Willow Brook Road(51)

Sam laughed. “Then it’s a good thing I don’t go in till ten. Mack can deal with him.” He held her gaze. “Now, you and I have some business to conclude. Where do we stand on dinner?”

“The three of us, you, me and Bobby?” she hedged, trying a little manipulation of her own.

“Nope. A real date, the way it was meant to be, just two people getting to know each other. Friday night. I’ll make arrangements for Bobby.”

As tempted as she was, Carrie thought it was too soon for Sam to be abandoning Bobby to some anonymous sitter. It was the perfect excuse, so she seized on it. “Sam, you’ve seen the way Bobby keeps you in sight no matter what he’s doing. Maybe after he’s started school and really settled in here, he’ll be ready for you to go out and leave him with a sitter. But now?” She shook her head. “I think it’s a bad idea.”

He nodded slowly. “So, just to be clear, you’re saying no because of Bobby, not because you’re not interested or because you’ve concluded I’m an irresponsible jerk?”

She drew in a deep breath and examined her motives, then nodded. “It’s just about Bobby. And, again, I really am sorry about jumping to conclusions about you. You’ve given me reason to revise my first impression.”

“Okay, then, if we’re past that particular hurdle, how about this? On Friday night the three of us will go out for pizza and two weeks after that, when school’s started and Bobby’s ready to spend some time with a friend, you and I can go on a real date, just the two of us.”

“You’re only giving him two weeks to adjust?” she said, unable to keep a note of panic out of her voice. She realized that panic had nothing to do with Bobby and everything to do with her.

Sam apparently saw that, too. “Do you need longer to adjust to the idea of a date with me?” he taunted.

“Could be,” she conceded honestly. “But I really am thinking about all the changes in Bobby’s life. His adjustment may not happen on some precise timetable. Why don’t we just agree to play it by ear?”

“Only if you agree that we’ll see each other in the interim doing things Bobby can do, too.”

Carrie found his determination flattering, but she wasn’t quite ready to give in. In days gone by, playing hard to get would have been part of some strategy, but with Sam? It was panic, no question about it.

“I’ve already said I’d come to a T-ball game,” she reminded him. “And we’re all going to Gram’s on Saturdays, too. I’ll see you tomorrow when I bring Bobby home.”

Sam frowned. “Speaking of that, I usually wind up at the office till at least nine or ten at night getting the latest edition up online. You’ll have to bring him to the office.”

“Where he’ll be bored to tears, hungry and pestering you the whole time?” she objected. “That will be fun for both of you. No. I’ll take him to the inn, see that he gets dinner and hang out till you get there. If he goes to sleep, Jess can keep me company.”

“That’s too much,” Sam protested. “I don’t expect you to make a career of babysitting him.”

“But that’s exactly the career I’m thinking of pursuing,” she reminded him. “Consider this part of my professional training.”

“Then you should get paid.”

“Not a chance. This is just a friendly gesture. If I do open a day care and Bobby needs a place to come after school at some point, then we can talk about fees and such.”

Sam didn’t look all that happy about the arrangement. “Are you sure? I don’t want to take advantage of you.”

“You’re not,” she assured him. “I offered.” For just an instant she had a flashback to all the times she’d said much the same thing to Marc, jumping in to take care of things that weren’t her responsibility and doing it to please him. The difference now, she told herself, was that this pleased her. If it bailed Sam out of a jam, so much the better.

After studying her as if to assess her sincerity, Sam nodded. “Then I owe you a whole lot more than pizza.”

“You can give me a lovely quote that I can use in my advertising when the time comes,” she teased. “Or you can design my website and online advertising. If you’re good enough that Mack trusts you with his precious paper, that’ll be great for me. Now I’d better get moving. I have to be up at five.”

Sam’s gaze narrowed. “What time do you need Bobby to be ready?”

“Five-thirty,” she said brightly. “Didn’t I mention that? You’ll be able to get a nice, early start on your day, too. In fact, you just might get to the paper in time to cross paths with Grandpa Mick, after all. Isn’t that something fun to look forward to?”