She rubbed her eyes and rolled over. Every muscle in her legs ached, but her run had achieved its purpose. Once her head had hit the pillow, she’d been out, and there had not been one thought about a beguiling US marshal and his nice-smelling jacket. She opened her eyes to the empty bed.
More giggling echoed through the door. Sam looked at her cell phone.
10:00 a.m.
She dropped her phone on the nightstand. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept this late. Her day off was already half over. She pulled herself from the bed and shuffled to the bathroom. Once she was dressed and presentable, she followed the giggles down the hall and into the living room. In the middle of the room, there was a giant fort.
Cass smiled at her from the cushionless couch, a book on her lap. “I hope the boys didn’t wake you.”
“It’s way past time for me to get up.”
“Sam?” Bella’s head popped out of a small opening.
“Morning,” she greeted her sister.
“You needed the rest. I’d say have a seat, but trust me, it’s not that comfortable.” Cass gestured to the lumpy spring portion of the couch.
“Thanks, but I was actually thinking about taking Bella shopping for more clothes and things.”
It was her first day off since the fire that she had time to do more shopping. The first trip had just been for necessities. This one would be for more. Bella would be getting a budget though. Sam’s savings wasn’t a lot, but this was also a learning moment for the teen.
“Shopping!” Bella scrambled out of the makeshift fort, the boys on her tail.
“We wanna go!” Charlie grabbed one of Bella’s legs while Bobby grabbed the other.
“Not gonna happen, boys.” Cass stood up. “This is boring shopping. Besides, you have a birthday party to go to.”
“Party!” the boys yelled simultaneously and took off running down the hall.
“You two march right back in here and help clean up this mess,” Cass yelled after them.
“We can help too,” Sam offered.
Once the living room was returned to normal, Sam and Bella loaded up in the car.
“Sam?” Bella asked.
“Yeah.” She glanced at her sister.
“I know I’m grounded and everything, but do you think we could take Sophia shopping with us?”
Was that a good idea? Would letting the girls get together while they were in trouble negate the fact that they were grounded?
In normal circumstances, Sam would stick to her guns and say no. Except, this wasn’t normal. It had been a rough week for Bella, and she could use a friend with her as she replaced everything she owned.
Having someone there to help take her mind off the reason she was shopping would be a good idea. Plus, it would giveSam some time to get to know Sophia. Not just so she could know who her sister was getting into trouble with, but also so she could maybe have a positive influence on the girls and there wouldn’t be any more trouble.
“I don’t think that will hurt.”
Bella squealed in her seat.
Sam closed her eyes. Hopefully, the day wouldn’t contain too many more squeals.
Liam pulled his SUV into the outlet mall parking lot. He was meeting Sam and the girls in ten minutes. Sam wanted Sophia to go clothes shopping with them, despite the trouble the girls were in. He’d suggested meeting them for lunch, and they could work on the couple thing. The sooner they started spending time together, the better.
The story would sell better if the girls came to the conclusion on their own instead of Liam and Sam just outright telling them.
He’d tried to speak with Supervisor Howard this morning, but he was a hard one to pin down. A multitude of meetings had taken up his morning. Aubrey had told Liam to call Howard now, in between meetings.
