“I’m so sorry. I thought I’d be there by now to have dessert with you or at least to take over, but we seem to be in a holding pattern here.”
“Not a problem,” Carrie assured him. “Bobby’s had dinner, taken his bath and is watching a video. What’s his bedtime?”
“I aim for nine, but we sometimes get distracted,” Sam said, thinking of how often that had actually happened. Nine had been a pretty unrealistic goal apparently.
She laughed. “I’ll make sure we’re not distracted. He should be in that routine by the time school starts, anyway.”
“You’re right,” Sam said. “Tell him I’ll try to be there in time to read him a story.”
“He’s already picked out tonight’s book—or five based on the pile he showed me. I’ll fill in, if need be, though I bet you do better voices than I can.”
“He’s not an especially tough critic,” Sam said. “But I will try to make it. See you in an hour.”
He actually came close to making it, too. It was 9:45 when he walked into the suite carrying a pizza and a bottle of wine. He regarded Carrie apologetically.
“He’s already asleep?”
“Out like a light. He had a big day at the day-care center. He was yawning by the time I got off the phone with you and asleep two pages into his first story.”
“I don’t know how to thank you. This was way above and beyond.”
“No thanks necessary. We had fun,” she replied simply. “He really is a great kid.”
“Well, I won’t start depending on you to fill in,” he promised.
“Sam, it’s not a big deal. If I have Jackson, he can hang out with us. On the days I’m at the center, I already have Julie’s permission to bring him along. He was great with the other kids today. Everybody loved him.”
“Okay, then. When I’m in a bind, I’ll check with you,” Sam said. “Now, then, are you hungry? Can you stay for a while and share the pizza and wine?”
She hesitated for a surprisingly long time.
“Carrie? What’s going on? It’s pizza and wine, not a lifetime commitment.”
“It’s something someone at the center said today,” she told him. “They thought Bobby might be getting too attached to me. We already know you’re his lifeline. I can’t be one, too. You and I...well, we hardly even know each other. Bobby’s emotions are pretty precarious right now. We don’t want him to get any ideas about how I’m going to fit into his new world.”
Sam set down the pizza and wine and crossed the room. He rested his hands on her shoulders and looked into her troubled eyes. “The fact that you care so darned much is proof of how special you are. It’s the reason I’d like to get to know you better.”
“How am I supposed to trust that?” she asked. “You’re in a difficult situation. I’m able and willing to help out. Don’t you see how tangled up that could get? Add in the possibility that Bobby could get hurt and it’s too big a risk.”
Sam’s heart sank. “So, you’re not only saying no to pizza and wine tonight, but next week and beyond, is that right?”
She nodded. “I think that’s for the best. I’ll still come to his T-ball game on Saturday and I’ll be at Gram’s for our cooking lesson, but you should probably make sure he gets to know lots of other people right now, so he doesn’t get overly attached to me or anyone else.”
“You’ve really thought about this, haven’t you?”
“Ever since it was brought to my attention that the situation might not be healthy.”
“For Bobby?” he said, wondering yet again if his nephew was the only one she didn’t want to risk getting hurt.
“Of course.”
Sam didn’t consider himself to be all that intuitive when it came to women, but this situation was plain as day even to him. “Somebody did a real number on you, didn’t they?”
She immediately looked so flustered, Sam knew he’d gotten it exactly right. “What happened, Carrie?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I think it does. It’s not that I don’t believe you’re concerned for Bobby. I know you are. But you’ve been taken advantage of by someone and this situation is bringing up bad memories.”
“Maybe,” she finally admitted. “In a way. But the situations are nothing alike, honestly. And believe me, you are nothing like Marc Reynolds.”
Sam regarded her with shock. He didn’t know a lot about fashion, but he knew that name. The man had a rich tabloid history with several of his top models. “He was your last relationship?”