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Sam let go of his brother then immediately turned to me. He gave me a big, toothy smile. He had the same dark eyes and floppy brown hair as Robert. “Are you Skylar?”
I nodded. “That’s me.”
Then it was my turn for a hug. Sam held me tight as if he had known me for years. “I’m so happy Robbie brought you. He told me all about you.”
“Sammy, come on now, don’t embarrass me,” Robert joked.
Sam let me go but kept his arm around me. “I won’t say how pretty you told me she was.” Sam laughed and I started laughing too. His exuberance was contagious. “Oops. I said it. Oh well.” He never stopped smiling, obviously so happy to have us here. “Jill’s inside. We’ve been making food all morning. I hope you like it.”
“Wow, so I get to meet Jill and you get to meet Skylar. This is a big day,” Robert said as his brother led us inside.
“Jill’s really excited to meet you guys.” Sam closed the door behind us. His room was actually an apartment—and a nice one too. It was an open floor plan with the living room and dining room combined and the kitchen off to the side separated by a counter with two stools. There was a hallway to the right and a balcony overlooking the facility’s gardens.
“You have a beautiful apartment, Sam,” I told him.
“Thank you. It’s the best place to live. I have so many friends here. And Jill lives in the next building, so we see each other all the time,” Sam said.
“You put up the painting! It looks great there, Sam,” Rob commented, indicating a beautiful piece of abstract artwork hanging above the couch.
“Bob helped me. He wants to know where you got it, he wants one too,” Sam told him, waving to a woman in the kitchen.
“Bob’s the maintenance man for Lakewood. He helps Sam out a lot, he’s a good guy,” Rob explained quietly as Sam called out to Jill, who was hanging back shyly.
“Jill, come meet my brother!” Sam called out, hurrying into the kitchen and all but dragging the woman out to the living room.
“Robbie, this is Jill. She’s my girlfriend,” Sam announced proudly. He kissed the woman on her cheek, and she blushed but seemed pleased.
“Hi. It’s nice to meet you,” she said softly.
“Hi Jill, I’ve heard so much about you. Sam talks about you nonstop.” Rob gave her a sweet smile. “He also tells me you make the best club sandwich he’s ever had.”
Jill puffed up with pride. “Diana in the kitchen says they’re better than hers.”
“And they are too, Robbie. She made them for you guys. Are you hungry? The game’s about to start.” Sam was full of energy and I could only grin as he hurried Rob and me into the kitchen and handed us plates. “Come on, take a sandwich. There are chips too. And drinks. Jill and I went shopping yesterday and got your favorite soda.”
“You got cherry Coke?” Robert made a big show of getting excited, running to the refrigerator, and pulling out the two-liter bottle.
“There’s popcorn too, Sam. I put it in the pantry,” Jill said. Her voice was so quiet, but I could tell she was warming up to us.
“Oh right! The popcorn!” Sam grabbed the giant bag. “Come on guys, the game’s about to start!”
Rob put a sandwich on my plate and a pile of chips. “You go ahead and sit down. I’ll grab our drinks.”
I went into the living room and sat down on the loveseat. Jill and Sam were on the other sofa and a basketball game was playing on the fifty-inch television set. Sam obviously liked to have the volume almost as high as it would go. I noticed he was wearing a 76ers jersey and even had a foam finger he was waving around proudly. “I love the 76ers. Do you, Skylar?” he asked me.
“Be careful how you answer that, Sky. Sam has thrown me out before for not saying they’re the best team in the NBA,” Rob warned, sitting down beside me.
“I didn’t throw you out,” Sam argued. “But you were wrong. The Lakers aren’t the best. Did Robbie tell you that our dad took us to see the 76ers when we were kids?” Sam asked me.
“No, he didn’t. That sounds like fun.” Rob settled his arm around me, squeezing me.
“It was the best. We were right next to the court, weren’t we Robbie?” I liked Sam’s smile. It made me feel warm and happy just by being around him.
“We were. And you got to touch the game ball, remember?” Rob added.
“I did! Did I tell you about that, Jill?” Sam turned to his girlfriend in excitement.
“You told me, Sam.” Jill rolled her eyes at me in woman solidarity. “You told me like ten times.” But she smiled at him in a way that meant it didn’t annoy her at all. They were very sweet together and clearly liked each other a lot.
