Instead of Sam, he found Mrs. Del Rio. "I'm glad the boys get to help out with the work you and Sam are doing. It's good for them to keep busy. I don't even know how such little things bear up under so much grief," she said with a big sigh.
"They're amazing," Wyatt said and looked back at them.
"They sure are, and so are you, sweetheart. You really stepped up. But I bet you're looking for Sam," she said. "He's around here somewhere. He still seems spooked. I was hoping he'd be more at ease with you guys working where it's quiet and where Sandra won't be running around snapping pictures like some paparazzo."
"Right," Wyatt said though he wasn't sure what she was talking about.
"I just hope some actual work is getting done," she said with a teasing smile.
"And this thing with Sandra...?" Wyatt started to ask.
"Those pictures won't make it online. I made sure of that. Sam's dirtbag of an ex won't be finding him that way," she assured Wyatt.
"I didn't need to worry, I guess," Wyatt said as he realized that must have been why Sam was acting odd.
"But it's sweet that you did. You just keep looking out after our Sam," Mrs. Del Rio said and patted his arm approvingly. Then she went off to talk to some other customers.
That left Wyatt to wonder why Sam didn't talk to him about what was bothering him. There was nothing he would like better than to look out for Sam, but he would first need to know what was going on.
After popping in to check on the boys, Wyatt went looking for Sam again. A bunch of people told him he was around, maybe in the kitchen. Since he couldn't barge in on him in there, Wyatt went outside and to the back.
He parked himself by the cafe's back door and leaned against the wall. Next he texted Sam to let him know he was waiting for him there. He expected to have to wait a little while, but Sam showed up right away.
As he came out, Wyatt could smell all sorts of good things cooking. Then Sam shut the door behind him and stood a few feet from Wyatt.
"What's going on?" he asked while only glancing at Wyatt briefly like he didn't want to look at him full on.
"Just wanted to talk to you. I knew something was on your mind. Now I know what it was. You could have told me what was bothering you," Wyatt said and Sam looked taken aback, like he didn't want him to know even now. "Yesterday, I noticed you were talking to the boys more than you were to me. I wish you had talked to me then. Why didn't you?"
"I didn't see the point," Sam said in a dour way.
"Couldn't you talk to me now?" Wyatt asked. He wasn't trying to be demanding, but he felt like Sam was shutting him out and that hurt and it scared him. What if he was pulling away? What if he didn't want to see him any more?
"I don't think..." Sam started to say while shaking his head.
Wyatt could tell he was going to refuse, so he decided to fill him in on what he knew and then Sam could fill in the blanks. "I talked to Mrs. Del Rio. She thought I already knew all about it, like I should have. If that photo worried you so much, you should have told me."
Sam blinked a few times then he smiled in a way that Wyatt couldn't decipher. "Why involve you?" Sam said. His voice was low, his expression unreadable. Wyatt felt like he didn't have a clue what was going on with him.
"What the hell, Sam? You didn't want to involve me? Why didn't you want to talk to me about this? Are you mad at me?" Wyatt wanted to know.
"Why would I be? You don't owe me anything," Sam said.
"What? I want to help you and to be there for you," Wyatt stated though he couldn't keep the rising anger out of his voice.
"For now," Sam said flatly.
"What are you saying? What is this about?" Wyatt demanded.
Sam took a shaky breath then he told him. "I heard you at the cafe. You told the boys you would be going back to Europe."
"That is not what I said. I was telling them that I would be taking then with me. So they wouldn't worry."
"I know. I heard you. Now leave me alone, Wyatt," Sam said and turned away to go back in.
"I'm not going anywhere, maybe not for a long time," Wyatt yelled after him but Sam didn't want to hear it.
He went inside and shut the door. For a second Wyatt was going to follow him inside, but then he realized he wouldn't be doing Sam a favor if he made a scene at his place of work.
