Page 16 of A Family Affair: The Plan
“It wasn’t DollyorPhyllis. This is a small town and I’m very observant.” She forked two green beans, waited for his response.
Sam took another bite of stuffing, chewed until his jaw hurt, and forced out the next question. “Was it Dad?” He hadn’t wanted to touchthatsubject, but it seemed there was no way around it. Besides, it wasn’t like his parents kept anything from each other, so his mother knew his father and Hope had met. Sam would bet a month’s pay his father had shared every single detail about the guest who was staying at the Heart Sent. Every. Single. Detail. That’s all his mother needed to begin speculating on what those tiny details and nuances meant, could mean or should mean. Ugh.
“Your father might have offered a thought or two, but…that’s why I’m asking you.” She paused, patted his arm. “For confirmation.”
This conversation made him feel like he was sixteen again and missed curfew by forty minutes because he and Christy Shay had been at Boone’s Peak doing what every other high school couple did—exploration—and they’d lost track of time. When he arrived home, there was a twenty-minute lecture on responsibility and a suspension of his driving privileges, except to cart his twelve-year-old sister around. That last one was such a pain!
Sam scooped up a forkful of mashed potatoes and gravy, determined to shift the conversation to something else—anythingelse. “You and Dad were always big on politeness. ‘Please, thank you, nice to see you again.’ It’s kind of hard not to have a conversation with someone when we’re both staying at the same place. If there were ten other people there, that would be different, but with the current set-up, it’s common courtesy.” He met her gaze, held it. “I’m being polite, the way you taught me.” There, see how she responded to that one. Sam savored the mashed potatoes and gravy, waited for her response. It took a full ten seconds, but he should have known Joyce Harrington would have one.
“I see.Mannersare in play.” A smile flitted over her lips, followed by a nod of her dark head. “Well, I know it’s not my business, but if you were to spend time with her on anything other than for the sake of politeness?” Her features softened, her dark eyes sparkled. “I think that would be wonderful. Word has it she’s beautiful, intelligent, sweet, and very considerate.”
Okay, fine. Hopewasa nice person and she was great to look at, and she had the most captivating hazel eyes… But it didn’t matter because he wasn’t interested and besides, she was only visiting. “You do know she’s only here for a few more weeks, right?”
“I’ve heard that, but things do change.”
The woman did not give up. Sam reached over, squeezed his mother’s hand. “But these plans aren’t going to change. She’s here to do a job…another three weeks max, and then she’s gone.” He’d calculated the approximate days she had left the night after he spilled too much in Mimi’s kitchen. If he weren’t careful, he might end up telling her his whole life story, including the details of his screwups, and he wasnotgoing to do that! Besides, he didn’t want a fix-up, and he was pretty sure Hope felt the same way.
And then there were the trust issues.
“You don’t know that.” Her dark eyes shimmered with tears. “I never thought you’d move back here and yet you have.” She sniffed, her voice cracking. “Each day brings a new challenge, but it also brings possibility. Old wounds heal and lead us down a new path. You just never know.”
Old wounds.There were a lot of those between Sam and his father, and he wasn’t so sure his dad would ever let them heal enough to move on. Sam cleared his throat, inched his gaze to his mother, and asked the question he’d wondered since before he returned. “Is he ever going to trust me again?”
No sense putting a name tohebecause they both knew they were talking about Edgar Harrington.
His mother squeezed his hand. “Of course, he is. It’s just going to take time. He was so heartbroken when you joined the practice in Chicago and then acted like nothing had changed between the two of you.”
“I’ve tried to have a conversation with him about it, but he’s not interested. All he wants to say is how much I’m not ready and may never be ready…”It’s too soon to say if you’re capable of taking over the practice. The plan we discussed has changed. Not sure if the opportunity is going to come around again.
“Your father’s a stubborn man. I think he’s waiting to see…”
“Waiting to see if I’ll stay? Waiting to see if I’ll live up to what hethinksI should be? I’m not going anywhere, Mom. I’m here, but the question is will he ever trust me enough and believe in me to the point where I can take over the practice? I have so many ideas, but he doesn’t want to hear any of them. I’ve got the capital to make the changes, and I’ve tried to tell him how the practice could grow, but he just wants me to mind my own business and remember he’s in charge. I’m only going to do that for so long. You know that, don’t you?” There, he’d finally spoken the words out loud.
The expression on her face said she hadn’t considered that he’d give up trying. “What are you saying, Sam? You’ll just give up? You’ll stop trying to convince him you should run the place?Please don’t do that.He’s stubborn and I don’t know how to change that.” She set her fork next to her plate, rubbed her temples. “I’ve never been able to in all the years of our marriage.”
“I’ll give it some time, but I’m a realist. If he continues to be unwilling to even have the conversation, then I’ll talk to the practice in Renova. It wouldn’t be my choice, but I’m not going to spend the rest of my life paying for my mistakes.”
“Give him a little more time; he’ll come around. I think he’s afraid to believe you’re back.” Pause, then a whisper soft, “And if you’re interested in this girl, don’t hide it. Your father said I’d like her. Tells me she’s got spunk and a kindness about her, even if she tries to hide behind her good manners and fancy clothes. I’d like a chance to meet her.”
How would that even look and how would he go about asking her?My parents want to meet you? They think we’d make a great couple? Much better than my last choice. Yeah, no, and not happening. When his dad mentioned he’d met Hope, Sam hadn’t known what to say. He’d kept cool because his father had been poking around for details and a hint of something else…like Sam’s interest in Hope Newland? And now his mother had taken over with the questions and the curiosity.
How had Hope met his father without Sam finding out about it? Well, to be fair, he hadn’t seen her for almost two days, not since the night of oversharing in Mimi’s kitchen. She must have visited the clinic when Sam was out, but still? How had she gotten in to see his father in less than forty-eight hours? And why? Edgar Harrington wasn’t on her “must meet” list of Magdalena residents.
So many questions and no answers. Not yet, but hewasgoing to get them. Sam thought about ways to approach Hope for the rest of the night. Did he want to do it? Absolutely not, but he didn’t like people sneaking around, especially when they might be discussinghim. He’d had enough of that with Celeste and her friends as they plotted out his career and his life according to what they thought it should look like. Nobody was going to do that to him again.
8
Hope had never met anyone like Harry Blacksworth. Boisterous, happy, ready to tell a joke to put you at ease, and not afraid to tell you what was on his mind. Or what was onyourmind. She could see why people loved him. It wasn’t the style or the class, or the fact that he financed so many causes even though he’d never straight-out admit it. No, it was the kindness, the way he made you feel like you mattered, and were so much more than what your job description said you were.
“I’ve heard about you, Hope.” Harry Blacksworth’s blue eyes sparkled, his handsome face tanned and smiling. “I’m glad you stopped in.” Pause and a wink. “Bring a guest next time.” He nodded, ushered her to a booth in the back. “You sure are a looker. I’ll bet Sam picked up on it, too.” A laugh and a wide smile. “I’ll bet you two have a lot in common.”
Hope tried to ignore his comments as she slid into the booth. “He’s very nice.”
Harry Blacksworth placed both hands flat on the table and leaned forward, voice low. “Let me tell you something, Hope. There’s nothing wrong with attraction. It can pop up when youleast expect it. You’re in the grocery store looking at tomato products and when you glance up,bam, there she is. Or you’re at the dry cleaners, or the café… You never see it coming. That’s what happened with me and my wife. Greta was the cook at my brother and sister-in-law’s home.” He blew out a loud sigh, rolled his eyes. “How my poor wife ever put up with that woman, I don’t know, but Greta’s a saint.” Another laugh, a shake of his head. “She puts up with me, so she has to be. I’d been a bachelor for a lot of years and usually dated women half my age, but then I opened my eyes, and there she was. Here’s this feisty German woman who didn’t think I was a big deal no matter how much cash I had. She didn’t care about any of it. Plus, she had two kids and what did I know about kids? Nothing, that’s what. I spent my whole life making sure I didn’t have any and now here I was, falling deeper and deeper, fighting it harder and harder, trying to deny this woman could own my oxygen. No man ever wants to admit that, especially when he’s been hiding his feelings for so long.”
His voice dipped further; his blue eyes turned bluer. “You finally have to own up to it and stop being a coward. The damn womandoesown your oxygen, and you don’t want to spend another day without her. Once you understand that, you tell her and your whole world lights up, brighter than a twenty-foot Christmas tree. Life’s never the same, and you can’t imagine how you made it without her for so many years.” He winked again, straightened. “And the stepkids? I think of them as my own, and we even added another one to the bunch. Plus, a dog. Talk about crazy, but I wouldn’t change it for anything.”
Hope cleared her throat, tried to find her way out of this uncomfortable and too personal conversation. Harry Blacksworth was on her “must speak to” list, but she didn’t really want to know about the bachelor days or the stepchildren. Or the dog, other than to wonder if Sam were the dog’s vet. Sheclutched her napkin, cleared her throat again. “That’s quite a story.”
