“Maybe. Which,” she interrupted Levi before he could spit a single syllable out, “means no, but I’ll think about it. Now go wash up. Dinner should be ready.”
“Is Mr. Tucker eating dinner with us again?”
Crap. He really didn’t want to make her feel any more uncomfortable than he already had. But maybe if he made it through dinner without hitting on her—or touching her—their friendship would return back to…normal.
She surprised him with her response. “Of course, he’s welcome to.” She smiled a bit too smugly. “We’re having tofu stir fry.”
Crap. Thankfully his stomach still had a lining of oatmeal cookies, and he’d only need a few bites of that natural, organic junk to keep it from growling. “Sounds…interesting.” He hesitated before adding, “I’m an adventurous man. I’ll give it a whirl. Should I set out Levi’s Spider-Man plate again?” he asked as he walked into the kitchen and opened the cabinet.
“Batman.”
Okay, so she wasn’t in a talkative mode. He couldn’t blame her. He completely sideswiped her with the movie comment and practically invited himself to dinner. Originally, his intent had been to smooth things over and keep things relaxed and easy between them again, but that all fell by the wayside and he mentally kicked himself for being such a dumbass. Cole took the Thomas plate again for himself. He needed to invest in some superhero dinnerware. It beat paper plates any day of the week.
Sam kept her distance from him, and it needed to end now. “Listen, Sam. I wanted to apologize for—”
“All clean. Can I sit next to Mr. Tucker?” Levi asked as he barreled down the hall.
Sighing, Sam said, “Sure, bud, wherever you want.” She slowly brought a large pot of linguini, then a dish of vegetables to the table, scooped a pile of each on Levi’s plate and then served Cole. “Oh, sorry. I guess you can serve yourself.”
“No, go ahead. Smells great.” She scowled down at him. Nope, not working. The way to win back her friendship was not by using manners but by being himself. “I’m going to sit back and watch you take the first few bites. To make sure it’s not poisoned or anything.”
She gasped at his rude remark and fired daggers at him with her sexy eyes. “You think I’d feed my son poison?” she gritted out between her teeth.
Dipshit. He hadn’t thought of that. Slowly, he picked up his fork and fed his body the foreign substance. Meat and potatoes were his thing, not a plate of girly tofu. But for Sam, he’d do practically anything. He brought a forkful to his mouth, aware of a set of little amber eyes watching him. Cole chewed, coughed until his eyes watered, grabbed his throat and keeled over.
“Cole!” Sam reached for him, but he sat up before he could scare Levi.
Winking, he said, “Just kidding. It’s not half bad.”
She stared open mouthed at him while Levi burst out laughing.
“That was funny! I don’t like veg-a-bles eeever.”
“I’m teasing your mom, kiddo. She’s a pretty good cook. Now eat up so you can grow big and strong. Like me.” He smiled. “These veg-a-bles are good for you.”
Sam’s eyes turned from discerning to friendly.
“Did the sun come out or did you just smile at me?”
Good-natured again, she rolled her eyes and picked up her fork. The adults finished the meal in silence while Levi chattered on about superheroes, villains, preschool, and Christmas.
“Who is your favorite superhero today?”
“I think I’d want to go on a piggy back ride on the Flash. He would race super-fast and keep me away from all the bad guys. What is the Flash’s real name?”
“Hmm, good question. I’m not sure.”
“Why don’t you know his name?”
“I’ll have to look that up on the computer at home.”
“We have a ’puter here. Can we go look it up?”
“No, cutie pie. It’s almost bedtime. You need to brush your teeth and put your jammies on. You can watch one show tonight, okay?” Sam interrupted.
When the plates were empty, Cole scooted his chair back and cleared the table.
“You don’t have to do that. You’re our guest.”
“Your uninvited guest. As I said before, my mother raised me right. One person cooks and the other cleans; that’s how we did it in our house. I’ll do the dishes if you need to give Levi a bath or something.”
She stood and stared at him, her expression unreadable, but nodded and rounded up Levi. Shortly after she left, he heard the water running and then the sounds of laughter and splashing from the bathroom. Not wanting to intrude any more than he already had, he finished up the dishes, wiped down the stove and tabletop, and then grabbed his coat. He stuck his feet in his boots without bothering to tie them, pulled his coat on and let himself out.
“Hey!” Sam called from the open door as he was sliding into his truck. “Thanks…for doing the dishes.” She stood on the front steps and shivered. He inwardly groaned imagining his arms wrapped tightly around her body.
“No problem. Thanks for dinner. And for taking care of Mrs. Willard and everyone else. Let me know if you have any questions…with the properties, okay?”
“Sure. Yeah. Okay.”
They stood in awkward silence, twenty feet separating them, but his body warmed from her presence.
“Well, good night.” She turned around and closed the door softly behind her.
Not one pickup line or sexist thought rolled through his head. Damn, he was in deep.
Chapter 5
As Christmas lurked around the corner, the preschool children grew more and more restless for Santa Claus to come. Ms. Maddie, the preschool teacher, introduced the children to Lucy, the Elf on the Shelf who moved around daily. Every morning the first thing the children looked for as they entered the inviting doors to the center was Lucy. She often hid so well the children didn’t spot her for a few hours.
Every night, Lucy would report back to Santa what she saw and heard. Much to the delight of the daycare workers and volunteers, the little boys and girls worked so hard to be on their best behavior and earn a good report from their dedicated elf.
Levi’s Christmas wish list was short and sweet: a puppy, the Iron Man movie, candy, and a little brother. Sam wasn’t sure what she was going to do this year. She had yet to preview the movie, didn’t have the energy for a puppy, and unless she became the next Virgin Mary having a child through Immaculate Conception, Levi would remain an only child.
Her heart sank as she mourned for her little girl. She imagined what she would have been buying for Abigail. Dolls, maybe some Barbies, pretend makeup, dress-up clothes, and play jewelry. Each year the heartache lessened, but Emma would never forget and never stop wishing she could go back in time.
But the active little boy who filled every remaining inch of her heart kept her mind off the past…most days. She rang the doorbell to the daycare center and smiled at the loud commotion on the other side of the door.
Ms. Mimi answered the door. “My goodness. Mr. Levi is going to be one tuckered out little boy tonight. He’s running around here telling all the kids about his puppy and new little brother.”
Sam gasped. “Oh no. He doesn’t really think…”
“I didn’t think you were expecting,” Ms. Mimi said, glancing down at Sam’s belly.
Instinctively she cradled her empty womb and sadly nodded. “No, no little brother for Levi. I wasn’t planning on a puppy either, but…gosh, why can’t he ask for something simple?”
“Your little guy cracks me up. I sure love him to death though.”
“Thank you. He’s definitely a keeper.”
“Sam, I don’t mean to pry, but I know you’re new around these parts and I want to extend an invitation to spend Christmas with us. We’ll be at my son and daughter-in-law’s house, and I know they would love to have you and Levi. The twins will be thrilled to have someone their age to play with.”
Touched by the generosity, Sam smiled. “Thank you. That is
the sweetest offer, but we’re actually going down to Connecticut to be with my family.”
“Oh, that’s so good to hear. If you’re around for New Year’s, we’ll be at Meg and Connor’s for that as well. You’re both more than welcome to come. The kids end up inviting all sorts of friends. Some other parents and children from daycare stop by as well.”
“That sounds like fun. Maybe we will come, if you don’t think she’d mind.”
“Oh gosh, no. Meg actually asked me to invite you. She said she was in such a rush this morning dropping off the twins that she didn’t have a chance to ask you in person.”
“Well, then. We’d love to.” She wished the daycare workers a happy holiday and packed Levi and his crafts in the truck. Once home, Levi rushed to his room to play with his new action heroes he’d received from the secret Santa swap while Sam packed their bags for their road trip.
Christmas came rather quickly in Sam’s mind but not soon enough for Levi. As she and Levi were walking to the truck with the last load of presents, Cole pulled into her driveway.
“Hey, big guy,” he said, giving Levi a high-five completely ignoring Sam. “Did you pick out which cookies you’re gonna leave out for Santa tomorrow?”
“I’m going to my grammie’s and we’re going to make gingerbread men. I’m going to make a Batman and an Iron Man one. Maybe I’ll leave Santa the Iron Man, but I probably won’t. I’ll probably eat his head off,” Levi giggled, “or his butt.”
“I like to bite their hands and feet off first and save the head for last.”
Levi scrunched his nose thinking about it. “Or, I can eat the eyes and nose and boogers first.” He giggled again.
“Levi Adam. No potty talk,” Sam reprimanded.
“I mean I’m going to eat his eyeballs and nose and dirty, stinky toes and maybe his belly-button first.” He snorted, unable to control himself.
Cole stood and pulled Levi’s hat over his face. “You’re a nut.”
“No, you’re a nut!” Levi screamed as he took off his hat.
“You’re a goof-ball,” Cole pulled the hat back over Levi’s face.
Unsure whether to laugh or break up the two immature boys in her front yard, Sam stood with her hands on her hips. “You’re both crazy. Levi, jump in the truck. I told Grammie and Grampy we’d be there before dinner.”
“Okay. Bye, Mr. Tucker. Santa is going to my Grammie and Grampy’s because we don’t have a chimney for him to slide down.”
“Makes perfect sense. Before you go though, I’d like to give you a present, if that’s okay with your mom?” Cole winked and looked up at Sam who slowly nodded.
“It’s in my truck. Buckle up. I’ll be right back.” Cole lifted Levi up and set him in his car seat. A few seconds later he came back with a big box wrapped in reindeer wrapping paper. “You want to wait until tomorrow to open it?”
“No! Can I open it now? Please?”
Cole looked at Sam for direction. She nodded and he turned his attention back to Levi. It took a mere two seconds for him to rip the paper to shreds.
“Mommy! Look! It’s an Iron Man costume and it has a mask and everything. And look! It’s an Iron Man guy.” He started pushing buttons and making his infamous pew pew shooting noises. Great, that’s all she’d hear for the next three hours in the car.
“What do you say to Mr. Tucker?”
“Thank you! This is awesome!”
Cole ruffled Levi’s head, pulled his cap over his face again and said, “Merry Christmas, big guy. I’ll see you on the flip side.” He closed the truck door and walked over to Sam. “I got you a little something too.”
She blushed. “Oh, you didn’t have to…I mean, thank you, but…”
“Just a little something.” He smiled his wicked smile that she hadn’t seen in quite some time. Leaning into her ear he whispered, “Don’t open it in front of the little guy.” And then he walked off leaving her standing in the middle of her driveway; cold, hot, and definitely bothered.
It wasn’t until later that night when her son snored gently beside her in the big bed in her old bedroom in her parents’ house that she opened the small package.
Her nerves had been apparent to all her family, even her three brothers. They contributed it to her moving away and being on her own, and she wasn’t about to admit the flutter in her belly, or the turmoil that made her heart race, had anything to do with the tall, dark and handsome man who saw her off earlier in the day.
In reality, her nerves had to do with the secret gift Cole had given her before she’d left. Telling her not to open it in front of her son left all sorts of images run through her mind. He was a notorious flirt and with his good looks, he had to be a player as well. Maybe the gift was something sexual or intimate.
No. He didn’t spark her as the type of guy to give a gift like that to her. At least, not someone like her. A mother, widow, tomboy. He was more the tall, curvaceous, diva type.
Quietly, she tore the paper from the small box and bit back a laugh, but a snort escaped. She looked over to her sleeping son, so sweet and precious.
Sam chewed her lip and contemplated what to do with the gift. Send it back? Keep it for her private collection? Ask Cole over? She went to bed with a grin on her face and it remained there all during the next day.
For the first time in four years, Sam spent the holiday with a smile on her face and a tickle in her belly.
* * * *
Back home in New Hampshire, Sam’s nerves took over rationality. Would he expect something from her? Of her? Did his gift imply a date? Was she even ready to date?
No, she didn’t think so. No one could ever replace Adam. He was the love of her life. Her first and only love. From high school sweethearts to a young married couple, every wonderful memory in her life stemmed from the ten years they had together. Sure, she had a loving family and stored hundreds of cherished childhood memories in her heart, but the part of her life she remembered most contained memories of Adam.
The note he’d passed her in the hallway at school asking her if she would go to the football game with him. Their first kiss under the bleachers well after the game was over. Sneaking out of her room at night to meet him behind her house in the woods for some hot and heavy make-out sessions. God! If her mother ever found out today, she’d probably ground Sam. The thought made her giggle.
Her first taste of alcohol came from a bottle of Miller Light that they had shared.
Her last taste of alcohol was the night she conceived Levi. Their anniversary night.
They were both virgins when they went to see Bridget Jones’s Diary at the drive-in, but were not by the time the movie was over. After that night, they’d spent many more tangled up in each other’s arms. A few years later, they’d married and spent every waking day and night together, working side-by-side, starting up their construction company.
He became part of her family; her brothers adopted him as one of their own and became best friends with him as well. Everyone had loved Adam. He was fun, yet serious, loyal, hardworking, and compassionate. No man could ever measure up to him.
If Cole asked her on a date, she would refuse. He was her employer and she wouldn’t mix business with pleasure. And no one could replace the two holes in her heart. Now that that was settled, she could focus on her son, her job, and her life.
Or at least try to.
Chapter 6
If there was one holiday when every man, woman…and teenager should be allowed a drink, it was New Year’s Eve. But not this year. At least, not for Cole. Part of him wanted to bail out of his brother and sister-in-law’s New Year’s Eve bash, but moping around the big farmhouse by himself would not be a wise decision. Most likely he’d end up at some bar, not because he had to have alcohol running through his veins but to feel normal again. Besides, knowing his family, they’d move the party to wherever he was, be it home or a local tavern, and save him from falling off the wagon. The alcohol didn’t tempt him, it was the social environment h
e craved. Or use to crave.
He loved his family for their support, but it irked him that they checked in on him so much. Because he loved them, he wouldn’t make them worry. After making sure the animals were fed and tucked in for the night, he showered and changed into jeans and a long-sleeve Henley shirt.
Normally he’d bring over a bottle of wine for Meg and Emma to split and a case of Sam Adams for his brothers, but this year he tucked a big ass box of chocolates under his arm and presented them to his chocolate-eyed sis-in-law.
The door opened and the tall, dark-haired, beauty greeted him.
“Cole! I’m so happy to see you,” Meg said as she kissed his cheek and reached for the box of chocolates.
The thing about Meg was she was always glad to see him. It wasn’t an act or the polite thing to say like, “How are you today?” She really meant what she said.
“If you could put a price tag on beauty, you'd be worth more than Fort Knox,” Cole said as he kissed Meg’s nose. “I know milk does a body good, but, baby, how much have you been drinking?”
Meg snorted. “That was weak, my friend. Cute, but weak. The twins are going to bed soon so Mama can have a celebratory glass of…” she stopped and looked awe-struck. “Oh, gosh, Cole. That was the cruelest thing I could have—”
He stopped her with a quick brotherly kiss on the lips. “Shh. Don’t go walking on eggshells around me, Meg. I want you guys to break out the champagne tonight. You deserve it.” He put his arm around her shoulder and guided her through the entryway to the living room. “Besides, it’s not like I was a raving alcoholic. I drink…drank socially and tended to let the social bit control me. I’m not having night sweats or cravings or anything. Have a good time and don’t worry about me. Okay?” He kissed her lightly on the nose before she could say more.
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