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“Santa Barbara?”
Sam scowled at me.
“Wait. You’ve been to Fresno. That, I’m certain of.”
“Again,nowhere.”
“You and I went to San Simeon.” I anticipated and was rewarded with her signature eye-roll.
“That’s less than ten miles from where I live.”
“I should’ve taken you to Napa,” I said more to myself than to her. There were many places I should’ve taken Sam. Why hadn’t I? I’d known her most of my life. Good God, I could’ve taken her to London, where my family still maintained a residence. From there, we could’ve toured the rest of Europe. I felt like a horse’s arse for never offering. On the other hand, given Sam’s prideful nature, she likely would’ve turned me down, anyway.
She rested her head against the seat. “I met your mother once.”
My eyes scrunched. “I don’t recall you doing so.”
She smirked. “That’s because you weren’t there.”
“When was this?”
She counted something on her fingers. “Maybe a little over a year ago?”
I chuckled, shook my head, and squeezed the fingers she’d used to count. “What was the occasion?”
“Your parents were visiting Press, and he brought them to Stave for a wine dinner.”
“How lovely. I wonder where I was at the time.”
“Australia.”
I raised a brow. “You recall that, but not the length of time that’s passed?”
“Your mom and I had a conversation about it.”
Sam turned her head toward the window and folded her hands on her lap.
“Now, I’m intrigued,” I commented, but refrained from saying it was primarily due to her body language.
“We weren’t the only two discussing it. Eberly Warwick and Isabel Van Orr were there too.”
My jaw tightened. The women were daughters of two members of Los Caballeros when my father was. It was a fraternal order of sorts, in existence for hundreds of years. Its membership was generational. Both my brother and I were current members.
When I’d deigned to appear in a related annual bachelor auction fundraiser that supported the local children’s hospital, a bidding war had ensued between Eberly and Isabel. Thankfully, Daphne had realized my plight and drove the bids high enough they both finally gave up. Daph and I had left for Australia the following day. “I see,” I muttered, remembering I’d intended to join my parents and brother at that particular wine dinner. At the time, I was relieved to have an out, as they say. Now, I wished I’d been there to see my mum and Sam interact.
“She was one of the nicest people I’ve ever known.”
I looked over at her. “She said the same about you.”
She wiped her tears and glared at me. “She did not. You didn’t even know we met.” Oddly, her gaze was focused on my right eye rather than looking into both of them.
“Correction. I didn’trememberyou’d met. Now that you’ve reminded me, I recall her expressing the sentiment.”
Sam huffed, staring again at only my right eye. What in the bloody hell was that about?
“Where are we staying tonight?” she asked, changing the subject.
“I was hoping to make it as far as Glenwood Springs, Colorado. It’s another three hours or so.”
