Trusting Chance [Fate Harbor] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Caitlyn O'Leary

  “What do you do, Sarah?”

  “I volunteer to teach at two shelters in Florida. I’m teaching the administrators there how to use the computers they’ve received. I don’t do much in the grand scheme of things, just a few hours, here and there.”

  “Are you kidding? What you’re doing is critical! We couldn’t accomplish anything without volunteers like you. I want to thank you, Sarah.”

  “Let me guess, we’re talking about AHC,” Sam said as he walked into the dining room.

  “How’d you know?” Becca asked.

  “There are only two things that make Chance sound so lovesick, one is Josie, and the other is his brainchild. Is dinner ready?” Sam looked confused at the dirty look Chance threw his way. “What did I say?”

  “You started AHC?” Sarah asked in a reverent tone.

  “My foster sister, Olivia, and I founded it a few years ago. Starting a charity that could really make a difference seemed like a great opportunity to give back. I’m on the board of two others, so that I can learn the ins and outs.”

  “It sounds like you’ve taken on quite a lot, Chance,” Josie said, pensively. Chance came over and put his arm around her.

  “At my last physical, my doctor said I clocked in at my actual age. No more ulcer, no more cigarettes. He did, however, strongly suggest that it was time for me to find a good woman and settle down.” Chance brushed his lips against hers, causing her toes to curl. When they looked up from one another, Becca and Sam were already seated, passing the food to one another, while Sarah stood politely behind her chair, waiting for them.

  “I told Sarah you could be a while, and it wouldn’t be rude to start,” Sam explained with a smile. Sarah gave a small smile and Josie squeezed her sister’s hand, guiding her to a seat beside her.

  “Sorry about that. That was rude.”

  “Actually, it was kind of hot,” Sarah corrected as she started to fill her plate. She leaned in to Josie. “Oh, my God, I can’t believe I’m sitting with the cofounder of AHC. That is so cool!” Josie turned her eyes to Chance.

  “You’re right, he’s very cool.”

  Later that night, after the girls returned to the Sweet Dream apartment, the three of them sat on the couch, going over the events of the day.

  “As much as I tease you about AHC, I’m really envious of your involvement with it,” Sam confessed to Chance.

  “The door is always open. Olivia and I have told you more than once that we could really use you.”

  “Don’t you still have to stay away from computers because of the migraines?” Josie asked.

  “Actually, part of the problem was that I needed prescription eyeglasses. They figured that out on one of my last doctor visits,” Sam explained. “And Chance, while I really appreciate the offer, that’s not where my heart is,” Sam admitted. He shifted closer to Josie on the couch.

  “Yeah, I see where your heart is,” Chance said wryly, as he hooked Josie’s leg over his. Sam laughed.

  “No, really. As much as it pains me to admit it, I needed to get my ass in to see the doc that Leif recommended. The nightmares happen a lot less, now, and I’m coming to grips with my time overseas. Now, I’m ready to move onto something new. You both have played a big part in helping me see that.” Josie rested her head on his shoulder, content to let him continue.

  “Working with the kids on the basketball team is a rush. I’m loving it. I realized how much I enjoyed mentoring the new recruits in my platoon, but the ones I really gravitated to were those that had problems. I feel the same kind of passion about the kids on the team. Tonight I had to drive Kenneth home, because his parents forgot to pick him up, for the third time. Things aren’t going well at home.” Sam bent down and kissed the top of Josie’s head.

  “You’ll understand this, baby. He has a younger brother that he feels responsible for, and it sounds like he has taken on some of the parenting role. This team returns something priceless to him, the chance to be a kid. So, it’s good for him and our drive time home after practice gives him a safe place to vent.”

  “So, you want to work with kids as a profession? Do you want to teach? Be a coach?” Chance asked.

  “Social work,” came Sam’s decisive answer. “I know you didn’t have the opportunity to deal with social workers very much, but I did. Some were good, some were bad. But the good ones really made a difference. I want to make that kind of difference.” Josie gripped Sam’s hand tightly. She understood what he meant, but she also knew the emotional toll that kind of job could take on your very soul, and that worried her.

  Sam looked down at her. “What, baby?”

  “That’s a lot to ask of yourself,” she said delicately.

  “I’ve talked to my shrink about it. It’s not something I think I could do tomorrow. I still have some personal things to work through. And even though I have my bachelor’s degree, I’d still need to go back to school to get professional training to learn the coping skills I’ll need to deal with some of the shit I’ll see. But, Josie, this feels right.”

  “Oh, Sam!” she reached up and kissed him.

  “Sam, that’s tremendous! There’s no way in hell I could do that kind of job. I really admire you.” Chance reached around Josie and clasped his brother’s shoulder. Sam grinned at him.

  “I think this calls for a celebration!” Josie enthused, continuing to kiss on Sam. Sam looked over her shoulder to Chance.

  Chance shrugged. “If the lady insists on a celebration that might need to happen in the bedroom, who are we to disappoint her?” Chance tickled her from behind, then tossed her up over his shoulder. She giggled with delight, happy in the way life was going with her men.

  * * * *

  It was the low whimpers that woke Josie. Then she heard a shattering “No,” but it was in the voice of a child. Both she and Chance sat upright, and the lamp crashed to the floor, as Chance reached to turn it on.

  “Sam! Oh, honey, wake up. I have you, it’s all right, I have you,” Josie crooned. Huge shudders wracked through Sam’s body as he jerked awake. He pulled away, his eyes bright with tears. Josie reached across the space he’d created, and pulled him back into her arms, embracing him tightly. She felt him struggle, so she said the words she knew would quiet him. “Settle down, Sam, you’re hurting me.” He immediately stilled, like a deer in headlights.

  Chance had gotten the lamp back up on the nightstand, and turned it on. Suddenly, Sam met his friend’s eyes over Josie’s shoulder. He saw the love and compassion, and immediately burrowed his face into Josie’s neck. Breathing her in, feeling her soft locks, centered him. It was time. He gently pushed himself back from Josie, looking into her soft honey-brown eyes, and gave her a soft kiss.

  “It’s the kids I’m coaching, and the goddamn shrink I’m seeing. It’s just stirring up a lot of shit that I—apparently—need to deal with.” He looked at the two people who had become the center of his world, and realized it was safe to tell them. In fact, it was right to tell them. Josie squeezed his hands, while Chance locked eyes with him, and it took Sam back to that time when he had shown him his broken ribs. There hadn’t been pity, just acceptance and love, even back then, when they were twelve years old.

  “My old man was an abusive asshole, who beat the hell of my mom and me. I was still puny when I was fourteen, and I remember us being dirt poor. He’d beaten me pretty badly, and that’s how I’d ended up with the Hutchinses the first time. The second time, he was in prison so I thought life would get better, but Mom hooked up with the same type of guy, and we got it just as bad. That’s how I ended up with the Hutchinses the second time. Then, I got released to my parents, when Dad got out of prison. He was supposedly rehabilitated. Dad couldn’t get a job, so we had no money, and he started taking it out on us again.”

  Up to that point, Sam had been telling the story easily, but now he paused and took a deep breath. “One night, another ex-con who was incarcerated with Dad came over. Dad had been working Mom and I over good. We
were due to be evicted. His buddy was a big guy, and he told Dad he had some cash that he’d give Dad in exchange for a favor. I figured he’d have to rob a liquor store or something, and I hoped he would get caught.” Sam stopped talking and Josie felt her gorge rise. She cut her eyes over to Chance, but it was obvious he didn’t know where the story was going.

  “You’re safe with us, Sam. Please tell me what happened,” Josie pleaded, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

  “It’s not as bad as you think, baby,” Sam rushed to assure her. “I got away, but…” Sam choked. “But Dad agreed to sell me to that fat bastard. He said…he said…after all the money he’d put into raising me, that he ought to make some of it back.”

  “Jesus, Sam,” Chance breathed out. Josie watched as he moved to put his hand on Sam’s shoulder, hesitated, and then clasped it. “What happened next?”

  “Dad shoved me into my bedroom while they argued over the price. I climbed out the window and ran down the block to a neighbor I knew. He was a Marine. I was pretty beat up. I told him what was going on, and he went to my house and beat the ever-loving shit out of both of them.”

  “Did they go to jail?” Josie asked.

  “Just the big guy, not my dad.”

  “Why the fuck not?” Chance demanded.

  “’Cause he said he’d kill my mom if I told, and I believed him. He would have, Chance. But the beating I took got me out of the house and back to the Hutchinses, for the third, and final, time.” Josie could feel how cold and clammy Sam’s hands were. She pulled up the comforter, wrapping it around his shoulders. He arched an eyebrow at her.

  “What?” she sniffed. “If it were me, you’d be carrying me into the living room, building a fire, and plying me with brandy and cocoa. Therefore, I get to wrap your ass in a blanket!”

  “What happened to your parents?” Chance asked.

  “My mom ended up dying of cancer before my eighteenth birthday. She didn’t want anyone to tell me she was sick. Betty and Butch took me to her funeral.”

  “And your dad?” Josie asked.

  “He ended up in prison. I know he was released while I was overseas, but I never heard from him.” Josie stroked the part of Sam’s chest that was showing beneath the blanket.

  “I thought the nightmares were about Afghanistan,” Chance said.

  “They have been. This is the first time I’ve dreamt about that in years. Dr. Richardson warned me that this might happen. I’ve been talking to him about this, because I really want the three of us to work, and I’ve been thinking about some of the things both of you have said to me.” He shrugged his right shoulder, and pulled Josie to him.

  “I want to make a family with both of you. Josie, you’ve been a mirror to me. I really get it when you say you’re not worthy. Hell, I had a father who said I was so worthless he’d sell me like a piece of meat, so I guess deep down I have some self-esteem issues, too.” Josie was heartened to see him give a small grin.

  “Glad my lack of confidence could be of help,” she quipped.

  “In truth, it’s the fact that you’re so willing to trust us with your heart that has motivated me to confront my own demons. You’re my role model. I admire you so much, Josie. I think you are so brave.” Sam rested his forehead against hers.

  “I admire you both so much. My life was a cake walk,” Chance said thoughtfully.

  “I’m so thankful for that, Chance. You’ve brought so much light and laughter into my life. I don’t think I could have made it, man. Not without having you in my life,” Sam confessed.

  “That’s bullshit. You had Betty and Butch, same as me.”

  “Not the same thing. You were my touchstone. You were always there for me, you taught me how to be a kid, then how to be a teenager, and later on, how to be man. I always knew you accepted me, no matter how much I didn’t fit in. You helped me to fit in. You’re the only man I could imagine having this kind of relationship with.”

  “Sam, you might have been quiet and awkward, but you were always solid. I’ve always known you had my back. You know better than anyone what it means to trust your life into someone else’s hands. You did that every day, of every tour you served with your fellow Marines in Afghanistan. Well, it takes the very strongest kind of brotherly trust to share one perfect woman, Sam. You’re the only one I could imagine doing this with either.”

  Something in Josie’s heart lifted. All of her worries about why this couldn’t work, why she should take it slow. They floated away on the wings of a thousand butterflies, in a single heartbeat.

  “Chance, I don’t need to wait until Monday. I’m in for the long haul. I love you both, and I love what we have together. I believe in what we have together. I don’t ever want to leave,” she said, looking between both men.

  Both Chance and Sam’s arms flew around her, making it so she couldn’t breathe. Josie didn’t care, she was exactly where she wanted to be, surrounded by the two men she loved. She just prayed that in four days’ time Sam would be as equally committed. Chance felt her stiffen at the thought, and whispered in her ear, loud enough for Sam to hear. “Zee, Sam’s with us. The moment he told Dr. Richardson this stuff, he was on board. Tell her, Sam.”

  “You’re never getting rid of me, baby.” Sam’s voice was muffled by her hair. Then he looked up at the both of them. “This stuff isn’t over,” he warned. “The PTSD and shit. Apparently, it’s a process.” Josie ached at Sam’s vulnerable expression.

  “Yeah, well you signed on knowing I was an on-again, off-again workaholic asshole, and that’s not a process! That’s a forever thing, so I think Josie and I can manage to cope with you.”

  Josie watched as that slow Sam-smile spread across his face, and once again blessed having the three of them in this relationship.

  “Now, can we go build a fire and have cocoa? And cinnamon toast! I’m hungry.” Josie scurried out of the bed, and her men followed her.

  Chapter 22

  Chance had to go to Boston on Wednesday afternoon for AHC. So, Thursday morning at two in the morning, Sam insisted on driving Josie to Sweet Dream Desserts. She expected him to drop her off, but he said he was staying to help. She, Bill, and Sam got a good start on the orders for the upcoming Saturday festival, but Josie soon realized she was probably going to need even more help. She felt bad, but after Elise arrived to open the shop, she went upstairs to wake Becca and Sarah, asking if they would be willing to help.

  “Of course we will!” Sarah exclaimed. Josie looked over at Becca.

  “Well, duh! Josie, you should just expect us to help. You shouldn’t even have to ask.” Becca came over and hugged her. “But before you go back down, do you have a few minutes to talk?”

  Josie’s heart sank. She looked over at Sarah who flashed her an encouraging smile. Josie hoped that was a good sign. Becca sat down next to Josie on the sofa. She put her head on Josie’s shoulder, the way she’d done it as a little girl, when she had to talk about a bad grade at school or a boy who had broken her heart.

  “Josie, after you left Florida, Sarah gave me one of her ‘Come to Jesus’ talks. You know the kind.” Josie nodded. Sarah could be quite intimidating when she had a point to make. “She said a lot of things to me, but the one thing that stuck is how you deserved happiness more than anyone else in the whole world, and that is so true.”

  “When I really stopped to think about why your involvement with two guys unsettled me so, I realized that it was pretty simple. I just didn’t want you to get hurt. I’m so sorry. This is going to sound mean, and I don’t know how to say it without it sounding mean, okay?” Becca started to cry, and Josie did what she always did. She held her sister close, rocking her back and forth to soothe her.

  “It’s okay, baby. You can tell me anything. I promise, even if it sounds mean, I’ll know you’re saying it from a place of love. I promise.” There’s that phrase again, Josie thought.

  Becca hiccupped a sob, and then said, “I just worried if that asshole Russell dumped you
and made you so miserable, how could you keep two asshole guys happy? You would end up twice as sad and lonely, and it hurt my heart to think of you in such pain. I really don’t want to see you suffer the kind of abuse Mom used to put up with when we were little. I don’t remember it much—I remember always watching you try to clean up the messes Mom and Barry made for us. I don’t want that for you, you know? I don’t want that ever. I love you too much.” Becca sobbed, and Josie rocked.

  It stung Josie to learn that Becca believed that Russell had dumped her, but she kept that to herself, knowing that Becca needed to hear from parent-Josie right now, not sister-Josie.

  “Oh, baby, it’s all right. I love you, too. I know you want me happy.” Josie kept rocking until finally Becca could talk again. Then she asked, “So what did Sarah say?”

  “She said I should come and meet these guys for myself, and I should trust you. She said I should come with an open mind. I didn’t at first. But, now, I think these guys are really special, and I love the way that they treat you, Josie.” Becca smiled up at her.

  “They are pretty special.” Josie released her sister to retrieve the tissue box, and they both blew their noses in concert, lending a little levity to the moment. “I think I have the best sisters in the world, too. I’m so glad you told me everything, Becca,” Josie snorted, crying and laughing at the same time.

  “Hey, hey, hey! What about me? I’m the one who knocked some sense into her,” Sarah chimed in.

  “I said sisters, plural, didn’t I?” Josie teased. Sarah came over to the couch and the three of them hugged for a long time.

  “So are the two of you still willing to come down and help?”

  “We sure are,” they said simultaneously.

  “You guys are the best,” Josie said with a big smile. “When you’re ready, come downstairs, and I’ll put you to work.”

  When Becca and Sarah descended to the bakery they found the shop brimming with customers, and they all seemed to be laughing. As the girls looked around, they observed that Elise and Rob were manning the front. They investigated further, trying to identify the source of the entertainment, when they heard an argument coming from the back.