Page 40 of Single Mom for the Mountain Men
CHAPTER 19: Lena
“Sophie, I better not see you messing with the table!” I call out while stirring the contents of the pot lightly. Then, I move toward the oven to check how much time the loaf of bread still needs to bake.
“I’m not doing anything!” I hear her whining back. One thing about Sophie is that mischief follows her around, and she doesn’t bother holding back.
I peer at the dinner table to check on her for myself. She’s putting down the forks and then rearranging them, a pout visible on her lips.
The corners of my lips rise as I observe her cute, little face.
“When are the brothers coming?” she asks when she spots me looking at her.
“Any time now, Soph. Patience is a virtue, remember?”
Right then, a knock comes from the front door.
Sophie gasps excitedly, and her eyes light up at what it means. “They’re here! They’re here!”
Going to unlock the door to let the brothers in, I can’t help but laugh when she starts doing a happy dance.
Against the darkness of the night, the three of them look dashing.
Brody’s hair is swept back, exposing his forehead, while the stud earring Tanner usually wears is swapped for a small, silver hoop. Aiden smiles at me before hugging me, which is soon followed by Tanner and Brody doing the same.
“You guys are right on time. Sophie was going a bit stir-crazy without you three to entertain her,” I joke as Sophie comes bounding up to say hi.
“Tanner! Aiden! Brody!” she yells as she throws herself at them. They crouch down to match her height, and there are similar, besotted grins on all of their faces.
“How’s our favorite girl?” Tanner asks affectionately as Aiden ruffles her hair. She gawks and tries to swat at the latter, grumbling as she fixes her hair.
“You guys are late,” she complains. Tanner humors her by looking chastised while Aiden’s grin stays pasted on his face.
“Do you need help with anything?” Brody asks me, diverting my attention from the scene. He is looking at me intensely, his eyes roving over my body a few times.
“No.” I shake my head softly. The strands of hair that line my face brush against my cheeks. “Everything is ready. You guys wash up, and I’ll plate the food.”
“I’ll help you with it,” he says finally and moves further into the house.
I sigh fondly at his insistence and usher everyone else into the dining room.
Aiden and Tanner keep Sophie busy, listening to her antics with the utmost concentration. They humor her with gasps and laugh at appropriate times. Sophie is animated and in her element. There had only been a handful of times I had seen her like that, so open and carefree, before coming to Whitefish.
She was quieter and a bit timid, then. To see her be her true self, all with the help of consistent care and love, makes my heart feel extremely full.
“Thank you, Brody,” I murmur to him as I take the banana bread I baked out of the oven.
Brody waves me off from where he is chopping up cilantro for a garnish.
“No, not for this,” I clarify, “for everything else. And I have to thank your brothers, too. Without the three of you, I don’t think I would have ever seen this part of Sophie again.”
He glances at me for a moment without stopping his chopping. “What part?”
I bite my lip after taking off my oven mitts. “Sophie was…a quiet kid. From a very young age, she was kind of anti-social and mostly kept to herself, preferring not to interact with kids her own age. She was only comfortable around me, but even then, she would only say what she really needed to. There was little to no playfulness to her. It worried me, but I justified it by thinking that she was just a quiet kid.”
I take a deep breath, gripping the oven mitts tightly. “But with you guys, she has opened up so much in just such a short time. She whines and resists, complains, and shows verbal displeasure and joy. The best thing is seeing her light up like I never have before. It’s the biggest gift I’ve ever gotten, and I have you three to thank you for it.”
Brody has stopped chopping now to look at me with soft eyes.
“You don’t have to thank us, Lena. I’m not good at words, so all I can say is thank you for giving us the chance to prove ourselves and to take care of her. And you. With how great of a mother youare, I am sure Sophie would have opened up exactly like this in Whitefish, even without our presence.”
