Page 24 of Saving Sophia

The locket said ‘Daddy’s Little Cutie’. A relic from childhood? Or something else? I wondered, not for the first time, if she might be a Little. Her sweetness, her innocence, all pointed to the possibility, but it might just be my own wishful thinking.

She also seemed so utterly alone. She needed help. She had a problem, and I sensed I could solve it, if she’d only tell me what it was. Until I could figure it out, I wanted her close to me.

“Would you like to explore before my brother Rook and Aunt Carol get here?” I asked.

She bounced up and down in the seat in answer, her eyes bright again.

I got out of the car and went to her door, helping her step down. She hopped out toward me to avoid crushing a tenacious, early dandelion poking up through a crack in the pavement. I caught her and turned her, pointing to a break in the trees where a perfect view of Mt. Rainier’s peak loomed.

“It’s huge,” she gasped. I’d explained how big the mountain was on the plane, but she hadn’t believed me till it appeared, rising majestically from the clouds. She’d been looking for it ever since, fascinated by its ability to hide in the sky.

She took a deep breath then slowly spun around, her arms half-thrown out as she took in the view. “This whole place … it’s so, so green!”

“For now,” I acknowledged, watching her skirt flare out as she spun. “It’s whiter in the winter.”

“And the air … it’s …” she took in a big gulping breath, “like air freshener for my lungs!”

I laughed. “It’s different than L.A. smog, that’s for sure.”

She stopped spinning and gave me a serious look then trotted to the steps leading to a porch wrapping halfway around the main building. “Oh, a swing!” She ran up the steps and sat down gently, grabbing onto the heavy chain holding the wooden bench seat and giving a light push with one foot.

The creak of the swing took me back. Aunt Carol had sat with me there when I was a newly orphaned nine-year-old boy. We rocked while I grieved, and I had started to believe that Hayden and I might not be completely alone.

Sophia was pushing herself on that swing, her sneaker trailing along the porch planks as she swayed back and forth. Her shoulders twitched at a particularly loud creak. “Sorry it’s so loud.”

“Been that way as long as I can remember.” I approached the swing, holding her gaze.

She dragged her foot to stop, and I sat down beside her. Her perfume smelled sweet, like summer berries. I took over pushing the swing and she tucked her feet up, letting me.

“This is more than I imagined.” She pulled a faded floral cushion into her lap, her head swiveling to take it all in. Winding paths extending out from the looming stone and wood lodge houses led to stand alone cabins, and the ski pavilion was barely visible off in the distance. And all of it surrounded by endless green forest.

I wanted to show her everything, see it through her eyes. “My lawyer thinks I’m crazy.”

“I don’t think you’re crazy.” She said it low, but firm, like she’d take on anyone who said different. It made me grin to see that little hint of fierceness beneath her soft exterior.

“I’m glad you decided to come here,” I said. My arm rested on the back of the swing, just an inch from her shoulder. My fingers tingled, wanting to touch her hair, to pull her into my arms and press her close to me again.

“Me too.” She traced a pattern on the cushion. “I didn’t … I wanted?—”

“Holy fucking goddam shit, bro … the back cabins are a disaster. You either really respect what I can do, or you really fucking hate me. Don’t tell me which it is, I’d rather not know.” The familiar, booming voice of my youngest brother burst out from behind us, coming up the main path. Sophia leaped back from me in whale-eyed terror.

“Rook,” I said, checking my watch and standing up. “I wasn’t expecting you till four.” I reached a hand to help her up. When she was standing next to me, I didn’t let go, and to my happy surprise, she stepped in closer, keeping her hand in mine.

“Dude, there’s a family of bats living in the cabin at the end. I get the nostalgia, but are you sure about this?” Rook stomped up the steps, his steel-toed boots thudding so heavily the porch boards shuddered.

He paused when he saw Sophia standing next to me. His sharp blue eyes looked her over, noticing our clasped hands before his wolfish grin widened. Her fingers tightened on mine.

“What do we have here?” He folded his arms across his chest and tipped his head back, the red and black checks of his standard flannel making him a wall of plaid. “You didn’t mention bringing company?”

“Rook, this is Sophia. She’s going to work with Aunt Carol.” I tipped my head toward him in a mock warning. “Be nice.”

“Fuck you, I’m always nice,” he scoffed. “Lovely to meet you, Sophia.” He took some of the boom out of his voice and reached out to capture her free hand in his, swallowing it up in a vigorous handshake.

“Nice to … meet you,” she said as if he might be about to eat her for dinner.

“Aww, she’s a tiny thing.” Rook beamed his toothy smile down on her. “Just a tiny little dove.”

“Everyone’s tiny to you,” I said.

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