Chapter 1
T
here was nothing worse than being awakened from a very intense sex dream right at the best part. Riley squeezed her eyes shut and tried to go back to sleep, but it was no use. Her son was crying. With a sigh, she sat on the edge of her bed, taking a second to let reality return before she went across the hall to her two-year-old.
“Momma,” he whimpered as she entered his room.
“What is it, big guy?” He didn’t waste any time climbing onto her lap and winding his chubby arms around her neck.
He pointed, his face wet with tears.
“Bad,” he said.
Red and blue flashing lights reflected in the window, throwing eerie shadows across the ceiling.
“That’s from a police car,” she said as she carried him to the window and pulled the curtain back so he could see. “The police are good guys. They protect us from bad things.” Like the abusive boyfriend the woman across the street kept letting back into her life.
Riley hadn’t had it easy; her ex had cheated on her and then left when Luca was only a few months old, but at least he’d never been abusive.
She was an optimist. Always able to find the good in any situation. The good in her failed marriage was in her arms at that moment with his sleepy head resting on her shoulder.
“Are you okay now?” she whispered, and Luca nodded. “Let’s get you back in bed before the policeman comes and arrests you for being up past your bedtime.” She laughed so he would know she was only kidding.
She tucked him back into his twin-size, big-boy bed and kissed his forehead.
“Momma,” he said, in that voice that melted her heart.
“You want me to stay with you for a little bit?” She knew exactly what he wanted.
He nodded and scooted over to make room for her in the bed. He had her wrapped around his little finger.
Fortunately, she wasn’t a big person. Barely five foot, she could still wear clothes from the girl’s section in the department store. She shifted to get comfortable as Luca nestled up against her, his thumb instantly going into his mouth as the fingers on his other hand found her hair. It was a routine they had perfected over the years.
“Love you, buddy,” she said as he fell asleep.
She had only planned to stay until Luca drifted off, which was why she hadn’t worried about an alarm. A mistake she wouldn’t make again. The next morning, Riley jerked out of bed and rushed to get them both ready to leave.
No time for a shower; she put her hair up in a twist and dabbed on some makeup while Luca ate dry cereal out of his
Toy Story
bowl.
She had planned to wear a nice spring dress to welcome May, but looking outside at the chilly drizzle reminded her how unpredictable May could be.
Riley threw on a pair of khaki dress pants and a sweater before tossing Luca’s clothes in his bag and leaving the house.
Guilt kept her speed under control as she crossed busy streets to get to her mother-in-law’s. Technically, Anita Fisher was her
ex
-mother-in-law, but she had told Riley many times that her son was wrong, and that she still saw Riley and Luca as family.
That was why she was willing to watch her grandson for free every day while Riley worked at Valley Jewelers. And occasionally when Riley worked her second job at the Mountain Gate Hotel.
Riley’s lawyer/brother-in-law had forced a garnishment against her ex’s wages to pay child support, making his payments more predictable. But it still didn’t cover day care along with her other expenses.
“Running late?” Anita asked as she came out on the porch to greet them.
“Yeah. I fell asleep in his bed and didn’t hear the alarm in my room.”
Anita just smiled and kissed Luca’s head as Riley passed him over.
“How’s my boy today? Are we going to try the big-boy potty?”
“No,” Luca said.
“Oh, come on,” Riley said. “The potty is great. Much better than yucky diapers.”
“No,” Luca said, just as uninterested as ever.
With a frown, she ruffled her son’s white-blond hair and kissed his chubby cheek.
“I’ll see you later. Love you.”
“Love you, Momma,” he said in return. He waved as she backed out of her mother-in-law’s driveway. It felt as if she was leaving half of herself behind with him.
“You’re graduating?” Sam said as he sat at his sister’s table for dinner.
“Yes,” his niece said with a huffy air he didn’t appreciate. “You knew that. Remember back in September when you said, ‘You’re in twelfth grade?’ ” She used a low voice he guessed was supposed to sound like him as she rolled her eyes.
He did remember that part. But apparently, it hadn’t registered that her being in twelfth grade last September meant she would be graduating this June.
Sure he
knew
. He wasn’t an idiot. It was just that he still saw her as the eleven-year-old she’d been when he got out of the service and came to Roanoke to live with his sister.
Helping to take care of McKenna had kept him sane when he came back to the States after three tours in Afghanistan. It was easier to forget about explosions and the friends he’d lost while watching
Sponge Bob
, playing Candyland, and teaching a kid how to divide fractions. It put things into perspective.
It didn’t, however, stop the bad dreams, or the way he still overreacted to loud noises, but he felt like he was doing pretty well, considering. After all, he was alive.
“So what do you want for a graduation present?” he asked.
“A car?” McKenna’s eyes lit up with excitement.
“Hello, I’m Sam Brooks, your uncle who believes you should get off your ass and get your own car. Nice to meet you.”
She laughed and rolled her eyes again before she took the dishes to the kitchen.
“I’m worried her eyes might actually fall out of her head from all the rolling,” he whispered to his sister when McKenna was out of hearing range.
“It’s a possibility,” Georgie said with a laugh.
“So what kind of car do you think she wants?” he asked. He had money put aside. He had a pretty good job with a low cost of living because he traveled a lot. His apartment was small and cheap.
“No car,” Georgie said firmly.
“Come on. She’s going to need one for college.”
“You know how I feel about it, Sam,” she snapped.
He did. Georgie’s husband had been killed in a car accident eight years earlier, turning her into a single mother. It was one of the reasons Sam had moved in when he first got back. So he could help. It turned out they had all helped each other.
“Georgie, she’s going to drive someday. You can’t protect her from everything.”
She nodded and rubbed her temples. “I know. But I still think it’s important for her to buy things for herself. She’ll appreciate and respect it more if she pays for it with her own money.”
That was an excuse he could get behind, but he was sure it was just that: an excuse.
“How about if she comes up with half and then I front her the other half?” he compromised. “I don’t want her driving around in something unsafe.” He had learned how to manipulate people from the best. Namely Georgie.
Georgie was technically his half sister and was ten years older than him. Her father had left their mother when she was six. When their mother started dating Julio Alvarez a few years later, Georgie latched on, happy to have a father again.
They were married, and a year later, Samuel Alvarez was born. Georgie always said those were the “good years,” when her mother was happy and her Dominican father made
mangú
on Sunday mornings.
Julio had died in a work accident when Sam was four. He had only two distinct memories of his father. One was riding on his shoulders during a fireworks display and the other was of him singing in Spanish while dancing with Sam’s mother.
When Sam was seven, his mother married again. This time it was more for security than love. Even Sam could tell. But Wayne Brooks adopted Georgie and Sam, giving them all the same last name and uniting them as an official family.
Wayne wasn’t a bad guy; he’d encouraged Sam to go into the service and he’d walked Georgie down the aisle at her wedding. But after their mother died he drifted away, leaving only his name behind.
“I don’t want her driving something unsafe either,” Georgie said, giving in. “What mother would want that?”
He smiled, knowing he’d won. Sam’s father had blessed him with dimples that were handy when it came to women. His caramel skin and muddy green eyes didn’t hurt matters either.
McKenna left to meet a friend after the dishes were done.
“What should I get her for graduation until I can help with the car?” he asked his sister as he got ready to leave.
“I’m sure if you tell her the plan, she’ll be happy with that.”
“But I have to get her a gift on the actual day.”
“Another memento?” She laughed. “She has a whole box full of stuff you’ve sent her over the years.”
“Really? She kept all that?” He smiled.
Georgie went down the hall and came back with a blue plastic box. She pulled up the lid, exposing all the treasures he’d sent his niece over the years.
“She always asked me to send her something when I left,” he remembered as he picked up a rock, knowing exactly where it had come from.
“I know.” She plucked out a piece of china he’d picked up from the wreckage of a house in Iraq. He dropped the stone and pulled out a small bottle full of sand from Qatar. “I think you’d be hard pressed to get her anything that means more to her than this junk.”
“Hmm. Do you think she’d notice if this box was missing for a few days?” He had an idea.
“Probably not. Why?”
“No reason.” He took the box, and with a kiss on the top of her head and a “thanks for dinner,” he left to go home to his lonely apartment.
He had just gotten back from a long job in Mississippi and would be spending a few weeks at home. He didn’t mind traveling. It kept him busy—and kept him from noticing how pathetic his life was.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want more. He’d often thought it would be nice to have someone to come home to. But he’d tried that when he’d first got out of the military and it hadn’t worked out so well.
He spent the rest of the evening working on plans for an addition for his friends, Ian and Lexi Montgomery. They’d just adopted three kids, and with the one they already had, they had outgrown their cabin the mountains.
He pulled into the Montgomery driveway the next morning, proud of the results of his labor the night before.
The sounds of laughter and noise escaped when Lexi opened the door, looking a little ragged but smiling.
“Hi, Sam, come in. Did you want some coffee?” she offered as two little kids went running past him.
“Uh, sure.” He followed her into the kitchen, taking in the mess. There was cereal all over the table, mixed in with crayons and an abandoned sock.
“Excuse the mess. We went from having one handful to four. It’s only been a week and a half and we haven’t worked out our schedules yet. But we’ll get there.” She was still smiling, as if this was the best thing in the world.
A shout in another language from the other room made Sam jump.
“Sasha! English, please!” Lexi called.
“Jamie bit me.”
“Jamie! Don’t bite your new brother!” She was still smiling, as if she didn’t notice she was caught up in the middle of a hurricane. “Are those the plans?” She pushed some things aside on the cluttered island. After she wiped up some jelly, he rolled them out.
Ian came into the kitchen with a giggling little girl hanging over his shoulder.
“It looks like you got a little something on your shirt,” Sam joked.
“Really? I don’t see anything?” Ian spun around quickly, making the little girl laugh even more. He righted her, and as soon as her feet hit the floor she ran off in the direction of the living room, where all the noise was coming from. “What do we have?”
The Montgomerys looked over the plans, oohing and aahing appropriately. Though they’d been impressed with his work in their master bathroom, Sam was surprised when they’d asked him to do the work instead of his boss, Dalton.
He made note of the changes they requested and then rolled up the drawing. The necklace hanging around Lexi’s neck caught his eye, and he thought of his idea for McKenna.
“Do you know where I might be able to get a chain and some kind of charm thing I could put sand in to make a necklace?” he asked, pointing at her jewelry.
“You should go see my friend Riley at Valley Jewelers. She’ll help you, and if you tell her you know me, she’ll even be nice to you.”
“She’s not normally nice?”
“It depends—” Lexi was interrupted by the sound of crying from the other room. Looked like Sam would have to figure this one out himself.
“That no-good, lowlife
asshole
,” Riley muttered as she slammed her car door and walked up to her mother-in-law’s house to retrieve her son.
Evan had visited her at work, asking once again if she could have the garnishments stopped for the child support. The reason Cooper had to set them up in the first place was because Evan wasn’t paying.
Anything
. Today he’d promised not to let it happen again.
As if she could believe his promises. She remembered about five years ago when he’d promised to love her for the rest of his life, forsaking all others. Turned out he didn’t
forsake
very well.
He’d promised that once he got out of college, he would support Riley so she could finish. That also never happened.
The more she thought about it, everything he’d ever promised had gone unfulfilled. Even that one night after their first anniversary dinner, when he’d promised he was going to make her feel so good her head would explode. As she recalled, nothing exploded at all.