“I want you to do my website, Sam,” Mom called as I walked, knock-kneed, back into the dining room.
“Isn’t this wonderful, honey?” Mom asked, showing me the website I sometimes looked at when I was missing him after he’d left us to go back to his place.
When Sam came back into the room, he talked only to my mom, purposefully not looking my way.
Of course he’d do her website. And hell no would he take any money. He told Mom about how he’d been able to do the SAR website during Henry’s nap time.
Mom was so impressed she couldn’t stop gushing. She made him list off some other ones he’d done so she could look at those later. He of course obliged.
When he did, he stood behind me, gripping the back of my chair. But as my Mom typed the names in her phone, he drew a finger over the back of my neck—a featherlight graze that had me shuddering into my coffee.
Finally, twenty minutes later, Sam said his goodbyes. All I got was a paltry wave. But the look in his eyes held fire that I was still thinking about as he disappeared down the stairs.
I felt Mom’s eyes on me.
“Not a word ’til he’s out the door,” I said through my teeth.
Except he was delayed, because voices sounded from downstairs. Tommy was up.
“Your daddy is very handsome, isn’t he?” Mom whispered to Henry.
I glared at her.
“And he looks at your mom like?—”
“Mom!” I said through my teeth. But this time I couldn’t help but laugh. She was impossible. And I was so,soglad she was here.
CHAPTER 36
The Truth
ELLIE
The weekend was amazing, even though I didn’t get to see Sam again. Mom was being an accidental cockblocker. She made up for it by spoiling me at the farmer’s market, buying me a ton of other things I didn’t usually treat myself with, like handmade soaps and expensive alternative health things.
“Bee pollen is supposed to be amazing for energy,” she said, throwing a giant jar of the stuff into my already overflowing basket
While we were out, Sam took Tommy to the SAR training. That’s what they’d been talking about downstairs. After Mom fussed all over him, he’d asked if he could go. “Sam said he could take me even though you’re supposed to be 18. Just to learn for later.”
“I didn’t know you were interested in Search and Rescue,” Mom had said.
“It sounds pretty cool. Sam used to teach the course.”
The note of pride in his voice made my heart squeeze. “Of course,” I said. “Sounds great, Tommy.”
On Sunday, the whole Heartbreaker crew and partnersspent the day at Winona and Mitchell’s place, where Mom spent the whole time walking the grounds with Kit. Everyone else was coupled up. I was fine with it, until I accidentally stumbled upon Mitchell’s brother Blake kissing his wife Cassandra in the fern garden when I was trying to get Henry to sleep in the stroller.
If that had happened a few months ago, I might have thought it was cute, but now, it only made me miss Sam.
Having my mom there was great, but I was the only one without a partner. Even Chip was there, albeit following Mitchell around instead of hanging out with Kit.
Mom could sense that I didn’t want to talk to her about Sam yet, and she was too busy with the kids anyway, since she’d insisted we give Mrs. Oxford the week off.
But I couldn’t quite believe how big a failure sleeping with Sam had been. At least for getting him out of my system. Everything was so much worse now. I was bordering on obsessed.
And I didn’t hear from Sam until he texted on Sunday night.
I was on the couch with Mom and Tommy, in my pajamas, watching a movie. I’d missed the first bit, insisting they start without me while I was putting Henry down.
