by Liwen Y. Ho
“Lucy! Where did you run off to now?” A red-faced Mrs. Benson emerged from the house. “Oh, there you are. Come wash your hands.” Seeing Sam, she waved. “You’re just in time, dear. We’re having soup and sandwiches.”
“Hi Mrs. B. That sounds great.” Grabbing Lucy’s hand, she urged her, “Come on, Luce, let’s race and see who gets to the bathroom first.”
“Me!” Lucy shook loose from Sam’s hold and ran toward the house, leaving Sam and Lucas behind.
Sam grabbed her canvas bag from the car and shut the door. “What do we do? She saw us kiss!”
Lucas took the bag from her and began walking up the front steps. “What’s the big deal?”
“What’s the big deal?” After taking a few seconds to undo the straps of her heels, Sam followed him to the dining room where he was setting the table. “Lucy saw you kiss a woman who’s not her mom. That’s gotta be weird for her. Unless she’s used to seeing you kiss women?”
He glanced up from the placemat he was arranging. “You’re cute when you’re jealous.”
“Lucas!” Good thing she liked the guy because he was not helping the situation. “You didn’t answer the question.”
“I promise you’re the only one I kiss. Hand me those napkins?”
She gave him a stack, along with a glare. “Still, I think it’s time we told her we’re dating. Find out if she has any questions. Make sure she’s okay with it.”
“Sure, we’ll talk to her.”
“Good. And just so you know, when I say we—” she gave him a cheeky smile “—I really mean you.”
Lucy bounded in at that moment, the ends of her French braids flying around her shoulders. She took a seat and pointed at the chair next to her. “Miss Sam, sit here.”
Sam complied and sat down. She flashed Lucas a look, jerking her head slightly to shift his attention to his daughter. “Now,” she mouthed.
He walked over and knelt down to Lucy’s eye level. “Sweetie, Miss Sam and I have something we want to talk to you about.”
Lucy’s eyes widened. “Are you having a baby?”
“What?” Lucas and Sam blurted together.
“Benji said when a boy and girl kiss, they make a baby.”
Sam burst out laughing. “It’s a little more complicated than that, sweetie.” She turned to Lucas and was glad to see some color returning to his face. “We’re not having a baby.”
“You need to get married first before you do that,” Lucas spoke firmly. “Don’t forget that, okay?”
Lucy nodded. “Yes, Daddy.”
“And if there are any boys who try to kiss you, tell them to ask me first.”
Sam rolled her eyes. Seriously? This was going to take a while. “Lucas, get to the point.”
“I’m getting to it,” he huffed. “Sweetheart, when a boy and a girl are friends, sometimes they want to be more than friends. That’s when they start dating and become girlfriend and boyfriend. Miss Sam and I are dating now. She’s my girlfriend and I’m her boyfriend. Girlfriends and boyfriends kiss, but only each other and no one else.”
Lucy furrowed her brows while she looked from one adult to the other. “Was Mommy your girlfriend?”
“Mommy was my wife and I will always, always love her. But Mommy is with Jesus now. She … ”
Seeing Lucas choke up, Sam jumped in, “Your Mommy loved your Daddy so much. She wanted him to find a new friend who loves him as much as she did. Someone who loves you as much as she did, too.” She reached for Lucy’s hand and clasped it in hers, marveling at how perfect her little dimpled fingers were. “This grown-up stuff can be confusing, but all you need to know is that I love your daddy and I love you, Lucy. That’s all that matters.”
Lucy threw her arms around Sam’s neck. “I love you, Miss Sam.”
Over Lucy’s shoulder, she saw Lucas’s jaw drop. Their eyes met and she was rewarded with a delighted, almost smug smile.
“I love you, too,” Lucas mouthed at her.
Without planning to, she had told Lucas she loved him for the first time. She had spoken those words to only one man before who had broken her trust. This time though she had no doubt her heart was safe. She now had the love of a man—a cop, no less—who lived to protect.
Chapter 13
Lucas took a deep breath and knocked on Sam’s door. After a minute of silence, he rang the bell. The cheerful greeting, “Hey, there’s someone at the door!” rang out, and the door soon opened.
“Hi, babe!” Sam gave him a quick peck on the lips, then headed back into her apartment. “I’m almost ready, just looking for my keys. I thought I put them in my purse, but they’re nowhere to be found.”
“We’ll find them.” He followed her in, watching her shuffle through stacks of magazines and letters on the coffee table, then flip over the pillows on the couch. Using his police training, he did a quick scan of the living room. The glint of a shiny object underneath the table caught his eye. He walked over for a closer look and spotted a keyring attached to a gold high heeled shoe with tiny rhinestones. Kneeling down, he picked up the set of keys and dangled it from one hand. “Is this what you’re looking for?”
Sam turned around and exclaimed, “Yes!” She eyed him for a moment with her lips curved in amusement. “I didn’t think you’d be doing this so soon.”
“Doing what?”
“Getting down on one knee.”
“I—uh,” Lucas spluttered, suddenly feeling cornered. Did she know something was up?
“Relax. I’m kidding.” She took the keys from him, grabbed her coat and purse off the couch, and gestured toward the door. “Let’s go. They better be serving appetizers by now. I’m starving.”
Lucas rose to his feet and dusted off his khaki pants. He watched Sam lean against the doorframe as she slipped on a pair of red high heels. The backless red dress she wore was similar to the one from their Homecoming dance, but more sophisticated. Sam looked as beautiful as she did a decade ago, but even more so tonight. There was a new confidence and grace in the way she smiled at him over her shoulder.
“Are you coming or are you going to stand there and stare at me all night?”
“Can I do both?” he marveled, walking over to place a kiss on the curve of her neck. “You look amazing.”
“You don’t look so bad yourself.” She turned, then leaned in to examine the side of his jaw. “Did you cut yourself shaving?”
“It’s just a nick. I got distracted.”
She flashed him a sly smile. “Without me around?”
“It doesn’t stop me from thinking about you.” His answer earned him a kiss. He only hoped his surprise planned for later that evening would bring about the same positive response. He took her hand and led her into the cool night air. “Let’s go find you some food. You need energy to dance later.”
She grinned. “Now you’re talking.”
They drove to the hotel where the reunion was taking place. From the moment they stepped inside the ballroom, all eyes were on them, in particular, Sam. She lit up the room with her laugh, and both female and male classmates came over to talk to her. The hardest part for Lucas wasn’t having to share her, but to address people’s questions about Lauren. Thankfully, word traveled throughout the room quickly, and most people offered their condolences without too much awkwardness.
Halfway through the evening, Sam pulled Lucas onto the dance floor during a slow song and whispered in his ear. “Last dance before we go?”
“You want to leave so soon? You didn’t talk to everyone yet.”
“I’m good. I got to dance with you, so my night’s complete.”
“Sure, if you’re ready to go, there’s somewhere I’d like to take you.”
Sam’s eyes lit up in interest. “Where?”
“You’ll see.”
“You’re keeping me in suspense? Let’s go!” She pulled him off the dance floor, and after saying goodbye to their friends, they left the hotel.
Once in the car, Lucas drove
a few miles across town. They pulled into the parking lot of Lincoln High School and parked.
Sam glanced out the window at the buildings before them. “You wanted to come here? Feeling nostalgic, are we?”
Lucas grabbed his jacket and opened the door. “Come on. We’re going back to where it all started.”
They exited the car and held hands as they walked onto the school campus.
“This is bringing back a lot of memories, some of which I’d rather forget.” Pointing to a row of classrooms, she remarked, “Isn’t that where we had detention?”
“You’re asking the wrong person. But I do remember where the chem lab is.”
They arrived at the next row of classrooms, and Lucas unlocked the first door and flipped on the lights. Regular chairs and desks took up one half of the room and lab workstations on the other. A large poster of the periodic table hung on one wall.
“Wow, it’s exactly the same.” Placing a hand on her hip, she asked. “Wait, how’d you get the key?”
“I’ve got connections.”
“Connections?” Sam asked suspiciously. “What are we doing here?”
“It’s time for a little experiment.” At her dubious look, he laughed. “Come on, where’s your sense of adventure?”
“Uh, it got squashed when I remembered how much I hated this place. I’m getting flashbacks of all the times Mrs. Martin snuck up on me and confiscated my phone.” She sat down on the metal stool Lucas set before her. “This better be good.”
“It will be. It’s fairly straightforward. Only a few steps.” He sat down next to her and pointed at the objects he had arranged on the table earlier in the day: a large glass beaker, a bottle of water, and a small bag of colored candy. With more ease than he felt, he opened the bottle and poured the water into the beaker. Handing the bag to Sam, he said, “Please pour these in.”
“That I can do.” Sam dumped in the seven pieces of candy and watched them float to the surface. “What now?”
“Now we wait.” Lucas produced a penny from his jacket pocket and placed it on the black tabletop. “Would you care to share your highs and lows for today?”
“Seriously? Well, I definitely know what the low is.” Sam glanced around the room. “Being reminded of all the time I spent suffering in this place. If it wasn’t for you, I would never have passed.”
“You’re saying all the work I made you do paid off?”
“I guess so,” she grudgingly admitted. “Fine, yes.”
“You’re very welcome.”
She groaned. “Thank you for helping me.”
“I love how much we’re agreeing with each other.” He touched the tip of her nose with affection. “How about the high?”
“Oh, that one’s easy.” She ran one finger down his navy blue tie and gave it a playful tug. “All the memories I have of us in this room. Fighting over who would get to pour or mix. Us elbowing each other and getting in each other’s way. That one time we knocked heads trying to look into the beaker at the same time.”
“That was bad. You have one hard head.”
“Ha!” She released his tie. “I need it to knock some sense into your thick skull.”
“I’d have to agree with that.”
“It took a while, but I think it worked.” She nodded to the coin and said, “Your turn. Remember, no copying. Get your own answers.”
“Using my words against me, are you?” The glint in her eyes put a smile to his face. There was so much about this woman that pushed him out of the predictable and comfortable into wanting more. He was ready for more. He hoped Sam felt the same way. He took a deep breath and nodded. “All right. My low is wishing I had taken more chances when I was younger. My high is getting the chance to do it now. Speaking of—” he checked the round clock on the wall “—it’s time to check on our experiment.”
“So, Mr. Choi, what’s the lesson for today?”
“Let’s take a look.” He gestured at the beaker, relieved to see a liquid rainbow had appeared. The water, once clear, now had streaks of color—red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple—flowing throughout it. “It worked.”
“The candy melted.” She gazed at the round, white pieces at the surface. “That’s got to be the prettiest sciencey thing I’ve ever seen. What are those floating things?”
“They’re letters that peeled off the candy. They don’t melt since they’re made of edible ink.”
“Fancy,” she remarked. “A. M. Y. R. R. E. M. Does it spell a word?”
“Two words, actually. Both starting with M.”
“Do I get a hint?”
“That was it.”
“You’re really making me work for this.” Sam hovered over the beaker as she thought out loud. “M.A.R.Y. Who’s Mary—oh!” Her sentence ended with a loud gasp as she looked up. “Lucas?”
“Down here.” He directed her attention to where he was kneeling on the floor. In his hand he held a black velvet box, which he opened to reveal a square cut yellow diamond engagement ring. The shocked look on her face made him grin. “I take it you figured out the message?”
Sam nodded, her lips trembling with emotion.
“Good. Sammie, this is where I fell for you years ago,” he began, surprised at the confidence he heard in his voice. “I didn’t understand much about love then, but I do now. I love you. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life. You were the first girl I kissed, and God willing, I want you to be the last woman I kiss. Will you do me the honor of being my wife?”
She stared at him, then the ring, and back again. Her mouth opened, but no sound came out.
He waited another minute and began feeling the hard floor warm under his knee. His smile faded and his tone faltered with his next question. “Will you marry me, Sam?”
Tears streaming down her face, she bent down and took Lucas’s face in both hands. “Yes. Yes!”
“Finally! Thank you,” he exclaimed. He placed the ring on her finger and breathed a sigh of relief. “I was starting to wonder if you’d lost your voice.”
She pulled him up and wrapped her arms around him. “That’ll never happen. You just surprised the heck out of me.” She held up her hand to gaze at the ring. “I love this ring almost as much as I love you.”
“You can thank Lucy for that. I was looking at the white diamonds when she pulled me over to the yellow ones. It’s definitely more you, bright and bold.”
“She knew you were going to propose? What did she say?”
“I told her I was going to ask if you wanted to be part of our family and live with us. She was all for that idea. You can help me go over the details with her later. I’ll admit, you do explain things a little better than me.”
She quirked an eyebrow. “A little?”
“Okay, a lot.”
The ringing of a cell phone interrupted them. Lucas reached into his pocket and answered the call. “Hello?” He responded in Cantonese, earning another shocked stare from Sam. “Okay, see you soon.”
“What is going on?”
“It’s time to celebrate.” Lucas began cleaning up the experiment. He dumped the contents of the beaker into a sink, wiped the table, and placed the stools back where he found them. “We have a party to go to at Koo’s Kitchen.”
“My parents’ restaurant? Was that my mother on the phone?”
“You catch on fast.” He winked. “I wanted their approval before proposing. Melanie helped me get in touch with them.”
“You got the key to this room from Ben, didn’t you?”
“Right again. Are you surprised I passed his inquisition?”
“Ben’s not the scary one; it’s my mother you have to win over. But you must’ve earned her approval if you proposed.“
“I got on her good side fairly quickly. She said I saved her from having to place an ad for you in the paper. And that I’ll be helping to save our Chinese people.” He cocked his head to one side. “I wasn’t sure what she meant by that comment.”
; “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“Believe me, I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.”
“I know.” Laughing, she reached for Lucas’s hand and pulled him close. “What I can’t believe is that I get to spend the rest of my life with you and Lucy. This marriage proposal’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me from getting pulled over.”
“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I’m glad you broke the law that day.”
“Really?” she asked, her tone revealing a little too much glee.
“Sammie Koo, don’t go getting any ideas. Let’s at least try to stay on the same side of the law from now on.”
She pretended to think for a moment, then released an exaggerated sigh. “Okay, fine. But only if we kiss on it.”
Lucas grinned. “Deal.”
And kiss, they did.
Afterword
When I decided to write a series, I figured three books would be a good number to aim for. I had no idea when I wrote book #2 who I would be focusing on for book #3, but Melanie’s sister Sam jumped off the pages, waving her arms and yelling, “Me!” Or maybe “Moi!” would have been more her style. Either way, I was intrigued by her feisty, “rock the boat” ways and said, “Why not?”
Little did I know how difficult her story would be to write! I wanted to play off on the whole “opposites attract” theme (which I love), so I needed to find a love interest who was as interesting as Sam and could hold his own. That’s how Lucas came about. He and Sam had me working overtime to create a story with fun dialogue, realistic character development and most of all—sparks! It was fun, but for a non-confrontational, anti-conflict introvert, it was not always easy. Good thing I have a hubby who is my alter ego. He, along with our spunky daughter, were the inspirations behind Sammie Koo. If you haven’t guessed, Lucas got some of his quirks from me.
