Sophia stopped when she saw me jump. “I’m sorry, were you sleeping?”

“No, no, it’s okay. Come on out.” I sat up and ran my hands through my hair.

Diesel walked over and sniffed her leg as she sat down on the chair next to me, immediately curing up at her feet.

“Kacie is damaged, Brody.”

I looked at her but didn’t want to derail her train of thought, so I said nothing.

“When her father told me he wanted a divorce, he divorced Kacie too. I don’t know if that’s what he meant to do or if he was just too embarrassed to look her in the eye afterward. Either way, he moved on with his life and had a couple other kids with that woman, leaving Kacie to wonder what she’d done wrong. She took it very personally, blamed herself for their failed relationship.”

She took a deep breath, her eyes staring out at the lake. “She tried to contact him a few times, but he never returned her phone calls, and eventually he changed his cell phone number. That was a big blow to her confidence. It took her awhile, but eventually she let it go.”

My chest hurt. I couldn’t imagine the pain of being pushed away by one of your parents, the people who are supposed to love you unconditionally your whole life.

“About the time she got over the abandonment of her father, she met Zach. Has she told you much about him?”

“Not really. I know that he left and she hasn’t talked to him since.”

“They met in high school and she was drawn to him immediately. They were stupid teenagers and did stupid teenage things. Then, she wound up pregnant.”

Hearing about Kacie with Zach sucked to listen to, but this was the most insight I’d ever had into her past.

“I never liked him; something about his arrogant demeanor just bothered me. Call it mother’s intuition or whatever, but I knew they wouldn’t last. Kacie, on the other hand, was hell-bent on making this family last and giving her girls what she never had. A father. It was the week before the girls’ first birthday, when she came home from work and the new sitter was at their house with the kids. There was a note on the counter for her from Zach. Basically, he just said sorry and took off.”

“He left her a letter?”

She scoffed. “It hardly classified as a letter. He scribbled a quick little ‘See Ya’ on the back of a receipt and left. That was it. She hasn’t talked to him since.”

Her eyes stared into mine, the same shade of green as Kacie’s but Sophia’s eyes were older, wiser.

“I shouldn’t be telling you this—Kacie would kill me if she knew—but I know that she’s feeling things for you she hasn’t felt in a long time. I also know that she panics when she feels like this, and she runs. She’s developed this ‘Get them before they get me’ attitude about men. I like you, Brody, I like you a lot, and I think you’re a sincere man. I just wanted you to know this about her because my guess is she’ll never talk about it.” She smiled sadly, like she was worried that I was going to bail too.

“I appreciate you telling me all this, Sophia. She’s been acting weird with me since last night. I’ve asked her what was wrong a million times. All she keeps saying is that she has a lot on her mind and Lauren’s wedding is stressing her out.”

Sophia stood up to go in the house and I followed. “Give her time, Brody. Let her work this out in her head. I promise she’s worth it.”

I leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I already knew that part, Sophia.”

“You met Kendall?” Lauren’s mouth hung open, and Alexa’s face mirrored hers.

“Yep.” I sighed. “Almost fell right onto her feet, literally.”

“What the hell was she doing there, anyway?” Alexa scoffed.

“She was a season ticket holder, apparently they get an automatic invite to the dinner.” I reached over my kitchen island and grabbed a handful of grapes. “Pearl was there too.” I directed my attention to Lauren. “The cake lady, she’s so sweet.”

Lauren stared in space, processing what I’d just told them about the charity event and running into Blaire … again. I hadn’t been completely silent like the last time she verbally assaulted me, but I also wasn’t as strong as I wish I could have been. My brain was going 100 mph, too busy thinking about all of the things she was spewing, and trying not to puke. Was I really just a summer fling? Brody seemed so much more sincere than that. I’d turned him down in the beginning, but instead of giving up and moving on to another girl, he came back and made me change my mind. If he wanted Kendall so much, why do all that? Why not just go back to her?

“What are you thinking about, Pooks?” Alexa’s eyes looked at me sympathetically.

“Nothing.” I tried to fake a smile, but it was no use with these two. They knew me better than anyone, as evidenced by the skeptical glares they both gave me in return.

I sighed, “I just can’t get what she said out of my head, the summer fling thing.” I frowned and shook my head. “I went into this trying to be cautious, but Brody has this way of blasting right through my walls and making me feel things that I was never sure I’d feel again. I always thought one day I’d marry and assumed I’d be happy, but with him it’s different—I’m way more than happy. He makes me laugh, he makes me think, he makes me want … more out of life. When I’m with him, I’m totally drunk on him and nothing else matters.”

Tears escaped Lauren’s eyes as her and Alexa gawked at me.

“Oh my God … you’re in love,” Alexa said flatly, while Lauren grinned and nodded like a bobble head next to her, dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

“I am not. I’m just confused.” I groaned. “Trying to decide whether to pull the chute now or wait it out.”

“What’s your gut tell you?” Lauren asked.

“This is Kacie we’re talking about, you know she’s gonna run,” Alexa spat.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I glared at Alexa, not liking her accusatory tone.

“That’s what you do, Kacie. Ever since I’ve known you, you’ve always waited for the worst to happen in every situation,” she said calmly. “It got worse after Zach left. The minute he was out the door, you closed yourself off and now you run the minute things start to get real.”

“That’s not true!” My hands started shaking as my tone grew louder.

“Oh, really?” She raised her eyebrows as she challenged me. “What has Brody done to make you jump ship?”

I sat silent, looking from Alexa to Lauren, hoping she would step in and defend me, but she was clearly on Alexa’s side with this.

“Exactly … nothing,” she continued. “You’re letting those two bitches get into your head about Brody and it’s ridiculous. Seems to me that Kendall still wants Brody, but he clearly has no interest in her. Why on Earth would you believe those skanky hoes over him?”

Lauren’s gaze whipped toward Alexa. “Did you just say skanky hoes?”

“I don’t know.” I ignored Lauren, fingering my silver necklace.

“You do know but you don’t want to say it, so I’ll say it. You’re scared.” She tilted her head to the side and waited for me to argue, but I couldn’t. “I’ll continue … you’re scared because while you didn’t plan for it, you’ve fallen for this guy, head over heels. You’re in love with him and that’s a good thing, Kacie, but you don’t see it like that.”