Kaleidoscope Summer (Samantha's Story) (50 page)

Maggie tapped her pencil on the pad in front of her. “Sounds like
a
plan. We also need to talk to Rachel. I’m not quite sure how to get her input without letting on what we
’
re up to.”

“If you need anything else, let me know.”
Neither responded.
Sam and I weren’t
happening
. If
I told myself that enough, maybe it would penetrate my
dense brain.
Out of habit,
I tipped my hat to the Indian statue an
d headed back to Brandon and Rachel’s
.

T
he work had begun in full force.
I joined
Alec
and Ted
, who
stood to the side
,
watching
the
progress
.

“The contractor agreed to a
dd two
more bedrooms.
”
Alec
pointed to where the back walls were being torn down.
“
Three kids in
a two bedroom
house—
how
do
they manage?
”
Alec
jumped
back when a large chu
n
k of the wood
siding
landed a little too close.

What happened to our two-day project?
“Will it be finished in time?”

Ted’s
quizzical
expressi
on said he wasn’t sure either
.
“
Rachel and the children are stay
ing with family in Mariner Bay, closer to the hospital
.
I didn’t tell her what’s going on.”

“
Glad you
’
r
e
dealing with her.” I tugged my keys from my pocket. “I’ll be at the station.
”

“Okay if I
bum a ride?
”
Alec fell into step beside me.

We drove a couple of miles befor
e Alec stilled his tapping fingers
. “Want to share what’s bothering you?”

“Nothing really.”

“Woman trouble?”

“
Sam broke it off—maybe it’s for the best.”

“Relationships hit snags, even after you
’re
married. Peggy and
I
hadn’t even been married a whole year w
hen she decided to move back in
with her parents.
I started courting her again—we coul
dn’t keep our hands off each other
. She came home and w
e vowed to never use leaving as a threat unless we were serious.
”

“Yeah, well
,
this proves
I don’t need a woman complicating my life
.”
Sam had never lied to me. She had never promised to stay
.
She had never used the word love.

“You lie to yourself often?
” Alec resumed his incessant
tapping.

“Clever
.”
I shot him a look.
Nicole pulled out of the station and waved as we entered.

Without checking in for updates, I
closed the door to my office and tackled
the department
’
s budget. Allocated funds were about to be cut
, again. Hank
’
s part-time position would probably be the first fatality
. I hated the thought of letting him down
.
My
sister’
s
ringtone sounded
. Glad
for the
reprieve
,
I reached for my phone
. “Hi,
sis.” I listen for moment shaking my h
ead. “No problem.”
I disco
nnected the call with a deep sigh
.
And I was the one who decided she should have a dog.

Maggi
e was on her way to see Rachel, and
needed
me
to pick
Wolf
up
from the veterinarian
and deliver him
to Sam
. Was Maggie interfering
? I hadn’t told her about
the breakup, but maybe Sam had.

I never could say no to Maggie.
An involuntary smile crept
onto my face.
It is a g
ood excuse to see Sam.
I grabbed my cap and rushed out as if an emergency call had come in.

When I retrieved Wolf, he acted confused. The brute had become attached to Maggie, and he hadn’t been back in my truck since I rescued him.
The only time he was away from her was when Sam borrowed him for play
dates with Goldie.
I l
owered the passenger window, which
pacified
him some.
As I parked, Sam and Goldie came out the door of the bookshop to meet us
.
Sam opened Wolf’s door and grabbed his leash. Finally
,
the big dog acted
like all was right with the world, and I knew exactly where he was coming from.

“Maggie sent me a tex
t and said you wer
e bringing Wolf to me. Thanks
.
”

“I can go get
dinner from Ja
ke
’
s.” I shoved my hands into my pockets
to keep from touching her h
air, or
tugging
her in
to
my
arms.

She hesitated and I almost rescinde
d the offer. “Thanks, dinner would be a big help
.” S
he
looked to have her hands full as she
ushered the
m
back inside
the shop
.

I returned from Jake
’
s and sat the food on her kitchen counter. The smells coming from the bags of food woke my hunger in a huge way.

Both
of us
awkwardly
struggled to make sm
all talk while we ate. Then
we
sat
on the floor
,
playing with the dogs
until Maggie called
,
letting us know she was downstairs.
I hurried
and
let
her
in
.
“Hey, s
is.”

“Hey, yourself.”
N
o sooner had she entered the apartment
than
she plopped on the floor next to
Sam
.
“Mission accomplished.
I met with Rachel.
” Her
voice
bubbled with enthusiasm.

Concerned,
I
intruded on
their conversation.
“Did Rachel mention
how
Brandon
’s doing?”

“
Rachel
spends much of her
time sitting w
ith him
. S
he
did say
the healing pro
cess was
proceeding
faster than the doctor
s
anticipated
it would
.” She barely paused before she turned back to
Sam
. “
The house is going to be unbe
lievable.
”

“Have you eaten
? W
e have plenty of food.”
Sam
balanced a hand on the ottoman and pushed herself up
.

“I’m starv
ing. I left
Mariner Bay
so late I did
n’t bother making
any
stop
s
.
”
Maggie
followed
Sam
into the kitchen
,
st
ill talking about plans for Rachel’s house.

While they chatted
in the kitchen
,
I investigated
Anne
’s book collection. I
fanned
the pages of a Grisham novel as they came into the room.

“I started cleanin
g but only did the
first shelf
.”
Sam
stood next to me, pulling another novel from the shelf
. “Oh.
Little Women
. One
of my fav—” An envelope
fluttered from inside the
bo
ok and floated to
t
he floor
.
She bent
down and retrieved it.
“
It’s fr
om a Daniel Cunningham. O
riginally
addressed to White Lane
, and then
forward
ed
to the bookshop.
”
Her complexion went from rosy to pasty
. She
sat on the sofa and pushed the
letter to Maggie
. “Read it, please?
”

Maggie opened the aged
envelope
.

“Dear
Anne
,

I hope you read this before tossing it in the trash. I realize I’m the last person you want to hear from. I’ve started this letter
and tore it up several times—my words sound
ed
so
ineffective
. So here goes.
Anne
, if I could turn
back time and
change our history
, I wou
ld. It’s taken me too long to understand
the impact of my
actions.

I went to
Samantha
and grasped her hand
. Maggie resumed reading.

Somethi
ng ha
ppe
ned earlier this evening. Although t
he
greatest blessing of my life
,
it
filled me with guilt
. I held my newborn daughter in my arms
. I looked at her tiny fingers and toes and knew she’d always be the best part of me.

I left the hospital and my t
houghts drifted to you and
my actions
six
years ago. S
orry—sorry doesn’t come close to what I
’m feeling.
When you told
me
I was going to
be a father,
I left
Serenity
Cove without a backward glance.

Holding Audra in my
arms tonight taught me how much I hurt you
. I now realize
I lost something precious as well.

I have no right to ask this of yo
u.
After the way I acted
,
y
ou
still wrote to me, letting
me
know
I
had a daughter and about the adoption. I buried my shallow feelings and went on with
my
life. If you ever see our daughter,
if by any chance sh
e wants t
o
see me
, p
lease tell her
I’d like
to meet her.

I’m ashamed of the humiliation I caused you. If you can ever find it in
your heart,
please forgive me.

I
wanted to hold Sam closer.
I don’t recall ever feeling anot
her’s pai
n the way I felt
hers at that moment.

“
Anne
wrote someth
ing on the bottom of the letter.
”
Maggie held
it
out for us to see.

Sam
sat up
straighter
. “What?
”

I forgave Daniel
long ago.
The harm he
caused by running away, God used for my good. He blessed me with a treasure my heart cannot conta
in. A daughter.
Still
,
I’m not sure I’m ready to tell him. I need to pray about it.

Sa
m
took the tissue
Maggie offered and wiped her face. Maggie folded the
letter and set it aside. “I assume he’s talking about Au
dra Wheeler. It makes sense now,
why you look like sisters
. Wh
at are you going to tell Audra?
”