Page 61 of Theirs to Treasure

“We can’t leave him!” Phil protested.

“I’m in command, Marine,” Sam clipped out. “Get your ass into the backseat, Bret, you’re driving.” Sam looked out across the plaza one last time, Nathan and the insurgents were gone, leaving only the snipers behind.

“Let’s get out of here,” Sam roared. Bret dove into the driver’s seat, hauling Arnold with him. As Sam was getting into the backseat with Phil, he heard another bullet whine by his head. He remembered thinking that it was another close call, right before he passed out.

“Josie, they found his body a week later. He’d been tortured. At least he hadn’t been forced to make one of those videotapes.”

“Sam, you did the only thing you could do.”

“Baby, you don’t get it. Unlike you, I didn’t do the only thing in a bad situation. I could have made different decisions. Leroy didn’t live.”

“You’re right, you could have made a different decision, but you don’t know how it would have turned out. It could have turned out better. Nathan, Dan, or maybe Leroy could be sitting with us today, or I could be sitting here alone. My situation was black and white, yours was gray, and you can’t beat yourself up for making a decision that could have gone ten different ways. It was war.” She paused, and he could tell she was thinking of the right way to say something.

“You don’t think you deserve anything good, because you don’t think you deserve to be here, right?” He couldn’t meet her eyes. She eased off his lap.

“I love you, Sam. But I can’t love you enough for both of us. Let alone for something as complicated as what the three of us are considering. But I do have a question for you. If it were Nathan here, and you were the one who was dead, would you want him giving up on this chance?” She let her hand drift through his hair as she walked away. He continued to sit on the pier and finished drinking his beer, watching the sunset, giving thought to what she’d said.

A couple of hours later, Sam wandered back into the house. He made himself a sandwich and found Chance in his office.

“Did you take Josie home?” Sam queried.

“Yep.”

“How was she?”

Chance looked up from his computer. “Worried about you. We both are.”

Sam pulled up the office chair. “She’s pretty remarkable. I know you probably had her background checked before she came out here.” Sam watched Chance, and saw that tiny little flutter of his eyelashes, which always told him when he had hit a nerve. “So, you know about her mom?”

“Yeah, I know some. I couldn’t get the sealed records, but the agency I hired did manage to uncover some things about how she grew up.” Chance admitted.

“I want to tell you what she shared with me.” Sam told Chance Josie’s story. He wasn’t surprised to see his friend’s sorrow and anger, and finally his pride.

“You know I love her,” Chance admitted softly.

“Fuck, dude, I knew that as soon as you started having the master suite built. That’s sure as hell not just lust.” Sam took the last bite of his sandwich.

“How about you? Do you love her?” Chance asked.

“It’s more complicated than that. I’m damaged goods. You guys are good together, you two make sense, but I don’t see where I’m bringing anything good to this situation.”

“That wasn’t the question, Sam.”

“Of course, I love her,” he bit out. “I’m just not convinced I’m the right man for her.”

“Then let’s just take this one day at a time. I think she really needs both of us. But let’s just see what tomorrow brings, okay?” Sam wanted to argue, but Chance had that look, that “What the hell let’s give it a try” look that had gotten Sam into trouble countless times throughout his teens.

“Okay, we’ll just take it day by day. But if I see that I’m hurting Josie, I’m backing out.”

“Hell, if you’re hurting Josie, I’m kicking you out,” Chance assured him. Sam nodded, satisfied.

Chapter 24

“This guacamole is to die for,” Kara Johansen said as she scooped another spoonful onto her flour tortilla and rolled it up. Lola and Josie watched in wonder as the statuesque blonde ate her fourth burrito. This was after she ate a plate of steak fajitas.

“Are you pregnant?” Lola asked. Josie watched Kara choke on her mouthful of food, and then took a large swallow of her margarita.

“What? What in the hell made you ask that question?” Kara demanded as she dumped the rest of the food down on her plate and glared at her friend. Josie had been having a really good time on her girl’s night out. She’d hired a newly graduated Fate Harbor boy who had just gotten his degree in restaurant management. He wanted to spend the first year out of college staying with his parents, before looking for a job in one of the big cities, so he was a perfect fit. As a result, she, Kara, and Lola had one of the Johansen brothers drop them off at the ferry at Fate Harbor, so they could come to this Mexican restaurant near the ferry stop in Snoqualt. They knew there was going to be a lot of drinking involved in tonight’s festivities, so no driving was allowed.