“Sounds good to me. I’m sure Sam will be up for it as well. Where and when do you want us?”
“Really?” His mother’s surprised voice rose with excitement, causing Zach a twinge of guilt. Perhaps he had been unduly hard on his mother and her relationship and vowed to give Matt a chance. Besides, with the background check he had his monitoring company perform on Matt, Zach felt certain his mother was protected as best as possible.
“Yeah. I want to see you before you go away this weekend. And I’ll bring over the menu so you can look it over.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing what you chose. Oh, sweetheart,” she said, her voice breaking. “You know I’m not trying to replace your father—no one could ever do that. He was my first love. But with you settled now and out of the house…” Her voice trailed away, but the implication was obvious. She was lonely, and Zach wasn’t who she needed anymore. He’d found Sam to wash away the painful memories; now was her time to move on with her life.
“I’ll see you tonight, Mom. And don’t worry; I’ll be nice to Matt.”
As long as Matt was nice to her.
Chapter Six
‡
He’d never thoughtof himself as a coward before, but Sam’s hand shook a bit as he pressed the bell on Rob’s apartment door. Thank God the job he was on hadn’t proven to be anything more than simple accounting errors that Henry picked up from scanning balance sheets and inventory. The several days he’d spent at the company, first at their showroom and then at their storage facility, had shown no evidence of any employee theft.
A tinny chime echoed in the background, and at the sound of approaching footsteps, Sam gulped down his nerves and practiced what he wanted to say in his mind, as he had all day. But the moment the door opened and Rob stood before him, everything Sam had planned flew out of his head.
“Sam—”
“Rob—”
They shared a nervous laugh, and then Rob held the door open. “Come on inside.”
Sam unzipped his coat and entered the apartment which smelled wonderfully of something warm and seasonal baking in the oven. Vanilla and cinnamon, Sam decided. And apple.
“It’s good to see you, man; give me your coat. Cindy ran down to the store when she realized we were out of vanilla ice cream.” Rob tossed Sam’s jacket over a leather sofa the color of rich merlot wine. The entire apartment reflected loving care and thought put into each piece of furniture, and Sam remembered from when he and Rob were partners how he spoke of his wife dragging him antiquing on weekends. “Can’t have her famous apple pie without vanilla ice cream.”
“They are a great combo for sure.”
“Sit down; go on.” Rob pointed to the sofa while he took the floral-print, overstuffed club chair. “Cindy got so excited when I told her you were coming she started baking as soon as the kids went off to school.”
Touched, Sam managed a weak smile. “That was sweet of her. How are the boys?” He recalled two young boys with Rob’s dark hair and eyes.
“They’re great, thanks; Mikey’s in first grade, and Jesse’s in third now.” Those dark unflinching eyes held his. “I think Cindy’s hoping for the pie to be a peace offering.”
Dumbfounded, Sam stared at him. “I’m the one who needs to offer that. I—I called because I never fully apologized for the entire clusterfuck of that night. It’s been tearing me up inside, and nothing anyone can say, not my friends or my fiancé, has been able to change how I feel.”
“Fiancé? You’re getting married to that guy?”
“The one from that night? No, no way,” said Sam hastily. “Andy and I broke up. I’m marrying Zach; Zach Cohen. He’s a software developer. We met two summers ago and…” He shrugged, suddenly at a loss for words. “We’re, uh, getting married next month.”
“That’s awesome, man. Congratulations. And I’m serious. You don’t have to apologize again. We’re cool.”
The honesty in Rob’s eyes strangely rattled Sam’s nerves rather than settle them. He wanted Rob to yell, scream, and call him a piece of shit for what he did, and instead he was faced with Rob’s calm certitude. Yet Sam still had to get it off his chest.
“I’m glad to hear you say it, ’cause it’s been eating away at me. I deserved to get kicked off the force. I can’t tell you again how sorry I am you got injured; I wished it was me who’d gotten hit and not you. I can’t hope we’ll ever be friends, but—”
“Sam, whoa, hold up. Stop for a sec.” Rob put out his hand, and the words dried up in Sam’s mouth. “I’m telling you the truth; I speak with Cindy about this all the time. She’s been after me to call you for months, but I figured you didn’t want to be reminded of the past.”
How foolish he’d been to cut himself off from the life he loved, assuming the worst. But it was a by-product of human nature to do so, especially when nothing had ever worked out for him as he’d hoped before. Now, with Zach, he had the chance for a whole new world to open up for him, only to discover he had a heart problem.
“I’ve spent too long living in the past—what would’ve been, whatshould’vebeen except for my screw-up. Shit.” He ran his hand through his hair, feeling totally ashamed again. “See? I’m so busy talking about myself I didn’t even ask how you were feeling. How’s the leg? Do you have any permanent damage?”
“I’m fine; back on the force with no long-term effects. Passed my physical with better scores than guys ten years younger than me.”
“That’s great, Rob. I’m so relieved to hear that. It’s been weighing so heavily on my mind. Zach is ten years younger than I am,” mused Sam. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m too old for him.” He shot Rob a guilty look.
