Page 8 of A Very Oceanport Christmas
"It's fine. You couldn't have known."
It didn't seem like Sam was ready to let the topic rest, though. Of course not. It had never been easy to dissuade him fromanything. One time when we were kids he’d climbed on top of the roof of his parents’ bookstore to catch Santa red-handed before he could go down the chimney.He expects you to be hiding in the living room, he’d said.The roof is where you get him!His parents had been less than pleased, but I knew if they hadn’t kept the attic locked from there on out, he would have tried again the next year. If there was something that Sam wanted to do, he was going to do it, one way or another. And now, he had his mind set on decorating the ice cream parlor. He pondered my words for only a moment before he spoke again. "I get that we can't hang all the stuff you got because of your mom, but what if we got new stuff?"
"New stuff?"
"Yeah, like, I could go and get stuff that doesn't remind you of your mom." He smiled, obviously taken with this idea.
"I don't think we can afford to buy new stuff when there's plenty of decorations up in the attic," I objected. Seriously, it would be a waste of money to purchase new things just because I was being a bit of a baby about all of this.
"I can pitch in," Sam insisted. "Consider it payback for all the times I got to eat here for free."
"Don't be silly, Sam. You need to save your money for other things." My eyes went to his belly again, even though I was really trying not to stare at his baby bump too much. It was just so...prominent.If anyone had told me two days ago that my best friend was pregnant, I would have told them that they were out of their damn minds.
And now I couldn’t look at him without wondering who’d put a baby in his belly and if there was some way I could punch them.
Jealousy was an ugly feeling.
"There's also all the times you tutored me," Sam went on, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"You're being ridiculous." Yeah, I'd been ahead of Sam in school by one year and sometimes I'd helped him with his homework or study for an exam, so what? Any friend would have done that. It hardly required payment.
Sam huffed, as if I was the one being unreasonable. He'd always been good atthattoo. It wasn't going to work this time, though. I turned my back on him and noticed that one of the tables was ready to pay. Shit. I hoped they hadn't been trying to get my attention for too long. "I'll be right with you!" I called out while printing the bill for that table on the register.
"Daviiid." Sam drew my name out, but I ignored him. Thankfully, he stayed back at the counter while I dealt with the customers.
When I returned, I spotted him talking to my dad. When hadhecome down?
Jesus Christ, was everyone sneaking up on me this morning?
"I'll cover the rest of the morning shift," my dad said. "So you and Sam can go and work on making this place look a little more festive. You should check the mall."
I suppressed the glare I wanted to shoot at Sam. He'd drawn my dad into this, really? I should have known he would. "But, Dad," I started. "What about all the decorations we already own?"
Dad only shrugged. "What about them? They're going out of style, son. I'm starting to think a fresh look is exactly what this parlor needs this year."
I opened my mouth to protest, but couldn't find the right words. How was I supposed to win when my dad and my best friend ganged up on me? The truth was that I couldn't. Digging my hands into my pockets, I admitted defeat. "Okay, fine."
* * *
We took my car.The mall was a good forty minute trip away. A forty minute trip I hadn't planned on making. Sam was smiling, though, sitting in the passenger's seat. Of course he was. He'd gotten his way once again.
"You seem like you're in a good mood," I pointed out, glancing over at him.
He shrugged, but the smile on his lips didn't ebb away, and as much as I hated losing to him all the time, I was glad for that. Sam's smile was one of my favorite things in the world. It ranked right up there with puppies and the smell of freshly cooked lasagna.
"I'm just really glad for this distraction," Sam said after a moment. "It's good to get away, if only just for a little bit."
"Is that why you wanted to go shopping?"
"It's not the only reason," he claimed. "I think you really do need to decorate the parlor, and..." He paused. I shot him another glance. He seemed a little less comfortable now.
"What is it?" I prompted, hating that I needed to keep my eyes on the road instead of on my friend.
"I'm sorry about what happened with your mom." The heavy regret in his voice let me know that he meant it. "I should have been there for you."
"You weren't even in town," I reminded him. "There was nothing you could have done." I'd had enough people offer me comfort. Half the town had come to visit the first couple of days after mom had passed, bringing home-made meals and offering words of condolences. Everyone had loved her. Dad sometimes joked that people hadn't come to the ice cream parlor for the ice cream but for her. Part of me believed that. If I was being honest with myself, this was why I was so reluctant to dress the parlor up for the holidays. Now that Mom was gone, the magic had been lost, and a few cheap trinkets weren't going to bring it back. It was laughable even to try.
"I could have called more," Sam said, oblivious to the thoughts swirling in my mind.
