“Uncle Liam?” Sophia asked from the back seat.
He glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “Yes?”
“Why don’t we have Sam and Bella stay with us?”
NINE
Sam bit her lip to keep from laughing. Sophia’s question had caught Liam just as off guard as it had her. Mr. Straightlaced Marshal wasflustered, and it was disarming how she’d noticed.
“Uh—” He glanced at Samantha, a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face.
“Our house is perfect,” Sophia said. “Bella can stay in my room with me, Sam can sleep in your room, and you can have the couch. Bella and I are the same size, so we can share clothes and everything.” Excitement tinged her voice.
“Except underwear. I want my own,” Bella added.
Sam had to agree about the underwear, but not about the roommate status. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Sam saved Liam from being the proverbial bad guy. “The two of you have gotten into trouble together recently.” She turned in her seat to look at the teens. “Plus, I’m sure your uncle has a lot on his plate as a US marshal, and he doesn’t need two extra people running around his house. I won’t make him sleep on the couch.”
“Oh, he doesn’t mind. That’s the gentlemanly thing to do.” Sophia waved her hand in dismissal.
Liam coughed. The poor man.
The phone vibrated in Sam’s hand. She looked at the message from Dean.
Saved by her bestie.
“Thank you for the offer, but we’re going to have to pass. We’ve got another place to stay.”
If this whole situation wasn’t such a tangled mess, she might have considered it. But for both her and Liam, there were professional lines that needed to be maintained. Not to mention the two girls had gotten into trouble together recently.
“Where are we staying?” Bella asked.
“Dean and Cass are going to let us stay at their house.”
“Joy.” The word was coated in sarcasm.
“I thought you loved Charlie and Bobby.” Sam typed a quick thank-you to Dean.
“I did. When they werebabies. Now they’re annoying four-year-olds. Did I tell you Charlie had a frog in his pocket the last time we were over there?”
“No, but I was there when Cass found it.” Sam smiled at the memory of her friend pulling the frog out of her son’s pocket.
Bella might not enjoy the boys as much as she used to, but they would be a good distraction in the midst of everything going on right now.
Liam pulled his vehicle into the station parking lot. The bay doors were open, and her coworkers were standing at the entrance, waiting for her arrival. Dean must have told them they were on their way.
Liam parked the vehicle in front of the public entrance.
Sam climbed out of the SUV and waited for Bella to join her before trudging toward the bay.
“Sam.” Dean was the first to approach her. He wrapped her in a hug. “Cass will be here in a few minutes.”
“She doesn’t need to pick me up. I have a car, and I know where you live. She didn’t have to come all the way over here.”Dean and his family lived thirty minutes away, outside of town. She didn’t need to be stranded there with her car here.
“It’s no trouble. Plus, the boys have some energy they need to burn, and what better place than the firehouse?”
Isabella joined them.
“Bella, you gave us all quite a scare.” He gave her a quick hug.
