story?”

“You don’t want to hear that, either,” she said. “Anyway, I know Eve wouldn’t like it if I dragged you off.”

He started to speak, then changed his mind. “Eve’s very supportive of you. She was really excited when I hired you.”

She gave him a sad smile as she climbed out of the Jacuzzi. “That was before,” she said.

28

Before he’d started sleeping with Eve.

Ted understood what she meant. Essentially, he’d cost Sophia her only friend. Although he hadn’t recognized that until tonight—hadn’t even thought about it that way—she was right. Before Halloween, Eve had been all about helping Sophia. After he took Eve to bed, that changed. Eve hadn’t been unfriendly. She hadn’t even said anything bad about Sophia. But she’d stopped reaching out to her.

“Damn,” he said with a sigh. As much as Eve and his other friends teased him for being ambitious and organized and having his shit together, he’d taken a wrong turn last month. The only thing he’d succeeded in doing was making life harder, for himself and both women. He still had to face his feelings for Sophia. The past four weeks with Eve had done nothing to change that.

And getting together with Eve hadn’t been his only mistake. He remembered saying, when Skip’s body washed up on the shores of Brazil, that Sophia would solve her problems by hooking up with another guy who had the money to bail her out of the mess she was in. But he’d seen no evidence of that. She hadn’t been out partying. She hadn’t brought anyone home. She didn’t have access to the internet in the guesthouse, so she wasn’t cruising the dating sites.

He liked what he saw in her, despite her problems. She’d proven herself to be a loving mother. She did her best to earn what he paid her, even if it meant staying late. And she never took advantage of what he was willing to do for her. He was impressed whenever he found a receipt with $3.58 on the counter or some other odd amount that showed him how hard she was trying to be honest. Those were traits anyone should be able to admire.

* * *

Ted didn’t tell her he and Eve had broken up, but Sophia soon figured it out. It was sort of obvious when Eve didn’t come over for the next three weeks. It became even more obvious when he had Sophia and Alexa decorate his Christmas tree, do the Christmas shopping for his business contacts and eat dinner with him instead of carrying their meals out to the guesthouse.

Even if all of that hadn’t given it away, she would’ve realized they were no longer seeing each other on the eighteenth, when she overheard him arguing with his mother. Mrs. Dixon must’ve told him he was making a big mistake letting Eve go because he responded with comments like, “I love her, too. Just not in that way.” And, “It’s my life. I have to trust my own judgment.”

As conspicuous as Eve’s sudden absence was, Sophia never mentioned it, and she told Alexa not to say anything, either. She thought that if he wanted to talk about his love life, he’d bring it up—but he didn’t, so she focused on her job, taking care of her daughter, practicing her typing and handling as many errands as possible so Ted could finish his book.

He was working hard, spending long days at the computer, but he found time to drive her to an AA meeting every other night. He also helped her negotiate with a bankruptcy attorney, whom she put on retainer with the