Excerpt #4: Sofie Waits

From the author:

This is the same scene from Excerpt #2 (Said and Unsaid) as it appears in Sofie Waits.

From the book:

    There were dozens of people already inside the hall, most of them already enjoying coffee and/or donuts. Amber and Sofie were sitting alone at a table on the far end of the room. Austin waved to them. Amber scrunched her face at him and then smiled at their grandmother while cradling a paper cup between her hands. He and his grandmother received the same warm smile from Sofie. It seemed she had no problem looking happy to see him when there were witnesses.
    “She is a nice girl.”
    “I know, Gran. Shall I get you a donut?”
    “Just coffee for me, thank you.”
    Austin nodded and picked up a donut for himself before he filled a cup for his grandmother. She led him to what she said was her usual table and dropped her cane against the side of it while Austin helped her with her chair. “Hello, ladies,” she said to the two women seated there. One of them appeared close to his grandmother’s age, though he might have been wrong because he was trying to guess her age through a thick coat of make-up. The dark-haired woman was decades younger.
    The metal folding chair creaked as his grandmother lowered herself and looked up at Austin. “Austin, honey, I want you to meet some of my friends. That’s Suzy and this here is Alexa.”
    The older woman looked at him like a hungry piranha and the younger woman simply looked wary. Austin was glad his grandmother hadn’t tried to get him to stick around. “Hi,” he said. “It’s nice to meet both of you. I’m sorry I can’t stay.”
    Alexa visibly relaxed at the news that he wasn’t staying. “Glad to finally put a face with the name,” she said. “Your grandmother is a fan.”
    “I’m sure she is.” Austin returned the smile of the young woman who was evidently more amused by the match-making effort than interested in it. “Hope you enjoy your coffee, Gran.”
Austin took a bite of donut with one hand and waved with the other as he moved away from the table. He tried to include Sofie in the wave, but she was pretending to be too engrossed in something Amber was saying to notice.
    Amber had just arrived though. Austin had seen her coming from the parking lot and not the church. That meant she would be going to the 10:30 mass and Sofie would be leaving alone. Austin polished off his donut and got comfortable on a bench outside the church.

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