“Sadie just called. Agent Cooper filled her in. And the chief is on TV right now, giving a press conference.”
“Oh.” She tried to hide the tears in her voice, but it was tough to fool Sam. He took a step back and looked down at her face. “How do you women stay so strong through all the hard stuff, and only break down after it’s all said and done, anyway?”
She smiled in spite of the turmoil within. “It’s in our genes,” Carrie said. “If we break down during the crisis, the dingoes eat our babies. So things tend to hit us late. Why? Is Sadie having a hard day, too?”
“She can’t stop crying. But she says she’s happy. And that she knows now that she can handle anything that ever happens. But she still can’t stop crying. It makes no sense at all.”
“Makes perfect sense to me,” she said.
“That must be because you’re the same species.”
“Could you sit down, Sam? I need to talk to you about something.”
Sam sat at the kitchen table, helping himself to a cup of fresh coffee and one of the cinnamon buns she had just pulled out of the oven. She tended to cook when stressed. And then eat what she’d cooked. It wasn’t her favorite habit. Sam took a bite, chewed and swallowed, watched his mother working up her nerve, then nodded firmly.
“You’re finally going to tell me that I’m adopted, aren’t you?”
Carrie’s eyes widened, and she stared at him. “He told you?”
“Who?” Then he shook his head. “No one told me. I’ve known for years. We look nothing alike. Our blood types don’t match. You won’t talk about my father. I don’t know any of your relatives.” He licked his lips. “And you get so nervous every time anyone brings up the subject of that missing baby from sixteen years ago. I mean, you go white, Mom. I don’t know, maybe it’s not obvious to people who don’t know you as well as I do. But to me, you might as well have bold-face print across your forehead.”
She stared at him in disbelief.
“I’m Baby Doe, aren’t I?”
Tears brimming, she nodded. “I was on a dark, deserted road, heading for here, where my first real job as a doctor was waiting. And I found this young girl on the side of the road, in labor. I delivered you right there.”
He blinked slowly, nodding. “What was she like?”
“Pretty. And scared, and utterly alone. She said she was heading for Shadow Falls, too.” Carrie shrugged. “I wish I could tell you more about her. But I can’t. I went to find a phone to call for an ambulance to take the two of you to the hospital. This was before everyone had a cell phone. And when I came back, she was gone. She’d left you all bundled up in my jacket, with a note, asking me to raise you. See, during the labor, I’d told her I could never have kids of my own. And she seemed to think we were meant to meet on that road that night. She said when you want something badly enough, you can actually bring it into your life if you believe you can.”
“Sounds like something Gabe would say,” Sam muttered. He swallowed hard.
Carrie reached across the table to cover his hand with her own. “I loved you so much, so fast, that I knew I could never give you up. So I just let everyone in town believe you were mine by birth, and I started searching for her. I knew if I could find her, she would sign adoption papers and everything would be legal. But she was murdered before I had the chance. She was misidentified as Sarah Quinlan, with no family and no known love interest.” Carrie drew a breath. “If I’d told the truth, I could have lost you, and that just wasn’t a risk I was willing to take. So I forged names on the paperwork and filed for a birth certificate. And I’ve been terrified of the truth coming out ever since. I’m really sorry, Sam.”
He nodded slowly. “And you have no idea who my father is?”
She blinked and lowered her head. She so didn’t want to tell him. “I…I think I might. But I’d like to make sure before I tell you. Is that okay with you?”
“No. No, I think I’ve waited long enough. I love you, Mom, but you’ve been keeping way too many secrets from me for way too long now.”
She looked at him with fear in her heart. “Are you mad at me?”
He made a face. “For saving me? Protecting me all this time? Keeping me from becoming a ward of the state? Being the best mother in this town, maybe in the entire state of Vermont? Yeah. I’m furious.”
She blinked rapidly as tears spilled over from her eyes and onto her cheeks. “You’re amazing, you know that?”
“I was raised well. So tell me, who is it you think might be my father?”
She lowered her head. “Gabe.”
“Yes!” Sam shot to his feet, pumping his fist in the air. “I knew it. I just knew it! I mean, it makes sense. His VW Bus…its name is Livvy, after a woman he lived with once. He said he wanted to save her and couldn’t. And he looks like me. And his dad’s name is Sam and—”
“He told you that?” she asked sharply.
“Yeah. I promised to keep it to myself. But the name—how did that happen, anyway?”
“Livvy named you, in the note she left for me. She must have hoped it would help mend the rift between Gabe and his father someday.”
“We both play guitar. And he even has a birthmark like mine. Does Gabe know? Have you told him?”
Carrie nodded. “He knows. It’s why he came here, to try to find you. I’m afraid it’s also why he’s been…pretending to have feelings for me.”
Sam had been grinning, but his smile froze and died when she said that. “No, I don’t think so. Gabe wouldn’t do that, Mom.”
“You’d be surprised what people will do to protect their own child. Look at what I’ve been doing all these years. I broke the law. That’s not like me.”
“Yeah, but still…”
“Nothing is for sure,” Carrie said. “We’re sending out DNA samples to make sure. I was going to steal your toothbrush and not tell you until I was sure, but since it’s all out in the open now, I’ll just take a mouth swab, with your permission.”
He nodded. “Sure.” He looked toward the door. “Mom, as much as I like him, if it turns out he was playing you to get close to me, I’ll—”
“You’ll forgive him and let it go,” she said.
He didn’t say he would, but he didn’t argue, either.
“Gabe and I have some things to work out, too, Sam. We’ve got to discuss…a lot of legal matters. Because DNA notwithstanding, I’m really pretty sure about this. And I know you’ve waited a long time to get to know your father, but I’m wondering if you could manage to wait two more days. For me.”
“What do you mean?” Sam asked.
Carrie sighed and thought about what was going to happen if word of the truth got out. The hordes of press that would descend on Shadow Falls—again. The publicity that would be focused on her and her son. The likelihood that she would be depicted as a kidnapper who’d stolen a baby and kept him from his rightful father, a beloved songwriter, and—if the whole truth were revealed—his grandfather, the adored country music legend, for all these years. She didn’t want Sam exposed to any of the feeding frenzy that was about to ensue.
“I want you to do something for me, hon,” Carrie said, getting out of her chair, putting a palm to his cheek and holding his eyes with hers. “And I know you’re going to argue, but I really need you to give it some thought.”
“I’d do anything for you, Mom. And if it means giving you and Gabe some time to sort this out, I will. Because I think he’s really nuts about you.”
She almost started crying again. But she sniffed, stiffened and took a breath to relax her clenched-up throat muscles.
“Yeah, and you’re nuts about him, too, aren’t you?” Sam asked.
She decided not to answer that. “I want you to go on that camping trip you had planned for this weekend.”
He frowned at her. “Okay, then I have to retract my former statement. I’d do almost anything for you.” He frowned and tilted his head to one side. “Mom, I don’t want to leave Sadie.�
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“Sadie’s fine. She’s safe and well, and will probably be discharged in the morning. I’ve spoken to her, and she wants you to go. She even said she might come out and join you for the afternoon tomorrow, if it wouldn’t interfere with your ‘guy time.’”
“By tomorrow afternoon I’ll be sick and tired of guy time,” he said softly.
Carrie turned away to begin setting a few cinnamon buns, freshly iced and still warm, into a plastic container with an airtight lid. She was going to take them over to Rose to thank her for all she’d done to help during the crisis.
“I’ll tell you what,” Sam said. “I’ll make a deal with you.”
“What kind of a deal?” Carrie asked.
“I’ll go, because it’s only two nights and Sadie’s already been trying to talk me into it, and because the guys and I want to dedicate the trip to Kyle’s memory, like Gabe suggested. Kind of our own way of saying goodbye.”
“Sounds like you’d already decided to go.”
“My stuff’s already packed and in the car. We’re meeting at Alley’s at one and heading up to the state park from there.”
She rolled her eyes. “You couldn’t have told me that when I was spending all that time trying to talk you into it?”
“No, because I was going to make you promise to do something for me in return.”
“I’d do anything for you,” she said, repeating his own words back to him. “Just ask.”
“Try listening to what Gabe tells you,” Sam said. “Try believing in him. Do whatever it takes to prove it to yourself, but really, really try believing him. Because even if he’s not my father, Mom, I don’t think he’s a liar. I really don’t. I think he’s…one of a kind. I’ve never met anyone like him before. And I don’t think you have, either.”
She felt tears burning behind her eyes again. “It’s true. I haven’t.”
“He’s in tune, Mom. He’s really onto something with this philosophy of his. So if it’s six of one and a half dozen of the other, go with believing in him. Because I don’t think you’ll go wrong if you do.”
“You really think so?”
He nodded. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you, Mom. And since you’re one of a kind, too, and the best catch in town, it seems to me like it’s meant to be.”
“You think I’d be nuts to let him get away, don’t you, Sam?”
He shook his head. “Nope. I think he’d be nuts to let you get away.” He kissed her cheek. “I’m going to head over to the hospital to see Sadie. You coming later?”
“About an hour. I’m going to spend a little time with Rose first. And then I’ll go to work and spend the first normal, routine day I’ve had in far too long.” She handed him the plastic container of cinnamon buns. “Take these to Sadie. I’ve got more in the oven.”
“You and Gabe get your shit together before I get back, would you?”
“I’ll do my best.” She hugged him. “God, I got lucky that night on the side of that road.”
“So did I,” Sam said, hugging her hard. “So did I.”
15
Just before noon, Sam drove his pride and joy along what was commonly known as “Old Route Six.” It used to be Shadow Falls’ main drag but had been replaced by a wider, straighter strip of pavement. Most of the businesses had relocated to the section of new road that ran straight through the center of town. The buildings that had housed them before had been torn down, converted into homes or just left to the mercy of the elements, so Old Route Six had a ghost town look about it in places. Alley’s was one of the few businesses that had stayed put and managed, some how, to stay afloat, despite being off the beaten path. Probably partly because, unlike most ice-cream parlors, it stayed open year-round and served a limited but delicious selection of food, as well.
The location was a scenic one. A river flowed behind the building, and there were round redwood-stained picnic tables with umbrellas and benches set up alongside the place, where people liked to sit and enjoy a cold treat on a hot summer day.
Sam figured his friends were probably already waiting to meet him there, before heading out to the state park for their camping weekend. He’d had a great visit with Sadie and had confided everything his mom had told him that morning. He didn’t have any doubt that he could trust Sadie to keep the news to herself.
She’d been surprised, excited and, predictably, worried about his mom. She’d actually threatened to punch Gabe in the nose if he hurt her. Sam smiled, shaking his head, as he recalled the fury in her eyes when she’d said it. He really did love that girl.
As he went to meet the guys, he told himself for the hundredth time that he had to keep what he knew private. His mom could get into a lot of trouble over it, and he didn’t want to be the one to bring that raining down on her. But he could hardly contain himself.
And he couldn’t help but wish that Kyle were there to discuss it with.
Sam was only about a mile away from Alley’s when he spotted Rose standing beside her classic Ford wagon with the wood-grain side panels, looking up and down the road. When she saw him approaching, she waved her arms.
Frowning, he pulled over behind her and got out. “Hey, Rose.”
“Oh, Sam, thank goodness you came along!” She was smiling in what appeared to be relief.
“What’s going on? You having car trouble?”
“I’m afraid so. Your mother mentioned some ice-cream stand to me this morning, and I recklessly decided to come out for a treat. But Lord, if I’d known it was so out-of-the-way I would have opted for the drugstore in town.”
He smiled. “It wouldn’t be the same. Trust me. So what’s up with your car?” He looked at it but didn’t see anything obvious. No flat tires, no smoke rolling out from under the hood.
“It’s behaving badly,” she explained. “Could you take a look?”
He looked at his watch and then at the car. He could probably spare five or ten minutes to help out and still meet the guys on time. After all, Rose had made them that great dinner and then organized the candlelight vigil for Sadie. He owed her.
“Sure,” he said, and he opened the driver’s door, saw the keys in the ignition, got in and started it up. Then he went around to the front and opened the hood. Leaning in, he listened, he looked, he even sniffed. But he didn’t find anything the matter. “It’s running fine now, Rose,” he said. “What was it doing, exactly?”
“Oh, I don’t know how to put it in mechanical terms.” Her eyes sparkled when she smiled in that self-deprecating way. She reminded him of what Snow White would look like at retirement age. “But it was kind of…bucking. Like an unruly colt. And making odd noises.”
“Odd noises?”
She tried to emulate the sound, and he had to bite his lip to keep from laughing out loud. He turned his face away to hide his reaction. “So you’re saying that your car was trying to cough up a hairball?”
“Oh, Sam!” Rose waved a hand at him and smiled at his little joke.
He turned the car off and looked at the engine, then turned it back on and listened again. He even had her get in and drive it forward a few yards, to see if he could hear any signs of trouble. And then, when she stopped, he said, “I don’t know what it could have been, Rose, but it’s fine now.”
She looked at the car as if it was not to be trusted. “You know I trust your opinion, Sam, but honestly, I’m too old to get stranded and have to walk for help. Would you mind terribly driving me back?”
“But you didn’t have your ice cream yet.”
“I think my appetite has been spoiled. Honestly, I was afraid I’d be stuck out here forever.”
He sighed. “You have a cell phone signal here, don’t you?”
“Well, I might, but I wouldn’t know.” She held up her phone and showed him its blank face. “I forgot to plug it in last night, and it’s utterly dead now.”
Sam heaved a sigh. “All right, I’ll take you back to the house. Come on. I’ll have to help you in. Mom’s alwa
ys saying she needs a stepladder.”
“Oh, we’re taking your…car?”
He thought that much was obvious. “Rose, I don’t dare leave it sitting on the side of the road. It’s an expensive vehicle, and to me, it’s just about priceless.”
She looked at her old station wagon and then at his shiny red SUV, and then she smiled a little. “I guess you’re right.”
“Not that your car isn’t pretty awesome, too,” he said. “You know, I’ve seen people fix up old woody wagons like that, make hot rods out of them.”
“Oh, I don’t know that I’d go that far,” she said. “But it gets me where I need to go just fine.”
“Tell you what,” Sam said. “Why don’t you drive yours and I’ll drive mine? I’ll follow you, and that way, if you get into any trouble, I’ll be right there. Okay?”
She shook her head. “No. No, I prefer to ride with you. I’ve had it with driving for today. It’s too hard on my nerves.”
He frowned but didn’t say anything as he helped her into his SUV. Then he placed a quick call to Wes and Sonny to tell them not to wait for him, that he would meet them later at the park.
Gabe thought it best to give Carrie some time, so he gave her the entire night to reflect. And then he decided to give her the entire day. He didn’t bother her with phone calls or even stop by the house to check on her. He could tell from the way she’d acted that she really didn’t want anything to do with him, so he thought the best thing he could do would be to give her some space.
But it was driving him crazy.
He’d spent the morning at the cabin, flipping through the photos on his laptop and looking mostly at the ones of his own father, taken at various stages of his career. Gabe had saved every photo he’d ever found of the man, album covers, publicity shots, public service ads. There were shots of him when he was only a few years older than young Sam was now, just a lanky country boy with an acoustic guitar slung over his shoulder and a great big smile on his face. Not a clue in those dark eyes of his that he would soon become a country music legend. That he would achieve levels of fame reserved for an extremely select few. The Beatles. Johnny Cash. Elvis.
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