After the Storm (Chambers of the Heart Book 3)

by C D Cain

  Quinn pulled the door open into the small corner diner. “You don’t now?”

  Sam shook her head assuredly. “No. I honestly don’t.”

  “Thank goodness I called for reservations,” Quinn said as she sat down at their table. She waved off the menu politely as she already knew her order.

  Sam followed. “I’ll have whatever she’s having.” A headache was starting to build, no doubt from the noise and congestion of the street. She rubbed her temples.

  “Are you alright, dear?”

  “I’ll be fine. Just forgot how noisy it is.” Sam smiled. “Guess I’m not much of a city girl anymore.”

  “You may not be but whatever you’re doing, it’s working. You look fabulous. Maine definitely agrees with you.” She took a swallow of her freshly poured ice water. “Not many can wear cargo pants with style.”

  Sam pinched the pocket of her pants and stretched them away from the side of the leg. “I don’t have a ton of clothes anymore. Even if I did, I’d still wear these things because they’re so comfortable when I hike.” She shrugged. “I thought they’d be good for the flight.” Sam drank half of her glass of water.

  “I’m sorry, did you say when you hike?”

  Sam smiled broadly. An image of Gentry climbing the rock in front of her flashed. “I did.”

  “Indeed, you may not be a city girl anymore after all.” Quinn placed their orders and leaned over the table to speak softer to Sam. “We can go to the house to get some of your old clothes from your room if you like. Your father is out of town.”

  Sam leaned in too and said softly, “No, I’m good.”

  Quinn straightened back upright in her seat. She cocked an eyebrow at Sam. “I see that. Tell me about this new clinic you’re at.”

  “Oh, Mom, I’m really enjoying it. If you would’ve told me two years ago that I would be working in a small-town clinic, I wouldn’t have believed you. If you would’ve told me I’d be the happiest I’ve been working there, I would’ve probably had you committed.”

  “Hold that thought, dear. You may still before all of this is over.”

  Sam laughed. “Not even.”

  Quinn played with the straw in her glass. “Keep going.”

  “It’s a practice owned by Timber Waggoner. She was born and raised in Bar Harbor. Total opposite of me. I don’t think she ever wanted to practice anywhere but back home. She’s like this tiny little badass but sweet, you know?”

  “I may know something about that.” Quinn winked at Sam who shook her head.

  “I’m not tiny.” She gave her mother a sly grin. “Or a badass. Not anymore,” she said softer.

  “You’ll get it back.”

  “Will you? I’m not the one with a prison record here.”

  Quinn threw her napkin at Sam. “You stop that right now.”

  “Stopping.” Sam raised her arms in defeat. “Timber is pretty cool though, Mom. She’s got her own practice and is a board member of the local hospital. It’s because of her that the hospital is equipped to do C-sections and even some small surgeries. Plus, she’s like a lobster fisherwoman on the side. They give out like two hundred fishing licenses or something like that. She’s carried one since she was eight years old. Even through medical school. It’s impossible, right? Well, not for her, apparently,” Sam answered her own question in her excitement to talk about her new coworker. “I think you’d like her.”

  “Maybe I’ll get to meet her one day.” Quinn looked at her watch again.

  “Are you nervous?”

  Quinn frowned. “I am. I’ve not lived on my own for thirty-five years. I don’t know if it will be refreshing like what my daughter has found in Maine or if it’s going to be devastating.”

  “I’m going for the first. Mom, you’ve lived under his thumb and have been shit on for most, if not all of your marriage. Look at you.” Sam motioned toward Quinn. “You’re gorgeous. Geez, you look like Helen Mirren for Pete’s sake. If you ask me, he married up and now it’s your time to see that.”

  Quinn ran her hand along her bangs that had been left to let the gray show. “You really think so?”

  “Hell yes. You could be her twin. Gentry and I just watched this movie, Calendar Girls, that she was in. The whole time I was thinking how much you reminded me of her. I even told Gentry.”

  “I’ve heard about your new doctor friend. Now, tell me about her. I feel like I’m finally getting to know your life.” Quinn smiled. It was a smile riddled with the nervous anticipation that swirled within her but it was still a smile.

  “She’s pretty great, Mom. She’s strong, determined, ambitious with sweet, compassionate undertones. This bus she renovated is amazing. It’s like her own little beach house in the middle of the cliffs and trees of Maine. She’s kind of girly for someone who can and did all of that.”

  “She sounds like a wonderful young lady.”

  Sam smiled. “She is.” She straightened her napkin in her lap and thought about what to say next. Telling Gentry’s past was never a question in Sam’s mind. Gentry’s past was hers to tell and no one else’s. The baby was another story altogether. “She’s pregnant.”

  “Oh, Samantha, what are you doing?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Honey, you’re already having a baby? You’ve only been with this woman for a very short time. When you moved off with her, I thought it was because of that last woman you were with. But now you’re telling me you’re starting a family. It’s too soon. Too fast. It wasn’t so long ago you were set on never being in a relationship. Now a baby?”

  Sam swallowed her building frustration before it became anger. “You’re jumping to conclusions. I’m not having a baby with her. We aren’t together like that. Not like that. She was pregnant when I met her.”

  “I’m sorry, dear. The way you talked of her I did assume you two were a couple.”

  “We aren’t. We’re just…friends.” With those words, the picture of Gentry biting her bottom lip as she was straddled across her lap with sweat beading at the base of her neck zipped across her mind. She shook it free for fear of letting the thought flush her face.

  “And the baby?”

  Sam took a swallow of water. “I don’t know. She hasn’t decided what she’s going to do yet.” Sam’s phone began to ring. Seeing Gentry’s name made her smile all over. “Excuse me, Mom. I need to take this.”

  “Sure. Glad you straightened out you two weren’t together because with a smile like that, I may have misunderstood your relationship.”

  Sam pointed at her mother and stood to walk outside. “Stop that,” she said before answering the phone. “Hey, you.”

  “Hi. Sorry if I’m bothering you. I wanted to make sure you made it safely.”

  Sam pushed open the café door. “No bother at all. I’m glad you called.” She motioned to the outdoor waitress if she could sit at the empty patio table alongside the building. “We’re waiting for Mom’s realtor to join us for lunch.”

  “What are you having?”

  Sam hesitated. “Ummm. Sushi.”

  Gentry let out a slow, very deliberate growl. “I miss sushi so bad.”

  Sam tried not to laugh. “I know. I almost didn’t tell you, so you wouldn’t be reminded. What are you doing?”

  “I’m taking a break.” Gentry sat down on the rocky cliff next to the blue line she had freshly painted.

  “From?”

  “I’ve been assigned to repaint the trail markers on Great Head Trail. How cool is it that the markers are blue?”

  “Way cool.”

  “Exactly what I thought. Here, listen?” Gentry held her phone in the air. “Can you hear it?”

  Faintly, in the distance, Sam could hear the dinging of the buoy. She put her finger in her opposite ear to buffer the traffic noise.

  “The buoy is real
ly loud right here in this clearing.” Gentry shrugged. “Anyway, it made me think of you when I heard it. I swear you rented that condo just because it was so close to a buoy.” She remembered Sam leaving the patio doors open so she could hear it as they slept.

  “I totally did.” Sam smiled as she ran her finger along the red brick of the building.

  “How’s it there?”

  Sam felt the air rush past her as a car sped along the alley of the café. “Crowded. Loud. I don’t know how I ever enjoyed sitting out here for meals before. I swear I can taste the exhaust fumes.”

  Gentry took in a full breath of the salty air. “Perspectives. But I kind of meant your mom. How’s she holding up?”

  “Oh, sorry. She looks tired. Defeated. Scared.”

  “It’s a scary thing to take out on your own.”

  “As if.”

  “As if what?” Gentry dug in her pack to pull out a snack.

  “You were ever scared of being on your own.”

  Gentry snorted. “You met me afterward. I was a scared, nervous woman when I first left Brennin.”

  “Brennin? Did you just say Brennin?”

  Gentry closed her eyes. Immediately, she felt regret for letting that slip out on the phone while Sam was away. She had meant to tell her at some point she was from there. Sometimes the universal signs can be overpowering. So, she waited. Certainly, she had meant for better timing than this. “Yes,” she said flatly when she finally answered.

  “Like Brennin where Rayne’s from Brennin?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you…I mean, did you know her?”

  Gentry sighed. “Yes.”

  Sam noticed a woman walking up to the sidewalk with a realtor’s badge on and a handbag-like briefcase. “I need to go. I think I see the realtor coming. I’ll call you later.”

  “Sam, wait.”

  “What?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s fine.”

  “You being sad or mad or whatever you’re feeling right now will never be fine with me.” Gentry tucked her leg underneath her. “It’s hard for me to share my past. I’ve never told anyone as much as I’ve told you. Yes, I know Rayne. Please believe I didn’t mean for it to come out that way. She’s part of the past I’ve not shared with you yet. But I want to. I’m very sorry if I hurt you.”

  “You didn’t hurt me. I’m okay.” Sam stopped before walking into the noisy café. “Hey, Gentry?” She didn’t want to feel upset with Gentry. Lord knows the woman has enough already that could drain the light from her. Sam didn’t want to be another to add to it.

  “Yes,” she quietly responded.

  “I’m glad you’ve shared your past with me.”

  “I feel safe with you.”

  “You are.”

  Chapter 17

  “TUCKER,” Sam yelled loudly over the crowd of women.

  “What the fuck?” Tucker ducked under the bar and sprinted toward Sam. She quickly wrapped her in her arms and picked Sam up off her feet. “I don’t believe you’re here!” She set her back down.

  Sam grabbed Tucker’s exposed bicep. “What the hell are you lifting these days? A freaking tank or something?”

  Tucker smiled broadly. “Something like that.”

  Sam shook her head. “Damn, girl, you’re cut.” She took a step back and ran her eyes over Tucker’s body. Her broad shoulders bulged from her tight black tank.

  Tucker put her hands on the waistband of her camouflaged pants. “Yeah, well, I was bored when you left so I had to find something to do with my time.”

  Sam laughed loudly. “I’m sure the ladies like it.”

  “Nah. They’re all still pining for you.”

  “Ha!” Sam slapped her arm and then immediately began to rub the sting from her palm. “Don’t give me that shit. They hardly looked around you to see me standing behind you. And now, girl, they won’t be able to look around you.” Sam pretended to have difficulty peering around Tucker.

  “You’re so damn crazy. Come on. Come talk to me before the music starts. ‘Cause when it does, I won’t be able to hear shit. I’ll buy ya a drink.”

  “You expecting more than this tonight?” Sam maneuvered herself through the women gathered at the bar.

  “Hell yes. The lezzies will be insane tonight. Mo’s back for one night and one night only. If you book her, they will come.”

  Sam stopped dead fast and turned to walk away.

  Tucker grabbed her arm. “Hold up, sister. Don’t be like that.”

  “Tuck, I’m not in the mood at all to see her. I’ve got absolutely no filter nor any patience for her.”

  “Don’t think I remember you having much of either one of those before where she was concerned.” Tucker pulled her arm to guide her closer to the bar. “Come on. I’ve not seen you in what, two years? You owe me a drink,” she yelled over her shoulder.

  Sam dragged her feet behind. “I thought you said you were buying.”

  “I am.”

  “In that case, make it a double.”

  “Hold up one second. Sit here. Let me get my buddy over there to catch the bar so we can talk for a minute.” Tucker pointed to an empty stool for Sam. “What ya drinking these days?”

  “Basically alcohol. Any and all kinds. Tonight, let’s do a rum and coke.” Sam sat on the stool against the wall of the far corner of the bar. This would be a good spot for the night. It was secluded and hidden enough not to be noticed. She didn’t want to see anyone from her past, especially Mo. “Of all nights, why does she have to be here tonight? I tell you, Tuck, I’m so over this visit.”

  “Hey!” Tuck dumped several ice cubes into a drinking glass. “I take offense to that.”

  Sam pinched the bridge of her nose. “Girl, I’m sorry. Of course I’m happy to see you. I came here the first chance I got. Skeletons, you know? I’ve got too many of them that keep trying to pull me back into a past I’m desperately trying to forget.”

  Tuck set Sam’s drink in front of her. “Here’s to forgetting. This should help with that.” She tapped the lip of it with the bottom of her beer glass. “So, what’s new with you? Where you been hiding these days?”

  “Lately? I’ve been in Maine.”

  “Are you shitting me?”

  “I shit you not.” Sam took a sip of her drink and smiled at her friend who apparently knew she needed it heavy on the rum. She winked over the top of her glass. “I’m practicing OB in a little clinic up there.”

  “A clinic? What happened to the badass surgeon who used to come in here telling me about all the blood and guts? I ain’t that good in my geography but I’m not thinking Maine has any booming metropolis cities. Thought you would never end up in a place like that, much less a clinic.”

  “You and me both. Yet here I am.” Sam held her hands in the air.

  “Do you like it?”

  Sam smiled with thoughts of Gentry, her budding belly, and the warm welcome she received at Seasons. “Yes, I do.” She looked up at Tucker shyly. “A lot, actually.”

  Tucker slapped Sam’s arm. “Oh hell, I know that look. Who is she?”

  “Get out of here with that. You don’t know anything.”

  “The fuck I don’t. You’ve got that shit-eating grin on your face. Only one thing puts that look on you and it’s a new girl. Who’s the fresh meat?”

  Sam took a swallow of her drink. She twirled the glass on top of the bar and thought about the woman for whom Tucker was referring. She didn’t know her anymore. So much had changed from the days of when she frequented the bar. “It’s not like that. I’m not like that anymore.”

  “Seems that’s going around.” Tucker leaned in closer as it was starting to get harder to understand what Sam was saying. She looked out over the growing crowd of women. “Caught up with Mo earlier when she came in to do
a sound check. She says she’s changing too. Done found her someone she’s got her eye on. Acting like she may settle down a bit.”

  “If she said that, you know it’s a damn lie. Everything out of her mouth is a lie. She manipulates, Tuck, and you know it. She finds their weakness and attacks.”

  “When you gonna let that shit go, Sam? How many years has that been? Look at you. You’re a freaking doctor now. Ain’t it time?”

  “It wasn’t one girl or one instance. She went after every single woman she ever saw me with.” Sam tapped her finger on the bar. “Every. Single. One.”

  “Don’t you think you’re exaggerating?”

  “Nope. Not one bit. It got so bad that I couldn’t even dance with a woman without her spinning her way in between us. It was fucking ridiculous is what it was.” Sam was starting to get angry. She downed the last of her drink, determined she was about to leave.

  Tuck picked up her empty glass. “You know why she did that, don’t you?”

  “Yep. Because she’s a manipulating, jealous, lying little bitch.”

  Tucker tilted her head to Sam and pointed at her. “For a doc, you ain’t the brightest.” She stepped to the side to fill Sam’s glass with another rum and coke. “She looked up to you. She wanted to be like you. She did everything she could to try to get you to notice her.”

  “Oh, I noticed, alright. Saw right through her, unlike any of y’all. Remember, I was the one they would come running back to after they realized they had been used by her. I may have dated around but I never used lies to get them into bed with me. I didn’t have to.” Sam took a swallow of her drink. “I think I’m the only pants around here she didn’t get in.”

  Tucker put both of her hands in the pockets of her pants and smiled an impish smile. “Too bad, honey, because it was one damn crazy ride.” Tucker laughed loudly.

  “You’re not right,” Sam yelled. She turned around on her stool to see why all of a sudden it seemed louder. A woman trying to find her place along the side of the dance floor bumped into her. She looked at Sam as if she saw right through her. Immediately, she turned back around. She craned her neck to see the deejay’s booth.