“I may never have met Sarah and Celine, but I want you to know that I’m here for whatever any of you need. Even if we’re not dating and we’ve decided a relationship isn’t for us, none of that matters. I’m like a boomerang. No matter how hard you throw me, you can’t get rid of me. I’ll always come back to you.”
“A boomerang?” Sam engulfs me in his arms and pulls me to his chest. “You couldn’t think of a better analogy than that?”
“Not that quickly. It’s better than saying I’m like a dollop of glue or wad of chewing gum.”
He shakes with laughter. The handsome man is back. “I’m glad you’re a dancer and a Fashion Guru, because you kind of stink with coming up with metaphors.”
“They’re notthatbad.”
“No, they really are.”
“What wouldyouhave said?”
Sam pauses, deep in thought. The muscles in his forehead wrinkle. “Probably something along the lines of if you wave a magic wand, I’ll always reappear. Or something to do with a faithful dog.”
I pat his chest. “Okay, you win. If I ever need to come up with a simile or metaphor, you’re in charge.”
We walk arm and arm down the street, our hands intertwined. “Where are we heading?” I ask.
“I have no idea, but as long as it’s with you, it doesn’t really matter.”
Samand I end up splitting a frozen yogurt not far from the Knightsbridge barracks. It’s close to eight, and I know he’s likely just as physically and emotionally exhausted as me. We both need the sugary treat as a pick-me-up.
“When’s the next time your sisters are going to be around?” I pick off a gummy bear from the oranges-and-cream yogurt. Our creation is topped with sprinkles, chocolate chips, gummy bears and worms, peanut butter chunks, almonds, and a few coffee beans. I vetoed Sam’s attempt to add in Hot Tamales.
“Three, maybe four weeks? We try and get together in person at least once a month. If they don’t make their way down to London, I make an effort to visit them.”
“Can I meet them when they’re here?”
“Yes, but would you mind if we waited until after the Princess Alice Cup?” Sam’s cheeks color. “I’d like sometime to prepare them. I’ve never introduced them to anyone I’ve dated before.”
I cock my head to the side. “You haven’t?”
“No. I’ve always wanted to keep the dating part of my life separate.” Sam stabs his spoon into the sugary treat. “I was always worried about how a woman might react to my sisters. That they might reject me because we’re a package deal.”
I twirl my spoon in midair. “I can’t imagine someone doing that, especially if they care enough about making a relationship work.”
“That makes you an anomaly. My last two girlfriends dropped me the moment they learned about them. It’s what put me off dating for so long.”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper.
“It doesn’t bother me anymore.” Sam shrugs it off. “It just showed me that I have to be cautious. I need to know that if I introduce someone to them, they’ll stick around for a while. My sisters have had enough of people coming and going from their lives.”
“What’s your arrangement with them now? Are they living full-time with your father?” I take a bite of our frozen treat and savor the chocolate and orange.
“The girls board at their schools during the year. Sarah near Nottingham and Celine near Bristol. They’re with my dad during the summer and breaks. It makes it easier for them to focus on school.”
I nod.
“There’s something else on your mind.” Sam sets his spoon down on a napkin. “What are you afraid to ask me?”
“I’m just curious, what motivated you to join the cavalry? It can’t have been easy to leave them with the relationship you guys seem to have with one another.”
“The night I received that fateful text from Sarah was the evening before I was all set to join up. I had my paperwork filled out and was going to turn it into my recruiter the next day. When I learned more about the situation with Mum and their stepdad, I had to make a hard pivot. The army could wait—my sisters couldn’t.”
I take two bites of the froyo, engrossed in his story.
“I took a job at Sainsbury since the hours were flexible and worked around their school schedule.” He smiles. “Two years ago, at Celine’s birthday party, Dad and my sisters ganged up on me. It turns out they’d conspired with him to come up with a plan that would let me quit the grocery and pick up my life where I’d left off. They knew I was miserable and were willing to go into boarding to make me happy. I tried to talk them out of it, but they had a workaround for every excuse I gave them. So here I am.”
