"You both need a spotter, not just one," Hannah pointed out.
"Sam will do it," Riley said and he took his hand.
"Don't volunteer him. Ask and say please," Wyatt told him.
"Will you, please?" Riley said and he tugged on Sam's hand.
"Of course," Sam said and smiled at him then at DJ who also looked glad to hear the news.
"The festival is a boon for business. You two guys will be volunteering, right?" Mrs. Del Rio said to him and Wyatt.
There was no saying no to Mrs. Del Rio, and in no time, Noreen and Lara put them on the list of people who were helping out. The kids wanted their names on the list too. Wyatt didn't know what he would be doing to help, but as long as Sam was going to be there, he was cool with it.
As everyone else left, Wyatt and the boys checked out what Sam brought them for breakfast. He saw that the kids had fruit and yogurt cups and peach, oatmeal muffins. Wyatt had some kind of pastry with a golden spiral of dough around an egg and bacon center. He worried that the kids would be envious of him, but they seemed happy with what they had.
Biting into the delicious, savory pastry, Wyatt made a mental note to work it off later. He wondered if volunteering for this Peach Blossom Festival would do the trick.
When they were ready to leave, Wyatt gave Sam the good news about Lara being able to babysit tomorrow night. "Is that too soon for you?"
"I'll talk to Mrs. Del Rio about my plan and call you," Sam said. He looked bright-eyed but shy and so beautiful. Wyatt was dying to kiss him, but he couldn't do that while Sam was at work.
After that, the kids monopolized Sam for a little bit while Wyatt paid their bill. He was done with that, but he found himself hanging back and just watching Sam with the kids.
But the beautiful scene didn't last and neither did Wyatt's happy mood because there was Sam talking to Enrico again. Staring at them, Wyatt was driving himself crazy. He didn't even know he had a jealous streak until Sam brought it out in him.
"I can't believe we have all these brand new, good-looking guys coming to town and they're all gay," Hannah said right next to Wyatt and he jumped a little.
He was so preoccupied with his jealousy, he didn't notice her. Now he followed her gaze and saw that she was eying Sam and Enrico just like he was.
"They're too old for you anyway," Wyatt told her.
Hannah turned to him with a perfect teenaged scowl of contempt. "You are such a dad," she told him then she corrected herself. "But I guess you're an uncle, not a dad. And the boys have, like, adopted Sam. I don't blame them. He's just the nicest guy."
"I noticed that. He's great," Wyatt said with a smile, but he also thought about what Sam told him about his life. He remembered the stark look on Sam's face that held the kind of constant pain he must have carried for so long in his heart, the pain of being unwanted, the fear of being abandoned, discarded and abused.
Wyatt vowed that Sam would never have a reason to feel that way again. It broke his heart to think that someone as sweet and kind as him could have been treated so badly, and it made Wyatt determined to cherish him.
Chapter 17
That night the boys were getting ready for their sleepover at Lara's. Riley was more excited than DJ, who seemed uneasy. While Riley was in the bathroom, DJ was wearing a pout and questioning Wyatt.
"Why do you have to go on a date? What's a date for anyway?" DJ wanted to know.
Wyatt thought for a moment then he tried to sum it up for DJ, "It's for eating and dancing, and because I like Sam and I want him to be with us all the time."
Right away DJ's eyes brightened. "That's good, Uncle Wyatt. Get him to come home with us all the time."
"That's the plan. I'm glad you approve," Wyatt said, and now that he knew his mission, DJ was a lot more cheerful.
Once the kids were over at Lara's, Wyatt was at loose ends as he waited for his late night date. Sam's plan was to have their date at the café after it closed. The whole place would be theirs, but until then, Wyatt was alone at the house and ready for that date to start right now.
While he was sitting around, he should have been working, but no matter what he looked at, all he saw was Sam. Tight, lean body, gray eyes, and a smile that was like the sun coming out from behind the clouds. How was he supposed to keep a man like that off his mind?
When Wyatt arrived in front of the café and parked, he saw that it was dark inside with a dim light in the far corner. He went up to the door with a bottle of wine in his hand. That was the only thing Sam wanted him to bring.
Going up to the door, Wyatt didn't have to knock. Sam was already coming to open the door for him. He smiled and gave Wyatt a quick kiss. "Right on time. I'll be right back," Sam said and he ran off while taking off a white apron he had been wearing.
With the door behind him locked, Wyatt went in. The dim light he had seen from outside the café was coming from a booth where a candle was burning on a table set for two. Wyatt could see another light in the back, but then it went off and Sam came out from the kitchen with two plates of food.
