His leg shook with nervous energy, and he couldn’t wait for Roman to get home, so he could get to the airport and get out of here as quickly as possible.
Did it feel good to be square with Roman? Yeah. Heck yeah. He was glad about that. Glad he could help out. Unwillingly, he smiled when he thought of that cute, chubby cheeked little eater. He was glad he’d had the chance to get to know Maddy.
But it was time to move on. Tiffany’s face flashed into his mind. He remembered the way she had looked when she played the guitar and looked at the strings and focused on singing Bon Jovi with him.
For a moment, he got lost in the memory of how he’d felt sitting next to her as the music flowed through both of them. It had been magic.
For a second his body stilled, peace filled him. She was beautiful. Not just because she was an amazing singer, but also because she was vulnerable and good and tried to do the right thing. Guilt tugged at him. Maybe he wished he had been more like her. More kind. Caring. He should have gone to see his father when the hospital had called. Before he knew it, tears were streaming down his face.
His father was gone.
His mother was gone.
He had no one.
The faint sound of a truck door slamming alerted him to Roman. He stood, wiping his face and sucking in a breath. He moved to the front door and saw Roman’s black truck.
He watched Roman and his son coming to the steps. The boy looked better, but Roman still kept an arm around him.
Sam flung open the door.
Roman gave him a tired smile. “Hey.”
Sam moved to the side and nodded, taking a more thorough inventory of Josh. He had a bandage on the back of his head. “How is it going?”
Josh paused next to him, giving him a good once over. Then he smiled, and Sam’s heart warmed. “Thanks for staying with my sister.”
Sam nodded. “You bet.”
A hand went down on Sam’s shoulder, and Roman swallowed back emotion. Tears were in his eyes. “I really appreciate you sticking around to help.”
Emotion surged inside of Sam, and he nodded and shut the front door behind them. “I’ll make you guys some sandwiches.”
Roman pulled his hand back. “I got your text. What time does your flight take off?”
Sam checked his watch. “I fly out at six, and I have a cab coming at two.”
A half hour later, Roman and Josh and Sam sat around the kitchen table.
Roman glanced around the place. “You didn’t need to clean.” Of course Roman knew Sam had been the one to clean it. When Sam had lived with Roman years ago, he used to joke that he hadn’t realized he was getting a maid, too.
Sam took a bite of his sandwich. “You’re welcome.”
A light laugh escaped Roman. “Thank you.”
Sam glanced at Josh. “So how are you feeling?”
Josh smiled and swallowed. “Better.”
Roman cleared his throat and then patted Josh’s back. “Doc says we just need to be cautious he doesn’t bump it. That he doesn’t get head aches or dizzy or nauseous.” He sighed. “I should have been watching more carefully.”
Sam could tell he felt awful.
“Dad.” Josh rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t your fault. I’m okay.”
That’s when Sam knew that he liked this kid.
Josh pushed his sandwich away. “Can I go see Tommy?”
Roman hesitated. “Okay. Take your phone and text me when you get to their house. Don’t do anything physical.”
Josh took off like a shot.
When he went out the door, Roman seemed to relax, but his eyes still looked tired.
“Did you sleep at all at the hospital?”
Roman took a sip of water and shook his head. “The staff was great. They let me push the other bed in the room next to him, and I laid by him every night.” He sighed. “But I don’t think I slept either night. I was…” He broke off and blinked. “I was too worried.”
It was unnerving to see ‘the great Roman Young,’ as Lou had put it, out of sorts. In that moment, Sam felt everything fall into perspective. He’d been worrying and having panic attacks all year about the stupid things he’d done. The things he’d chosen to do. He’d been consumed with his own problems. Seeing his friend’s problems—as a father with the weight of the world on his shoulders—was humbling. Before he realized what he was doing, he reached out and put a hand on Roman’s shoulder, offering comfort. “It’s going to be okay, man.”
They both ate in silence for a few minutes.
Then Roman sighed. “It’s good to be home, I feel like I haven’t been able to take a breath for two days. I was so worried about that kid, and I couldn’t tell Katie how worried I was until I knew, for sure, he would be okay.”
Sam nodded. “Being a father is hard.”
Immediately, Roman’s face turned happy. “I guess Maddy’s broken you in.”
Sam grinned back and finished off his sandwich. “That girl can eat.”
Roman laughed and stood, taking his dishes to the dishwasher and putting them in.
Sam followed. “Holy cow,” he said sarcastically, watching Roman load his dishes. “I didn’t realize you knew how that thing works.”
Roman rolled his eyes and took Sam’s dishes and loaded them too. “Ha, ha. So what, I’m not the housekeeper you are, Dumont? It’s a lot harder to juggle life with two kids and no wife. I do have a cleaner lined up to come in every Friday. I paid her double to come the day before Katie comes home next week.” He flashed a grin.
Sam laughed. “So Katie’s back next week?”
“Yep. She’s never been to Europe, and she went with an old friend. Mrs. K worked for my Uncle at the Inn for years. Anyway, Katie took her as a gift from us. They’ve been having a blast, and I’m glad they stayed. Katie was so scared and worried they almost came back early.”
It looked like his friend had aged ten years since he’d punched him two days ago. “I’m glad everything’s okay.”
Roman gave him a sober look and moved to the counter, leaning forward. “Look, Sam, you being here has meant a lot. I want you to know that I forgive you.”
Sam shook his head, unbelieving still. “I don’t know how you do, but I’m grateful.”
“I’m going to just level with you. I had gotten over it. I’d moved on, but…I was still ticked. When you showed up on my porch and I got to deck you, I’m not gonna lie, it felt good.”
Sam laughed, understanding the release of flesh on flesh. He touched his eye that was still a mixture of yellow and black bruising. “I bet it did.”
He shrugged. “But after what you did for me, what you’ve done the past two days…” He trailed off.
“It was nothing,” Sam interrupted.
Roman’s face was stern. “No, it was everything.” He blinked back tears. “When I caught you and Sheena, later, when I would think about it…the thing that hurt the worst wasn’t her…it was the fact I’d thought of you as a brother…and you’d betrayed me.”
Sam blinked. “I know. Me, too.”
The side of Roman’s lip went up. “Look, you being here. You doing what you did was about more then stepping up, it was…”
“About you being able to count on me, again.”
Roman nodded. “Exactly. And you came through.”
Dang it. Sam felt suddenly amazing and lighter and hopeful there was some chance he and Roman would be friends like they used to be. He realized that Roman, for all intents and purposes, didn’t have a family, either. No one besides his wife and children. Both of them needed a brother. Emotion made his voice break. “I’m glad I could help.”
Both of them smiled and then turned away from each other, both silently agreeing they couldn’t delve into anything deeper without turning into women.
Roman cleared his throat. “Have you heard about your contract, yet?”
Sam shook his head, discovering he hadn’t even thought about the contract he’d been obsessing over before he showed up on Roman’s doorstep a day ago. “Nope.”