Ripped at the Seams (23 page)

“Besides, there's such a thing as airplanes, you know. You could take a trip or two. You don't have to be a total stranger.”

Sami reached over and hugged Celia gratefully. “I won't be. I promise.”

Vin was waiting for Sami as she walked out of Celia's room. “Rain took your father and Al for a cup of coffee,” Vin explained quietly. He glanced toward the hospital room where Celia lay. “How is she?”

“Its going to be okay,” Sami said, as much to assure herself as anything else. She looked up at him. “I'm glad you're here.”

“I wouldn't be anywhere else,” he said softly, pulling her close.

Sami looked into his eyes. He stared back at her, his expression filled with questions. There was only one way for Sami to give him the answers he needed. She reached up and kissed him.

“I've got to meet some friends in about twenty minutes,” Rain announced as she, Sami, and Vin left the hospital together late that night. “You'll have to soldier on without me.”

Sami gave her roommate a grateful smile. It was obvious that Rain had sensed the change in the dynamic between the Three Musketeers, and she was giving Sami and Vin time to sort things out.

The November night was cool. Vin reached over to put his arm around Sami as if to protect her from the cold night air as they walked home. Sami laughed lightly to herself—she was, after all, a Minnesota girl. She was used to the cold.

What she
wasn't
used to was being with Vin, at least not in this way. As they reached the doorway to their building, she felt her heart pounding wildly.
This is silly,
she tried to tell herself. After all, she and Vin had crossed this threshold a thousand times together, after trips to the park or late-night pizza runs.

But this was different, and they both knew it. Once Sami entered Vins apartment tonight, nothing would ever be the same.

“Um, I'm sorry about the mess,” Vin apologized as he fumbled with the keys to his apartment. “Your call caught me off guard.”

“It can't be any messier than my room,” Sami said, keeping the small talk going. “I have more clothes on my bed than in my closet.”

Vin nodded, and once again they slipped into an abyss of uncomfortable silence. Sami sat gingerly on the couch, and Vin sat down beside her, taking care to be close but not so close as to make her uncomfortable.

Sami's heart beat faster, and she could feel a hot red blush rising up onto her cheeks. She hoped Vin couldn't tell just how nervous she was, but deep down she was sure he could. There was no way she could keep anything from him: Vin always knew what she was thinking. He'd proven it that night when they were dancing at Lincoln Center, and probably a million times since then. There was no doubt in her mind that Vin could tell how badly she wanted him.
Needed him.
There was no sense in trying to hide it. Slowly, tentatively, she reached over and gently ran her finger across his hand.

The effect was explosive. Vin leaned over and kissed her, gently at first, as if he were afraid she would break. Sami pulled
him closer to her, letting him know that she wanted this as much as he did. Vin moved his lips gently down her face, kissing her neck and shoulders passionately as he gently stroked her hair and the side of her cheek. Sami breathed heavily, overcome with joy and excitement. She'd loved Vin from the moment she'd met him. She had just been too blind to see it. Now, here in his apartment, on a cold November night, all of the months of love for Vin poured out of her in one long, passionate kiss. She used her lips to let him know that, now and forever, her heart belonged to him.

Celia entered the models' dressing room and searched for Sami. She finally spotted her kneeling down beside one of the models, giving her nightshirt one last stitch. “There you are,” Celia said. “I've been looking everywhere for you.”

Sami leaped up and squeezed her newly svelte best chum. “You look amazing,” Sami said. “I love that suit. It's so chic.”

“Well, I'm in the fashion business now,” Celia reminded her. “How else would you like the manager of the Elk Lake offices of Sami Granger Designs to look?”

“I wouldn't change a thing,” Sami assured her. “Where's Alana?”

“With her proud poppa, of course,” Celia said. “Are you sure you want her here? She could cry at any moment. She's only two years old, you know.”

“Hard to believe,” Sami murmured. “Of course I want her here. I need my family around today. Where's Dad?”

“He's already seated, right next to Lola. They're exchanging battle stories from the nineteen sixties. Personally, I think they're both full of it, but …”

“As long as they're enjoying themselves.” Sami laughed. “Whoever thought that they would become friends?”

“I think it was that trip Lola made with you when you opened the Elk Lake office. She and Mac went off during that party and we didn't see them for
hours,
” Celia said, giggling.

Sami laughed, remembering. “Celia, I'm so glad you agreed to run things in Elk Lake when I'm not there,” she said. “I feel so much better knowing it's in your hands.”

“Are you kidding?” Celia said. “I'm having a blast. And everyone in town thinks of you as some sort of hero. Putting
your headquarters in Elk Lake has given lots of people jobs, you know. And adding that day care center was a stroke of genius. I had no idea how many moms wanted to work if they could find a way to be close to their kids.”

“Well, this wise woman I know once told me that all the success in the world wasn't worth anything if you couldn't share it with family,” Sami admitted.

Celia laughed. “Whoever could that be?”

“Gee, I wonder.”

“Anyway, you've put Elk Lake on the map—just like you promised.”

“Let's hope it's still that way after this show,” Sami said worriedly.

“Nervous?” Celia asked.

Sami nodded. “My first fashion show. I can't believe it.”

“Believe it,” Celia said. “
Enjoy
it.” She gave Sami a hug. “I've got to sit down. See you after the show.”

Sami started to say something, but then she heard her name. “Sami, there's a rip in this sleeve,” one of the models cried out.

“Coming,” Sami called, running toward a girl in a blue nightshirt.

“Five minutes,” the stage manager called into the dressing room.

“Oh God,” Sami gasped, suddenly finding it hard to catch her breath.

Rain rushed to her side. “You okay, boss?” she asked.

Sami looked at her friend. She looked adorable in her pink-and-red pinstripe nightshirt. Her red hair hung straight and simple down her back. “You look gorgeous,” she told Rain.

“You think so?” Rain asked, unsure. “The nightshirt is a piece of genius, but I still think you should've gone with a more famous model to start the show. I would have been happy just to be one of the gang.”

Sami shook her head. “No way. You're the face of Sami Granger Designs. You need to start the show.”

Rain nodded. “It's amazing, isn't it? When you first moved in you were a receptionist and I was serving veggie burgers at Dojo.”

“Now you're in magazines and on runways,” Sami told her.

“And you're not doing too shabby
either,” Rain teased. “I just wish I saw you more. Ever since you moved out …”

“I only moved across the hall,” Sami told her. “And you're over at our place all the time.”

“But you're not,” Rain said. “You spend almost half your time in Elk Lake.”

“That's why I need you,” Sami teased.

“To keep an eye on Vin for me.”

“He ' really a great guy,” Rain told her.

“And he adores you. You don't need anyone to watch him.”

“I know,” Sami agreed. “He understands that part of me still needs to be in Elk Lake. And he's cool with that.”

“Where is he, anyway?” Rain asked.

“Putting; some last-minute finishing touches on his set design, I think. He's such a perfectionist.”

“It's an incredible set,” Rain said.

“Vin is amazing,” Sami agreed.

“So are you. So am I,” Rain cheered. “The Three Musketeers rule!”

“Rain, they need you at the curtain,” the stage manager called out. “It's starting.”

Rain gave Sami one last hug and ran toward the stage.

The show lasted about an hour. One by one the models walked down the runway, playfully showing off Sami' original lingerie designs. Sami had made sure they all understood that they were to smile and act joyous. She had no patience for the overblown cooler-than-thou attitude of most fashion shows. When it came time for the big finale, the curtains parted to display a giant bed with a trampoline mattress that had been specially built by Vin and his crew of stagehands. The models, all dressed in baby dolls and nightshirts, hopped up and down like kids playing on their parents' bed. It was a perfect ending for a show that demonstrated just how much fun lingerie could be.

“Okay, Sami, it's your turn,” the stage manager whispered, practically pushing her onto the stage. Sami walked out slowly and stood shyly in front of the bouncing models. The lights were bright and it was hard to see, but she could tell that the audience was on its feet, giving her a standing ovation. More importantly, Sami knew that everyone she cared about was out there
cheering for her. There were her Elk Lake relatives: Mac, Al, Celia, and little Alana. But Sami had come to realize that she had family in New York as well. Maybe not blood relatives, but the bonds were just as strong. Lola had a front-row seat for the event, and was as proud of Sami as any mother could be. Nico was there, too, applauding wildly and letting out a loud wolf whistle as the crowd cheered. Sami had even sent an invitation to Ella, the Très Joli representative she'd met at the Bridal Building her first day in New York. The woman probably had no idea why she'd received the card in the mail, but for Sami, it was a way of repaying an old debt.

Most importantly, Vin was in the front row, a fact that gave Sami great comfort. It was reassuring to know that, no matter how scary this day was, when it was all over she would wind up going home with Vin—a man who wanted nothing more than for her to love him as much as he loved her. And Sami did love Vin. When she had time to indulge herself with a bit of fantasy, she could actually see them married to each other and raising a brood of
beautiful babies. But there was time for that. Both she and Vin were satisfied with the way things were at the moment.

It had taken Sami a long time to learn to accept both sides of herself: the smalltown girl and the New York fashion designer. But she had to accept them both, because the Sami Granger she was today was a combination of the girl she had once been in Elk Lake and the woman she had become since moving to New York City. Sami wasn't willing to relinquish either one. Still, it wasn't easy combining the two. She spent a lot of time on airplanes going back and forth from Minnesota to New York. It seemed as though she was always saying good-bye or being welcomed home by someone. But as Sami stood onstage with the models who were displaying her designs and beamed into the audience where her loved ones sat, she knew she wouldn't have it any other way.

For the first time, Sami Granger felt totally and utterly complete. The varying threads of her existence had been perfectly seamed to form a single fabric—the fabric of her life.

Nancy Krulik is the author of more than one hundred books for children and young adults. She has written biographies of many of today's major celebrities, including the
New York Times
best-selling
Leonardo DiCaprio: A Biography
. She has just completed a new book for Simon Pulse,
Love & Sk8
Nancy lives in Manhattan with her husband, composer Daniel Burwasser, their two children, Ian and Amanda, and a crazed cocker spaniel named Pepper.