Chapter 2

2

Sofia

"Have you heard from the insurance company?" my mom asks as she sets some pancakes down in front of me. "They better be sending you a nice check. My baby almost died."

She's dramatic, but she means well. I'm her only child. I've got two brothers that are a lot older than me. My dad was married to their mom and then had an affair with my mom. She swears she didn't know he was married, but I don't think I'll ever know the whole truth. Not like it matters, Dad's wife forgave him, and he stayed with her.

Dad and I don't have a super close relationship, but my brothers and I do. Especially my oldest brother Kirk, he's the one that really helped me have a relationship with him and Drew. Their mom hates me and what I represent, but she tolerates me for my brothers.

I get it, honestly, I do, but if my mom truly didn't know then she was a victim too. Why does my dad get to win? Sure, he paid child support, but other than that I got nothing from him. Mom has done the best she could and did it alone. What happened with my dad has made her gun-shy to let another man in.

I hate that for her. She's the best mom a girl could ask for. Plus, she's a knockout. Mom's tall, and slender with big boobs. Heck, I'm her twin, but if someone pressed on her head, making her shorter and curvier. We have the same strawberry-blond waves, mine are longer, hanging down to my bra strap. Our blue eyes are the color of sapphires.

Yikes, that's a lot.

"Sofia?"

I realize I was just staring off into space. "Sorry. They're actually depositing it into my bank account. I can start helping with bills until I get my own place."

"No, honey, use that money to replace some of the things you lost—clothes, makeup—and then save the rest for when you find your own place." Raising her hands, she shakes her head. "There is no rush for you to leave either. I like having my girl here."

I push away from the table and wrap my arms around her. "Thank you. I like being home too." Sitting back down, I finish my breakfast and then set my plate in the sink. "I'm going to get ready for work."

"Okay, sweetheart. I'm only working a half-day so I'll be here when you get home."

She's a paralegal in a large firm and is good at what she does. That's how she met my dad. He's an attorney and they met at a conference. I know she's still in love with him, and I hate that for her. Hell, it's made me leery of guys. Plus, it doesn't help that I'm shy and awkward.

In the bathroom, I quickly do my hair in Dutch braids. I don't bother wearing makeup. My kiddos don't care what I look like. Teaching preschool is a lot of fun, but sometimes it can be like herding cats.

In the bedroom, I throw on a pair of jeans. I slip on a light blue T-shirt that has the logo for Tiny Tots Daycare and Preschool. Mom and I wear the same size shoe so I grab the black Nikes I bought her for her birthday.

She's grabbing her purse when I step into the living room. "I'll see you when you get home." Kissing my cheek, she gives me a smile and then heads out the front door.

I grab my lunch bag and stick it into my tote before heading out to my car. It's my brother Kirk's old BMW. When I say old, it was only a few years old when he gave it to me. I could never afford something like it, so I take really good care of it.

It takes me twenty minutes to get to Tiny Tots and pull into employee parking. I swipe my badge to get inside and head down to my classroom. My assistant, Jodi, is already in the room. Daniel will be here anytime.

After the fire I only took a couple of days off. I have the sick time, but I couldn't take much more of my mom babying me. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate everything she's done for me, but it was ready to get back to my kids.

They are too young to know what happened, so they think I was just out sick. "Good morning, Jodi. How are you?"

"Hey, girl. What do we have on the agenda today?" Jodi is old enough to be my mom but acts like my pseudo big sister, which I don't mind.

I grab a folder out of my bag and take it to her. "I found these counting worksheets that are supposed to be really easy to do. They've been doing really well with their counting, don't you think?"

Jodi picks up a piece of paper and looks at it. "They have and this looks like fun for them. If they do well, it'll be good to send home with them."

By the time lunch rolls around I'm exhausted. It's a lot of fun doing what I do, but they also wear me out. The kids all get their mats out. "Okay, everyone. Get all comfy, cozy, and let's close our eyes." I turn on the white noise machine and turn the lights down.

They all settle in and I move to sit down with Jodi and Daniel at the table in the back of the room.

"So I was thinking about making my famous peanut butter cookies to take to the firehouse. You know, to thank the firemen who rescued me during the fire." I look at both of them. "Or is that too stupid?"

"Please, guys love food. Those cookies are to die for," Daniel praises. I made them for a cookout he and his boyfriend, Lonnie, had. "I think they'd appreciate them."

I nod. "Okay, I'll stop after work for the ingredients." Looking between them, I smile. "Yes, I'll bring you both some when I make them."

They both smile like loons and then we eat our lunches before it's time to wake the kids.

My phone beeps and I see I have a text from Haley, we work at the same place, and her fiancé is a firefighter at the same station. I'd talked to her before I left work to see if she would find out when Rhett, the man who carried me out of my apartment, was working this weekend to bring him the cookies. It's not much, and how do you thank someone for saving your life?

Haley: Hey, girl. I just talked to Coop and Rhett will be there Saturday.

Sofia: Thank you so much for asking him. I wanted to take cookies to him and Cooper to thank them for saving me.

Ugh, what if she thinks that is a stupid idea. The black dots bounce, and my stomach turns when I begin to worry she doesn't think it's a good idea.

Haley: They'll love it and that's a really sweet thing to do.

I set the phone down and I begin to bake. My nerves assail me while I mix the dough. I figure I'll need to make two batches because men eat a lot, and I'm sure he'll share with his coworkers. Shoot, what if he's allergic to peanuts?

Ugh, I need to stop. Focusing back on the cookies, I use an ice cream scoop to dip into the mixing bowl and plop it down onto the parchment paper covered cookie sheet. I use the other side of the scoop to flatten a little.

It takes me about an hour and a half to make the cookies. While they cool, I get the box ready, lining the bottom with wax paper. If it tells you how often I gift people with cookies, I had all of this on hand already.

It's time to box them up, but I grab a couple for Jodi, Daniel, Mom and me. The cookies smell and look good. They've got chocolate and peanut butter chips, and Reece's Pieces. Each cookie is as big as my hand. They're worth every single calorie. I set the boxes to the side and now I just have to wait for Saturday to come.