Catching Sam: Book 2 of 5: The MacDonald Brothers

by Emily Matthews

  He gave her a shy, embarrassed smile and pulled her passport out of his bag. “I ran across it when I was packing up your clothes. It’s part of what gave me this idea.”

  They deplaned and were immediately assailed with a warm breeze laced with the scent of salt-water.

  “Are we in the Caribbean?” she asked, incredulously.

  “Close.” He smiled.

  “Unbelievable,” she said, shaking her head.

  He leaned down and whispered, “Let’s just have a good time tonight, okay?”

  “Sounds good to me.” She put her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a quick kiss. He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her deeply. He tried to pour all the feelings he’d been tamping down into the kiss and hoped she would feel it.

  They got into a waiting limo and took a short ride to the resort. It was dark, so she couldn’t see how beautiful the island was now, but if all went as planned, they’d still be here in the morning, and she could see it then.

  Craning her neck to see whatever she could, she almost came out of her skin when they passed under the overhead welcome sign.

  “Do you know who owns this resort?” she screamed in his ear. “This is Brody Robinson’s resort,” she said, answering her own question.

  “Oh really,” he said. “That’s interesting.”

  Bouncing up and down like a gleeful child, she couldn’t contain her excitement. “Oh my God. What if he’s here, Sam? What if we see him?”

  “That would be cool.”

  They pulled into the circular drive and were dropped at the lobby of the resort. Upon entering, her head turned into a swivel. She was taking in as much as she could as fast as she could, oohing and aahing over everything.

  “It’s so beautiful. I’ve read about this place and heard Brody talk about it—on CDs, of course—but none of that did it justice. I wish we could see it during daylight.”

  They were escorted to a private, outdoor table. It faced the azure water and was surrounded on three sides by palm trees. The moon hung high in the sky and reflected majestically off the water. The waiter pulled out her chair while Sam seated himself.

  It didn’t take long before a delicious-smelling grilled shrimp appetizer was served with a dry, sweet white wine.

  “Sam, this is the most romantic place I’ve ever seen. Do you think we could take a walk on the beach after dinner? In the moonlight?”

  “I think that could be arranged,” said a deep voice from behind her.

  Her fork clamored to her plate, and her back went ramrod straight. Without turning around and with eyes bugging out of her head, she mouthed wordlessly to Sam, “It’s. Him!”

  Sam nodded and smiled. “Surprise.”

  Ever so slowly, she turned around and then, without warning, jumped out of her chair and flung herself into Brody Robinson’s arms, clinging to him. He caught her effortlessly and hugged her back. Tears were streaming down her face, as she thanked him over and over, and asked if he knew how much he’d changed her life.

  “You get that a lot?” Sam asked Brody over Annie’s head.

  “You’d be surprised.” Brody laughed, taking it all in stride. “Hey, Annie,” he said to the top of her head, pulling back a little. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  Annie wiped her eyes and nose and tried to get hold of herself. “Mr. Robinson, you have no idea how awesome it is to meet you.”

  “Please, call me Brody.”

  “Oh my.” She waved her hand in front of her face as if she were about to faint. “Okay, sure. Brody, you have changed my life in so many ways.”

  “I may have given you some tools and knowledge you didn’t have before, but you, Annie, are the one who changed your life. You put in the time to learn, and you put in the effort and made the sacrifices to make the changes.”

  “Yes…oh, of course, you’re right. I should have known you’d say that.” She laughed nervously.

  “Well, hey, I’ve got to get going. I’m on my way out of town, but when Sam told me he was bringing a wonderful woman to the resort tonight, I had to come meet you before I left.” He flashed her his trademark smile, and she brightened. “Sam’s a great guy, Annie. I wouldn’t let him get away if I were you.” He winked, and she nodded solemnly.

  “Thanks for the advice,” she said. “Thanks for everything, Mr. Robinson.”

  After Brody left, she was a different person.

  “Sam, you don’t understand what that meant to me,” she said as the tears began to fall again. “Brody was my first introduction to self-improvement. I read his books and listened to his CDs and podcasts so often there are probably a few I could recite from memory.” She took a deep breath.

  “He helped me deal with Avery’s death. He changed my perspective on life and helped me become who I am today. Without him, my life would be so completely and unimaginably different. And by different, I mean heart-breakingly worse. I will be forever grateful to him.”

  “I’m glad it worked out that you could meet him,” Sam said.

  Realization rolled across her face. “Is he the ‘professional help’ you said you were getting?”

  “Maybe,” he responded sheepishly, not liking the idea of “professional help.”

  “Oh, my God. Well, he’ll fix you, that’s for sure. I mean, not that you’re broken or anything, but he’ll help you through whatever issues you have.”

  “He’s already helped me immensely.” He was thinking not only of the perspective shift Brody had helped him have over trusting people, but of the street cred he’d just given him with Annie.

  She nodded and was quiet for a minute. “Did you hire him to help you be able to trust me?”

  “Well, to trust people in general. Women in particular. A specific woman to be exact.” They looked at each other and smiled.

  “Does this mean we’re okay?” he asked, praying to God this expensive night had paid off.

  “Yes,” she said sincerely.

  “Hey, do you want to spend the night here?” he asked. “I mean, just to sleep. I’m not trying to push you.”

  “Oh, mister. You are so totally getting laid tonight.”

  “Awesome.” He grinned.

  “Okay, I’m dying to know. How much did that cost you? To have Brody just ‘stop by’? As altruistic as he is, he doesn’t work for free.”

  “I don’t remember. But whatever it was, it was worth every penny.” Between the personalized counseling and the pop by visit, it was just over two million dollars, but who was counting?

  “So, are you guys friends? How well do you know him? Why didn’t you mention you knew him when I first started talking about him?”

  “We have a lot of mutual acquaintances and have met several times before at fundraisers and things like that. I didn’t mention it because before I trusted you so implicitly, I thought you’d probably beg me for an introduction or something. But now I know that you never would have exploited our relationship for something like that. You know, because I trust you.” He laid it on thick.

  “I get it.” She laughed. “Glad to hear you trust me so much, but, honey, if I’d have known, I would have begged daily until you brought me to meet him.”

  “What? God, this trust thing is confusing!” he exclaimed in fake outrage.

  “Let’s get out of here,” she said with a smoldering, come-hither look that had him tripping over himself to get up from the table.

  The night ended exactly how he’d hoped, in bed, and wrapped in each other’s arms, declaring their love for one another.

  EPILOGUE

  Several months later, Sam stood in the Samatrix training room, where the Denali project launch party was in full swing. He surveyed all the happy, maybe a little tipsy, faces, and smiled. Outside the wall of windows, the drizzly, Seattle rain surrounded them, but inside, the champagne was flowing. Everyone was on cloud nine, celebrating with abandon.

  According to Forbes and Business Insider, the Denali software was an instant success, and it wasn�
��t even available to the public yet. The businesses that had been selected to preview and review it had nothing but praise. Pre-sales were already surpassing projections, and Samatrix’s stock price had jumped four percent on the news.

  All the team leaders, key players on their teams, and upper management, including Matthew and his family, had gathered to celebrate.

  Sam was in a corner of the room talking with Jake. They had just received the news that Mitch and Maggie were pregnant and due the following spring.

  “So, we’re going to be uncles. Pretty cool, eh?” said Sam.

  “Yeah. Mom finally gets her wish for a grandbaby. Have you ever seen her so excited?” said Jake.

  “I’m just glad someone took a little pressure off me to do it.” They both laughed.

  “Mom says Maggie was pregnant at the wedding, but no one’s supposed to know that, so don’t say anything.” Jake put his hand up and whispered behind it.

  “Mitch will be a great dad,” said Sam, and Jake nodded.

  “Speaking of you reproducing, how are things going with Annie?”

  “Well, I’m about to do something pretty big. Can you stick around?”

  “With an announcement like that, how can I not? I’ll get a video for Mom. Maybe it will get you out of the doghouse for not bringing Annie to Mitch’s wedding.” He winked. “Just remember who dragged you to the bar that night.”

  “I won’t forget. I owe you one. It’s weird how one seemingly insignificant decision can change your whole life, huh?”

  “Sam MacDonald is off the market. Wow. Nice catch, Annie,” he said, though Annie was nowhere near them. “I’m happy for you, bro. Go get ‘em.” Jake slapped him on the back and left to talk to Matthew.

  Sam scanned the room for Annie. He found her easily, surrounded by people, and chatting in her carefree way. She must have felt him watching her because she looked his way, smiled, and waved.

  There’d been some big changes in his life in the last few months, the greatest being how thoroughly and deeply he’d fallen in love with Annie. Once she found out Brody Robinson was helping him with his trust and impulse issues, she had full confidence that he would be fine and jumped in with both feet. All doubts removed and all secrets revealed, their relationship progressed rapidly.

  He talked her out of house hunting and in to moving in with him. She’d objected, saying they were moving too fast, but he eventually won that argument. Just as he had with the situation with her grandfather. He understood Pops didn’t want a free ride and therefore accepted the monthly payments he offered. The payments didn’t come anywhere near the total cost, but Sam quietly paid the difference and persuaded Pops stay at Home Away from Home.

  Annie later admitted that Pops was as happy as she’d ever seen him and loved the new place. He’d even met a “friend.” She was his age and loved the same things he did. They spent a lot of time together, playing cards and working in the community garden. Annie was able to visit him at least once a week, which pleased them both.

  Having someone to come home to, or in his case, with, since they carpooled to work, was everything he thought it would be. They cooked dinner together and did the dishes together. And when he went out, she was always by his side. Going to sleep with her and waking up to her was also an amazing change to his life. They took care of each other, and he loved being with someone he considered a partner. A partner he happened to be madly in love with.

  Time to make it permanent.

  He walked to the microphone that was set up in the middle of the stage. Clearing his throat into it had the room settling down in an instant. While waiting for everyone to quiet down, he noticed Phil and Tracey standing together in the front row, holding hands. He gave them a thumbs-up.

  “Hey, everyone, thanks for coming out tonight. You all know why we’re here. Denali has launched beyond our wildest expectations. We’ve worked so hard for so long, and now it’s time to reap the rewards. I’m sure there will be a few things that need to be ironed out, but, hey, we did it! Here’s to you all.” He raised his glass to the audience, and everyone cheered.

  “I know everyone wants to party down, so I’m not going to burden you with a long, boring speech. I just wanted to say thank you and maybe have you be a part of one other project I’ve got going.”

  Heads perked up, wondering what project he could be talking about. “Since we’re already drinking champagne, I thought I’d throw out another reason to celebrate. Annie, could you come join me for a second?”

  Annie was standing in the front with a proud smile plastered on her face. When he called her up, the smile dropped, and her eyes got wide. He could see those around her pushing her forward. Finally, she made it to his side.

  “What is this?” she whispered.

  “Do you trust me?” He held the microphone behind his back so no one could hear. She smiled and nodded.

  “As much as we tried to keep it a secret, most of you know Annie and I have been seeing each other. Like, on a personal level.” The crowd clapped, and a couple of the men hooted and whistled. Sam laughed and motioned for quiet again.

  “I wanted to take this opportunity, in front of God and all of you to ask her to marry me.” Turning to Annie, he pulled out the little blue box that had been burning a hole in his pocket for the last two weeks and bent to one knee. He opened it to reveal a three-carat, classic cut diamond, mounted in white gold, and nestled in a mound of black velvet.

  The crowd gasped and then went silent. It was so quiet he was sure everyone could hear his heart thumping. Annie was standing with a hand on each cheek, her mouth wide open and tears streaming down her face.

  “Annabelle O’Neill. I love you. More and more every day. And I trust you…implicitly. With my money, my secrets, but most importantly, with my heart. Will you be my wife?”

  She paused, and he panicked. Oh, God. It hadn’t crossed his mind that she might say no. What if she turned him down in front of all these people?

  Finally, she put him out of his misery and started nodding wordlessly before shouting, “Yes, of course, I will marry you. I love you.”

  He dropped the mic, stood, and put the ring on her finger. Then he picked her up in a giant hug and began twirling her around. The crowd cheered, and he heard more champagne corks popping. He didn’t care that it was cliché as hell, and he might as well be in the ending of a romcom. He’d never been so happy.

  When he finally set her down, he bent and whispered in her ear, “I’m not having a prenup drawn up either.” He leaned back and smiled.

  Her smile fell, and an incredulous look took over.

  “If you don’t, I will,” she said.

  “Oh no you won’t,” he said.

  “Oh yes I will.” Her mouth was set in a straight line.

  “Oh no you won’t,” he repeated but smiled, knowing full well where this was going.

  “Oh yeah,” she said with a wink. “Watch me.”

  The End

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  Taming Jake

  The MacDonald Brothers—Book Three

  Chapter One

  Trooper Jake MacDonald adjusted the air vent on his patrol car and cursed. The potent smell of alcohol wafting through the car meant he wasn’t going to get home on time. Again. In the notebook always at his side, affixed to his mobile desk, he jotted down the time and then his observations of the vehicle in front of him. Speed—about ten miles per hour, how often the driver crossed the center and fog lines—about once every five seconds, and the amount of swerving and weaving betw
een the lane lines—a lot.

  He flipped on his overhead lights and picked up his radio mic. “379, Seattle?” His badge number was 379 and was how he identified himself to dispatch.

  “379.” That was dispatch’s way of saying go ahead.

  “Put me out with a DUI. We haven’t stopped yet, but it’ll be northbound 169, about mile post twenty. And can you call county and see if there’s someone that wants it? I was supposed to be off an hour ago.”

  “379.” That was dispatch’s way of saying okay. Per protocol, they used as few words as possible so as not to waste valuable air time.

  When the flashing red and blue lights didn’t catch the driver’s attention, Jake pulled to the side of the vehicle and made eye contact with the driver. A woman with blond hair teased to the roof of the car waved.

  “I’m not waving at you, lady,” he muttered. “Pull. Over,” he mouthed while pointing to the side of the road, but she didn’t catch on.

  He picked up his mic again and switched the setting to PA. “Pull over,” he said as he looked right at her, still waving at her to move to the shoulder.

  She saw him, and heard him, but decided to make a run for it. Pushing it to twenty miles per hour she stared straight ahead, put both hands on the wheel, and leaned forward, putting all of her concentration in to outrunning him. While she continually looked over her shoulder to see if he was still there, he patiently stayed at her side, periodically telling her to pull over and stop.

  Finally, she eased over and parked askew on the shoulder. He pulled in behind her, updated dispatch on where they’d finally stopped, and got out of the car. Adjusting his hat, he walked cautiously to the driver’s side of the vehicle.

  “Hello, occifer,” the woman slurred. “Did you need something?” The smell of booze rolled off her in waves and her eyes were blood shot.

  “Hello, ma’am. Do you know why I stopped you?”