Kaleidoscope Summer (Samantha's Story) (51 page)

Sam
shook her head. “Audra?
I can’t tell her.
”
She ran h
er hands through Goldie’s fur.
“His
letter
doesn’t
change anything—n
ot with me.
”

M
aggie sat back on the sofa and
pulled a jean-
clad leg up under her.
“Don’t you think your father owned up to what
he did? He took responsibility.
”

“He
sounds
both
sincere and
contrite. But it doesn’t change the damage he caused.
Anne
was
forced
to give me up
, and
I grew up without ever knowing her.
”
Sam
stood and
paced around the room.
“A part of me wants to m
eet him and be forgiving. But
I
don’t think I can.”

Wolf curled
up next to Maggie
.
“Anne forgave him
.”

Sam
glared at her
. “
And I find it out
rageous that he’d ask
her
for help
—after six
years
,
he decided he wanted to
meet
me?
”

“I
f you met him
,
it could change the way you feel—help you
forgive him.”
Maggie chewed her lower lip
.

“Why do I feel like the villain?
Like I somehow wronge
d Daniel. He walked out on Anne
, and
now I’m suppose
d
to
do the
Christian
thing and forgive him?
W
hy
should he get off so
easy
? Anne
didn’t.”

I turned to Sam
,
wanting to comfort her—wanting to make her world okay
. “Let it
go for now. No one believes you’re
in the wrong.
Concentrate on other aspects of your life and leave this one for another day.”

Tears made
pathway
s
on Sam’s
cheek
s
and trickled
onto her top. “Other aspects?
Like my grandparents who want n
othing to do with me
? All of this rando
m craziness is too much. It’s time to go back t
o Stone Valley, so I can try to
piece my life back together
—I certainly don’t belong here.”
Sam stood and paced around the room
,
stopping to gaze out the window
. “I’m sorry
, but I’d like to be alone right now.”

Her words
stifled my breathing
. I mumbled
in an attempt to say goodbye and
left
.
Life had reinforced what I had learned years ago—happily ever afters
were
never freely handed out—if
they exist
ed
at all
.

Chapter
Forty
-two

I have a sister I long to
embrace
. G
randparents who
refuse to accept
me. A
nd
a
birth
father
I..
.
I don’t want to know.
Bewilderment
flow
s
through my veins, yet
h
ope
continues its quest to
fill
the
recesses of my being and
encourages
me to believe
in a future and a hope
.
If only I could.
~
Journal e
ntry

Goldie alerted me and led me to the entrance
. With an exasperated sigh,
I
remembered
I hadn’t cancel
ed the appointment with Audra.

I opened the door. Audra had brought a man with her.
I recognized his azure
eyes.
Both stunned and speechless, I inhaled deeply
,
trying hard to pull it together.

“
Hello
,
Samantha
.
” They stepped inside.
“
I’d like for you to meet my father
,
Dr. Daniel Cunningham.”
Her expression
overflowed with the pride she felt for this man who stood next to her.

He reached out and m
y heart froze as
I clasped my birth father’s hand
. “I’m
Anne
Makenna
’s daughter.” S
hock
registered
on his face
,
the
same emotion
that jolted
through me
,
hitting all my vital organs like a pinball
.

A
ud
ra was busy greeting Goldie. After a moment, he finally
grasped my hand and
placed his other hand on top
. “Th
e pleasure is
mine.” He turned
away
.

Stupid—why did I tell him who I am
?
“Dr
. Cunningham, there’s a co
ffee shop next door. You might enjoy
a
c
up while Audra a
nd I finish
our
business
.”
I needed him to leave—I nee
ded to breathe
.
Thankfully, he politely nodded and walked away.

H
is custom
-
tailored
slacks broke
over a pair of Ferragamo loafers—similar to the ones my fa
ther had always favored
. Combined with a
dress shirt,
the cuffs turned up tw
ice
, he
appeared both dist
in
guished and debonair. His polished appearance did little to impress me—I knew his history
.

Audra wrenched her attention from Goldie. “
The stench of the fire is still strong
.”
She scrunched up her nose
.

“
That’s the
reason
I’ve decided to
cancel
the
list
ing until the shop is cleaned
.”
I looked into Audra’s
eyes
,
so lik
e mine
,
and wanted
to
tell her we were sisters.
We had both grown up as
only children, but
here we stood, together and still alone.

“
It’s already handled. Let me know
when you’re ready to move forward with
it.”

My breath caught in my throat
as
I
stood the
re staring into my sister’s face
.

“Looks like I lost my father—I’ll get out of
your way and join him
.” I watched her leave as
her dad
had
earlier
.
Envy
rose within. How I would have loved a fath
er
–dau
ghter friendship as
they
apparently
shared.
I shook off the
aftershocks of meeting Daniel
, and grabbed some packing b
oxes to clear out the smoke
-
tinged debri
s
.

More than anything
,
I needed
to work off
the fu
ry that made me want
to confront
Daniel
—tell him how much I despised him
. After a couple of hours of packing books
,
I took Goldie out back for a little fresh air.

Outside
,
Goldie suddenly
r
an to me with her little ears perked up
.
I looked behind me as
a
woman emerged from the back
door
of the shop.

“Can I help you with something?”
I patted my leg
and Goldie sat at my feet.

She hel
d what looked to be the daily
ed
ition of the
Serenity
Cove Chronicle
. “According to this ad, t
he
Sea Glass
B
ookshop is for lease?”

“I’m
Samantha
Forrester
. This
little
girl is Goldie, my hearing dog.”

“Hello
,
Gold
ie.” She turned back to me. “
I’m
Jezzica
Leigh
.
Please, call me
Jez
z.” She stretched her arm
toward me
.

I clasped
her offered hand
.
“Let’s go inside.” I led the way into the main part of the shop and face
d
her so we could talk.
“Do you live here in Serenity Cove?”

“I live in one of the summer cottages down on Shoreview Drive.”

“S
o you vacation here
?”

“I live here now. But
, m
y sister and I spent
many
summers
he
re with our parents
.
We loved coming to the
bookshop
for
story
time with Miss
Anne
. Are you related to her?”

“I’m her daughter.”
It surprised me, this feeling of p
ride at the thought of being Anne’s
daughter, although I still hit a snag when I thought about my
real
mother
—I was much more her daughter.

“I’m sorr
y for your loss. She was a lovely woman
.”

“Thank you
.
” I didn’t say I’d only
recently met her—v
icariously.

“A
ny chance you’d consider selli
ng the shop
?”

“What type of business do you have in mind
?” I braced myself.
You can do this.

“A
booksh
op.
” Her eyes opened with surprise, as though she wondered how I could ask such a silly question.
“
I couldn’t imagine it
being anything else.” Her dark
chocolate
eyes sparkled
. “I can’t wait to have the children come for story
time with Ms
.
Jezz.” Her cheek
s brightened with a shade of blush
. “I’m sorry
.”

“
No worries.
I took it as a
compliment
. Leave me you
r
information—
I’l
l have
my
real estate agent
contact you
.” I
smiled at Jezz,
amazed at the peace I felt.
“It’s a pleasure meeting you. I hope we can work out a deal.
”

Her eyes roved the shop
once more. “Will you do me a favor? Lea
ve
everything as is—I want to redo it
myself
.”

Her excitement was contagious.
“
We had a fire and I’m still in the process of cleaning out the shop. But
I won’t move
a thing. By the way, t
he
re’s an apartment upstairs.
”

“
G
reat.
Maybe
it could be a
reading room?
Or a place book clubs
or
writing groups
could
meet.” Her lips stretched i
nto a smile
. “
I’m getting ahe
ad of myself.” She tossed her
mane of
chocolate-colored
hair
that matched her eyes
an
d from the movement of her lips—I
knew I
liked her laugh
.
Laughter was the
sound I
missed
the most—I
imagine
d
its melody.