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Sophie was enthralled by the story as I took us through the drive-thru coffee shop.

“What do you want?” I asked her, but she just leaned over me and yelled into the speaker. She was almost in my lap and I could smell her hair. I tried not to inhale too deeply, but it was difficult. She always smelled so good, and her warm weight was scrambling my brain. Fuck.

Sophie said something to me as she moved back to her seat, but there was roaring in my ears and I didn’t hear her.

Someone behind me honked and I pulled forward to the window as Sophie handed me her card and I passed it over to pay.

Once we had everything in the car, Sophie handed me my coffee and pulled out the chocolate croissant I’d ordered.

I reached to take it from her, but she pulled it back.

“Both hands on the wheel. I’ll feed you,” she said.

Was she serious? A quick glance while we were at a red light told me that she was serious.

“I take my duties as a co-pilot seriously. Your job is to get us there in one piece. My job is to make sure that you can do that.”

“Wow. You don’t mess around,” I said.

“My mother taught me right,” she said.

“I know,” I said before I could stop myself. Kaylee had been the same way anytime I’d driven us somewhere, and I’d done the same for her.

Shit.

“Right,” Sophie whispered.

I swallowed hard. “How is your mom?”

Sophie’s breath caught in surprise.

“She’s good. She finally retired.”

That was a shocker. “Really? I thought she’d never leave the school.”

Tina Love had been a school guidance counselor for decades and she’d absolutely adored her job. She claimed that she’d never retire, they’d just have to wheel her corpse into her office and she’d still see her students.

“Yeah, but she’s back to substitute teaching a few days a week,” Sophie said with a laugh. “She couldn’t handle being home all the time.”

“And your dad?”

“He’s still at the gas company, but he’s working in the office instead of doing deliveries. He hurt his back a few years ago and we all made him slow down so he didn’t do more damage. He’s happy though. He gets all the good gossip.”

I laughed. That was true. That man did love a good dish session. Whenever I’d seen him, he’d always wanted to know anything and everything I was doing.

I rubbed my hand over my chest where an old ache had flared up.

“How is… I mean. Never mind.” Sophie sipped her coffee and I reached for mine as I made it onto the highway.

“I’m guessing you were going to ask about my mom,” I said, my teeth grinding together at the mention of her. It wasn’t Sophie’s fault. She didn’t know what had happened in the years since I’d been with Kaylee.

“I finally went no-contact with her. She tried to get in touch with me via my aunt a little over three months ago. That was the last time.”

“Oh,” Sophie said on an exhale. “I’m so sorry it got to that point. That you needed to do that. But I’m guessing it was a good thing.”

Her words surprised me. A lot of people judged me for cutting off my mom. They said that she gave birth to me, so I owed her for that. Owed her for all the years she fed and clothed and housed me and took me to ballet and paid for my classes and costumes. As if I had a say in any of that. As if that somehow made up for the way that she’d treated me.

“It was a good thing,” I said, sounding defensive. I couldn’t help it, though. Hated having to justify putting myself first.