Willow Brook Road(89)

Lucy and Carrie gave each other high fives.

“Mission accomplished,” Lucy said triumphantly.

Julie just gave her daughter a long, hard look and kept right on eating.

Carrie envied them the bond they’d formed both as mother and daughter and as coworkers. She was close to her own mom, so she knew how rare it was to view a parent as a person and not just an authority figure. She hoped Bobby and Sam found that sort of relationship one day. Ironically, she couldn’t help thinking in some way it might be easier because of how they’d come to be together. The hard part for both of them might be the adjustment to thinking of Sam as the authority person in Bobby’s life, rather than the fun uncle who breezed into his life and out again.

One of these days she needed to think about Sam’s wandering ways and whether they truly were behind him. Even though he seemed to have accepted his responsibility for Bobby didn’t mean the two of them couldn’t relocate at the drop of a hat. And where would that leave her? Every time she started to think she was ready to take another risk with her heart, her head jumped in with something just like this to renew her caution.





17

Sam didn’t have a chance to talk to Mack privately until late on Tuesday after they’d gotten the web edition of the paper online and the print edition to the company that printed it and delivered the bundles of papers to town on Wednesday morning.

Unsure of exactly how to begin, Sam fumbled through a few attempts, then finally settled for saying again how generous Susie had been.

Mack gave him a long look, then sighed heavily. “I know it was too much,” he said eventually. “And I appreciate you not calling her on it. Susie’s struggling right now.”

“I heard about the adoption,” Sam said. “I’m sorry, but—”

“But Bobby can’t be the substitute for the baby we didn’t get,” Mack said, completing the thought. “I know that, Sam. But I can’t tell you how worried I’ve been about her. Being around Bobby makes her happy. Don’t take that lifeline away from her.”

“I wasn’t going to,” Sam said. “But maybe we should have some boundaries.”

“That makes sense,” Mack agreed readily. “Do you have something in mind?”

Sam shook his head. “I have no idea what they ought to be. Maybe that she needs to check with me first before showering him with gifts or making arrangements to spend a little time with him. Do you think she can do those two things without feeling as if she’s being cut off from contact with him or that I’m retaliating in some way? Parenting is still brand-new to me, and this particular situation with Susie definitely wasn’t one I anticipated.”

“Seems to me you’re managing just fine,” Mack said. “Then again, I didn’t exactly have an ideal background to compare it to. I wasn’t at all sure I was prepared to be a father.” He sighed. “Maybe no one with any sense ever is. You just do the best you can.”

“I sure hope that’s what it takes,” Sam said, “because I wake up every day feeling as if I’m about to fail abysmally.”

“And yet you didn’t take the easy way out.”

“What way was that?”

“You didn’t turn Bobby over to his grandparents, You’ve said they wanted to fight you for custody. You could have walked away with a clear conscience.”

Sam shrugged. “Laurel and Robert chose me. They must have had their reasons. I couldn’t let them—or Bobby—down without at least trying. There have been a couple of moments here and there when I’ve actually thought things will work out okay. Bobby’s a great kid.”

“He really is,” Mack agreed. “You should have heard him with Susie.” The words were no sooner out of his mouth, than he heaved a sigh. “About those boundaries, I think what you suggested is perfectly logical. That said, I don’t know how much logic enters into anything with my wife these days. I’ll do my best to make her see that the boundaries are in Bobby’s best interests.”

“I’d really appreciate that,” Sam told him.

“Under normal conditions, Susie is great with all the kids, but she seems to have created some sort of special attachment to Bobby. Just this morning, she mentioned casually that she wondered who’d be looking after him tonight while you’re here. I told her I was sure you’d made arrangements. It took all of my persuasive powers to keep her from calling you with an offer to babysit.”

Mack frowned even as he told the story, then asked, “Or would you have welcomed the offer? I feel as if I’m walking a tightrope here.”