They walked outside, and he stood back, admiring the frontage of the house. One day, he promised, he and Sam would bring their children to play here all summer long.
“Let’s do this. I want to surprise Sam.”
Carla’s eyes boggled. “You’re not going to bring him to see the house before you sign the contract?”
“No; it’s my wedding gift to him.”
“Oh, that’s so romantic.” Carla gushed in the car all the way back to the helicopter, while Zach texted Marcus and Julian that he’d found his house. He also texted his mother, and this time she immediately answered.
Sounds lovely. I can’t wait to see it. I hope you and Sam have many happy years there together.
The helicopter whisked them back to the city in less than forty-five minutes, and Zach’s head spun as he jumped in a cab back to Brooklyn. Running all over the place today proved he really did prefer the quiet life, and it was a little silly how ridiculously excited he was now that he and Sam would have a home to get away to. He knew Sam was going to love it and couldn’t wait until the contract was signed and the house was definitely theirs.
Checking the dial of his watch, he was shocked to see the time. “Wow, it’s late.” Funny, he hadn’t heard from Sam all day.
The cab stopped in front of the townhouse, and he paid the fare and climbed out. Mounting the steps, he was seized with an unexpected sense of anxiety, which he dismissed as having too many things on his plate.
He entered the hushed apartment, yet Zach sensed Sam’s presence. The sofa, Sam’s usual place to relax, proved disturbingly empty, and Zach grew even more uneasy. His pounding heart thundered in his ears as he hurried to the bedroom.
The sight of Sam sleeping brought such a rush of relief, Zach’s head swam and he sagged against the doorframe. He couldn’t understand why he imagined the worst. Apparently living with his mother all those years rubbed off on him more than he thought.
The comforter and sheets lay in twisted lumps at the foot of the bed as if Sam had kicked them away. Zach approached the bed, careful to step quietly so as not to wake Sam, and studied his face, wondering why he was asleep in the late afternoon. Perhaps the sleepless nights he’d been having lately were finally catching up with him. A frown marred Sam’s face, and his brow wrinkled as if he was in deep thought while sleeping. Worried that his presence might disturb Sam’s sleep, Zach tiptoed out of the room and shut the door behind him.
He decided to make some coffee, figuring Sam might want something hot when he woke up, and prepared a pot of his favorite chocolate hazelnut to brew. The aroma of the freshly ground beans had him thinking about Mrs. Caruso, and Zach decided to talk to her tomorrow about the wedding. His phone buzzed with a text.
You got the house! The owners are desperate to sell and took your offer. I’m so happy for you!
It took scrolling through what seemed like endless emoticons of smiley faces and hearts to get to Carla’s message which was to come to her office tomorrow to sign the paperwork. Excited beyond belief, Zach responded and couldn’t help doing a fist pump and whispering, “Awesome.”
“What’s awesome?”
Sam leaned against the wall of the archway into the kitchen, hair mussed, eyes still soft with sleep. Zach’s heart skipped a beat.
“You are.”
A smile tipped the corner of his lips. “Well, I won’t argue with that.” A familiar light warmed his eyes. “Want to see how awesome I can really be?”
He held out his arms, and Zach walked into their all-encompassing strength. They walked to the bedroom, Sam’s arm heavy around Zach’s shoulders, and he couldn’t help but think about how next year at this time they’d be married and in their own home at the beach. He had so much to be thankful for. Everything was turning out perfectly.
Chapter Eight
‡
Impossible to believe,but the days had flown by, and it was only a week before the wedding. Zach had been acting a little strange, but Sam assumed it was nervous excitement with all the plans. The phone always seemed to be ringing, and he was forever rushing off somewhere with an apology and a promise to be back soon, but Sam didn’t mind. He had a lot on his mind as well.
At least Zach had settled down about his mother dating and no longer saw fit to complain about Matt. There were times Sam wanted to shake Zach for his stubborn refusal to see how much his mother needed to explore relationships and take that step back into a social world that had undergone such drastic change since she’d last been single that she might as well have been living on another planet all these years.
Neither Zach nor his mother were on his mind at the moment. Surrounded by a warm, almond-scented atmosphere, Sam sat in the corner of Mrs. Caruso’s bakery and sipped his espresso. The bakery was empty at this time, caught between morning and midday. It was his favorite time, when he could sit with his paper, catch up, and listen to strains of Italian opera Mrs. Caruso had playing from behind the counter on her small portable radio.
Where he’d normally be enjoying the quiet time, now anxious thoughts troubled him. Last week, for the first time, he hadn’t been able to maintain an erection when he and Zach had sex, and though he laughed it off, blaming it on fatigue, inside he knew it was because of the medication. He’d taken it sporadically, however the squeezing sensation and shortness of breath had occurred a few too many times for his comfort, and for one full week he took it as prescribed, with the unfortunate side effect of not being able to make love to Zach.
That was unacceptable to him, so he again stopped taking the medicine unless he felt pain. He tried to be more careful of his diet and to meet Henry in the park to play ball, but it was too damn cold. And now that Heather was pregnant, Henry was less inclined to leave her alone for an entire Saturday morning.
His phone buzzed, and he frowned, seeing it was a call from the doctor’s office. Unfortunately, he knew the cardiologist’s number by heart now and with a sinking feeling, he answered.
“Hello?”
“Sam? This is Dr. Diaz. I wanted to know how things are going with you on the medication.”
