Kaleidoscope Summer (Samantha's Story) (5 page)

“
My
birth mother owned the
Sea Glass
B
ookshop.”
I inhaled deeply, waiting for her response.

“You’re
Anne’s
daughter—
our
Anne’s daughter?” Her face lit up
.
“
She told me all about you
. And you’re h
ere—you’re finally here.” She
jumped up
and threw
her
arms around me
. T
hat
might have been awkward except for her sincerity
.
A yelp
escaped unbidden from my pressed lungs, and she quickly drew back
. “I’m
sorry
.
I forgot about your ribs. It’s
amazing to meet you, at last.”

“
Then you’re aware
Anne
gave me up?”

S
he
settled back
into her chair,
reached over
and touched
my hand
. “Yes
.
She never hid the fact
she had a daughter.”

Before I could
reply
,
something caught her attention, and
I followed her g
aze
to see
Logan climbing
out of my SUV
. She
greet
ed
her brother
with a hug and
headed inside
.

Maggie possessed a contagious energy. The way her lips formed words gave me the impression her voice had a melodic quality
.
Her steps reflected rhythmic movement—without doubt a unique beat going on. And while she
epitomized a girl
ie-girl,
Logan—
h
e was
all
male
.
There he stood, six feet of pure gorgeous
.
My hand went to my ch
est—h
ad my heart actually missed a beat?

His
booted steps caused a vibration in
the wooden
slats of the porch. H
e pulled a
chair
to the table. A smile
reached his
coffee-colored eyes
and
startled my pulse
,
i
n a good way. “Hi
, Samantha. Feeling better
?”

“Th
is
house, the view, the peacefulness—I could spend
forever
right here.” I swept my hand through the air
. “Please,
call me Sam.”

“
Sam it is.” His wink sent another
direct jolt to my heart
beat
.
I’m
losing it—l
ike a teenager reacting to her first crush.

Maggie reappeared and served
a
pastry
and a glass of sweet tea
to her
brother. “You’ll never guess who Sam is.” Words continued to tumble forth. “She’s Anne’s daughter.”

H
is
aha
response
surprised me
. “Y
ou reminded me of someone
.
But
I couldn’t place it.” He took a man-sized bite of his pastry, as though we were not discussing anything that merited undue concern.

“We were talking about
Anne being Sam’s birth mom
. G
o ahead, Sam, tell us the
story.” She stood
,
held up her finger
. “Wait. M
y phone
’s
ringing.
I’ll be right
back
.”

H
e chuckled
as Mag
gie dashed
inside
. “B
een that way since we were kids. Seldom slows down.”

“S
he has a way about her
.
” Before I lost my nerve, I rushed on. “Does it bother y
ou that I’m Anne’s
daugh
ter?” I held my breath
,
waiting for his answer
. The only person I’d discussed the adoption with was my aunt and she’d gone ballistic.

No more fazed than if I’d told him what I had eaten for breakfast, he shrugged and lifted
his
hands, palms up. “Don’t
know her
whole
story, but she made a difference in many li
v
es—e
s
pecially children
’s
.”
He stuffed a
nother bite into his mouth
.

Maggie
came rushing
back to the table
.
“What did I miss?”

“Not
a thing, s
is.”
They
both looked at me.

I cringed.
“Discovering I’d been
adopted put me on an emotional—
”
W
ords
stuck inside my chest. I couldn’t underst
and the c
ontradictions I felt—h
ow could I
possibly
explain them
to someone else?
“I’m sorry. You don’t need to hear the psychobabble.”

“Didn’t you write to Anne after you learned about
the
adoption
?” The sincerity
of Maggie’s interest encouraged me to continue.

“Yes, and then we
exchan
ged emails. I
wanted to visit her.
” I bit down on my lip
,
trying to compose myself
.
“I’ll always regret waiting
too long.
”

“From what Anne told me
,
yo
u only found out the
end of last year and we’ve barely
skated into May
.
Not much time to c
ome to terms with your emotions. I
f it’s any consolation
,
I don’t believe she knew about her heart condition.”
Maggie tucked one leg up under her.

“
The
attorney sent me a copy of the
aut
opsy report
,
along with her death certificate. According to the report
,
Anne’s
condition resulted from a
birth abnormality
and if found earli
er
,
it might
’ve
been surgically corrected.”
A sudden wave of exhaustion washed over me.
“There’s so much—
”

“Doc’s orders say you
need to rest.” Logan stood
with hi
s hand outstretched
.

I placed my hand in his and w
e trailed
behind Maggie
to a d
ownstairs guest room. She
pulled down
th
e comforter
and
folded back
the
French d
oors
. I offered m
y thanks as they left the room, and easing
under the cover
s
,
I
absorbed the silence—o
ne
of the few
times
being deaf
seemed like a gift.

When I awakened,
flaming cerise
etched with gold
burned
across the sea. I envisioned
stroking
the
scene
across a canvas
—not that I could capture the awesome beauty of nature.

The setting sun
made it apparent I’d slept the after
noon away. Goldie stretched
and eyed her vest on the chair next to the bed.
“
It’s okay
, baby, no worries.” H
eavenly aroma
s had worked their
way into the room
, and I was suddenly starving
. “
L
et’s go find our hostess.”

We trailed
t
he divine
whiffs
coming
fro
m the kitchen
.
I inhaled the fragrance—
I
talian
. Logan sat at the table
chatting with
Maggie as
she
prepared dinner. What a treasure
it must
be to have a brother or a sister
.
“Smells good in here.” Maggie stood
,
stirring a pot on a black
-
and
-
white porcelain stove. The antique appliance
had two
oven
s, and
a
curved
warming compartment
on top
.
“Wow, what a great stove.”

Maggie laid the wooden spoon
dripp
ing with white sauce on a plate
.
She remembered to face me so I could
lip-read
.
“It’s original to the house
, although I don’t cook often.
W
hen I do
,
the smoke alarm likes to buzz
in with an opin
ion.” Her
animated movements suggested
she’d giggled at her own joke
. “Logan picked
up
dinner and brought it
over.
I’m merely
reheating it
.”

I turned to Logan.
“
Fettuccine Alfredo is one of my favorites.”
My
closed grin
widen
ed
when he smiled back. “Do you have my keys? I need Goldie’s food from the car.”

“T
he
entry
table
.” He
pointed toward the front hall.

Maggie
tapped
my shoulder
. “Logan
brought in Goldi
e’s things
. I filled her bowls—they’
re on the patio
outside your room.
That
little girl
of your
s
is
adorable.”

“
I don’t know what I’d do without her
. Now, what can I do to help?”

“It’s
under control—y
ou just relax and take
it easy.”

I gave up at h
er no-nonsense,
don’t
-argue-
with
-me
attitude
and carefully lowered myself
onto
a chair across
from Logan.

“Feeling
better
?” He tipped a
coffee
mug to his lips
.

“Much. R
est was exactly what I needed
.” I
f
eyes truly reflected
the soul, I hoped mine weren’t broadcasting the perp
lexity storming
my insides
. U
nanswered
questio
ns were
never far from my thoughts.

“Shall we go informal?” M
aggie
piled
pasta and sauce onto three p
lates and brought them to the t
a
b
le.
She returned to the stove and grabbed
a basket fille
d with toasted garlic bread and
joined us.

“Do you plan to be in town long?
”
Maggie wound the pasta around her fork.

“T
he p
rivate school where I work
has been experiencing funding issu
es, which enabled me to take
a month-long leave
of absence.”
Not only did
I hold
the
position of
administrator—
I
had
started the school
. I
looked at
Logan. “
Are you on duty tonight?”