Discovering Sophie (42 page)

Her day had been long, and it hadn’t helped that one of the secretaries had gotten engaged the night before. All day, Addie listened to the play by play of the engagement retold multiple times. She also knew the wedding colors, the type of flowers the bride liked and the price range of the dress she planned on purchasing. Plus, there was Brandon’s wedding announcement burning a hole in her purse. She should have just tossed it.

“It was okay.” She avoided looking in his eyes. “It’s tax season so that should say it all.” Technically, since she was the lowest ranking accountant, Addie didn’t have much to do with the crazy tax season but it was a solid excuse for having a bad day at work.

When her dad didn’t make a comment, Addie met his concerned gaze. “Chellie called,” he said softly. “She told me about the wedding announcement.”

To her horror, the sting of tears pricked her eyes. “Oh.” She blinked rapidly. “I’m okay.” A tear spilled over her bottom lash and she wiped at it with the back of her hand. She couldn’t fall apart now.

“I’m sorry, baby,” he said with just a hint of a southern accent.

Even though her dad had been raised in Georgia, he’d lost most of his accent long ago. Every now and then it came out, especially when he was offering words of comfort. He held out his arms and it only took Addie a second before she leaned in to embrace her father. With her face pressed against his chest, she cried, feeling like a little girl all over again.

Life wasn’t fair. But she already knew that. When you’re eleven and your mother gets so sick she can’t even hug you good-night, the reality of pain and suffering becomes very apparent. As much as she hurt right now, nothing could compare to seeing her mother fade away to nothingness and then leave her for good.

After a few minutes Addie stepped back, embarrassed by her emotions. Her daddy always used to tell her “If you hurt, cry a river, build a bridge, and get over it.” Apparently seeing Brandon’s wedding announcement had hit her like a rogue wave and knocked out the bridge she had built to get over him.

“Sorry.” She sniffed and gave her dad a shaky laugh. “I really don’t know why I’m crying.”

He studied her for a few seconds, love evident in his eyes. “Honey, you’ve been holding that in for quite some time now.” He took her hand and led her to the couch where they both sat down. “I know the past few months have been hard on you, so that cry was long overdue.”

Her dad was obviously not aware of the many nights Addie had cried herself to sleep. Lately, things had been better and she thought she was done shedding tears over Brandon. Honestly, part of her had been relieved when he had called off the wedding. The two of them hadn’t acted like most engaged couples—like the ones who can’t keep their hands off each other and are constantly stealing kisses, making everyone around them uncomfortable.

The reminder of their strained relationship made her want to forget everything about Brandon. “I feel better now.” She glanced up. “I think I’m just tired and hungry.”

She started to get off the couch, but her dad grabbed her hand and held her back. “I’m glad you feel better, but I’m worried about you.”

“Because you talked to Chellie?”

“No. Because for the past couple of months I’ve waited to see that spark of life come back into your eyes.” He rubbed his rough thumb over the top of her hand. “It hasn’t. And now you’ve cut yourself off from socializing with young people your age.”

That’s because the young people her age were looking for a relationship. Addie wasn’t prepared to go there again. “I’m just not ready to date right now, Dad.”

“Okay. But I think you need a change of scenery. Your aunt Janie has been asking you to come to Georgia and stay with her for a while now. I think you should go.”

It’d been so long since Addie had visited Georgia, and Aunt Janie would spoil her with all kinds of good southern food. Still, she was reluctant to make the trip because every time she talked with her aunt, she kept mentioning all the nice boys Addie should meet, especially her closest neighbor Chase Nichols.

Addie remembered meeting Chase not long after her mother had passed away. He had been arrogant, teased her about having red hair and had hated that she was two inches taller than him. Sure, he’d been cute, and, according to her aunt, he was even better looking now, but if he was that annoying at fourteen, she could only imagine how much worse he’d gotten.

“That would be fun. Maybe sometime in the fall I can save enough money to buy a ticket.”

“Why not now?” One of her father’s bushy brows lifted. “I thought you still had two weeks off and a voucher you can use anytime?”

Yes. Theoretically, Addie had two weeks of unpaid vacation starting next Friday, due to the aforementioned belated honeymoon. Since her boss had already arranged to have a free college intern step in for Addie, he had made it clear she wasn’t needed at the office. She hadn’t been eager to fight his decision since the whole situation was humiliating enough. And the roundtrip voucher was one of the only things she didn’t lose money on when Brandon dumped her.

“I do, but I thought I’d just hang around here and organize the basement or something.” By the look on her father’s face, she knew that had been the wrong thing to say. She sounded completely pathetic. Correction, she
was
completely pathetic.

Letting out a defeated breath, she said, “I’ll give Aunt Janie a call to see if she’s up for a house guest.”

A spark lit her father’s eyes. “I talked to her this morning and she already has your favorite room ready for you.”

“I’m still calling her so she doesn’t get any ideas of setting me up with her neighbor.” Addie fished her phone out of her pocket. “I’m not interested in meeting any men.”

Her father let out a deep chuckle. “You’ll ruin her fun, but go ahead and tell her.”

Addie leaned her head on her dad’s shoulder. The familiar scent of his aftershave gave her a sense of reassurance that things might be okay. “Thanks for understanding.”

“You’re welcome.” He slipped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a gentle squeeze. “You know, sweetie, it’ll all workout. And when you meet the man you really are meant to be with, this’ll all seem like nothing.”

She closed her eyes briefly. The last thing she wanted was another man in her life. There was nothing wrong with staying single. “Yeah, I guess. But I’m in no hurry.”

She stood and held out her hand to help her father off of the couch. “I’m going to go change my clothes before I get something to eat.”

“Sure, honey. I’ll get your food out of the oven.”

“Thank you, Daddy.” Addie let go of his hand and padded down the hall to her bedroom. The minute she opened the door, she stopped dead in her tracks and stared at her wedding dress, still hanging on the closet door. Oh yeah, she forgot she’d pulled it out last night, determined to take pictures of it and sell it on eBay.

That was before she had opened Brandon’s wedding announcement.

Her eyes started to sting again, but she blinked, swallowed down her emotions, and moved the dress inside her closet. Selling her dress could wait another day.

Closing the closet door, Addie grabbed her laptop and sank down on her bed. She was going to book her flight before she chickened out and stayed home to organize the basement.

She logged on and quickly scanned over her email. There was the usual amount of spam, notifying her of specials at her favorite stores. A few of the messages were from church, probably inviting her to the next activity. Feeling more guilty than embarrassed at the moment, she opened one of the messages and then wished she hadn’t. The next activity was going to be a surprise wedding shower for a couple Addie remembered always being together, holding hands, whispering and stealing kisses. Ugh. She was so not going.

Skipping the other church related mail, she scrolled to the most recent message. It was from the company she’d purchased her new camera lens from. The subject announced in bold letters a photography contest with a grand prize totaling ten thousand dollars.

Excitement shot through Addie as she clicked open the message and read the details. The recipient of the winning photograph would take home a professional camera with all the accessories, including memory cards, and two additional lenses.

If she could win the contest, this could be her chance to finally go for her dream. While Addie’s current camera was great, it wasn’t ideal for the kind of quality of work she’d like to have with her own studio. With the right equipment, she could work out of her home until she built a clientele, which hopefully wouldn’t take too long. Daisy Springs didn’t have a professional photographer. Yet.

Feeling more hope than she had in a long time, she dropped her gaze to the bottom of the message and found the rules as well as the deadline. She had three weeks to get the perfect picture. Her mind whirled as fast as the high-speed shutter setting on her camera as she thought of possible locations and subjects. She loved doing landscape but it was still pretty brown outside. Spring rarely came early in Idaho, but the South would be a different story.

Mitchel Creek, Georgia was a picturesque town about thirty minutes outside of Macon. With large plantation type homes dotting the rolling hills and a quaint little main street lined with antique shops and boutiques, Addie should be able to capture the perfect image.

Opening a new tab in her browser, Addie typed in the airline name and clicked on the link to their website. After logging into her account, she booked her flight for the following Friday.

Next, she found her cell phone and texted her travel plans to her aunt. Unlike Addie’s father, Aunt Janie—his younger sister by eight years—had embraced the latest technology, including smart phones and texting.

A few minutes later her phone dinged and she read the excited message from her aunt. Before Janie could mention anything about setting Addie up with her good-looking neighbor, Addie quickly sent her stipulation that she wasn’t interested in dating anyone. Period.

The reply she got back was very short, and not as reassuring as she’d wanted.

Sweetie, you don’t need to date anyone you don’t want to. I can’t wait to see you. Hugs!

Addie decided not to clarify her stance because she was sure about one thing: she did not
want
to date. At least not for a very, very long time.

About the Author

Cindy Roland Anderson has always had a penchant for chocolate and reading romance novels. Naturally, romance is what she loves to write—usually with chocolate. Cindy has won several awards for her writing, including first place with her bestselling novel
Fair Catch
. She hones her writing skills by attending workshops and conferences, and is active in a critique group with some awesome ladies. Cindy is a registered nurse and works in the newborn intensive care unit. She loves to bake, not cook (there is a difference!) and enjoys spending time with her family. Cindy and her husband John reside in Farmington, UT. They are parents to five incredible children. Over the past few years their family has expanded by adding a son-in-law, a daughter-in-law and two adorable grandchildren. To contact Cindy or to see other projects she is working on go to
www.cindyrolandanderson.com