Pain arrived.
Not sharp anymore.
Deep.
Molly leaned against him.
"She'd like Sophia."
Jake looked down.
His daughter said it casually.
Certain.
"How do you know?"
"Mom liked pretty people."
Jake laughed.
"That's not a reason."
"She liked nice people."
"You talked to Sophia thirty seconds."
"Long enough."
He shook head.
Molly continued:
"You look different."
"What?"
"After date."
Jake stared.
"Different how?"
She shrugged.
"Happy."
Children were cruel.
Jake hugged her.
She tolerated for four seconds.
Then escaped toward presents.
Jake looked again at Rachel photograph.
He whispered:
"Don't haunt me."
The woman in photograph continued laughing.
Jake smiled.
Sophia spent Christmas morning at her mother's house in Montpelier.
Her mother noticed immediately.
"You met someone."
Sophia removed coat.
"Good morning."
Her mother, Marianne, pointed wooden spoon.
"You met someone."
Claire, already sitting at kitchen island, grinned.
Sophia glared.
"You told her?"
Claire raised hands.
"Nothing."
Marianne looked between them.
"Sophia."
"Yes."
"You did."
"Maybe."
"Blind date?"
"Technically."
"Meaning?"
Sophia poured coffee.
"My car broke."
Marianne frowned.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes."
"A man stopped."
Claire slowly smiled.
Sophia looked.
"She doesn't know."
"Know what?"
Sophia sighed.
"The man who stopped was Jake."
Marianne stared.
Then laughed so hard she had to put spoon down.
Claire screamed.
"No."
Sophia nodded.
"Yes."
"You met on the road?"
"Yes."
"Before Evergreen?"
"Yes."
Claire leaned forward.
"Did you flirt?"
Sophia drank coffee.
Claire gasped.
"You did."
Marianne looked delighted.
Sophia immediately regretted speaking.
"It was cold."
Claire stared.
"What does cold have to do with flirting?"
"Nothing."
"Did you kiss him?"
Sophia walked away.
Claire followed.
"You kissed him."
"Christmas dinner."
"You kissed him!"
Marianne applauded.
Sophia turned.
"I hate both of you."
Her mother smiled.
"You haven't smiled like this in years."
Sophia stopped.
There it was.
The emotional sentence mothers always had ready.
She looked toward window.
Snow covered backyard.
Marianne touched her arm.
"Don't run because you're scared."
Sophia looked at her.
"I'm not."
"Good."
Then:
"But don't rush because you're lonely either."
Sophia nodded.
That advice was better.
She could do slow.
Maybe.
At eleven twenty, Jake texted.
Merry Christmas.
Sophia smiled.
Claire saw.
"That him?"
Sophia ignored her.
She typed:
Merry Christmas, mechanic.
Jake:
Car still running?
Sophia:
You ask about my car before me?
Jake:
Car complains less.
Sophia:
Date two canceled.