She laughed. “I spoke to Gram this morning and she’s eager to start whenever we’re ready. I was going to call you to check your schedule, but I had a busy day today.”
“Would tomorrow be too soon? I need to break this pizza habit as quickly as possible.”
“Are you good with anytime tomorrow?”
“I’m taking Bobby to check into T-ball first thing in the morning, but we should be free by eleven. Anytime after that if it works for Nell,” he told her. “And you.”
“Let me check and I’ll get right back to you.”
“You have my number?”
“On caller ID,” she responded. “I’ll call you in a couple of minutes.”
“Thanks.”
“Was that Carrie?” Bobby asked when Sam set his phone within reach on the table.
“It was. She’s going to set up some cooking classes for us with her great-grandmother.”
Bobby immediately looked worried.
“Something wrong?” Sam asked.
“Do I get to come, too?”
Over the past few days, Sam had noticed that Bobby rarely let him out of his sight. It was understandable, but it probably needed to change or the first day of school was going to be a problem. Still, he couldn’t very well break the habit until he had good alternatives. He considered calling Shanna or even Kevin to see if they’d take Bobby to T-ball in the morning, but one look at the fear in Bobby’s eyes told him he couldn’t do it.
“Sure you can come.”
When Carrie called back, he walked out onto the balcony of their room at the inn and finalized the plans.
“Is it okay if Bobby comes along?” he asked, explaining Bobby’s reaction to the prospect of being separated from Sam even for a little while.
“Gram’s counting on it,” Carrie assured him. “And, by the way, good job picking up on his fear.”
“Picking up on it is one thing,” Sam said. “But not every situation will be resolved as easily as this one. I have to go back to work next week. School starts not long after that.”
“You’ll figure it out,” Carrie assured him.
When Sam remained silent, she said, “Did you hear me?”
“I did. I just couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing.”
“I learned my lesson,” she told him. “Positive reinforcement from here on out. Does it help?”
“Surprisingly, it does,” Sam said. “See you tomorrow.”
“Looking forward to it. Want me to pick you up, so I can show you the way to the cottage?”
“Sure,” Sam said, though he already had a pretty good idea where it was. Anything to spend a little more time around the positive energy she was suddenly exuding. It was pitiful how badly he needed that right now.
8
When Mack couldn’t find Susie at home, he drove into town and headed for the real estate office. Susie rarely stayed late, but for the past couple of days she’d been there until eight or later. When he’d asked, she’d told him that paperwork had piled up because of the days she’d stayed home. He hadn’t bought her excuse, and when he’d run into her dad earlier, Jeff had confirmed that there was no backlog of paperwork.
“Any idea what’s going on?” Jeff had asked him. “I know having the adoption fall through was a blow, but she’s bounced back a lot more quickly than I’d anticipated. And since she came back to the office, she’s been working harder than ever.”
“I noticed the same thing,” Mack had said, not even trying to hide his concern.
“Want me to have Jo talk to her?” Jeff had asked.
Susie and her mom were close, but Mack wanted to get to the bottom of this himself. “I’ll handle it, but thanks. If I think Jo needs to get involved, I’ll ask.”
Jeff had slapped him on the back. “I know you love my girl, Mack, but so do we. If you need help, all you have to do is ask. Unlike my brother Mick, I don’t meddle. Neither does Jo, but we’re only a phone call away if you think something’s not right. Just because Susie’s a grown woman and married, doesn’t mean she’s not still our child.”
“Trust me, I know exactly how strong the bond is,” Mack said, meaning it and grateful for it, too. “You two were every bit as important to her cancer recovery as I was. She needed us all. She may again.”
In Mack’s opinion, something definitely wasn’t right. After two days of staring at the bay and showing no interest in anything, Susie had demonstrated a sudden surge of energy right after meeting Sam’s nephew, Bobby, on Wednesday. There was little doubt in Mack’s mind that the two things were connected.