“I think so,” Sam said. She couldn’t stay mad at Ashley any more than she could be angry at Tanner.
“You should talk to her, you know,” Mom said. She lifted her hands like she was surrendering. “I know. It’s not my business, but you two need to have a good chat about this whole mess.”
“Do you think she betrayed me?” Sam asked, the question so soft her mom probably didn’t hear it.
“No,” Mom said without hesitation. “I think she did what she thought was best for you. In my experience when we come from a place like that and it doesn’t work out, it only means we need to communicate better. Let the other person know what’s going on, even if it might hurt them.”
Sam nodded. Mom was correct, per the norm.
Turned out, Ashley didn’t get proper approval at work before the Canada excursion, so her boss said she didn’t need to come back. That’s why Ashley came home with Sam. Things remained stilted between them, but Ashley was her best friend forever and ever. They’d make it through this mess, just as she and Tanner would, too.
Ashley didn’t seem too disappointed about losing her job. More disappointed in losing the paycheck.
“I’ll make extra snacks,” Mom said with a wink.
Mom had taken a different approach to the paparazzi, who hid in the bushes and waited on the sidewalk. That approach?
She fed them. Did what she could to make them comfortable. Took them snacks and orange juice and asked about their parents. Courtney said this could be brilliant because now they all really liked Sami Jo since she had a kickass mom.
Dad drew the line at inviting them inside.
Sam agreed with him.
The doorbell rang. Sam grinned. Another package from Tanner.
“How long are you going to make the boy wait?” Mom asked.
Sam stood, moved to the window, and glanced outside. Only a couple of guys sat in the lawn chairs Mom had put out for them. Waiting. Waiting for nothing, really, except lunch from her mom.
Sam stayed inside.
The initial flare of Sami Jo interest dissipated when Sami Jo didn’t actually do anything. She was like a sleeping puppy they kept poking with a stick but who refused to respond. Instead, her mom fed them and gave them a place to sit.
“It’s another one for Sam,” Dad hollered through the house.
Mom lifted her eyebrows. “Don’t make him wait too much longer.”
Sam had been home with her parents for a solid week when the first gift arrived. Roses. Of course, there would be roses. They still sat on her nightstand. They wouldn’t be going anywhere. Tanner sprung for the preserved kind that lasted forever.
The day after the roses? Tanner sent her a pair of running shoes. In the right size and everything. He supported her and her decisions:Run if that’s what makes you happy. - T
“Delivery for Sam.” Dad moseyed into the room with a package under one arm and an apple in the other hand. He bit into the apple and handed her the package. “It’s cold. The package. The apple’s not.”
She pulled off the brown paper wrapping.
Mozzarella sticks and a note.
“What’s it say?” Mom asked, leaning in.
Sam cleared her throat. “Don’t forget to enjoy the things you love.”
“That’s poignant,” Mom said. “And the truth.”
Fuuuudge.
“I’m going back to Denver,” Sam said. A girl couldn’t stay angry when a guy bought her mozzarella sticks.
She lifted her phone and typed out a message to Tanner.
