She was silent as she considered that. Then she said, "I'll be careful."

"Thanks."

"But do you think you two might ever get back together?"

"I told you, he's seeing Eve."

"That doesn't mean he'll marry her."

"You want me to start dating?"

"Why not? You don't owe Dad anything. Not after what he did."

This was an interesting twist. Alexa had always been a daddy's girl. "We have to try to remember the good things about your father, Lex. He loved you. He-"

"Was desperate when he jumped ship. I know. You told me before. But..."

She didn't sound impressed. "What?" Sophia prompted.

"How could he love us and do what he did?"

"He was confused on top of everything else."

"Confused? About what? About whether he wanted to be part of our family? Look at what happened at school! I'd still have my friends if he hadn't hurt so many people."

Sophia couldn't argue with that. "True, but-"

"Why do you always defend him? He wouldn't have said any nice things about you if you'd jumped off the yacht."

No doubt that was true. But she wasn't Skip-and she didn't want to be anything like him. "That's beside the point."

Alexa slumped in her seat. "So why?" she asked again. "Why do you defend him?"

"I don't do it for him. I do it for you. I'd do anything for you."

"Even give up drinking?"

"That's right."

She reached over to take Sophia's hand, and Sophia couldn't help smiling. Maybe the past weeks had been pure h.e.l.l, but there was something new and fresh and exciting being forged in that fire. For one thing, she and Alexa were pulling together, growing closer than they'd ever been. It made Sophia feel good to be the parent to come through for a change-made her feel better than she had in years.

"You're a good mom."

Hearing the conviction in Alexa's voice filled Sophia with warmth. For a second, she was glad that Skip had shown who he really was. Without that, maybe she wouldn't have found out who she really was.

"And you're a wonderful daughter." She gave Alexa's hand a squeeze. But that special moment didn't last much longer than it took to start the car and drive home. As Sophia crested the top of the hill where they lived, she saw that the battle they were waging was far from over.

18.

Ted left Eve's determined to overcome the rebellion of his own heart. She'd make a great wife, a great mother. With her, he'd never have to deal with trust issues. So why not pursue a more serious relationship?

Maybe he'd been hanging back all these years, feeling he couldn't get over Sophia, when that wasn't the case at all. Maybe he simply hadn't tried hard enough. These days, half the people in his group of friends were married. He was ready to make the same transition, to embrace the next phase of life. And he could be happy with Eve. They'd had a really nice time tonight.

Well, overall they'd had a nice time. There were a few moments when he'd felt a little spooked by the possessiveness in her touch. And it was a bit odd that, even though they'd kissed, he hadn't been in the mood to make love.

But she hadn't pushed him.

See? Even in that she was perfect. He'd said that it had been a h.e.l.l of a day and he was exhausted, and they'd had a piece of pie and watched TV. With her, life would be simple. So what if he didn't want to jump into bed all the time? He just needed a chance to acclimate to being physical with someone he'd never previously viewed in a s.e.xual way. Ignoring that slight resistance wasn't quite so easy when you were sober.

He was almost home when he checked his phone and saw that he'd missed a call from Sophia. It'd come in not long after she'd left his place.

Curious, he pulled over to listen to her message.

"Ted? Um...sorry to bother you. I was wondering if you have a gun you could lend me. But...I'll figure out something else. Don't worry. No need to return this call."

A gun? Why would she need a gun?

He considered calling her back, but it was close to midnight. He doubted she'd be up this late. He hoped not. With the way things had been going for her, she needed the rest.

Right now he felt like he could use some rest, too. Since she'd come to work for him, his life hadn't been the same, and he had a feeling it might never go back. If he continued seeing Eve, he could be married this time next year.

Putting the transmission back in Drive, he turned around. He figured he could go by Sophia's. If there were any lights on, he'd return her call, make sure everything was okay. The fact that Chief Stacy had been so antagonistic toward her, when he held so much power in Whiskey Creek, was disconcerting. Then there was that incident with Alexa at school. Maybe Connie had gone home and told her parents the same story she'd told Mrs. Vaughn and they'd decided to get nasty. After all, Sophia and Lex were in that huge house all by themselves, and everyone knew where they lived. Ted didn't think his fellow residents would do anything to cause serious harm-but Sophia had asked for a gun. There must've been a reason.

He snapped off his headlights as he arrived at the top of the hill and turned toward the house. The DeBussi mansion was the only residence up here. It wasn't as if he'd be disturbing any of Sophia's neighbors. He just didn't want to shine bright lights into her windows, didn't want to scare her if she happened to be up.

Not only that but, truth be told, he preferred she not know he'd come to check on her. This was strictly for his own peace of mind.

He barely pressed on the gas; mostly he let the engine idle as he rolled toward her house. Several strips of toilet paper fluttered from the tallest trees, as if they'd recently been T.P.'d and whoever'd cleaned up couldn't reach that high, but other than the dim paG.o.da lamps strategically placed in the landscaping, no lights were on.

This had been a waste of time. Sophia and Alexa were in bed, as he'd imagined.

Rea.s.sured, he nearly made a U-turn at the end of the court so he could go home. He would've hurried out of there; he was seconds away from doing just that when he spotted a dark shape on the porch.

Because that shape looked human, he hit the brakes instead of the gas.

Were Sophia and Alexa getting T.P.'d again? Or was that someone trying to get in?

Whoever it was didn't turn at the sound of his engine. After pulling into Sophia's circular drive, he parked and walked quickly toward the house. He'd almost decided he'd been wrong. What he saw couldn't be a human. There was still no reaction to his approach.

But then he realized why. It wasn't someone; it was Sophia. She was sitting on a metal fold-out chair, since her lawn furniture had been taken from the house. Fast asleep, her breath misting in the cold air, she had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders-and a rifle in her lap.

Obviously she'd found a gun. But...what was she doing?

He reached out to give her shoulder a shake, pausing when he noticed the broken window. An object had been thrown through it. Then he saw what looked like the word b.i.t.c.h spray-painted across her front door. A symbol had been drawn on the porch, too. It seemed to be some kind of rocket....

Someone had done more than T.P. the property. Had this happened tonight? Judging by Sophia's attempt to defend her house, he guessed it had.

"s.h.i.t," he muttered and shoved his hands in his pockets as he surveyed the rest of the damage.

His voice finally woke Sophia. She leaped out of her seat and grabbed for her gun, but he whipped it away.

"Calm down," he said. "It's me."

"Ted?" The blanket had slipped off. Although she was fully clothed in sweats and tennis shoes, he could see the rapid rise and fall of her chest as she struggled to cope with the shock.

"What are you doing out here in the cold?" he asked.

It seemed to take her a moment to realize she wasn't under attack. She blinked, then peered out at the lawn and beyond, as if she still wasn't convinced. "I could ask you the same thing," she said when she returned her attention to his face.

"On my way home, I saw that I missed your call. I was concerned because you asked for a gun, so I decided to drive by and check that you were okay."

She drew a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry to put you to the trouble. I shouldn't have bothered you. I wouldn't have if...if I thought I could borrow a gun from someone else."

He motioned at the guard post she'd set up. "What's this all about?"

"I was...I was making sure they don't come back."

"Who are they?"

She picked up the blanket. "How would I know? They weren't here when we got home. But they left me some nasty surprises." She pointed at the broken window. "That's part of it. So is the p.e.n.i.s you're standing on."

"p.e.n.i.s?" He looked down at the porch floor. The rocket. Of course.

"They spray-painted swearwords in various places and broke some stuff, too. But it was the message they left that...that really upset me."

"What'd it say?"

Grasping the blanket with one arm, she dug the house key out of her pocket and gestured with it toward the door. "You can see for yourself. It's inside."

He stepped aside while she let him in. "Who gave you this?" he asked, hefting her gun.

She shoved open the door. "No one. I got it from the attic."

"You have guns in your attic?"

"It's not real."

When she flipped on the light, he examined it. It looked pretty d.a.m.n real to him.

"That's one of Skip's paintball guns." She closed and locked the door. "It's expensive as far as toys go, and high-powered, so it hurts. But it's not going to kill anyone."

"This thing could put your eye out." He grinned at her when he said that. He could hear his mother warning him in exactly the same way when he was a kid.

"If they're going to attack me in my own house, I guess that's the risk they run. More likely they'll just get a welt." She lifted her shirt to show him a mark on her stomach. "See? This is all it does."

All? An angry red mark marred the smooth skin of her stomach several inches to the right of her belly b.u.t.ton. Although he hadn't seen her stomach in a long time, it didn't look much different than he remembered. He'd thought she might have a few stretch marks from her pregnancy, but there were none.

He should've known-nothing ever seemed to diminish her beauty. But, oddly enough, it wasn't her beauty that drew him to her. Not entirely. It was the vulnerability in those big blue eyes-and the way she was trying to show her love for Alexa, despite her difficulties. He couldn't help admiring a mom who was sitting out on her front porch with a paintball gun to protect her daughter and what was left of their belongings. "How'd you manage to shoot yourself with a rifle?"

"I didn't. I had Alexa do it, just so I'd know what it would feel like."

He slid a finger over the injury and felt a jolt of awareness. It wouldn't have surprised him, except that it was so strong. To cover his reaction, he gestured toward the door. "You shouldn't be outside, asking for trouble. There's no telling what might happen if they come back. If it's Chief Stacy, for instance, and you p.i.s.s him off enough...he has a real gun."

"Nice. You think our chief of police might shoot me. Makes me feel really safe."

She pulled the blanket around her again. The house wasn't much warmer than outside. He guessed she'd turned off the heat to save on her utility bills. If the energy company had turned off her service, she wouldn't have any lights.

"No matter who it is...I'm not putting up with the punishment anymore," she said. "I've made my mistakes. You, of all people, know that. But since I married Skip, I've contributed to this community. I've put in hours and hours of volunteer service, even if no one wants to count the money we donated to so many causes."

"I know."

She seemed taken aback that he didn't defend the town, and her voice softened. "I understand that everyone's disappointed. But no one's more disappointed than I am."

"I know that, too." He held up the paintball gun. "But this isn't going to help."

"It'll show them I'm done being bullied."

"Or get someone mad enough to really hurt you."

"What's my other choice? Call the police?"

If he'd been in her situation, he wouldn't have called the police, either. There were three officers on the force besides Stacy, but they answered to him, and they were so cowed Ted couldn't imagine how getting them involved would do any good. "What about your in-laws? Surely they'll help if they know people are targeting Alexa."

She looked around as if she wanted to sit down; other than a card table and two folding chairs in the kitchen, her house contained no furniture. The carpet in the living room would've been softer, but she slid down the wall and sat on the marble floor with her back against the front door. "Help in what way?"

"Let you stay there, get you out of this place." There certainly wasn't much left to move-or steal. "This house is such a visible symbol of...of everything people resented about you and Skip."

"What did they resent? You mean that we had money?"

"There wasn't just a slight disparity, Sophia. I won't pretend jealousy doesn't play a role."

"It doesn't matter what plays a role. It is what it is, and there's nothing I can do about it." She pulled her knees into her chest. "Anyway, I won't go to my in-laws for help. I'd rather die than live with them."

"Why?"

"Because they like me almost as much as your mother does. And now that they've been forced to accept the truth about their son, they're confused, hurt and grieving. That doesn't make them particularly concerned about us."

He leaned a shoulder against the wall. "Not even Alexa?"

"When they call, she tells them we're fine. If she told them the truth, they'd interfere, maybe try to take her away from me, and that would be worse than the way things are now." She rested her head against the door as her eyes surveyed the empty house. "Or...maybe I should let Lex go to them. Maybe I'm being selfish keeping her here, when I can't even heat the house."

It had to be hard to take care of Alexa when she was struggling just to take care of herself. But Lex provided Sophia with a reason to get up each day. Ted understood that. Eve had told him what she'd been like a week ago. He didn't feel it would be wise for her to give up her daughter, even temporarily. "We'll think of something-after we've both had a chance to get some sleep."