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“Nothing worth doing comes easy.” To Sam’s astonishment, one of his dad’s trademark sayings came tumbling out of his mouth. Even more surprising, it struck him as a very fatherly thing to say, and to his knowledge, he didn’t have a paternal bone in his body. He liked kids well enough, but having his own was a faint dream, possibly in the distant future.
But somehow, he’d connected with this friendly boy in a way he’d never done with the rug rats in his own extended family. He wasn’t at all sure that was good for either him or Chase, but now didn’t seem like the time to examine it too closely.
Chase had been dropped into a new town, surrounded by strangers. For some reason, he seemed to enjoy spending time with Sam, and there was no point denying that the feeling was mutual. Out of respect for a fellow soldier who’d died too young, Sam decided that the least he could do was be around when his young neighbor needed someone to listen.
Or simply throw the ball back.
* * *
Holly was digging through a suitcase searching for some dry sneakers when she heard an odd sound out in the overgrown backyard.
Thwack, pause. Thwack, pause. The rhythm was steady, and she couldn’t figure out what might be causing it. Then the sound of a deep voice, followed by Chase’s unmistakable shout, “Awesome!”
Opening her bedroom door farther, she confirmed that he wasn’t in his room but had somehow gone downstairs without her noticing. It wasn’t smart for him to be wandering around on his own, and she made a note to remind him of the simple rules she’d established for him in Boston. Granted, Liberty Creek was a far cry from the city neighborhood they’d lived in before, but in her mind you couldn’t be too careful when it came to your kid’s safety.
Hurrying down the unfinished wooden stairs, she stopped dead in her tracks when she got a glimpse of what was happening outside the kitchen’s bay window. Chase stood on one side of the ragged hedge, tossing a ball to someone on the other side. Technically, he’d stayed in the yard and was still managing to have some fun, and now that she knew he was okay, she admired his creativity with a grin.
Unfortunately, her humor was short-lived when she peered through another window and saw that his throwing partner was Sam Calhoun. Until now, she’d had no idea that he was one of Daphne’s two neighbors, and she berated herself for not asking him where he lived.
Then again, she amended as she made her way to the porch, what were the chances that the former Ranger lived next door? She wasn’t concerned about Sam harming Chase—he struck her as too compassionate for that—but she was very worried that her son might grow too fond of their troubled neighbor and suffer greatly for it later on.
So, when she reached the screen door, she summoned her most casual mom tone before saying, “Morning, boys. I didn’t realize workouts started so early around here.”
“Hey, Mom!” Chase greeted her, waving before lobbing the ball to Sam. “We’re getting warmed up for the game tonight. Boston’s playing the Yankees at Fenway, and we wanna be ready in case the Red Sox need us.”
“His idea,” Sam explained with a sheepish grin that was oddly endearing on such a large man. “I’m sure they’d be happy to get Chase in the lineup, but I don’t imagine they’ll need me unless someone breaks a leg going down the dugout steps.”
In spite of her earlier concern, Holly couldn’t keep back a laugh. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, then. Are you two hungry?”
Typical boy, Chase whooped a reply, spinning his glove in the air before catching it and racing inside. She stepped back to avoid being run over and waited while Sam took a little slower route. His long strides crossed the yard quickly, and he set his battered glove on the top porch step before coming into the kitchen.
“You really don’t have to feed me,” he said. “I’ve got food at my place.”
Just a few yards away, she noted silently, still a bit stunned by the way she’d uncovered that detail. But that wasn’t his fault, and she decided to let it go. “You never charged us for those great cookies yesterday, so the least I can do is return the favor. How do you like your eggs?”
“However you’re makin’ ’em. When someone else is doing the cooking, I’m not picky.”
“Scrambled it is.” Considering his size, she added, “And some of that fresh local sausage I got yesterday, too. Anything else?”
“No, thank you,” he replied in a cautiously polite tone. “That’s more than enough.”
She tried not to take the stiff response personally, but it wasn’t easy. She was going out of her way to put her own misgivings aside and be friendly to him, but he seemed determined to shrink away from her efforts. It was probably for the best, she mused. From what she’d been able to discern, Sam needed a lot more than she could give him, anyway. “Okay, then. Grab some coffee and have a seat while I get everything ready.”
He did as she asked, and she focused on putting their meal together. She could sense him watching her, and a quick peek showed her that he was following her movements with a thoughtful expression. Not creepy, she realized, but curious. She couldn’t imagine what he found so fascinating about her cracking open eggs and flipping sausages, then decided that what he might be thinking was absolutely none of her business.
An old door sat across a cobbled-together base that wasn’t much in the beauty department but was clearly standing in for an island to be built later. Leaning across the top, she called in to the den, “Chase, breakfast!”
“Coming!” He trotted in and fixed her with a hopeful look. “That new wild animal show is on. Can I eat in the den if I’m real careful?”
Her boy, Holly thought fondly. He loved anything with fur or feathers, and the wilder the better. “Okay, we’ll give it a try. But keep your food on the coffee table and sit right in front of it. If you spill it, you clean it up. Understand?”
“Thanks, Mom. You’re the best.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she grumbled with a mock scowl. “Save the flattery for when you’re in trouble.”
He laughed and turned to Sam. “Wanna come watch TV with me?”
Something flickered in the contractor’s eyes, lighting them briefly before fading away. Holly got the impression that a part of him was trying desperately to claw its way to the surface but kept getting shot down by reality. Holly knew how discouraging it could be when the past kept smothering all your efforts to move forward, and she felt a pang of sorrow for him.
“Maybe next time,” he replied.
“Tomorrow?”
Holly held her breath, praying that Sam wouldn’t make a commitment and then not show up. Or forget. Or think it wasn’t important. Or myriad other things that Brady had repeatedly done when Chase had attempted to reach out to him. Eventually, Chase had tired of being rejected and stopped asking his father to do things. Before long, Brady had become a stranger in his own home.
“I’d hate to say yes and then not be able to do it,” Sam said quietly, as if he’d somehow picked up on Holly’s unspoken fear. “Soon as I can, I’ll watch that show with you. Is that okay?”
Chase nodded eagerly. “I get it. Mom says you should always keep your promises.”
Apparently satisfied, he left the two adults in the kitchen, an awkward silence hanging in the air between them. Sam gave her a long, pensive look, as if he was trying to decide what to say next.
Finally, he told her, “That’s good advice.”
“I have my moments,” she answered as lightly as she could, turning away to rotate the sausages before they burned.
“Good ones?”
“Mostly.” At least now they were, she added silently. Getting to that point had taken every ounce of her strength, but she’d done it for Chase because she was all he had. Setting their plates on the table, she took the seat next to Sam and debated telling him the rest of her story. Because she believed that it was important for him to understand where she was coming from, she took a deep breath and started, “Sam, I don’t normally do this, but since we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other around here, I need for you to know something. About Brady.”
Misery clouded Sam’s eyes, and he grimaced so deeply, she almost felt it herself. Holly got the feeling that he wasn’t only sad for her, but for himself. Whatever had scarred him had left a mark so deep, it showed as clearly in his features as if it had been chiseled there yesterday. “Chase told me about him while we were playing catch. I’m so sorry he didn’t recover.”
“Oh, he recovered,” she corrected him with a frown. “Most of him, anyway. He kept on hunting for the rest, and when Chase was old enough to do things with, I thought being a dad might help him find what he’d lost. Sadly, it didn’t, and two years ago, he finally gave up.”
“That’s awful. No family should have to go through that.”
Sam’s solemn response told her that he understood better than anyone what she and Chase had endured. In her experience, confiding in someone made them want to do the same, and she sipped her coffee, waiting for him to give her some idea of what had happened to him.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he stood and pushed his chair back into place. “The ramp for Daphne’s wheelchair came in this morning, so I’ll be installing it first thing. It’s gonna be pretty loud, but I’ll get it done quick as I can.”
“That’s fine, but could you wait a few minutes? I really should check in with my parents. They were out last night, so I left them a message that we got here in one piece. They’d probably like more of an update, though, and I promised them some pics of the house.”
“Sure.”
Back to the single syllables, she noticed as he strode out the side door and headed down the steps that led to the driveway. Holly wasn’t certain what kind of response she’d expected from the reserved contractor, but she couldn’t help feeling that she’d fallen a huge step back where he was concerned. She’d taken a leap of faith to be honest with him, she reminded herself, and now she’d have to live with the consequences.
Whatever they might be.
Her laptop was charging on the counter, so she unplugged it and took it into the den, where Chase’s show was nearly over. He swallowed the last of his orange juice while she dialed her parents in Savannah, and by the time their images appeared on the screen, he was grinning from ear to ear.
“Morning, Gramma and Grampa,” he said, adding a little wave. “How’re you?”
“Just fine, honey bear,” Mom replied, beaming at him. “What have you been up to so far today?”
“Having breakfast and playing catch with Sam.”
“Sam?” her father echoed warily. “Who’s he?”
“Auntie D’s neighbor,” Chase answered brightly. “He likes the Red Sox, too, and he’s awesome. We’re gonna watch the game together tonight.”
They wouldn’t like knowing there’d be a stranger in the house, Holly knew, but she plastered on a smile and pretended she was fine with the arrangement. Don Fredericks was a cop, and her mother, Gloria, worked with at-risk teens, so they were trained to spot trouble and she didn’t want to worry them.
Unfortunately, Holly’s acting skills left a lot to be desired.
“I didn’t realize there was a single man so close by,” Dad commented in a casual tone that did nothing to mask his apprehension. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Oh, Don.” Mom clicked her tongue at him. “Daphne hired him to work on her house, so she thinks he’s trustworthy. You know how great she is at reading people. Besides that, Holly meets new folks all the time, and she handles them just fine. Don’t you, sweetheart?”
“Sam’s been a total gentleman,” she assured them.
“Well, you tell him that better not change or he’ll have your father to deal with.”
“I’ll do that,” Holly promised, forcing a laugh. “He’ll be too busy to cause any problems, though. This place is like something off one of those real estate disaster shows.”
“D has always liked old things,” Mom said in a tone laced with fondness for her older sister. “Now that she’s retired, it’s good for her to have a project that will keep her occupied.”
“It’ll do that, all right. I should let you two go for now. Once Auntie’s home from the hospital, we’ll call and have a nice family video chat.”
“That would be wonderful,” Mom said approvingly.
In unison, they said, “Love ya—bye.”
After they hung up, Holly stared at the icons on her screen until they faded into a slideshow of Savannah’s most beautiful spots. Sometimes her hometown seemed like it was on the other side of the world even though it was only a few hours away by plane. Those were the times when she seriously considered moving back to the only place that had ever really felt like home to her.
Brady had never wanted her to follow him from station to station, so she’d remained in Boston, counting the days from one of his leaves to the next. Enjoying her small circle of friends, she’d been happy enough there, even more so after Chase came along.
Then Brady returned, and their once-vibrant existence shriveled away to nothing. For Chase’s sake, she’d done her best to adjust and remain as upbeat as possible. After trudging along that way for a couple of years, she’d finally come to the conclusion that Brady’s condition had plateaued and the chances of him improving any further dwindled by the month.
So she cared for him as well as she could while creating a life for herself and Chase that included desperately needed friends and playdates. They’d been her salvation, giving her something beyond the confining four walls of their apartment.
Tragically, they’d also given Brady the opening he needed to end his life. For months afterward, she’d blamed herself for not being there when he needed her most, to remind him that she loved him and would never give up on him, no matter how bad things got. The vows she’d spoken on their wedding day before God and their families were sacred to her, and she was as committed to them at the end as she’d been in church that warm, sunny day that had held such promise.
It felt like a lifetime ago, she thought sadly. Every night, Chase included Brady in the prayers he said before bedtime, asking God to take good care of him. Because she felt he was too young to understand, Holly hadn’t yet devised a way to tell her son the details of his father’s untimely death.
She barely understood it herself, but she recognized that someday she’d have to tell Chase the truth. She prayed that when the time came, God would help her find the words.
And that somehow, her son would find a way to accept that the father he loved had chosen to leave him behind.
* * *
Later that morning, Sam stopped outside the kitchen door to find Holly and Chase with their heads together over a coloring book. He didn’t think kids did that kind of thing anymore, and the cozy scene made him smile. “I’m headed into town for a fresh saw blade. Do you need anything while I’m there?”
Holly glanced over at her son and grinned. “I don’t suppose y’all have a barber with a pair of hedge trimmers and a good sense of humor?”
“Aw, Mom,” Chase whined. “My hair’s fine.”
“I can hardly see your eyes,” she informed him in the kind of no-nonsense tone Sam recognized from his own mother. “Besides, it’ll be getting warmer soon and shorter hair will be a lot more comfortable.”
“Okay,” the boy relented with a sigh. “Let’s go.”
They left the kitchen, and he waited on the landing with Sam while she locked the door. Then Holly took Chase’s hand and they headed down the wide steps. When Chase reached out for Sam’s hand, too, Sam was so stunned, he accepted the trusting gesture and followed along. That the boy would be openly affectionate with his mother was understandable. That he would think to include someone he’d known such a short time was surprising, to say the least. Their quick connection baffled him, but Sam decided that any problem he sensed was all in his mind.
His heart was overjoyed to know that the fatherless boy had taken to him so quickly. Maybe he wasn’t as far gone as he’d feared, after all.
“So, is this barber good with kids?” Holly asked, giving her son’s hair a fond ruffling. “This jack-in-the-box isn’t great at sitting still while people fuss over him.”
“Except when I was in the service, Hal’s given me all my haircuts since I was five.” She raised a suspicious brow, and he laughed. Since meeting the Andrewses, he’d been doing that more than he had in ages, and he had to admit it felt a lot better than brooding all the time. “I know I’m not much of an advertisement right now, but he’s really good. He’s got a grandson Chase’s age, along with seven others, so he’s great with kids and they love him.”
“That sounds reassuring,” she commented as they stopped beside her car.
To Chase, he said, “Cody, the one who’s your age, came up with the idea of keeping a video game console and snack bar in the waiting room at the shop. I don’t know who likes it more—the kids or their parents.”
“What a fabulous idea,” Holly said. “That’s one smart kid.”
“I wouldn’t mind meeting him sometime,” Chase said. “It’d be fun to have a friend to hang out with.”
Remorse dimmed Holly’s features, and she frowned. “I know you miss your old crew, bud. I wish we could’ve brought them with us.”
“It’s not your fault, Mom. I’ll just make new friends.”
After making sure she smiled, he grinned and climbed into the back seat of her car. Holly closed the door behind him and stared in at him with a pensive expression.
“That’s one amazing kid you’ve got there,” Sam commented.
Pulling her gaze away, she looked up at Sam. “He is, isn’t he? I don’t know what I’d do without him.”
“I’m thinking he gets all that spunk from you.”
Tilting her head, she gave him a long, penetrating look. “You think I’m spunky?”
He wasn’t sure what was going on in that mind of hers, but he saw no harm in being up front with her. “Sure do. Considering all you’ve been through, you wouldn’t have gotten this far without it.”
“God had a lot to do with that.”
Sweet and simple, the sentiment that comforted so many people made Sam’s skin crawl, and he struggled to mask his reaction to her unexpected confession. He didn’t quite manage it, though, and she frowned. “Did I say something wrong?”
“No.”
