Summer Lovin (19 page)

He might have found the situation amusing at first, but he couldn't possibly find humor in the repercussions.
So much for attempting a pleasant afternoon that would please Sam,
Zoe thought.

“There it is!” Grandma Edna yelled and pointed to the ground just as Ima made her escape from the roses and ran across the lawn, Sam in hot pursuit.

Vivian reached into her pocket for a vial that Grandma Edna referred to as her smelling salts, though Zoe didn't see why she needed them when she hadn't passed out.

Ryan rose and brushed off his hands, then bent to check on his grandmother.

“Care to explain that, that
thing?
” Vivian asked through tightly clenched teeth.

“That's Sam's pet,” Ryan explained.

“If it wasn't a rat, then what was it?” Grandma Edna asked as she fanned herself with a magazine Uncle Russ had held in his hand.

“Could I convince you it was a dog, ma'am?” Zoe pasted on her broadest smile.

Nobody laughed, especially after Zoe launched into an explanation of the Vietnamese potbellied pig.

As a group, they trudged back to the pool area. Although Ryan wanted to pack up and leave and Zoe was all too happy to agree, Uncle Russ insisted they stay. He'd just returned from the Boston store. An emergency, he'd said, and he wanted his share of time with both Ryan and Sam.

Zoe couldn't help but feel excluded, but she reminded herself it was an omen of things to come. She'd better get used to it now. She wasn't a member of this family, didn't want to be, and would never fit in, anyway. She was here for Sam and when Sam no longer needed her for the transition, and it was safe back home, they'd have to talk to Social Services, say their goodbyes and…

And would Sam return here? Zoe's insides roiled.

“So I thought that since you're a member of this family, you would want the same piece of jewelry both Vivian and Grandmother Edna have,” Uncle Russ was saying to Sam.

Zoe hadn't realized the teen had returned from rescuing Ima, but she had the pig packed safely in her carrier.

Russ held out a small jewelry box with the word
Baldwin's
inscribed on top and Sam accepted the gift.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Take a look.”

“I can't believe he bought Sam a gift,” Ryan said under his breath in awe. For all Uncle Russ's support, even he hadn't yet shown this kind of compassion for Faith's child.

With cautious excitement and shaking hands, Sam opened the gray box. “It's a
B,
” she said slowly. “A necklace.” Her voice dropped, the enthusiasm gone.

“I thought having it would make you feel more a part of us,” Uncle Russ said.

“I already have a necklace,” Sam said dully.

Ryan's mouth grew dry.

“‘Thank you' would be more appropriate,” Zoe coached her and Ryan nodded in appreciation.

“I already have a necklace.” Sam's fists gripped the oxidized keys that had once belonged to her mother.

Uncle Russ nodded. “I realize that, but this one's brand-new. You could put the old one in the box for safekeeping,” he suggested.

Ryan could see Sam's struggle and the fast way she blinked to try to prevent tears from falling down her cheeks. He felt torn inside between his uncle with his good intentions and Sam with her devotion to her memory.

Zoe came up beside him and rested her hand lightly on his shoulder, letting him silently know she understood. He wasn't surprised she read him so well, any more than he was shocked by the jolt her bare hand gave to his system. He wondered if she'd have this effect on him when he was eighty. He damn well hoped so.

“Of course you could always put the new necklace on a key chain if it makes you more comfortable, but wouldn't you like to see how it looks?” Ignoring the silence and Sam's discomfort, Uncle Russ stepped forward with the obvious intention of helping her remove the old necklace.

Sam stepped back out of reach and promptly fell into the swimming pool.

 

Z
OE DIDN'T KNOW HOW
they all survived the long day, but somehow they made it through their time at the Baldwin home. During the ride back into Boston, Sam fell asleep in the back seat, and Zoe and Ryan withdrew into their own private thoughts.

Despite the events of the day, Zoe was so wiped out, she couldn't focus on anything other than her longing for bed. Ryan parked in the garage opposite the building and the three of them practically staggered up the ramp and across the street. The lights from the entryway beckoned.

“I don't think I've ever been so glad to be home,” Ryan said.

Zoe nodded. “Hear, hear. I didn't know one day could be so overwhelming and exhausting at the same time.”

Ryan pulled the door open, holding it for Zoe and Sam. “Ladies first.”

“Hang on. I need to throw some tissues out,” Sam said and before either Zoe or Ryan could argue, she darted for the large trash can on the corner, a few feet from the building's entrance.

“Hurry up,” Zoe called, rolling her eyes. “Would it kill her to hang on to the garbage until we reached the apartment?” she asked, irritably.

Ryan met her gaze and laughed at the same time he heard Sam shout, “Let go!”

Ryan released the door and bolted for the corner, Zoe right behind him. She grabbed Sam while Ryan ran after the man who'd seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

“He touched me,” Sam said, practically hyperventilating from her fear. “This time he actually touched me.”

Zoe hugged her tight. “We were with you the whole time,” she said in an attempt to reassure Sam. But in her heart she realized she and Ryan had looked away for a split second. The same split second in which many parents lost their children in shopping malls and parking lots. She'd read about it so many times, yet despite the real danger surrounding Sam, they'd taken their eyes off her for a second too long.

“Was it the same guy?” Zoe asked Sam.

“I think so. It just happened so fast. He grabbed my arm like he wanted to turn me around to face him, but when I screamed, he ran. All I saw was the back of his head and a dark baseball cap.”

Zoe swallowed hard. “Maybe we'll get lucky and Ryan will catch up with him.” She hoped to calm Sam when in truth she felt anything but calm herself.

 

R
YAN RAN HARD
. The guy had youth on his side, but Ryan managed to grab the back of his T-shirt and drag him to a stop on the dark street he'd turned down.

Ryan's mouth was dry and his heart slammed hard in his chest. “What the hell do you want from my niece?” he asked, shaking him as hard as he could.

“I don't know what the hell you're talking about. You have the wrong guy.” The guy was winded, but arrogant.

“Oh no?” Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Then why'd you run like a scared shitless kid?”

Ryan stared into the hooded eyes of a punk who matched Sam's description of the guy who'd broken into her room. Dark hair, big teeth, medium height and build. There was no coincidence. This was the same guy.

“I'm no idiot, man. If someone comes after me, I'm not hanging around to find out why.”

“At the moment, that's exactly what you're going to do. Hang around and fill me in on why you're stalking a fourteen-year-old girl.” Ryan pulled the kid's collar tighter, choking him with the tight material. “Unless you want the cops to ask these same questions?”

He shook his head, the dark long hair falling into his face. “Go ahead. I didn't do nothing they can hold me for. At least nothing you can prove. It's some troubled kid's word versus mine. But if you want some advice, I suggest you get the
key
to this mystery soon. Now are you going to let me go or do I have to start yelling. This is harassment, man.”

Ryan scowled. The guy thought he'd back down. He didn't know Ryan at all. No way would he leave this guy walking the streets.

He shoved the guy in front of him. “Walk,” he insisted.

“To where?”

“Inside the building where I can call the cops and let
them
decide who to believe.”

 

A
FTER HOURS
in the police station where they pressed charges against Sam's stalker, it took forever for Zoe to relax and calm down. Not even a warm bath helped soothe her nerves.

Sam, on the other hand, crashed and slept like the dead.
There was definitely something to be said for youth,
Zoe thought wryly.

Now she lay in peace in her bed in the guest room at Ryan's and talked softly on the phone to her twin. She didn't want Ryan to overhear her conversation.

“The whole time I was at the house, I felt like Ryan's uncle had an agenda that involved Sam. I can just feel it. And after Ryan told the police what the stalker said about finding
the key
to this mystery, I'm more certain than ever that I'm right and it involves that key around Sam's neck,” Zoe insisted.

On the other end, Ari sighed. “Is it possible he was just trying to make Sam feel welcome by buying her a necklace that the other women in the family have?”

“No, it was more than that. More than coincidence that the guy Ryan caught used the word
key.
I noticed Uncle Russ staring at Sam's keys. He definitely wanted to see them firsthand.”

“You said he offered to let her keep the new necklace on a key chain. I think he's really just making an effort. After all, he's Ryan's only close relative, right? And Ryan trusts him?”

“Well, yes,” Zoe admitted. And there had been other, more positive aspects to the day and Russ's behavior toward Sam.

Russ had been nothing but good and kind in direct contrast to everyone else in that mausoleum. He'd walked them to the car while Vivian had still been inside attending to Grandma Edna.

Though Sam had remained sullen and silent, when they'd reached the car, Russ had bent close to the teenager. “I'm really sorry. We all loved your mother, you know.”

Sam had grunted something that sounded like, “No, I don't know.”

At the time, Zoe couldn't say he'd been focused more on the keys than on Sam. She'd just had an uneasy feeling she couldn't prove or even justify—at least not until tonight when the guy had told Ryan to find the
key.
It was too much of a coincidence.

“So what did Quinn find out so far about the break-in?” she asked Ari, changing the subject since her sister would probably just continue to play devil's advocate and insist Zoe was imagining Uncle Russ's focus on Sam's beloved possession.

“He discovered that the woman who says she had something stolen has a history of filing fraudulent insurance claims in an effort to recoup money, so we're keeping an eye on her and her boyfriend, who happens to have dark hair, which matches the description Sam gave. Of course that was before Sam saw the same guy in Boston. You said the police are holding him for questioning?”

“Yes, but without further evidence or proof, they'll have to let him go,” she said, her frustration mounting. Zoe bent her knees and pushed higher against the pillows, leaning back in sheer exhaustion.

“And the boyfriend I mentioned has an alibi for both the day of the break-in and the morning Sam says she saw someone lurking outside. Plus Quinn's having him watched, which means he's still in Jersey now, not Boston.” Ari expelled a loud breath. “Everything just feels like a dead end.”

Her frustrated tone matched Zoe's feelings exactly. “They still could have hired someone.”

“And Quinn's looking into the possibility. Now, how's Sam?” her sister asked.

Despite everything they'd been through today alone, Zoe had to laugh. “Sam's Sam.” She relayed some of the funnier stories and escapades about their trip so far.

“Sounds like she's charming her new relatives,” Ari said, laughing.

Zoe grinned. Her sister didn't know the half of it.

“So what about the one subject you're avoiding?” Ari asked.

Zoe raised an eyebrow. “And what would that be?”

“How
you
are. How you and your social worker are doing together.”

During the silence that followed, Ari remained quiet. Zoe knew the inevitable outcome. Her twin had more patience than Zoe, and she always could wait Zoe out. “Okay, okay. I'll talk about it. I'm confused,” she admitted to her twin.

“About your feelings for Ryan?”

“No, those are clear. Everything just seems brighter when he's around,” she grumbled.

“I see,” Ari said.

“And everything tingles when I just think about him,” she complained.