Chapter Thirty-Nine

Sophie hummed as she wiped the crumbs from the kitchen table, detritus left from her late breakfast of toast with jam made only a few farms away. It was a sunny Saturday morning, and so far, Sophie was taking it as easy as possible.

Lazing around in bed with Daniel for a few hours, they'd further cemented their budding relationship, alternating between talking and… not talking.

Finally he'd insisted on getting up to go get things going 'round the farm. She, on the other hand, had taken a mug of coffee back to bed and read for a few hours, the windows open and a cool breeze blowing in.

Bliss.

There should definitely be more Saturdays in the week, she mused, smiling as she put her mug in the sink and tugged the belt of her pink robe tighter, smiling at the memory of Daniel prancing around the bedroom in it.

She jumped a bit when there was a knock on the door. Daniel didn't knock, she thought with an odd twist in her stomach. Running a hand through her untidy hair and wishing she at least had some lip gloss on if she was going to be greeting a stranger, Sophie hurried to the door, seeing an unfamiliar car in the front drive from the window.

Not Matt, not Kat, not Daniel…

Sophie gasped audibly when she opened the front door.

And saw Peter, her ex, standing before her.

"Hello, Soph," Peter said smoothly, giving her a wide smile. "I'm so glad to see you."

Sophie stepped out onto the porch, unwilling to let Peter set even one toe inside her home, inside her new life, slamming the front door behind her.

"What are you doing here, Peter?" she hissed, tugging her robe closer to her body and glaring at him, green eyes flashing.

"I came to see you, of course," Peter said with an easy laugh. "I missed you. It's been so long since we've seen each other."

Sophie raised one suspicious brow. "You wouldn't spring for cab fare to the airport, much less buy an international airline ticket. Try again: what. are. you. doing. here?"

Peter swallowed, his smile faltering just a bit in the morning sunshine under her withering glare. "I… I had to attend a conference in London, so I thought I'd make a round trip to see you during my off day."

"I knew it!" Sophie spat, wanting so badly to rip his face off, settling instead for balling her hands into fists. Only Peter would think he was making a grand gesture – on IU's dime, of course.

"Well, good to see you. Good bye," Sophie said stiffly, turning towards the front door when Peter grabbed her arm with more than a little force.

"That's it?" Peter hissed at her. "Good bye? I come all this way to see you, to tell you I miss you, and that's it? I don't think so, Sophie. You WILL talk to me."

"We're through, Peter, okay?" Sophie said, tears of frustration springing to her eyes. "We were through months ago when I told you I was leaving and you didn't fight for me to stay!"

Sophie's voice echoed across the drive, across the hedgerows as she got louder and louder.

"You didn't even blink when I gave you back the engagement ring, told you the wedding was off. You just stared at me, all smug and superior, convinced I'd never survive on my own. Well, I have! I'm doing just fine!"

"Sophie," Peter said soothingly. "I was letting you spread your wings a bit, of course. And now that playtime is over, you can come back to me, we can get back to the way things should be between us – as husband and wife."

Sophie wrenched herself out of his grasp. "I'm not a toy you can play with then throw away, then pick up again!" she shrieked. "And I'm NOT COMING BACK!"

"Sophie…"

"What happened, Peter? Huh? Did you latest graduate assistant stop sleeping with you? No little fuckbuddies waiting in the wings for you?"

Peter's eyes widened, then narrowed again, but Sophie noticed the miniscule change.

"Of course I knew you were sleeping around, Peter. I would have to have been blind not to notice. I just convinced myself…" Sophie ran a frustrated hand through her curls, tugging slightly on the hair to feel the pain, to root herself in the here and now. "I just convinced myself you would come back to me. I was so stupid then."

"Sophie…"

"So what happened, huh? Did you find yourself suddenly all alone, and decided having me around to be your perfect Stepford wife was easier than trying to break in a new one, huh? Is that it?"

Hot tears finally spilled down Sophie's cheeks as she pushed him away again, his arms insistently tugging her towards Peter's chest as he tried to calm her.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH ME!"

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