by Lee, Liz
Sam didn’t know what to do, so he did the only thing he could think of. He patted her back and let her cry. And cry. And then when he thought maybe she was all cried out, he whispered, “I love you,” and that just made her cry more.
With that he felt like the worst kind of failure.
“You want me to give you some space?”
She nodded, but she didn’t look at him.
It would be okay. That’s what Sam told himself when he closed her office door and sat in the reception area. Because space was one thing, but no way in hell was he leaving Patty alone.
Patty drew in a shuddering breath and told herself to pull it together. She had no one to blame but herself. She’d pushed Sam away. She’d given him the choice to leave. Made it easy.
One person could help her.
She called Ida Mae’s cell and waited.
Ida Mae’s upbeat hello didn’t make sense.
“You’re welcome.”
“For…” She hoped Ida Mae couldn’t tell she was crying.
“My brother said he loves Sam. Said Sam signed all the paperwork and starts on Monday. A win-win he called it.”
Oh crap. What had she done?
She took a shuddering breath. “Your brother?”
Ida Mae laughed. “Sure. My brother asked for my help, and I was glad to pass on the job information to Sam. He was the perfect fit.”
Ida Mae had helped Sam. Her brother…
“He took the job at the high school?”
Her brain tried to process…But….
“Took it, met the students, got his room key. I’m guessing there’s trouble in paradise or you wouldn’t be asking me that question.”
Patty wanted to kick herself.
“I. Am. An. Idiot. I’ve got to let you go, Ida Mae.”
Chapter 15
The last person Patty expected to see when she stepped out of her office was Sam.
But there he was. Sitting in a detention desk. Talking to Becky and Meg like he was their new best friend. Relief flooded through her. She didn’t have to go search for him.
God, he looked so good. So perfect.
“Sam?”
Sam did this jump, wince, skip, dance and pushed her back into the office, where he closed the door while waving at her friends.
Her friends who were watching with wide eyes and waving back like they liked him.
And just like that, her tears started again. And then he was wiping them away.
“You took the job,” she accused.
“Yes.” He didn’t even look apologetic.
“You’re not leaving,” she said again her heart racing.
He stopped, looked confused for a moment. “How exactly did you interpret ‘I love you’ to mean I was leaving?”
Patty didn’t know. She didn’t know a lot all the sudden. It was like he’d tilted her world on its axis. Changed everything.
She just knew her heart was suddenly light and… “You’re staying.”
Sam looked at her like she was crazy, but this time he shrugged. “I’ve got to. See, there’s this girl I love. I’ve always loved her. I lost sight of that for a while. Put the world in front of her. Stuck with a job that kept us apart for years. But then she had enough of that life. And I did, too. I chose her. And we had a great time falling in love all over again. Until I got this phone call and didn’t talk about it, didn’t even ask her opinion. Just left like it was the only choice. God, I’m so sorry I did that to you, Patty.”
It was like Patty could hear the ocean rushing through her brain. She was trying to breathe. Trying to find the right words. Trying to say it’s okay, Sam.
But she couldn’t. She had to tell him. “I’m sorry, too. I was so hurt. So mad. So scared.”
His face fell at her words and he tried to explain. “I was scared, too. I think that’s why I left. God, I was so stupid. But when the Army rescued me, I made a promise to myself. I would come back to you and if you’d have me back, I’d never leave again. And I’ll be honest, Patty, at first that scared me almost as much as being in a terrorist camp, kidnapped and alone. But now, the idea of life without you is what terrifies me. I love you. I want to be with you. I’m not leaving again. Even if you tell me to leave. But God, I hope you won’t do that.”
He waited then. Waited and looked at her with a world of hope on his face. And something warm and wonderful blossomed in her chest.
And when she threw herself in his arms for a kiss, he didn’t push her away.
Everything would be okay. She would be okay. This would be okay.
Peace filled her.
Patty stepped away from the best kiss of her life and looked at her disaster of an office. She never left a mess. Never broke down. Never lost control.
“Good now?” Sam asked the question with a tense little smile that said he was concerned she’d lose it again.
God, it really felt good to fall apart a little.
It felt good to cry and be held and know it was all going to be okay.
They were going to be okay.
“I think so,” she said. But then she remembered Cadyn and Nick Cannon and the five million pages of paperwork and the email from the district office warning that the bullying investigation would be on the evening news and the fact that holy crap, she and Sam had had unprotected sex. Often.
And the tightness in her chest started again. Until she locked eyes on Sam. The lines around his right eye were more pronounced with the scar, and his lopsided smile made her kind of crazy.
She fiddled with the charms on her bracelet. She’d run out of space to add new charms. And that was okay. Everything was okay. Because Sam….
“I thought you were going to die,” she said and then she covered her mouth, because that was over. They were past that.
Sam stepped toward her, pulled her to him, and she rested her head against his chest and breathed in his spicy scent and thanked God he was here with her now, holding her.
“You saved my life,” he said. His voice rumbled through his chest where she’d pressed her ear. “I love you,” he said.
And with that, Patty Jackson knew all was right in her world.
The next day after her parents left for their cruise and Cadyn went to Saturday cheer practice, Patty finished her coffee and slipped into a navy blue dress with capped sleeves. Thank goodness for a warm fall day. She slid into a pair of blingy flipflops with a heel and smiled as she looked in the mirror. She looked good. She looked happy. Because she was.
Sam was working in his classroom today. She’d promised to stop by after the Saturday session.
She slicked on her petal pink lipgloss then grabbed her bookbag and headed to the library.
She had a group of early readers who needed her.
But when she got to the library, Ida Mae wasn’t there.
Patty put the bag in her locker then grabbed the new books, computer program and the cart of iPads.
She stopped by Ida Mae’s office, but it was dark, too. In all the years she’d volunteered, Ida Mae had never missed a Saturday. If her friend didn’t show by the end of her session, Patty decided she would call her for sure.
The sound of children laughing stopped her. And then Patty heard someone whisper “shhhh!” and she turned. But nothing was different. Still, something strange was going on here. She pushed the cart around the corner, and there was Sam on the kids’ carpet, surrounded by her early readers, a book in his hands. He was wearing a concert t-shirt from their first concert back when the stadium at Fair Park was the Stratosphere and grass tickets were less than ten bucks so crazy in love broke beyond belief college kids could hear live music. She had a matching shirt somewhere in the back of her closet.
Something warm and wonderful filled her heart, and she knew it was love. The kind of love that lasted forever.
When they saw her, Kaitlyn a seven-year-old towheaded terror giggled, and Sam tapped her nose and made her giggle more.
Then he looked at Patty and
held up a hand.
“Give me two minutes, Patty.” And he opened the book and started reading.
“I am Sam. Sam I am. I love Patty. She loves me. With Cadyn, we make three.”
Noise sounded and Patty’s heart stuttered then kicked into overdrive. Her mouth went dry and her stomach flipflopped. She stopped unloading the iPads and looked around in wonder as people stepped out from behind the book stacks. Cadyn was there with Nick, and so were her parents. And Meg and Becky. Her pulse started pounding in her ears.
Sam pointed at the students and they started chanting, “Patty and Sam, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”
One of the boys said, “Ewww, that’s nasty.”
Kaitlyn giggled again, and Sam turned to Patty.
He set the book down and walked to her then knelt on one knee, and Patty’s heart cartwheeled as he took her hand and said, “Patty Jackson, will you marry me, again? I know I can be a mess. I know I can be hard to live with, but I tried living without you and I hate it. I love you and you love me and we belong together, forever this time. Forever. Always.”
It was like everyone in the room held their collective breath while she looked into the eyes of the man she loved. Patty brushed away tears and swallowed, and whispered, “Oh Sam.”
And she dropped to her knees in front of him. And he said “195528,” and she stopped confused.
“What?”
He put his hands on either side of her face and whispered, “195528” and kissed her softly before leaning back and explaining.
“That’s how many days it’s been since I woke up in that hospital bed and saw the woman I knew I loved. Let’s make it more, Patty. Say yes.”
And she smiled. Her heart was suddenly light, and she couldn’t stop laughing. Behind them her students started chanting, “Sam and Patty sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G over and over, and she leaned into him to make their words true.
And then Ida Mae was there in a black robe, and Sam helped her stand and he said, “Ida Mae is ordained, Patty. She can do the ceremony right now.”
“It won’t be legal exactly. Not until you go register for a license on Monday,” Ida Mae said beaming, “but I figure you’ve already been married once, so this should work.”
“How about it, Patty? Marry me now.”
Patty din’t have to think about it more. She threw her arms around Sam’s neck and said, “Yes!”
And everyone in the children’s section of the library clapped as Sam moved in for another kiss, but Ida Mae stopped him. “That’s the end of the ceremony, Mr. Jackson. Let’s get this started.”
Ida Mae read from a Dr. Seuss book – one Patty usually gave to seniors who worked in her office. Then she asked them to say what was in their hearts for vows. Sam held her hand in his as he spoke.
“You are my sun and my moon. You are my everything, Patty. I love you more now than ever.”
Ida Mae turned to her then. Tears fell down Patty’s cheeks as she spoke.
“I have loved you for almost as long as I have known you, Sam. You make me a better, stronger person. I loved you, I love you, I will always and forever love you.”
And then Ida Mae stepped in front of them and said, “Sam, you may kiss your bride.”
And he did.
And everyone clapped. While the kiss continued and Patty’s senses reeled she heard a whoop and knew it was Cadyn.
Looked like her daughter was right. #ParentsAreTooEasy.
Later that night Sam held Patty in his arms in their bed. They listened as their house creaked with age like always.
Sam ran a hand down Patty’s cheek and kissed her, and even though they’d just made love, Patty’s breath caught at his touch.
She rolled over and pressed her lips to his, and he rubbed her shoulders then looked into her eyes. “You’re the real deal, Mrs. Jackson.”
Patty laughed, and she thought she might laugh forever. Because being with Sam did that. It always had.
“So are you, Mr. Jackson. So are you.”
Author’s Note
Dear Reader,
I love Sam and Patty so much. When I started this book, I had no idea how much I would love the two main characters and Cadyn and Nick. I usually write my books to fast music like Ozzy or Godsmack. That first draft is a whirlwind of writing, getting the story down on the page. Then I revise to something soft. I started revisions to Sam and Patty with the Romeo and Juliet Love Song, which was beautiful but never really felt right. When I stumbled onto Red Dunes, I was blown away. The more I revised, the more I fell in love with the song and how it seemed to work with this story, especially the cello version. By the time I was finished with the first round of revisions, Red Dunes was Sam and Patty’s song. I’ve never had that happen before, but it was AWESOME. Thank you, Spotify!
Music helps me write. All of my books have a soundtrack. Usually the music has nothing to do with the book theme. It’s more about what the music makes me feel while I’m writing. Something about Red Dunes resonated with how broken Patty is. She doesn’t realize it, though. She thinks she’s strong and powerful and reclaiming her life. If you’re a first time Liz Lee reader, you don’t know this, but that self-discovery theme is usually big in my stories. I think maybe because it mimics my personal growth story.
I truly hope you enjoyed Sam and Patty’s story, and I hope you’ll check out my other books as well.
As an indie author I rely on reader reviews on Amazon and Goodreads to get the word out about my novels. I’d love it if you’d click to the last page of this book and leave a review on Amazon now if you have time or log on to Amazon later and leave a review when you do have time.
Happy Reading!
Liz
Sign up for Liz Lee’s newsletter here!
Book List
Sign up for Liz Lee’s newsletter here!
No spam, just news about releases, giveaways and free reads. No more than once a month.
Other titles by Liz Lee
It Started in Texas Series
Close to Home, Book 1, Contemporary Romance (Kacie Jo and Donovan)
To Trust a Prince, Book, 2 Action Adventure/ Romantic Suspense (Sarah and Ali)
To Risk a Heart, Book 3 Romantic Suspense (Eliza Jane and Grady)
The Real Deal, Book 4, Contemporary Romance, September release (Patty and Sam)
Book 5, untitled Contemporary Romance, October release (Becky and Jeremiah)
The Truth About Romance, Book 6, Contemporary Romance, November release (Meg)
Stand alone Liz Lee novels
Texas Gold: Contemporary Romance
If You Dare: Steamy Contemporary Romance
Nobody’s Hero: Romantic Suspense
Second Chance Hero: Romantic Suspense
•Follow the blog.
•Find me on twitter @AuthorLizLee and find me on Goodreads.
• The Facebook Fan Page