Kaleidoscope Summer (Samantha's Story) (49 page)

“
I wasn’t
allow
ed
to
go to
my senior prom in hig
h school—
dating wasn’t
even
an option
.
” I shifted
,
crossing
one leg over the other. “
Some of the
remarks I
mis
understood
until now. Being
told
I had
to be extra careful
because I might
be more tempted than other
girls.
”
M
emories
flood
ed to the
surface
.
“According to my
mother
,
she’d h
ad a miscarriage before she me
t my father. But she didn’t want him to know. She said sometimes things happened in life and it
didn’t make people bad. Maybe
pre
paring me, knowing
I would eventually
find
out about
the adoption.
”
Dr. Ellie remain
ed
silent and it allowed me time to gather my thoughts
.

“The comments hu
rt. It was impossible to
measure
up to their standards.
I believed it was because of my deafness
.
Now
I realize
their
words had
nothing to
do with my hearing loss
.
Sorry, I haven’t answe
red your question
.
”

“You’re on a
good—
”

“Please
.
I want to answer.”
I interrupted her. “To be honest
,
I wa
nt to say Anne
should have kept
me no matter what. But if I’d been in her situation—I’d have made the same decision she did.
Anne did
n’t
have a choice
. Her f
ather,
John
, still disavows me
.”

“You’ve pieced together some significant insights.
” Dr. Ellie leaned forward
. I felt encouraged to continue
.

“
I want to stop
searching, b
ut I have this dr
ive to find
the
truth.”

“You can’t heal from the past until yo
u uncover the issues
.
God wants you to be emotionally healthy.
” She ran her fingertips across her chin.
“
Let’s change directions for a minute
.
During your first session
,
you mentioned finding pieces of a puzzle. What pieces are you still searching for?”

“
Missing pieces?
I need—or
want—t
o know about my birth father
. However,
t
h
e key piece would be
to have
John
and Elizabeth accept me
as their granddaughter. I think
Elizabeth already does.
John
—I’m determined to find a way to reach him.
”

“I’d li
ke to
see you write a letter to your birth father
.
S
ee
where it
propels you,
how you feel once you get started.”

We
ended the meeting
and
w
alked along the shore
with the dogs, stopping several times to chat
.
Our walks and visits were a great way to relax after the emotion
al intensity of our sessions
.

“Gerald will be retiring at the end of this year.
We’re planning
to move here, and make the cottage our retirement home
.
We both enjoy our time in
Serenity
Cove—
although
Gerard is doing
it
more for me
.
I love it here
.” He
r
words
stirred a longing within me—I wante
d that
kind of
connection
with someone. No
,
not with
someone
—
I wanted it with Lo
gan.
At the thought of his name, I closed my eyes and felt determination surge through me.

I
left
,
ready for
another round with
John
. But first I made
a short detour to Taylor Jone
s
’s office to pick up the letter that I’d asked him for.

Trepidation had my nerves in knots as
I slowed
to a stop in
their
driveway
. I waited for John
to come out
and h
a
ndle his dogs
.

“You people don’t get the message. Do you?”
John
’s
face turned
an angry
red.

“I have a letter for—
”
The envelope shook as I offered it to him.

“I
don’t want your letter. Now leave
.”

“It’s…
it’s
a letter stating documents
are being drawn up to deed
your property to Betsy.”

“You
’
r
e
goin
g
to
give up this
property?
I don’t like tricks
.” He
squinted, intensifying t
he crevices around
his eyes, and
studied
my face.

When I placed my foot on the
wooden step, I stumbled. H
e reached out and kept
me from falling.
“
Here.”
I thrust the letter into his hand
. “The legal papers
will be ready in a few days.” I turned to leave and glanced over my shoulder.
I wanted to tell him I w
ould never h
urt my grandmother. But
was
it
a
promise I could keep?
I remained silent.

“Be careful
.
”
He waited
until I moved
down the steps before going inside
.

I
inched
closer and
looked at t
he window and
saw
tears on my grandmother’s
f
ace. Could she see mine
?

Chapter Forty
-one

The curve of the cul-de-sac
ended in
front of
Alec
’s house
.
According to him, his wife’s grass
-colored thumb
was
responsible for
the manicured landscape
.

Alec
trotted
out his
front
door
in jeans and a paint
-
splattered shirt
,
pushed a bu
tton
and
the garage door
roll
ed
up. “M
orning, boss.
”
He
tossed
drop cloths and
pa
int supplies into the bed of my
truck.

“W
ant to tell me what we
’
re doing?”
From the look of things, we were in for a few long hours of sweaty work
.

“Ted wants to meet at
Brandon
’s house. Says a few repairs are needed.”

He
hopped in
the opposite
side
while I slid under the wheel
. “How much dama
ge
could’ve happened since
Brandon
’s
injuries
?”

He shrugge
d
. “Ted
asked
. So we’re going.”

If one of us called
,
Alec
rallied
. It
explained
why he wa
s
good on the force—he was
dependable.
Neither of us had been to
Brandon
and Rachel’s
before,
but
he
spotted
the address
and pointed out the house.

A tarp covered a portion o
f the
r
oof. I shoo
k my head in disbelief. “It’s i
n dire need of
more th
an a brush and roller.” The dingy white paint
had
peeled
in papery strips
and exposed the
wood of
the
old
frame house.

We found Ted attempting to pull a r
ake through the weeds
in the backyard
.
He pushed
his cap
higher
,
exposing his fore
head
,
and wiped
sweat and grime from his face with
his sleeve
. “I had no i
dea. We
met after work for
drinks
. H
e never invited me to his house and I neve
r gave it a
thought
.”

I pushed
my sunglasses
back into place
. “Did you clear this with Rachel
?”

“I asked
if she needed yard work or anything done.
She smirked,
told me it needed a bulldozer. This is what I found.”

“You’re thinking the three of us can scrape the house, put on a
new roof
,
and repair
the
windows?
” I
looked around. “F
or starters.”

Ted released a heavy sigh. “
Any suggestions?
”

“Ever watch one
of those
shows where they assemble a team of profession
al
s and remake the whole place in a week
end? Meet me at the station. L
et’s call in some
favors.”

Later,
Alec
and Ted
left to
me
e
t with
the
contractors
, and
I
met with the interior suppliers
.

Agreements in hand, I
strolled into my si
ster’s shop, and there was Sam. The lady had a powerful
effect
on me. I forged ahead. I explained the situation and
Maggie and Sam
both s
wiped
at their tears
. “And here’s where you come in. The inside
need
s
carpet,
drapes
,
and furniture.
”
I laid the
list of suppliers
on the table in front of Maggie.

“Consider it handled.” Maggie
jotted
down notes.

“Where’s Wolf
?”
He seldom left Maggie’s side.

“Getting a routine checkup.
Then a bath with
the
groomers.
” Her attention immediately turned back to Sam.

“If
Linda comes in tomorrow,
we can drive over and take measurements and sketch out a few details.”
Sam
stared at Maggie’s list from across the table. I
missed
spending time with Sam. I missed
the sound of her voice
—I needed to leave
and clear my head, before I said something stupid.