9. Chapter 9
”What in the world?” I ask when we hear the commotion going on in the garage.
”Ladies,” says a laughing Sam, walking into the kitchen, ”your men are about to throw down in there.”
”Why?” asks Mom. ”What happened?”
”They”re arguing about which of you ladies is the prettiest.”
Loren”s hand instinctively touches her belly. She smiles shyly and blushes a pretty pink.
”Adam will not back down,” says Katherine. ”I can tell you that much.”
”Did Jon use the ”Sharon is the original” speech?” asks Mom.
”How did you know?” asks Sam.
”These men have been having the same argument for years,” says Mom. ”You”re just the latest one to participate in the discussion.”
”And what did you have to say?” I ask Sam.
”Well,” he says, ”let me just say I”m not one to back down either.”
I slip my arm through his and smile because I know he didn”t leave the room until he had the last word, and I”m confident the last word was Laila.
”Do you want to go with me to pick up some pizza?” I ask.
”Perfect timing,” he says. ”Let”s go.”
Once we”re in the car, I lean over and kiss him on the cheek.
”What was that for?” he asks.
”That was for winning the beauty challenge in the garage.”
”How do you know I won?”
”Didn”t you?” I ask, smiling.
”I did,” he says, glancing at me. As soon as our eyes meet, I can tell he has something else on his mind.
”What”s wrong?” I ask before he has the chance to start the car.
”I ran into Eric at the tailor”s,” he says.
”What?” I ask.
”Yeah,” he says. ”He was walking out of the bank. When he saw your car, he looked around to see if he could find you. He found me instead.”
”So that”s why he”s been calling me,” I say. ”I”ve been letting it go to voicemail. ”
”He”s persistent,” Sam says.
”What did he say to you?” I ask. ”Was he rude?”
”I let him talk,” he says. ”In a nutshell, he wants you back and wants me gone.”
”Well, you are leaving,” I say.
”Yeah,” says Sam. ”But you”re leaving with me.”
”What he doesn”t know won”t hurt him?” I ask.
”He”s going to find out sooner or later,” Sam says.
”Well, let”s have it be as later as possible,” I say, feeling guilty as soon as the words are out. ”I know it sounds insensitive, but I don”t know what else I can do for him.”
”It”s not your responsibility to help him sort out his feelings,” he says.
Forty minutes later, we”re back at the house with three large pizzas, a salad, and garlic bread. We also picked up something for Loren and her family to have for dinner later.
”We”re back!” I exclaim when Katherine opens the door.
Everyone gathers around the pizza boxes and grabs lunch. As we sit at the table and get ready to eat, I can”t help but feel a little sad. My family will soon be enjoying these times without me.
After lunch, Adam leaves to go to the office for a few hours while Aaron and Sam go into the garage to tackle the changing table.
”Do you want us to take Holly home with us?” Mom asks as she and Dad get ready to leave.
”Thanks for offering,” says Loren. ”But we”d like to spend our first night back here together.”
”Mommy,” says Holly, ”can I go in the garage with Daddy?”
”Yes, if it”s ok with him,” says Loren. ”Go ask him.”
Holly hugs everyone goodbye before she skips away to find her dad. I can hear her little voice calling out for Aaron.
”Is it okay if I leave the truck here?” asks Dad.
”Of course,” says Loren. ”In fact, we have a few things we”d like to donate to the church thrift store, so can we borrow the truck?
”You got it,” says Dad.
”Try to get some rest, Sweetie,” Mom tells Loren as we walk them to their car.
”Please don”t lift any boxes or furniture,” Dad says to both Loren and Katherine.
”We won”t,” says Katherine. ”We promise.”
”We”ll make sure they don”t lift a finger,” I say.
We spend the next couple of hours helping Loren unpack some boxes. There are framed photos, including Aaron and Loren”s wedding pictures, to hang on the walls.
Loren looks like a princess in her lacy white wedding gown and long veil. Aaron”s dimples are adorably present in every photo.
They spent last summer in California, so there are pictures of Aaron teaching Holly to surf. The girl is a natural. The huge smile on her face in all the pictures clearly reflects how happy this child is.
”Remember the day you called crying happy tears?” I ask Loren. ”You said Holly had started calling you Mommy.”
”Yes,” Loren says. ”Aaron and Holly sat me down, and together, they asked if it would be okay if Holly called me Mommy.”
”I broke into tears,” says Loren. ”It was one of the best moments of my life. She”s been calling me Mommy ever since.”
”And this is the picture Aaron took of the two of you?” I ask, holding a framed photo of Loren and Holly. They”re both beaming, and Loren looks teary-eyed.
”Yep,” says Loren, ”That”s one of my favorite pictures. It”ll go right here.” She”s pointing at an area on the wall next to the hallway that leads to the bedrooms.
”It”ll be the last thing I see every night when I go to bed,” she says. ”It makes me so happy.”
”Do you have dinner plans tomorrow?” I ask when Katherine gets ready to leave.
”Adam and I are having dinner with the Baldwins tomorrow. They want to see the kids.”
Loren and I walk Katherine to her car and help her buckle the kids into their car seats.
Waving goodbye, I ask Loren, ”What about you? Do you have any dinner plans for tomorrow?
”No,” she says. ”What did you have in mind?”
”Sam and I leave early on Saturday,” I say. ”We”d like to spend some time with you guys before we go. ”
”Who”s taking you to the airport?” she asks.
”Mom and Dad,” I say. ”And I think they”re spending the weekend in the city.”
”What about tonight?” asks Loren.
”You”ve had a long day, Sis,” I say. ”Sam and I picked up some clam chowder and a baguette, so you guys don”t have to cook anything for dinner tonight. It”s in the fridge. Spend time with your husband and daughter. We”ll get out of your hair as soon as the guys are done with the changing table.”
”You”re so sweet,” says Loren.
”Try to take it easy the next few weeks,” I say. ”Baby Baldwin needs a little more time to develop his lungs and get the antibodies he needs to live outside your womb.”
”Come sit with me for a second,” she says.
”Was that Eric calling all morning?”
”Yes,” I say. ”We broke up after church on Sunday.”
”He thinks there”s something going on between you and Sam.”
”There is something going on between us,” I say, trying to be completely honest with the one person who knows me better than anyone.
”Tell me,” says Loren.
”You know how much I missed him,” I say. ”Now that he”s back, I don”t know that I can stand to see him leave my life again.”
”Does he know how you feel?”
”I don”t know how I feel. My life is about to change drastically in a few months. My relationship with Eric never took flight because I didn”t have time for him.”
”But you made time for Sam. Somehow, you made it possible.”
”If I ask him to stay and then neglect him, I”ll lose him.”
”If you let him leave again, you might lose him anyway.”
”We”re good friends, Loren. I”m not sure if I”m willing to jeopardize our friendship for a what-if.”
”What”s that what-if in your mind?”
”What if Sam is the one.”
”Laila, there”s only one way to find out.”
”How? I don”t know how.”
”You”ll be with him and his family for over a month. Use this time to be with the man, not just the friend.”
”Everyone”s telling me the same thing,” I say. ”Including Mom.”
”So, what”s the problem?”
”Sam isn”t cooperating.”
”What do you mean?” she asks.
”He told me he”d rather have me as a friend for sixty years than try to be more and lose what we have. I”m afraid, too. I suck at being a girlfriend. Just ask Eric.”
The phone starts ringing. ”Speaking of,” I say, showing Loren the caller ID.
”Are you going to answer it?” she asks.
”Do you think I should?”
”If you want to, go ahead,” she says, getting up from the couch. ”I”m going to check in on Holly. She”s been with the guys for a long time. They probably have her hammering something by now.”
”Hello,” I say, watching Loren walk down the short hall leading to the laundry room and garage. From the back, you”d never know she”s about to have a baby.
”Laila, I need to see you.”
”Eric, I”m sorry, but that won”t be possible.”
”Why not?”
”Loren and Aaron are back in Cold Spring.”
”I know,” he says. ”I was supposed to be there for their homecoming, remember?”
”Right. You”re right. I”m sorry.”
”Stop apologizing,” he says. ”Please meet me. I have the keys to the house. I”d like you to go see it with me.”
”Eric, I don”t think that would be appropriate.”
”I bought the house for us,” he says. ”I hoped that someday, it would be our home, where we could raise a family.”
”Eric, there is no point in seeing each other again. It will not change anything.”
”It”s Sam, isn”t it?”
I should”ve never answered the phone.
”Eric, please don”t make this harder.”
”Harder for who? Harder for you and Goliath.”
”Sam has nothing to do with my decision to end things with you. Please leave him out of this.”
”Can you meet me tomorrow then?”
”I”m helping Loren unpack, and then we”re having dinner with her family.”
”Who”s we?” he asks.
”Eric, please. Can we just end this and not prolong it?”
”I asked you a question.”
”Sam is one of Loren”s best friends, remember? They worked together for over a year, and then he bought the studio.”
”So, the four of you are having dinner together?”
”Yes,” I say.
”That was supposed to be me,” he says, ”We, as in you and me, were supposed to have dinner with your family this weekend.”
I don”t know what to do. I”m running out of patience.
”What about Saturday, then? Can you meet me then?”
”I can”t. I”m going out of town Saturday.”
”Where are you going?”
”I”m sorry, but I don”t have to answer that. You and I are no longer together.”
”You”re going out of town with Sam.”
”I”m going to San Diego with Sam to attend his sister”s wedding.”
Silence. When the seconds tick by for what seems like an eternity, I ask if he”s still there.
”Eric?”
”How long have you been cheating on me?”
”Eric, I haven”t seen Sam in over a year. I had no idea he was coming home.”
”Coming home? This is not his home. Is he here to stay?”
”You know what I mean,” I say. ”No, I never cheated on you. Have you lost your mind?”
”Well, you never wanted to be with me.”
”That”s not true,” I say. ”I wanted to be with you. I care about you very much.”
”That”s not what I mean,” he says. ”You refused to be with me. Have you been intimate with him?”
”Are you asking me if I slept with Sam?” I can”t believe what I”m hearing.
”Have you?”
”You”re being disrespectful, Eric. Sam and I are friends. We”ve never been more.”
”But he”s in love with you. You know that. You have to know that.”
”We”re just friends,” I say.
”Meet me so we can talk.”
”No,” I say. ”You”re upset, angry, hurt. Nothing I say is going to make you feel better. Meeting you is not going to make me change my mind. It”s over.”
”Please don”t go to San Diego with him.”
”Why not?” I ask.
Just then, I see Sam walking into the living room. Concern is etched on his face.