One Big Happy Family

by Andrea Edwards

  Another, stronger vision of Sam came into his heart. Her laughter, her warmth, her beauty tried to grab hold of his gloom and smash it apart. The light of her smile was blinding, rushing into the shadowy corners of his soul and sending his demons fleeing. She could set his feet to dancing again. She could remind his lips how to smile and his eyes how to glow.

  And teach his heart how to break once more if he let it start to care again.

  He looked at his own watch. Time for lunch. He forced his reluctant body out of the chair and out of the bank. Once outside, his feet took him to an Amish sandwich place where he usually ate when alone, but the line was on the long side. Kevin went on past the shop.

  He wasn’t very hungry. Maybe he should walk around for an hour or so. Do something that would clear his head and get the cobwebs out. He was getting too gloomy lately. It was partly being with Sam and being teased with what life could offer, and partly the memories of what he’d had.

  He stopped in front of the library. Why not? He could peruse the new magazines. Maybe find an interesting article or two and read in the pleasant cool of the old building.

  The new magazines were in long racks on the second floor and Kevin climbed the curving stairs, trying to decide whether he should search out his favorites or just start at A and work his way to—

  “Hi.”

  The voice banished all traces of the black cloud that wanted to hang over his head. He turned to find Sam smiling at him. She worked here. How had he forgotten that? Or had he forgotten it?

  “Hi. How are you?”

  “Just fine.”

  She was dressed in culottes, a sleeveless blouse, and sandals. It was obvious that Mabel’s friend hadn’t seen Sam in a long time. There was no way that someone could mistake her for a child. A lively, good-looking woman, yes. But definitely not a child.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “Checking out your magazine collection,” he replied, indicating the long racks to their side.

  “I thought you business types were more likely to use our research department.”

  “I was just going to browse.” He shrugged. “It’s my lunch hour.”

  “Mine, too.”

  They stood there, the noise of library quiet swirling around them—the clink of a coin slipped into a copying machine, a mother hushing her child, the clunk of books being stacked. He’d forgotten how really comfortable it was to be with her.

  “I was going to grab a sandwich,” he said. “I like that little Amish place over on Michigan.”

  “Oh. Me, too. That’s one of my favorite lunch places.”

  She had such a way about her, such a burst of energy in everything she did. She was like champagne just freshly opened—all bubbly and bright. But there was more to her than that. There was a depth that called to him, that promised peace and safety, that promised he could lay his head down and rest. Kevin would have been glad to miss lunch and just stare at Sam, drinking in everything about her.

  But he knew better. He’d made his decision. “Want to come with me?”

  “Let me get my stuff,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”

  He watched as she hurried up the stairs, not breathing until she was out of his sight. It was all right. This was just two friends having lunch. That wouldn’t betray their bankerclient relationship. And the age difference wouldn’t matter when they were just having lunch. He was so out of step with the world in every way, he’d forgotten how to have a friendship.

  “All set.”

  Sam was back with her smile and a fanny pack. He couldn’t help noticing the smile. No more than he could help noticing her fanny, which was just below her fanny pack.

  “Boy, here it is, almost September,” she said as they stepped outside into the summer air. “And still ninety degrees.”

  “Yeah,” he agreed. “And the humidity’s been awful. I almost wish I had a pair of gills so I could breathe easier.”

  The weather discussed and dismissed, they walked quietly toward the Amish sandwich shop. He took her arm as they crossed the street and there seemed little reason to drop it once they were across. He savored her joyful silence as they continued on, hand in hand.

  “You know,” Sam said, “I’ve been thinking.”

  He knew it was presumptuous to assume he’d lingered in her thoughts as she’d lingered in his, but he didn’t ask what she’d been thinking about.

  “My dad plays golf with his doctor.”

  For a moment, Kevin was lost. “Oh?”

  “And he plays bridge with our accountant. None of them argue that they can’t be friends because they’ve got a business relationship already.”

  He sighed. “I’m not sure we were heading toward friendship,” he said.

  “How do you know what we were heading toward? You backed off.” She stopped outside the sandwich shop and turned to face him. “Look, your bank has already approved the loan. You said you aren’t taking it back even if you’re making these periodic checks. So that makes you just like the guy that sold us the riding mower who’s coming over to give us some pointers on how to cut near the lake.”

  “I guess.” Her logic sounded too…too…logical.

  “Would anyone say anything if I went out with him?”

  A sudden fear gripped his heart. “Do you want to?”

  Sam laughed and the sun came out again. “No, I don’t want to. But I could without compromising our lawnmowing relationship. The transaction is over, just like ours. We can be friends. We can date. We can make mad passionate love down by the lake and no one would care.”

  Her last image stuck with him, stealing his breath and causing his heart to race double time. “They might if it was high noon,” he countered.

  She just stared at him.

  “Making love by the lake,” he said, his doubts seeming to disappear. “Have you forgotten already? I can’t say that I’m flattered.”

  Sam just laughed again, chasing the last vestiges of gloom away as she took hold of his arm and pulled him toward the sandwich shop. “So what do you say we grab some lunch?”

  “My treat,” Kevin said.

  “No.” She shook her head. “Besides, I owe you for Saturday.”

  “I know a better way for you to repay me,” he told her. “You see, I have to ask this really, really big favor…”

  Chapter Five

  “Do you want to dance, mingle some more, or walk around?” Kevin asked as he handed Sam a crystal glass of some kind of champagne punch.

  “This is your shindig,” she just said. “Whatever you want.”

  “I know you don’t like cavemen,” he said. “So I was trying to get you involved in the decision process.”

  “Nice try,” she said and sipped the punch, letting the bubbles tickle her nose as she looked over the glass at him.

  He was a handsome man any day of the week, but tonight he looked absolutely gorgeous in his white jacket and black tie. Lucky thing that as they’d been mingling among the other guests, she had been standing next to Kevin, not across from him. Too much watching him and her coherency level would plummet. Her determination that this relationship was just for fun might also get lost.

  “That’s a very pretty dress,” Kevin said.

  Sam looked down at the green silk. “It’s Fiona’s. One of the major advantages of having a sister is a larger wardrobe without paying for it.”

  “I have a sister but it doesn’t do a thing for my wardrobe.”

  Sam laughed and looked around them. They were standing amid a crowd of other formally dressed people on a patio at the back of a large brick mansion with formal gardens laid out in the English-manor style—straight walkways with everything neatly trimmed and in place. It was very nice but a little too formal for her tastes. Somewhere amid the shrubbery, a string quartet was playing show tunes.

  “Kevin, good to see you,” some hefty older man said in passing.

  “Mark.” Kevin nodded at the man.

  “Swe
ets?”

  A young lady with a tray of exquisite-looking little pastries stopped by them. Sam took one with nuts and chocolate and bit into it.

  “Oh, this is too good for words,” she said with a sigh. “And to think mere mortals made it.”

  “Ah, but did they?” Kevin asked as he took another one and gave it to Sam before taking one for himself. “Marcella has connections, you know. They could reach beyond South Bend and Mishawaka. Past Osceola, even.”

  Sam nibbled at the pastry Kevin had given her, trying to savor the ecstasy. “If I could bake things like this, it’s all I’d ever eat.”

  “I think you’d get tired of chocolate after a while.”

  “Not me. When I like something, I like it forever.”

  “Forever’s a long time.”

  “Not to me.”

  “What if something better comes along? Something newer?”

  Sam just laughed and popped the last of the pastry into her mouth. “Something better than chocolate? You’re kidding.”

  His eyes had taken on shadows. “You never know. These things happen.”

  “Not with me.” She took his arm. He was always worrying. “What now? Dancing, mingling or exploring?”

  “Whatever you—”

  “Oh, no,” she said with a laugh. “I’m not making a decision. This is your party.”

  “Actually, it’s Marcella Cartwright’s party,” Kevin said.

  “Should we ask her what to do?” Sam looked up into Kevin’s face, a teasing smile on her lips.

  The shadows were still lurking in the far corners of his eyes. He looked for all the world like a little boy who had gotten what he’d asked for from Santa, but was sure it was a mistake. And one that would be rectified soon.

  She felt an ache growing in her heart, a need to banish those shadows forever. She wanted to see him laugh and believe. She wanted to see hope lingering there in those eyes, and hear the certainty in his voice that life was good.

  But the longer her eyes searched his, the more her soul met his in sweet communion and all other thoughts seemed to fade. She found her lips aching for the touch of his. She found her hands itching to feel the steel beneath his skin. She found her body yearning to press close to him, closer enough to feel the rhythm of his heart next to hers.

  “Kevin, how nice to see you.”

  Whatever spell had been weaving its magic between Sam and Kevin was suddenly gone. But like dreams disappearing in the sunlight, the memory of it lingered just below the surface. She had to ignore it, she told herself. She wasn’t looking for a relationship. She had things to do, places to see, as it were. She looked over at the couple who had stopped by them.

  “Hello, Cindy,” Kevin said as he slipped his arm around Sam’s shoulders, his voice holding a thread of tension. Or was it just in his touch?

  “I’d like you to meet Samantha Scott,” he was saying. “Sam, this is my secretary, Cindy, and her husband, Joe.”

  “Hi.” Sam shook their hands.

  “It’s so nice to see you again,” Cindy said, her eyes eager. “I had no idea when you came to the bank the other day that you and Kevin were seeing each other.”

  Sam just stared at her.

  “Not that it matters,” Kevin said quickly. “But Sam and I are just friends.”

  “I didn’t mean anything,” Cindy said. “I was just glad to see you. I was afraid you weren’t going to make it.”

  “Even without your car pool, I made it.”

  “Car pool?” Cindy’s husband looked as confused as Sam was. “We didn’t come in a car pool,” he said.

  “Nope,” Kevin said lightly. “Turns out we didn’t need one, after all.”

  “Well, I’m glad,” Cindy said brightly. “Now, we ought to go over and say hi to the Cartwrights, so if you’ll excuse us…”

  Sam just watched the couple make their way through the crowd, wondering what all of that was about.

  “I’m tired of mingling,” Kevin said. “Let’s take a walk.”

  “Okay.” She took his hand and they strolled along the walkway that led toward the river. “That was an unusual exchange with your secretary.”

  He sighed. “Cindy means well.”

  They reached a bend in the path and the crowd on the patio disappeared behind the bushes. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves, a soft song sung by the summer evening. The shadows were long, stretching out before them with the promise of silence.

  She liked being alone here with Kevin, liked the sense of wonder as to what would be around the next bend. And she knew it wasn’t just the path she was thinking of.

  “Were we supposed to be having a torrid romance?” Sam asked after a moment.

  “No. Cindy just wanted the gory details.”

  “I didn’t think there were any. I suppose I could have made some up, but I don’t always think fast enough on my feet.”

  “I’m sure you’ll get another chance.”

  Sam said nothing, just pondered what that meant. Was he assuming they would run into Cindy again at the dinner? Or was he assuming they would go out again and run into her somewhere else?

  The path led them to a small gazebo set among the trees and overlooking the river. “Oh, this is perfect,” Sam said. “If I lived in that house, I’d be here all the time.”

  “Eating your chocolate pastries.”

  She grinned at him as she stepped onto the wooden floor. “You betcha.”

  She walked over to the rail, leaned on it and looked down at the water coursing below them. Both banks were heavily wooded so their view of the river was obscured, but somehow that made it better. More mysterious. More special.

  “It is nice here,” Kevin agreed, at her side.

  She turned to find his eyes on her and suddenly his words took on a different meaning. A deeper meaning. A more personal one. If she moved forward just a hair, she would be in his arms. The fire that had tried to consume her last Saturday would come rushing back.

  But maybe it was time to let her head be in charge for a while. She moved, but it was to turn back to the river. She gazed at the sky, drinking in the reddish orange of the setting sun.

  “How many kids were in your family?” she asked.

  “Just me and my sister,” he replied.

  “Lucky.” She flashed him a brief grin. “You never had to share your room with anybody.”

  “Nope.” He shook his head. “College was the first time I had a roommate.”

  “And was it a shock?”

  “We got along just fine,” Kevin said. “I am very easy to get along with.”

  “Would Cindy agree?”

  “Whew. You like to play tough, don’t you?”

  His tone was teasing, echoing hers, and she couldn’t help but turn back to face him. Once she’d done that, she couldn’t help but take that tiny step forward. And then she was in his arms.

  It was better than the gazebo and the chocolate pastries put together. His lips came down on hers as his hands spread out over her back, pulling her closer and closer into his embrace. She felt a sweet inertia claim her, a hypnotic languor seep through her blood. Her heart cried out to lie in his arms forever, her soul begged to feel his strength until the end of time.

  Her mouth moved against his, and the languor disappeared in a rush. Fire took its place—a seeking, hungry fire that wanted to consume them both in ecstasy. Her hands roamed over his back, pulling him closer so that she could feel his heart racing next to hers; so that she could feel his ragged breath echo hers. It was time standing still. It was heaven come down to earth to bless them. It was—

  “Is the river up ahead?”

  A voice from somewhere down the path shattered their seclusion. The evening became just a summer evening once again. She pulled from Kevin’s arms and tried to steady her faltering composure.

  “So how’s the inn business going?” Kevin said after a moment.

  His voice was none too steady, but she appreciated his attempt at normality. Especiall
y as several people had reached the gazebo and were oohing and ahing over it. Kevin took her arm and steered her past the others, nodding at them.

  “Any new developments?” he asked.

  “Not really.” She sounded like she’d just run a marathon, but at least her brain was semifunctioning. “We’ve decided to go ahead and have the boiler replaced, so we’ve got a stack of estimates to go through.”

  “Sounds like the kind of thing I probably should take a look at,” he said.

  “That’d be fine.” She was feeling steadier by the minute. “We think all the firms we contacted have good reputations, but your input would be appreciated.”

  Once they’d turned onto the path and were alone again, he let go of her arm. She felt relief rather than rejection. Breathing was almost possible when he wasn’t touching her.

  “Maybe I’ll stop by one evening next week,” he said. “Unless you’d rather I come during the day.”

  She smiled at him and felt her heart flutter like a bird caught in a cage. “No, evening is fine. I’m working during the day most of the week. Except for Monday, of course. I’m off since it’s Labor Day.”

  “Great. Next week, then.”

  The shadows were longer now, longer and deeper, as if they wanted to pull her into their darkness. But she just skipped lightly through them, certain that there was light up ahead. There was no reason to avoid Kevin or to pretend that they weren’t drawn to each other.

  She had her priorities in order. She knew her goals. There would be no straying from them just because her heart raced when he was near. She had everything under control.

  “I don’t want to keep you, Stacy,” Kevin said into the phone. “I know you must have plans for Labor Day.”

  “Yeah, I was just on my way out when you called,” she said. “But it was great to hear from you. What’ve you got on your agenda? Going to some hot picnic?”

  “Uh, no,” he admitted.

  “Dad.” That one word held about ten volumes of scolding. “You can’t just sit at home all the time. What about that lady everybody was talking about at Grandma and Grandpa’s? Why aren’t you taking her to the beach or the park or someplace?”