Rose #2
Over Sam’s shoulder, Win is half out of the kitchen, ready to go to war with the chef’s knife in hand. Honestly, it’s kind of surprising. Win is sweet and kind, and friendly. But that grab-a-knife-and-come-to-my-rescue urge flipped on like a switch.
Win stops and retreats when Sam releases me to pick up Ben and give him a gentler greeting than the one he gave me.
“How’s my favorite nephew?” he asks Ben, grinning at him.
“Good.” Ben beams at him.
Win glances from me to Sam, and his brow wrinkles; he’s confused, given he doesn’t know who Sam is or why it looked like he attacked me. I’d be happy to explain that to him just as soon as I find out why Simon’s brother is here in Rios and didn’t tell me he was coming.
“When did you get here?” I ask Sam.
“Not long ago. I was starving, so I was gonna give you a call and let you know I was in town after I ate.”
“I didn’t see your car outside. Did you fly from New York?”
“Flew into Cedar Point, then picked up a rental car and drove down here. I parked it further down the road. For such a small town, there’s a surprising lack of parking down Main Street.”
“Nico’s is popular. It’s always hard to find parking near it.”
Sam slings an arm around my shoulder and steers me to a booth with the remains of a burger, fries, and a shake, still holding Ben.
“Your parents called. I’m here to make sure you and Ben are safe and not being taken advantage of.
” His eyes flick from me to Win, who watches from the open kitchen doorway with a furrowed brow.
Sam’s face goes blank when he adds, “Can I assume he’s one of them? ”
Ah. If my dads promised my mom they wouldn’t come to Rios to interrogate Murph, Win, and Joel, they would have stayed away. But they are wily. There would be nothing to stop them from calling Sam and asking if he wouldn’t mind coming instead.
I let out a quiet sigh. I should have expected this.
Lina chooses that moment to walk over. “Can I get you a table, Rose?” she asks me.
“No thanks. I’ll sit with Sam,” I say.
She looks at Sam curiously but doesn’t ask who he is. “Harry’s here with his dad if Ben wants to sit with him.” She points to a small table near the middle of the diner where Harry is sitting with a dark-haired man in his early thirties.
Ben snaps his head toward me, silently pleading for me to say yes.
I smile. “Go on. And no—”
No sooner has Sam set him down than Ben is sprinting over to join Harry, who stops eating his fries to jump up and greet him.
I let out another sigh and slump into the booth with Sam. “I don’t know why I bother. He was going to sprint over there the second he saw Harry, no matter what I said.”
I wave at Harry’s dad when he smiles at me after he’s gotten Ben settled at their table. Once Ben is happily chatting with Harry and Lina has wandered off to deal with a customer, I focus on Sam. “You didn’t have to come all this way, Sam. Ben and I are fine.”
Sam eyes the kitchen hatch, where Win has returned to cooking, but keeps looking our way.
“I’d like to be the judge of that.” Sam gets up. “I’m going to—”
I grip his wrist and yank him back down into his seat. “Leave him alone.”
I shoot a quick glance at the hatch. Win is staring at the hand I have on Sam’s shoulder, and from his frown, he’s not happy about it.
I immediately release Sam, who, to my relief, doesn’t take advantage to slip away. He leans back in his seat and crosses his arms. “Your parents were worried, Rose.”
“No, my mom isn’t. My dads are worried,” I correct him. “And they didn’t need to send you here to check on us.”
His eyes dip to my throat, and I hastily cover Murph’s claiming bite. “He’s my scent match, Sam,” I say, a touch defensively. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m fine, and so is Ben. Win would never hurt either of us.”
“You’ve been in this town five minutes, Rose.”
“Two weeks,” I correct him.
“And you said you were on a road trip.”
I look away. “Yeah.”
“And you lied about it. Which you never do.”
Guilt twists in my belly, and I fiddle with a sugar canister. “I know. I just wasn’t ready to tell anyone about Murph, Win, and Joel. My dads would push me to end the road trip and come home, and you would charge over here, assuming the worst. Just like you’re doing now.”
“And not because they talked you into lying?”
My eyes snap up to meet his. “God, Sam. No one made me lie about anything. No one is keeping me in Rios. I am not a hostage here. I have a scent match, and that changes things. Ben is happy to stay.” I almost tell him about Ben wanting us to buy the farmhouse, but I figure that would only make him more paranoid.
“And the other two men?”
“I trust them,” I say softly. “Joel was the firefighter who showed Ben around the firehouse. Win wouldn’t hurt me or Ben. He came with me to the doctor when my morning sickness stopped, and I thought something was wrong.”
His expression turns blank. “Morning sickness?”
Shit.
I wince. “My parents didn’t tell you that part.”
Sounds like they told him about me living with Murph, Win, and Joel, but not about the pregnancy. I’m not sure why my dads left that out. Maybe they thought I would want to tell Sam myself that he’s going to be an uncle again.
“No, they didn’t tell me that part.” He leans toward me. “You’re pregnant?”
I nod. “It’s why I stopped here with Ben in the first place. I was sick and needed a bathroom.”
He whistles low. “And instead you find your scent match.”
I give him a wobbly smile. “Please don’t say you’re mad that I kept quiet about it.”
He’s out of his booth and pulling me into a hug before I can finish my sentence. “I’m not mad about it. Shit. I’m happy for you, Rose. That’s great news. I get to be a cool uncle again.”
“You were never the cool uncle, Sam,” I say, smiling as I hug him back.
“Hush. You’re ruining my moment,” he mutters, making me laugh.
He’s grinning when he pulls away. “So does that mean you’re staying here?”
“I don’t know,” I whisper, letting him hear my confusion.
“I slept with Murph, and Ben is talking about buying a house and schools. Everything is happening so fast, and I keep thinking I’m betraying Simon’s memory by letting myself be happy.
Maybe Ben would do better in Memphis with his grandparents or in upstate New York with your parents.
Am I being selfish for wanting to stay here? ”
He whistles. “Uh oh. Sounds like I got here right in time.”
An almighty crash rings out.
“What was that?” I ask, tracking the source of the sound to the back of the diner.
“Hell if I know,” Sam mutters. “Let’s go check it out.” He leads the way.
“Just burn it. Burn it all. I’ll start over in a new town.” Nico emerges from a back room and throws his hands up in the air.
Lina pats his shoulder. “You need those papers, Dad. It’s kind of a legal requirement. And burning a building to start over is insurance fraud.”
“I need space to breathe. And there is not enough space in there.” Nico gestures violently toward the room he stepped out of.
Curious, I peek inside. It’s the tiniest office in the world, crammed full of stuff.
Boxes of paperwork, large furniture, and photo frames cover every wall.
It’s making me feel claustrophobic. I remember Win’s defeated sigh when he said he tried to help Nico organize his office, and I understand why they failed.
I just peeked. Sam is nosy as all hell and walks in there.
“Uh, Sam?” I call after him.
He looks around, hands on his hips. “You’re not making the most of the height of this room. It’s small, but you have options.”
We all stare at him.
He points. “Vertical space would give you room to store the files. With a built-in desk under wall-mounted storage and a slim ladder tucked neatly away, you’d have important files you don’t need to access often up there, and you could still easily reach them.
That big desk alone is taking up an insane amount of floor space, considering you’re just using it to pile files on it. ”
Nico drifts over to him as if he’s his savior. “That’s it,” he breathes. “That’s exactly what I need. Who are you?”
“Sam Hayes.” He shakes Nico’s hand. “I’m a carpenter. I’m in town for a bit to check on my sister-in-law and my nephew. If you can get me supplies, I can sketch something out and build the storage you need. Looks like a fun little project, so I wouldn’t charge you.”
Nico flings his arms around him. Sam’s eyes widen, then he glances at me and gently pats Nico’s back with one hand as I try not to laugh.
“He’s Ben’s cool uncle,” I tell Lina. “Sam often has that effect on people.”
“What happened to the job at the hardware store?” I ask Sam once Nico’s released him from the hug. Sam hated the job, mostly because it was so quiet. He’s as much of an extrovert as Ben and Simon. Being around people and staying busy is hard-wired into all the Hayes.
Sam shrugs. “The boredom nearly killed me, so I quit. Something else will come up, and it’s not like I was paying rent anyway to need it.” A smug smile spreads across his face. “I’m the cool uncle, huh?”
I roll my eyes at him. “I was trying to deflate your big head. Should’ve known I was wasting my time with a head that big.”
But the opposite is true. He is an insanely talented carpenter who doesn’t believe in his talent as much as he should.
As Sam's uncle, he rocks. As a carpenter, he doesn’t put himself out there enough, so this offer to build storage for Nico is a big surprise.
Maybe he thinks he has nothing to lose if he disappoints since he’s only in town for a few days visiting Ben and me.
Sam and Nico head into the office, and Lina returns to dealing with customers. Win is in the kitchen, busy working. I don’t know why my attention swung to him just now or why it feels like something is wrong.
Then it hits me.
He’s not singing badly and loudly.
He’s too quiet.