Page 8 of Letter for Two
For just a moment, his breath caught too much to talk. But he found his voice. “The two of you better be nice to Sophia,” he said to the meddling women. “She’ll give your computers a virus.”
Mrs. Garcia shrugged like it didn’t matter at all.
“Speaking of computers,” Mrs. Garcia’s daughter said, “I went on Facebook today and left a message for my friend Norma.”
Sophia turned to look at him. He still stood with his arm around her shoulders, which put them nearly nose to nose. He had to think hard to keep breathing.
“Norma is the friend who used to live in our house, right?” she asked.
He nodded.Breathe.He liked that she called ittheirhouse.
“Come on into the living room, you two,” Mrs. Garcia’s daughter said. “I’ll read you what she said.”
As they followed, Ethan let his hand drop from her shoulder to her back, leading her along beside him. She didn’t object to the touch. She didn’t pull away.
“Do you know what Mrs. Garcia’s daughter’s name is?” Ethan whispered directly into Sophia’s ear.Breathe,he reminded himself again.
“Everyone’s always called her ‘Mrs. Garcia’s daughter,’” Sophia whispered back. “I think that may be her legal name.”
They settled onto the loveseat, which was conveniently smaller than a sofa. Ethan had the perfect excuse to sit very close to Sophia. He couldn’t be certain, but he thought she sat little closer than necessary.
Mrs. Garcia’s daughter sat at the desktop in the corner and put on a pair of reading glasses. “Here it is. Norma thinks her aunt Ellie lived with them for about a year while her husband wasfighting in Vietnam. She’s going to check with a cousin of hers and find out.”
“‘Ellie’?” Sophia repeated. “Could that be short for Eleanor?”
Mrs. Garcia’s daughter looked over her spectacles at them. “I’d say so. I asked about any Eleanors at their house, and she thought of her aunt right off.”
Sophia looked up at Ethan, excitement twinkling in her beautiful brown eyes. “This could be it. We might have solved the mystery.”
“Sounds like it.” He tentatively set his arm around her again. She leaned against him.
Breathe. Breathe.
“Will you let us know what Norma hears from her cousin?” Sophia asked Mrs. Garcia’s daughter.
“Of course.”
They spent the rest of the evening comfortably beside each other on the love seat. She stayed there with his arm around her shoulder while they talked to their hosts. Ethan’s heart pounded so hard, he expected it to pop right out of ribs. But Sophia was there with him. He wouldn’t change a thing.
The walk back to their house was slow and leisurely. They didn’t talk much, just walked.
They stopped on their porch, standing there in awkward silence. Ethan wasn’t sure what to say. Should he talk about Eleanor? That was what had finally brought them together. But if that was all they had to talk about, where could their relationship even go?
“I can’t wait to hear if the Bartletts’ aunt Ellie is the Eleanor from our letter,” Sophia said.
“That’d be cool.”That’d be cool? What is this, high school? I’m being a complete idiot.
Sophia leaned against her door. Did that mean she was anxious to go inside? Or wanted to hang out on the porchlonger? Ethan never had been good at figuring those things out. “I wonder if Ellie is still alive,” Sophia said. “She’s probably Mrs. Garcia’s age.”
“Probably.”
Sophia brushed a stray ebony hair out of her face. The gesture was mesmerizing. Either he was totally gone on her or... No. He was totally gone on her. That’s what it was.
“So... uh...” What could he say? Sometimes they talked about work, but he’d had the day off. “Maybe you could come over tomorrow night. I’ll cook.”
“Frozen pot pies?” Sophia’s smile got to him every time.
“Nah,” he said. “I have the day off. I’ll actually cook this time.”
