A Miracle for the Confident Cowboy (Love in Sweet Bloom)

Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Sophie didn’t know why she couldn’t bring herself to call Duke when she’d arrived in London. Part of her had hoped he’d be the one to reach out and tell her he couldn’t live without her. She’d wanted him to fight for her, to do something—anything—to demonstrate he thought they belonged together.

But days had turned into weeks and weeks had turned into months with no word from him. She wasn’t blameless, of course. But she’d had her own reasons why she wanted him to send word first.

They just weren’t really good reasons.

“Oh, your conversation end so soon?” Trina teased, coming out of the kitchen and into the living room where Sophie had been on the phone.

Rolling her eyes, Sophie tossed her device on the couch. “Yeah. And I would guess it has something to do with you.”

Trina’s flirtatious smile wasn’t doing her any favors. “Does he want to call me every day, too?”

Sophie didn’t dare voice her concerns. Despite only having to spend time at the restaurants twice a week, she was still incredibly busy. She liked to do her research when it came to certain dishes, the way they were prepared, or the backgrounds of the chefs she was interviewing. It made for a lot of late nights whether or not she spoke to Duke on the phone at all that day.

Her roommate plopped down on the other side of the couch and tore a bite of the pastry she’d gotten from the kitchen. “Why would I be responsible.” Her flirtatious voice was gone. The teasing, too. They were only going to be roommates through the end of the month before Sophie made her last stop in another town. Trina was her longest roommate, and the most outgoing. She had no problems saying it how it was. And it was usually easy to forgive her because of her smile and the accent that would make an ice cube melt in the dead of winter.

Trina’s large, black eyes lifted to Sophie and she offered an apologetic smile. “Did I say something?”

“Maybe,” Sophie murmured, distracted. Then she shook her head. “I don’t know. It’s hard to read him when I can’t see his face.”

“But he is the one you talked about all last month, right?”

A smile tugged at Sophie’s face. “He is.”

“And the same guy you’ve been pining for since last Christmas?”

Sophie tossed a throw pillow at her new friend. “I wasn’t pining over him.”

Trina didn’t look convinced. She took another bite and pressed the last bit of flaky crust into her mouth with her pinky before licking her finger. “Okay, so why did the conversation get cut short?”

“I don’t know.” It didn’t feel right to Sophie, either. And it wasn’t just the way he’d ended the call so abruptly. It was the way he brought up dating other women.

Sophie couldn’t deny the sting of jealousy that came with his confession. He was dating again. Pippa had been insistent Duke was miserable and he hadn’t gone on a single date the whole time she was gone.

“Uh oh, what’s that look for? Where is the happy girl I’ve gotten used to spending time with?” Trina inched forward.

Sophie forced a smile. “I’m happy. You don’t think I’m happy?” She had no reason to be upset. Duke had opened the gates to a friendship she hadn’t known she desperately needed.

Trina tapped her nose. “It’s lover boy, isn’t it? You miss him.”

It was true. But more than that, she wanted to see him so she could decide if they still had a chance at working things through.

“He’s not going home for Christmas,” she murmured more to herself than anyone else.

“Why not?”

Sophie’s eyes flitted to Trina. “I don’t know. But I would bet that he’d love to see his family if he could.” A lightbulb practically blinked over her head and she straightened. “You’re good at finding people, right? You could help me find his family?”

Trina gave her an incredulous look. “I’m sorry. But just because someone says they’re from this country doesn’t automatically mean I can find them. You realize how big this place is, right?”

Sophie laughed. “Of course I do. It’s the same with Texas. I’ll see if I can find out anything from Pippa and Rob. If they can get the address, then great. If not, at least we’ll have their names to work off.” She reached for her computer and flipped it open. Then she grabbed her phone and dialed Pippa’s number. With the extra bit of money she’d earned while doing this tour, she might just be able to get Duke the Christmas present that he didn’t know he needed.

“How did you say you know Charles?”

Sophie stiffened and spun around from the shelves of knickknacks she’d been admiring. Duke’s mother stood beside her daughter and the two of them were eyeing Sophie as if she was going to burgle their home.

Trina stepped forward. “Sophie knows Charles from back in Texas. Her brother works with him.”

Amelia nodded, her hands clasped in front of her. There was a small likeness between her and her son around the eyes, but that was about it. She was shorter than Sophie, plump, with green eyes and dark hair. Her daughter looked almost exactly like her.

The family farm they ran was a fraction of the size of Rolling Hills Ranch and it was situated in a small town named Hawes within the boundaries of Yorkshire Dales, England. There was a sense of coming home that Sophie hadn’t expected when she’d arrived at the farm. Trina had paid the taxi driver and they’d climbed out.

Neither one of them were able to find a phone number for Duke’s mother, so they’d showed up on a whim.

Freya, Duke’s younger sister seemed more at ease than her mother, though still cautious. “How long have you known my brother?”

Sophie blushed, hating how the heat in her face betrayed her. “I met him last December—almost a year.” If they only knew just how little time they’d spent together. She cleared her throat. “We got close… but then I had to take a business trip—” Great. Now she was rambling.

Thank goodness Trina was willing to rescue her.

“Sophie wanted to come meet you because she wanted to make an offer. We don’t know what your plans are for the month of December, but if you’re able to get away from the farm…” Trina glanced from the Stephenson women to Sophie and back. “Would you be interested in coming to the states to visit your son?”

Shock, excitement, confusion, Sophie read it all in Amelia’s face. A similar expression on her daughters. They glanced at one another before swinging their eyes to Sophie. Amelia spoke first, her lashes fluttering as she reached for the collar of her shirt and fiddled with it. “That’s too expensive.”

“You misunderstand.” Trina smiled warmly. “Sophie wants to pay for the trip.”

Sophie shot her new friend an appreciative smile. She didn’t know what it was, but she couldn’t bring herself to utter a single word. Perhaps it was how close she’d been to Duke. Or how close they’d been getting again since opening up the lines of communication. If the woman didn’t already assume Sophie and Duke were closer than she was letting on, she would know now.

Amelia’s eyes widened further. “You can’t be serious.”

Finally, Sophie swallowed back the anxiety that seemed content to lodge in her throat. “Duke—Charles,” she flushed, “Charles and I got to be good friends. We got to know each other pretty well when I was stateside last year. He talked about his family endlessly. And Trina is making this sound more extravagant than it is. My last restaurant visit—the chef owns a private plane. The trip would be free of charge. And I’m sure we can find you a place to stay at the ranch where my brother—” She closed her eyes with a grimace. “Where Charles works.” At least she didn’t mess up his name this time.

Freya’s eyes narrowed. “You called him Duke, is that right?”

Sophie blushed. “It’s a nick name of sorts.”

“And he works with your brother?”

Why did it suddenly feel like she was being interrogated? Because she was, that’s why. Sophie pressed her lips together, biting on them as she avoided looking directly at Duke’s younger sister. “That’s how we met.” Her voice was small and she half-expected Freya to ask her if she and Duke were romantically involved but thankfully she didn’t.

“If you’re sure it’s no trouble…” Amelia hedged. Her eyes darted from Sophie to Freya. “We always wanted to come visit, but Charles usually came to visit us. Then he sent us on that trip last year.” A smile stole across her face. “Perhaps we could make a small trip work.”

Sophie released a relieved breath and a smile spread across her own face. “Wonderful.”

Back at the apartment, Trina kept giving Sophie a strange look. It was more contemplative than anything else, but she didn’t do anything to hide it. When Sophie couldn’t take it any longer, she whirled on her friend in exasperation. “What?”

Trina folded her arms and tapped her fingernails there. “You gonna tell me what you’re doing?”

Sophie motioned to the dishes she’d been washing after their supper. “I think it’s pretty clear what I’m doing.”

“I mean with lover boy’s family.”

Sophie winced.

“See? I can tell. Something is up. It doesn’t matter that you insist he’s not lover boy to you. Anyone with eyeballs can see he means more to you than you want to admit.”

“We broke it off for good reasons,” Sophie insisted. “We went almost a full year without speaking, for heaven’s sake.”

“That doesn’t mean a dang thing.”

Sophie shot her friend an incredulous look. “Yes it?—”

“No it doesn’t,” Trina insisted. “You love him, don’t you?”

She shut her eyes tight, keeping her balance with one hand on the counter at her side. “I loved him.” It was more difficult than she could have ever imagined to confess the words aloud. “I loved him and he didn’t love me enough to want to try anything long-distance. I tried, okay. It didn’t work out.”

“And you never got over him. So I’ll say it again. You love him. Why else would you ask me to track down his family to bring them home with you? Unless you think maybe he’ll change his mind and take you back…” Her voice trailed off and her eyes narrowed. “I like this guy for you as much as the next person, but I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Sophie shook her head, turning her gaze to her friend. “I’m not going to get hurt. It’s a peace offering of sorts. I’m just going to…” She sighed. What exactly was she doing? Trina was right. If anyone could have come up with a grand gesture to show the man they loved she was still interested, this would be it. Shoot! She was going to get hurt.

“Hey,” Trina murmured softly. “I’m not saying it won’t work. I’m just saying you should be careful.”

Unable to find the words, Sophie nodded this time and forced a smile. “I know.”

“And who knows? This could be exactly what he needs to realize that you mean business. What better way to tell a guy you still care than to meet the family at Christmas time—to drag them across the world in order to do it.” The teasing tone had returned to her voice and Sophie laughed.

“It’s a little crazy, isn’t it?”

Trina held up both hands, showing her palms. “Hey, I knew the plan before I went over there with you and I still did it. I don’t think I’m the best judge of character when it comes to that sort of thing.”

Sophie sighed then let out another nervous laugh. “I really hope it doesn’t blow up in my face.”