Willow Brook Road(82)

Sam had gotten Bobby off to school and was having a second cup of coffee to brace himself for a busy day at the newspaper, when he heard a car pull up outside. He glanced out the living room window and saw instead a pickup loaded with furniture. Susie was just getting out of the cab of the truck.

Sam opened the front door. “Where on earth did you find all of that stuff?”

She laughed. “I made the rounds after dinner yesterday and raided attics.”

As Sam approached the truck he spotted what looked to be some decent antiques and a like-new sofa. “That’s what O’Briens store in their attics?”

“The women in the family like to redecorate on a regular basis,” Susie said with a shrug. “It’s a curse. Heaven forbid a perfectly good sofa clashes with the new paint color.”

“Yes, heaven forbid!” Sam replied, astonished. “Look, I really appreciate this more than I can say, but I don’t think you and I can get it into the house on our own. And I need to get to the office for an early meeting with your husband.”

“Don’t fret. He’s on his way, along with other reinforcements. All you need to do is decide where you want things and point them in the right direction.”

Sure enough, several cars pulled into spaces along the street and men he’d met just yesterday, plus Mack and Kevin and even Mick, piled out of them. For the next twenty minutes or so, all he did was direct traffic to various rooms.

“I don’t know what to say,” he told them when the furniture and boxes of pots and pans and dishes had been unloaded. “This is way above and beyond.”

“All things that should be put to good use,” Mick said. “Now all you need is a woman’s touch and you’ll have yourself a very nice home.”

“Which is exactly why I’m going to stick around and put things in their proper places,” Susie said brightly. “Plus I have a few more little things in the truck that will brighten things up.”

“Susie, you’ve already done more than enough,” Sam said. “Rounding all of this up and getting the paperwork in order so quickly—you’ve been a real godsend.”

“Absolutely,” Mick said. “You just leave the rest of this to Carrie. She has a good eye for details.”

Sam couldn’t read the expression that washed over Susie’s face, but Mack was at her side in an instant. “Sam’s right, sweetheart. What you’ve done here is amazing, but let him figure out the rest. I’m sure Bobby will want to have a say, too.”

“You can bet on that,” Sam said.

“I picked up a few toys for him,” Susie said stiffly. “Can I at least leave those?”

“Of course,” Mack said quickly. “Are they in the cab of the truck? I’ll get them.”

As the other men waved goodbye and headed out, Susie stood beside Sam, her shoulders hunched, her face downcast. Sam could tell she was upset, but figuring out exactly why was beyond him.

“I really do appreciate everything you’ve done,” he told her again. “This situation could have been so much harder and you’ve made it painless.”

“I just wanted to help any way I could,” she said, lifting her chin until their gazes caught.

Something in her tone left Sam puzzled. “I know that.” Had someone suggested otherwise? Before he could ask, Mack was back with bags of toys for Bobby. Sam could only stare.

“Wow! Did you buy out the store?”

She gave him a sheepish grin. “I might have gotten a little carried away. Once I got started, I was having so much fun, I couldn’t seem to stop. Please don’t ask me to take them back.”

Sam had been about to do just that, but at a subtle shake of Mack’s head, he said only, “I was going to suggest that I put them into a closet and that you come back later and give them to Bobby yourself. You deserve the reward of seeing his face light up when he sees everything.”

At that Susie’s expression finally brightened. “You wouldn’t mind?”

“Not at all. I’m planning to get back from work in time to be here when Bobby gets home from school. Do you want to stop by around four? Mack, you, too?”

“Sure,” Mack said awfully quickly. “We wouldn’t miss it, would we, Suze?”

“We’ll see you at four,” Susie promised.

“Well, I’ll see you at the office a lot sooner than that,” Mack said.

“On my way,” Sam promised and watched the two of them leave.

He still had the sense that despite the generosity behind everything that had happened here this morning, there was an undertone of something he was missing. And whatever it was, it seemed to have left a lot of people on edge.