Page 79 of State of Grace

“That’s completely understandable, Lex.” Sophia covered Alexis’s hand with her own and squeezed it. “If you recall, we all had a hard time with it too when we first found out. All of us, though, we’ve had time to process. You’ve had six years to process how this feels to you. Blake’s only had five minutes. She’s pretty understanding from what I can tell, but you dropped a bombshell on her and, I’m assuming, ran away before you gave her time to process what was happening.”

“See, this is the problem with having friends who know you so well.” Alexis forced a smile as Sophia chuckled.

“You love it, don’t act like you don’t.”

Holding her arm out, Alexis willingly went into Sophia’s embrace. She nestled into the crook of Sophia’s arm, resting her head on her shoulder. Sophia’s long fingers ran through her hair, and Alexis finally let herself assess the situation from Blake’s perspective. Alexis had dropped a bombshell on her. She’d prepared for the conversation to go one way, and when it went the complete opposite direction, Alexis had panicked.

“How did you know that Emily was worth the risk of getting hurt again?”

“Pardon?”

“You and Emily.” Alexis traced the intricate design on Sophia’s lounge pants. “You were married before, and he hurt you. You said before that you never wanted to be in love again, and then you met Emily, and you two are the perfect couple.”

“We’re far from perfect, mon amour, but I understand what you mean now.” Dreamily sighing, Sophia settled back into the couch as she adjusted her arm around Alexis’s shoulder. “It was breakfast.”

“What?” She wrinkled her nose in confusion.

“After our first night together, I came downstairs and watched Emily for a moment. She was wearing that disgustingly ratty Black Sabbath t-shirt and dancing around my kitchen like it was something she did every morning. I could see her phone propped up against the fruit bowl in the middle of the counter, and there was a YouTube video playing of someone poaching an egg.”

“So far, I’m not seeing where this is going.”

“Patience, mon amour.” Sophia held up a finger to her lips before continuing. “You see, Emily didn’t know how to poach an egg, but she knew that’s how I liked them. When I came into the kitchen, she served me eggs and had made me coffee with two creams and no sugar.”

“Exactly how you like it.”

“Indeed.” She nodded.

“So, Emily making breakfast made you realize she was worth the risk?”

“The fact that she had listened enough to know how I liked my eggs and my coffee made me realize she was different. I was married to my ex-husband for a decade, and I guarantee if you called him now, he couldn’t tell you a single thing I liked. But Emily,” Sophia’s voice was dreamy and full of love, “Emily figured it out the first day we were a thing, I guess you could say.”

“Well, she’s a woman,” Alexis smirked at her. “We’re observant.”

“No, she’s Emily.” Sophia softly laughed. “She’s a ball of love and light that neither this world nor I deserve, but she loves me anyway. The way Emily looks at me is not unlike the way I catch Blake looking at you. I’ve been on this earth longer than you, my darling, and that is not something that happens every day. So, don’t overthink it, hmm?”

In all the years Alexis had known Sophia, she’d never heard that story before. It warmed her heart and made her long for the day that someone would know her as well as Emily and Sophia knew each other.

And who knew. Maybe Blake could be that person.

Alexis wanted Blake to be that person.

“Do you think I screwed things up with Blake?”

Before Sophia could answer, the doorbell rang, and Alexis sat up quickly. The app on Sophia’s phone buzzed as she opened it up to see who was at the door. A chuckle escaped her lips before she turned the phone toward Alexis.

“I don’t think you’ll have to wait long to find out.” On the camera, Alexis saw Blake standing outside the door with what appeared to be a milkshake, which was not easy to come by in a town where most restaurants closed by ten p.m. She had changed out of her pantsuit and was in a navy hoodie and jeans. “I believe this is for you.”

“Shit, what is she doing here?”

“I don’t know, but,” Sophia clicked the button on the app to unlock the door, “why don’t you go find out?”

Nodding, Alexis stood, only for Sophia to grab her hand and stop her. She stood and wiped away Alexis’s tears with the sleeve of her shirt before playfully patting her butt and sending her out the door. Out in the foyer, Alexis came face to face with Blake.

“What are you doing here?”

“I did this all wrong.” Sitting the milkshake down on the small table in the foyer, Blake took a step toward her as Alexis took one step back. “I shouldn’t have let us leave things like that. I needed a minute to think and process, and I never once stopped to think about what you needed at that moment. You needed me to listen, not ask you questions that, looking back now, came out way more judgmental than I ever intended them to be.”

“Maybe a little.” She smirked and held her thumb and index finger close together.

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