Page 297 of A Matter of Time

Another groan from him and I could barely breathe.

“He’s so cute,” Rachel said, smiling at me.

“Oh yeah.” Sam sighed. “He’s a goddamn riot.”

Later on, after everyone had eaten and I’d helped clean for almost two hours with Beverly at my side, talking the entire time, I went and found Sam. He was watching more football with his dad, stretched out on the recliner, and I sat down on the arm of the chair. He put his hand on my back, and when I looked down at him, he patted his chest. I sank down on top of him, my head under his chin, one arm under him, the other draped across his chest. I was so comfortable, and he was so warm. I fell asleep with him stroking my back.

What roused me was Sam’s dad yelling.

“Shhh, you’ll wake him up,” Sam whispered harshly.

“And so what if I do? Maybe he’ll give me better answers than you.”

“Mom,” Sam called for her.

“Thomas,” I heard Regina say, “leave your son alone. He’s done well today. He brought his love back home, and I’m sure he’s not stupid enough to let him go again.”

“Oh God,” Sam groaned, and I felt the sigh come up out of him.

“What do you want me to say, darling?” she asked him patiently. “That whatever this young man wants you to do, you should do, so he never leaves you? Why you let him go in the first place is completely beyond me. Didn’t you know you loved him?”

“Course.”

“But not how much. You had no clue how it would feel to lose him.”

No answer, he simply took a deep breath.

“I knew. He’s the best thing that ever happened to you.”

“Mom,” he began, groaning, “I didn’t leave him. I had a job to do, and I needed to keep him safe and⁠—”

“You deny it?”

“Deny what?”

“That he’s the best thing that ever happened to you.”

“No, but I’m trying to tell you why I⁠—”

“There’s no but, my love. Before him you were a wild thing with no one to care for you. All those women, and not one that you wanted to make a home with.”

“I—”

“So many, many women and⁠—”

“Mother,” he complained. “There weren’t that⁠—”

“I prayed for a wife for you every night. And now I know the Lord heard my prayers, he just knew better than me what was best for you. I understand now, because when I see the way Jory looks at you, my heart hurts with joy.”

“Okay. You’re layin’ it on a little thick now.”

“He’s an angel straight from heaven, is he not?”

Sam was quiet a moment. “Yes, he is,” he agreed, and I felt his fingers trailing through my hair.

“You are so happy when he’s with you. Everyone said to me tonight, Regina, your son is radiant.”

“I’m sure they did.”