Maya inhaled deeply. “Apparently, you told him to stay.” She dipped her head at him, and wildly waved in the direction of his torso. “But you might want to, um...well, put on a shirt first.” She was suddenly interested in Samantha’s blankets. “And you’re still wet—your hair...” The wave became an abstract motion in the direction of his head.
“Right.” He toweled off and pulled on an old concert T-shirt.
Maya smiled. “You still have that?”
“Hell, yeah. It’s Hootie. Come on.”
She actually laughed. A real, genuine sound that reminded him of summer—thatsummer. “Nothing wrong with Hootie, but that shirt has seen better days.” Her gaze lingered a bit longer than necessary, and when he caught her looking, she flushed again.
He opened the door and allowed her to walk through first. The scent of honeysuckle wafted by as she passed him and he was momentarily frozen in the doorway.
She took a few steps and turned back to him. “Aren’t you coming?”
“Oh, yeah—of course.” He gathered himself and followed her out.
“Teenagers.” She treated him to her crooked smile and shook her head.
Will was sitting on the edge of his chair when the two of them came out. Sam noticed that the floor was clean and that Will had done the best he could to clean himself off, too. He had cleats on his feet, and was still wearing his shin guards. Will started to stand as they approached.
Sam motioned for him to stay seated. He folded his arms across his chest and looked down at Will on the sofa. “What happened?” It was a demand, no doubt. But this boy had just brought home his intoxicated daughter. Sam would be nice when it was warranted.
Will threw an apprehensive glance at Maya.
“I’m her mother.” She extended her hand to him.
He shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Hutcherson. Oh, cr—I’m sorry, it’s Mrs. Rao, like Samantha. Sorry.” Color rose to his face and he wiped his hand on his shorts.
Sam and Maya deftly avoided looking at one another by concentrating on Will. Maya sat down across from Will, while Sam continued to stand. Sam felt a gentle tug on his T-shirt, and looked down to see Maya nodding at him to sit. Sam bit the inside of his cheek and glowered in Will’s direction, but sat down next to her.
“Fine, okay.” Will began. “There was a party at Paul Jameson’s and Brittany Stevenson was going.”
Sam and Maya both groaned at the mention of the girl’s name.
Will’s smile was sardonic. “Yeah, I know, right?”
Sam glared at him. Will cleared his throat and continued, “So, anyway, Brittany dared Samantha to show up. I told her it wasn’t worth it and I didn’t think she should go. Brittany always brings alcohol to these parties and they get out of hand. And I didn’t want her to get into any more trouble.” He looked away for a split second. “She was kind of mad at me about that.”
Sam grunted acknowledgment. He’d known something was up with Samantha and Will.
Will leaned toward them and held his hands out for emphasis. “See, Brittany never got over the whole shoplifting thing and has had it out for Samantha all year. That whole marijuana in Samantha’s locker thing...everyoneknowsBrittany put it there.”
Sam saw fury in Will’s eyes and paid closer attention to the boy.
Will continued, his voice rough with anger. “Brittany totally deserved that punch Samantha gave her. It was awesome.” The boy looked past Sam and Maya and seemed to get lost in the memory.
Maya gently elbowed Sam. He cut his eyes to her just as the edges of her mouth turned up into a ghost of a smile.
“Continue,” Maya encouraged Will.
“Oh, yeah. So, Samantha said there was no way she was going to back down from Brittany. Especially since Brittany kept going on about how Samantha was only allowed back at school because ofgym equipment.” Will shook his head in bewilderment. “Not sure what all that is about. Brittany’s probably just making things up to get to Samantha.”
Sam shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
“Samantha wouldn’t listen to anyone. So, she went to the party and Lisa went with her. A little past nine, I got a text from Lisa to hurry up and come over there.” He pulled out his phone and showed it to Sam. “You can check my phone if you want.”
Sam took the proffered phone, and sure enough the text from Lisa was there. He handed it back to Will.
“When I got there, Lisa told me Brittany had challenged Samantha to some kind of drinking contest. So, she’d had about four shots when Lisa got scared and texted me to come get her. And I saw beer there, but no one knew if Samantha had had any or not. That’s all I know.” Fear and apprehension flickered over his face and he flicked his gaze between them.
