gets what I mean.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We walk into the backyard and Sam’s hand tightens on mine when a little girl comes running up to us. She has on a pink dress that says ‘Birthday Girl,’ but even without her wearing that I know who she is. She has Sam’s small button nose, her steel grey blue eyes and her full lips, but her hair is dark brown and in ringlets. “Hi, you must be Ms. Sam? My momma told me about you, she said you was pretty.” She smiles at Sam, and I squeeze her hand as I see her tear up.
“I am Sam, and this is Jameson. H e was a friend of your Uncle Matt’s.” Sam smiles at Isabella and then at Heather and Declan. This is nice, seeing Sam finally starting to heal, getting to see that she did indeed protect Isabella, and to see that no harm can come from her parents.
“Wanna come jump in da bouncy house wif me Sam?” Isabella asks and grabs Sam’s hand. Sam smiles at me and goes with Isabella.
“You two have done so much in all of our families’ lives.” I turn to see Declan standing beside me and I wince a little. “Samantha gave my wife something she could never have, and you; well you gave my father, sister in law and me peace . Peace in knowing that my baby brother had a person who cared for him just as much as we did. I know you don’t believe it. I see it in your face, but we don’t hate you. How could we? Matt loved you ; he talked about you all the time. If the roles were reversed, I think you’d want him to be happy.” What is this? Is there a record broken somewhere in my head? Déjà vu times two? God what did I do to deserve this?
“I want to say thank you for everything you did for this country Jameson, because I of all people know that freedom is never free.” Declan places his hand on my shoulder, pats it and before I can say a word he nods and walks away. He leaves me standing there, thinking about what he said while watching Sam bounce and laugh with Isabella. At least one of us is going to heal from this experience.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After we watch Isabella open her presents and eat cake and ice cream, it’s time to get back on the road. I shake Declan and Mr. Eli’s hands and Kate snatches me up into a big hug. “Don’t you dare be a stranger now . Y ou may not think it now, but everything and I mean EVERYTHING happens for a reason.” She meets my eyes and smiles. How can they all make it look so easy? She lost her best friend, her husband, and the father of her child, and she is standing here smiling.
“I know what’s going through that mind of yours Jameson and it’s not. It’s hard every day, I see him every day, and that’s why it’s not as hard. But it still hurts like hell.” She smiles and puts her hand on my arm then walks away. Heather hugs Sam and tells her thank you and to come back whenever. Sam and I get into my Mustang and start the trek back to small town Louisiana.
I sit in the car for over an hour with my jaw clenched tightly. I have so much to say and don’t know how to even start. I know I shouldn’t be mad at Sam because she was trying to do something she thought was right. She says she needed me as much as I needed her, but dammit I wasn’t ready for this.
“Jameson, please don’t ignore me.” She sighs and looks out the window and I look over at her. She’s trying to play the victim? This makes me mad.
“Oh, no. NO ma’am, you do not get to play the victim here Samantha!” I growl and grip the steering wheel tighter. “You threw me to the damn lions!” I yell out, pissed beyond belief.
“If I would have told you, you wouldn’t have agreed to come,” s he says softly and looks away.
“EXACTLY!” I roar. I look down at my hands to find my knuckles white from the death grip on the steering wheel.
“Jameson, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” That’s all she says and then she gets quiet. She looks down at her hands and
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We walk into the backyard and Sam’s hand tightens on mine when a little girl comes running up to us. She has on a pink dress that says ‘Birthday Girl,’ but even without her wearing that I know who she is. She has Sam’s small button nose, her steel grey blue eyes and her full lips, but her hair is dark brown and in ringlets. “Hi, you must be Ms. Sam? My momma told me about you, she said you was pretty.” She smiles at Sam, and I squeeze her hand as I see her tear up.
“I am Sam, and this is Jameson. H e was a friend of your Uncle Matt’s.” Sam smiles at Isabella and then at Heather and Declan. This is nice, seeing Sam finally starting to heal, getting to see that she did indeed protect Isabella, and to see that no harm can come from her parents.
“Wanna come jump in da bouncy house wif me Sam?” Isabella asks and grabs Sam’s hand. Sam smiles at me and goes with Isabella.
“You two have done so much in all of our families’ lives.” I turn to see Declan standing beside me and I wince a little. “Samantha gave my wife something she could never have, and you; well you gave my father, sister in law and me peace . Peace in knowing that my baby brother had a person who cared for him just as much as we did. I know you don’t believe it. I see it in your face, but we don’t hate you. How could we? Matt loved you ; he talked about you all the time. If the roles were reversed, I think you’d want him to be happy.” What is this? Is there a record broken somewhere in my head? Déjà vu times two? God what did I do to deserve this?
“I want to say thank you for everything you did for this country Jameson, because I of all people know that freedom is never free.” Declan places his hand on my shoulder, pats it and before I can say a word he nods and walks away. He leaves me standing there, thinking about what he said while watching Sam bounce and laugh with Isabella. At least one of us is going to heal from this experience.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After we watch Isabella open her presents and eat cake and ice cream, it’s time to get back on the road. I shake Declan and Mr. Eli’s hands and Kate snatches me up into a big hug. “Don’t you dare be a stranger now . Y ou may not think it now, but everything and I mean EVERYTHING happens for a reason.” She meets my eyes and smiles. How can they all make it look so easy? She lost her best friend, her husband, and the father of her child, and she is standing here smiling.
“I know what’s going through that mind of yours Jameson and it’s not. It’s hard every day, I see him every day, and that’s why it’s not as hard. But it still hurts like hell.” She smiles and puts her hand on my arm then walks away. Heather hugs Sam and tells her thank you and to come back whenever. Sam and I get into my Mustang and start the trek back to small town Louisiana.
I sit in the car for over an hour with my jaw clenched tightly. I have so much to say and don’t know how to even start. I know I shouldn’t be mad at Sam because she was trying to do something she thought was right. She says she needed me as much as I needed her, but dammit I wasn’t ready for this.
“Jameson, please don’t ignore me.” She sighs and looks out the window and I look over at her. She’s trying to play the victim? This makes me mad.
“Oh, no. NO ma’am, you do not get to play the victim here Samantha!” I growl and grip the steering wheel tighter. “You threw me to the damn lions!” I yell out, pissed beyond belief.
“If I would have told you, you wouldn’t have agreed to come,” s he says softly and looks away.
“EXACTLY!” I roar. I look down at my hands to find my knuckles white from the death grip on the steering wheel.
“Jameson, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” That’s all she says and then she gets quiet. She looks down at her hands and
Similar Books
