The Happy Housewife (Samantha Sherman Book 1) (17 page)

“I wasn’t implying anything that you just said. I’m merely pointing out that you aren’t a police officer. And I am
trying
to be nice about it.” Nathan’s voice was getting louder.

“Well,” Sam shot back in an even louder voice, “maybe if you had done a better job, I wouldn’t have had to find out important information for you.”

Nathan’s eyes looked like they were going to bug out of his face. He gritted his teeth and then said, in a voice that was tightly controlled, “Look, you were slightly helpful today, but the reality is that the prints would have come back and we would have questioned Mrs. Thomas, probably down at the office. This all would have come out. In fact, if you hadn’t come by and taken Mrs. Thomas on Monday, I would have been able to question her immediately when we realized nothing much was taken in the ‘so called’ robbery. You saw how quickly she caved in—we could have had everything in the open in one day. So I think you’re getting ahead of yourself in terms of writing your own award for this.”

Sam knew he wasn’t being entirely fair, but she also knew there might be some truth to what he was saying. She felt herself deflating but didn’t want to let Nathan see her lose her confidence. Instead, she pretended she was taking the high road, even though she couldn’t think of one thing to say back to him, again. “Do you have anymore words of condescending wisdom for me or are we done here?”

Nathan ignored her last barb and replied, “I think that’s about it for today, but I need you to tell Don or I right away if you get any new information from Mrs. Thomas, or if she has contact with her old friends. Do you have both of our cards?” Sam nodded yes, and Nathan began to gather his things. “Oh, and please do not discuss what we talked about with Mrs. Thomas.”

Sam nodded curtly and then sat back and watched Nathan pack up, refusing to make small talk. Unfortunately, Nathan didn’t seem to find the silence uncomfortable at all. So Sam sat and fumed silently. So annoying … happy housewife?
Are you kidding me?

He finally finished gathering his things, got up, and said thank you for her time, to which Sam nodded and said no problem. He then added that he would tell Helen she could come back in.
Oh, aren’t you a gentleman?
Sam sneered mentally. She couldn’t wait to shut the door firmly behind him. As she followed him to the door, she could see Helen in the yard through one of the glass panes on the side of the door. Helen appeared really hot, tired, and old. Instead of slamming the door when Nathan exited, Sam remembered her manners and left it open a crack for Helen.

Sam went back to the kitchen as her stomach churned. The funny thing was she didn’t feel hungry, she felt mildly nauseous. She decided to ignore the churning, grabbed her sandwich, sat down at the table and began chewing. She heard Helen come in. She knew she should see if she was all right but she couldn’t get herself to move. Helen shuffled in to the kitchen.

“Are you okay, hon?”

Sam managed a smile, “Yes, I’m fine. He’s a pleasant guy,
huh
?” She choked out a fake laugh and Helen smiled sympathetically in response. Sam suddenly felt like crying. She realized she needed to get upstairs or she was going to break down in front of Helen.

Sam gulped her last couple of bites and asked Helen if she needed anything. When she said no, Sam responded, “Fine. I’m going upstairs for a while. I still have an hour until I need to get Lindsey. You’re sure you’re all right?”

Helen said yes, so Sam grabbed her water and made it to the stairs before the tears started. She stifled her sobs until she got to her bedroom. Locking the door, she sank onto the bed.

As she lay back on the bed, she let the feelings of incompetence wash over her. She owed it to the captain of the KELSEY to never forget the lessons of THAT night …
She got final confirmation of the captain’s death when she landed back at the air station. The Operations Officer couldn’t quite look her in the eye when he told her that the captain had slipped under the water before the rescue boat could reach him. She knew what he was thinking. Why didn’t she follow the current instead of looking behind the rocks? She had no answer.

Sam learned her lesson about decisions right then. If you made the wrong one, a day, one five minute period, could change everything. A man, a father, had died because she wasn’t able to locate him.

Afterward there was the expected investigation. No one was found to be at fault and the hospital confirmed that the boy had been in critical condition. Lt. Lee flew again right away, the next day in fact, and finished her time in the Coast Guard honorably but always with a hidden fear, not of flying, but of having another mistake in judgment.

Once she was out of the Coast Guard, Sam thought the fear would go away and it had somewhat. The exception was when important decisions were in front of her. She never forgot or forgave herself for the captain’s death. The way she figured it, she owed it to him, the person she let down, to never let it go.

Nathan had reminded her of her inadequacies in the judgment department today. He was right, she realized. She should have left all this up to the police. Who was she, Nancy Drew? She thought about how someone like Nathan saw someone like her. He probably thinks I’m some desperate, bored housewife who thinks she’s on a great escapade. He probably thinks I’m pathetic.

Sam spent the next hour in her room. She didn’t care what Helen thought about her disappearance. She needed to let out the tears and then get herself back together before getting Lindsey. She needed to remember who she was and who she was not. The Coast Guard was behind her, she was a wife and mother, and that was what mattered now.

Later that evening, when she and Lindsey were chatting with Doug, Sam let him know that she needed to call him back later. With Lindsey safely tucked in bed and Helen retired to her room, Sam curled up on her bed and called Doug back. She could hear in his voice that he was concerned. They had checked in each night and she had told Doug that Helen was staying with them, but she had omitted a lot of the details of the week so far. He didn’t know about Helen’s past or Sam’s run in with Pete.

Sam felt so deflated it was actually quite easy to start from the beginning and tell him everything. She could hear the tension in his voice increasing as he asked short questions while she talked. She knew him well enough to know that his worry would come out in anger, and it did. Doug railed at Sam for bringing Helen into their home, for not letting the police handle things, and for her encounter with Pete. “Sam, when people get murdered, many times it’s because of who they surround themselves with. If Helen has turned around her life great, but there seems to be a lot of disaster that still surrounds her. You have got to get Lindsey away from her. How soon can you get her out of our house?”

“Well, I think her house was being cleaned today so I guess she could go back tomorrow. She hasn’t mentioned leaving. She lives alone so I imagine she would be scared.”

Sam flinched as Doug actually started to curse. That was very unlike him; he was really angry. He finally got out something coherent, “What about those terrorist friends of hers? They’re supposed to be so close to each other. Why doesn’t she go to their house? And why didn’t she stay with them in the first place?”

Sam hadn’t even thought of that. She literally hung her head. He was right, even if he was cursing, he was right. “You’re right, Doug. I’ll talk to her in the morning. I’ve more than been a good neighbor. If she doesn’t want to stay at her place, she can stay with one of her friends.”

Doug calmed down as they kept talking and by the time they got off the phone they were back to the point of saying I love you. Sam put the phone back in its cradle suddenly feeling exhausted but as if a weight were off her shoulders. She had a great life and a terrific husband and, even though her confidence felt knocked, she also believed she had a good plan for moving forward with the week. She could not wait to have her house back, her life back.

She got comfy under the covers and began to relax and drift back to her Christmas leave that was two months after THAT night …
Sam’s mother had been telling her about how she ran into Mrs. Sherman, an old friend from college who was now living in Fairfax. Mrs. Sherman was with her son whom Sam’s mom raved about. He was SO nice, SO handsome, SO successful, and was helping his mother with some unwieldy packages from the local hardware store. Of course, Sam’s mom had filled Mrs. Sherman in on her family, and Mrs. Sherman and her son Doug were SO impressed that Sam was a pilot. Of course, Sam’s mom would never DREAM of trying to set Sam up with anyone, BUT they were all invited to the Sherman’s Christmas party. And wouldn’t that be fun?

The last thing Sam felt like doing was going to a Christmas party with a bunch of people she didn’t know just to get thrust at some guy that her mom liked. It sounded so hideous. Besides, she had been really down lately. Work wasn’t going well and she just wanted to be left alone, out of any spotlight. Since she didn’t feel like explaining all this to her mother or telling her about THAT night, she instead dutifully hunted through her suitcase for something semi-appropriate to wear. She picked out basic black formal pants and a red sweater. It was hardly an original outfit but it would do. She did bother to curl her hair which she let hang loose in long waves and put on makeup. She decided she would take a separate car, telling her mother that she might need to leave early to go over to Mary-Beth’s place. She would stay one hour, she determined.

The Sherman’s house was beautiful. It was in the nicer Fairfax Station area of Fairfax County. It looked like it had been professionally decorated with ethereal white lights. Sam got a little excited as she pulled up to the curb; it would be fun to see how the house was decorated on the inside.

Sam entered the house behind a crowd of people she didn’t know. She was hoping to just blend in with the crowd and then go find her parents. She was able to do just that and, after dropping her coat in the designated pile, she decided to give herself a little tour of the decorated first floor. It was really lovely. Someone in this house has either excellent taste or a suburb decorator, Sam thought. She wandered in and out of the main rooms which were filled with party goers. Sam didn’t immediately see her parents and it looked like too much effort to get near the food and drinks. Instead she continued looking around the first floor. She saw a mini-Christmas tree in what looked like the study. It appeared to be decorated with dollhouse items. “How clever,” Sam murmured. She stepped into the room to get a closer look.

“You’re a fan of dollhouses?” Sam jumped at the disembodied voice. She looked to her right and sitting next to the desk in the room on a very comfortable looking leather couch was the most beautiful man she had ever seen.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he added. Sam smiled hesitantly, still catching her breath, and he continued, “I swear I’m not dangerous, I’m just taking a break from the party.”

He spoke in a soft, deep voice that was very pleasant, very soothing. He seemed at ease. Sam gave him a full smile and finally replied, “I’m not too worried about you.” She paused and then nodded towards the tree, “I had a dollhouse as a little girl. Decorating a tree with dollhouse items is a really clever idea. Someone in the Sherman family is very artistic.”

“Well, it certainly isn’t me. I’m the Sherman’s kid, by the way. My name is Doug.”

“Oh, you’re Doug. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Samantha Lee. My mom and your mom went to college together.” Sam could see Doug’s smile waiver. She guessed he had been pushed towards her as much as she had been pushed towards him prior to the party.

She tried to set him at ease. “Mothers-huh? Don’t worry. We can wait until next week to get engaged.”

Doug laughed at this. He had a great laugh. It wasn’t too loud. In fact, it seemed soft but still very masculine, more like a chuckle really. They smiled at each other. “Well, I’ll let you get back to hiding out,” Sam said with her smile still fixed. She made a move to leave.

“It looks like you might be trying to hide a bit too? Perhaps you’re hiding from an introduction to me?” Sam stopped and laughed.

“Yeah, I guess I wasn’t really up for a big thing tonight.”

“Well, if you want to hang out here for a while, I’ve got food.” Doug gestured toward his food and drink. “We can discuss what kind of ring you want for the engagement.”

Sam smiled and then moved over to the couch and sat next to Doug. She could never remember what else they had talked about that night. She just remembered conversing quietly with Doug in the warm study for the rest of the party. She also recalled her impression of him. He was soft spoken, intelligent, confident, and very nice. She was pleasantly surprised that so many of their values and goals matched up. She felt calm and happy just sitting with him.

Sam had a smile on her face as she drifted off to sleep. Life was good.

T
he conversation with Helen went surprisingly well. It was amazing how a good night’s sleep and a sense of purpose refreshed Sam. Moving Helen out made a lot of sense. At some point she would have to face her burglarized home again, and since the police were done and the place was cleaned up, it might as well be today.

Helen was extremely nice about the whole thing. In fact, Sam walked away from their conversation almost thinking that leaving was what Helen wanted. As their talk wound down, Sam couldn’t resist asking what Helen’s plans were for the future.

“Well, hon, I just don’t know. I really like this area. I thought I didn’t have another move in me and that I would retire here, but I’m beginning to think that staying in my house would be too much. I’m actually contemplating moving back to Chicago. It was home at one time and I have some distant family members there, I think. I’m not sure though. Maybe I should give it some time and then decide. Much like you, I imagine, I really feel very tired right now.”