Rose
“You should invite him over.” Sam stares at Win as he sips the last of his chocolate shake.
We left Nico’s office with a plan for Sam to sketch ideas for the office after taking some quick measurements and prioritizing Nico’s wants and needs.
I bounce my gaze between Sam and Win, who still isn’t singing. “Are you going to kill him?”
He chuckles. “Don’t be ridiculous, sis. Just want to ask him a couple of questions.” He says all this while staring at Win with a focus that makes me glad there’s an entire room separating them.
I scrunch my nose, not buying his casual tone. “Hmmm.”
Sam pulls his attention from Win and looks at me, pushing his empty glass aside. “I just want to get to know the guy. That’s all.”
I cross my arms. “Then why don’t I believe you?”
“You’re paranoid?”
I’m scowling at him as Nico approaches our table, significantly calmer than he was when he threatened to burn the diner down and start over in a new town. “I forgot to ask earlier, but do you have a place to stay, Sam?”
Sam shrugs. “I was going to hit the motel or stay with Rose.”
I wipe all expression from my face. While I’d love for Sam to stay with us, the way he was eyeing Win makes me seriously concerned that Win might not live through the night. And I’m not being dramatic.
Nico fishes a small set of keys from his pocket and offers them to Sam.
“Stay at my niece, Lora’s apartment. There was a fire a while back, but it’s been cleaned out, and we’ve replaced the smoke-damaged furniture.
It’s the least I can do for your help, since you refuse to let me pay for saving my sanity. ”
Sam tilts his head to the side. “A fire? Sounds exciting.”
Nico frowns. “Maisie, an old waitress, had some problems with her ex-husband.” He shakes his head, his troubled expression melting away. “Anyway, all that’s been taken care of. She still makes all my pies, though. That’s why she’s no longer waitressing.”
“And Lora?” Sam asks.
“In grad school in Arizona. She won’t be back until after she graduates this summer, so you won’t even meet her. It’s yours if you want to stay.”
Sam sits back in his seat. “But you don’t know me.”
Nico sets the keys down on the table and pushes them toward Sam. “My instincts are rarely wrong, and they say I can trust you.”
Sam studies him for a beat, then looks at me. His lip twitches as if he can read how desperate I am for him to accept Nico’s offer. He turns back to Nico and nods, pocketing the keys. “All right, I accept. Thanks. What’s the address?”
As Nico writes the address and instructions on a piece of paper that he tears from the small notebook in his white half-apron, I take the opportunity to slip out of the booth, telling Sam, “I’ll be right back. Just want to check on Ben and talk to Win real quick.”
He’s too distracted by Nico to stop me, which is exactly what I’d hoped for.
I swing by Ben and Harry’s table, say a quick hi to Frank, Harry’s dad, kiss Ben’s hair, and am ignored as Ben happily continues chatting with his new best friend.
On my way to the counter, I smile at a couple of the parents from Harry’s birthday party and at one of the firefighters who waves and calls out a greeting.
This town is so friendly. I’ve been here a couple of weeks, and Ben seems to have completely forgotten we’re supposed to be on a road trip. Most days, so have I.
I pull myself up onto an empty stool at the front counter. “Win, can I talk to you for a sec?” I call out to him through the hatch.
He glances over at me, unsmiling. “Give me a second to finish plating this.”
While I wait, I twist in my seat, peering over my shoulder to find Nico and Sam chatting it up. They’re probably discussing plans for the office. Nico is moving his arms as if explaining something, and Sam has his concentration face on as he listens.
As if he feels my attention, Sam looks at me, then at Win, and raises an eyebrow as if to say, "Are you bringing the man over so we can talk?"
I will, just as soon as I prepare Win and make sure you won’t kill him.
I turn around as Win steps through the swinging door.
He looks tense, his eyes briefly meeting mine, then darting away again. “Something wrong?”
“No.” I check on Ben, shaking my head at how much fun he’s having with Harry. “I’m going to need a crowbar to separate those too.”
Win doesn’t respond. He doesn’t so much as crack a smile, which is… not like him at all.
I clear my throat. “Um, Sam wants to meet you. I promise he won’t hurt you or ask super invasive questions.
He’s just worried about Ben and me.” I look over at Sam.
Nico must have returned to his office, and Sam is staring at Win again.
That doesn’t bode well. I refocus on Win.
“He’s staying in Rios for a bit, but he’ll go home once he’s sure Ben and I are okay.
It’s not like he’s eager to go back to his parents’ basement, and Ben will miss his uncle, but it’s just a flying visit. ”
“I’m a little busy right now with—” Win blinks at me. “Uncle?”
“Sam is Simon’s brother. Didn’t I…” My voice trails off. I was ambushed with a hug the moment I walked into the diner, and Ben was ecstatic to see him. We must have looked like one big, happy family. “I didn’t tell you that Simon had a brother, did I?”
Seeing the warmth return to his face reminds me how much I missed his smile. “Nope.”
“Simon has a brother,” I explain. “Sam is a couple of years younger and a carpenter. He moved back in with his parents after he quit his job in New York to figure out his life. He was really there for me after Simon died, and Ben adores him.”
Win tilts his head. “And you want me to meet him? Not Murph.”
“He can meet Murph and Joel later. Maybe we could have dinner tonight? I want you to meet him now. He thinks he has to watch out for Ben and me, but once he meets you, he’ll know that we’re safe with you.”
His expression softens. “You really think that?”
“I know that.” I hop off my stool and lean over the counter to touch my lips to his. “He can look intimidating, but I promise he has a soft heart.”
“That beats for anyone in particular?” he asks, licking his lips, wanting another kiss.
Honestly, I wouldn’t mind either, but with Sam watching and Win working, an extended kiss probably isn’t not a good idea.
I smile. “If that’s a subtle way of asking if there are any romantic feelings, then there are not. I don’t see Sam that way, and he views me as the sister he never had.”
He nods. “Let me ask Nico to take over for a bit.”
I linger by the counter until Nico has swapped places with Win and walk back to the table with Win.
Sam watches us approach, and while his expression isn’t threatening, it’s definitely not friendly or welcoming—at least toward Win.
“This is Win.” I glance at Win, who seems a little nervous, so I take his hand. “Win, this is Sam Hayes, Simon’s brother.”
Sam’s gaze bounces from me to Win, then to our joined hands. I probably shouldn’t have taken it, but I don’t want Sam to go on the attack. Win doesn’t deserve it.
“Hey, man,” Sam says coolly.
“Hey,” Win responds.
They eye each other warily.
I snort. “You’re like two dogs on the street right before they start sniffing each other’s butts. Let’s sit.”
Both men stare at me.
Both are trying not to smile.
Both are failing.
I pull Win into the booth.
Sam starts to ask Win something when Ben rushes over and clambers onto Win’s lap, giving him the biggest puppy-dog eyes. “Win, can I have a chocolate milkshake?”
He clearly expects a yes from him and a no from me.
Smart kid.
Win ruffles his hair. “Ask your mom,” he says, gently deflecting the question to where it should have gone before.
Smart man.
Ben turns to me.
“You can ask Lina for a milkshake,” I say. “But I don’t want you turning your nose up at dinner when you see something green on your plate.”
“I won’t, Mommy. Bye, Win.” He grins at Win and moves to climb off his lap.
“Uh-oh. Hold up, little man.” Win tugs him back and reaches for a napkin from the napkin holder. “You have ketchup on your ear.” Ben sits still as Win wipes it off.
I shake my head as Win checks for any more he might have missed. “And he wasn’t even eating them. How did you get Harry’s ketchup on your ear, of all places?”
“Magic.” Ben giggles and scrambles off Win’s lap, rushing back to his table with Harry, where Lina is waiting. She probably asked him to get my permission before she loads him up with all that sugar.
I nod and mouth “thank you” at her, and she flashes me a grin.
Win and I are fondly smiling at Ben when Sam clears his throat. We turn to look at him.
“So, you’re a cook then?” Sam asks, his entire tone and body language changing. More relaxed. More open. Less hostile and suspicious.
“I am,” Win says, still wary.
“I couldn’t do it,” he says with a shake of his head. “Give me somewhere quiet, dark, and with as few people around as possible. It’s why I love living in my parents' basement.”
I roll my eyes, knowing the opposite is true.
He might sleep in his parents’ basement, but he spends the bulk of his time in the small workshop in his dad’s garage or hanging out with his friends and family.
Sam is highly sociable. Still, that doesn’t mean I can’t tease him.
“You sound like a serial killer, you know that, right? I swear I watched a true crime show about a guy who sounds just like you.”
He tosses a balled-up napkin at me.
I mock-glare at him as it bounces off my shoulder. “Really?”
But secretly, I’m loving the chance to live out my childhood fantasies of having a brother who lightly teased me but still loved me. Being an only child was lonely sometimes. It definitely wouldn’t have been with someone like Sam around.
“Wait until you meet Murph,” Win says, smiling as our teasing chases away his tension from meeting Sam. “He’s the least sociable person I’ve ever known. He’s a good guy, but it takes him a minute to warm up to new people.”