She twisted to me and also leaned in. “You and Sam.”
I blinked. Then I repeated, “What?”
“She watches you both when you’re focused on each other. At first, I thought this was wistful, as it would be. Then the pain started to be more visible. I think watching your relationship blossom with Sam reminds her even more acutely of what she has lost.”
“That’s not good,” I muttered, not wanting to be the cause of even deeper pain for Luci.
“No it isn’t,” Celeste agreed. “But it’s more.”
Oh man!
“What?” I prompted, leaning deeper into her.
“Our flight, our travel from the airport, getting settled in her home she shared with her husband and also I noticed a time this morning… she retreats. But this morning, it was different. Kia, ma belle, it alarmed me.”
Shit!
“Why?”
She shook her head but answered, “Such despair. Not hidden. I do not think her being in the house she shared with Travis is a good thing. She was much livelier in Italy. She was, of course, hiding grief but now…” she trailed off again.
“Do you know if her father spoke to her?” I asked.
“She mentioned several times since you and Sam departed Italy that she’s had lunch or dinner with her mother and father. But she did not share much about it.”
Hmm.
I looked through my sunglasses directly into Celeste’s and asked quietly, “Do you have any ideas?”
Celeste nodded. “I think the time has come that the ones she loves stop dancing around this and confront her directly. You and I spoke briefly about your friend Missy and yes, I do agree with your assessment, it is much the same. However, it is also very different. Missy found something to turn her attention to, her fitness and her career. Luciana does not even have these types of anchors. Our Luci is drifting.”
Drifting.
Drifting.
That was what Maris said Sam was doing.
Travis Gordon was gone and the two people closest to him that he left behind were drifting.
Oh God.
“Kia?” Celeste called and I looked at her. “What are you thinking?”
I had a decision to make and I had very little time.
So I made it.
Celeste wasn’t going to blab what I said to anyone but Thomas who I instinctively knew would share it no further. Celeste was safe to share with and Celeste was worldly wise.
Celeste could help.
“I’m in love with Sam,” I blurted and watched her lips curve up.
“This is not news, ma chérie,” she told me.
It wasn’t?
Oh God.
Was I that obvious?
I felt my brows go up. “It isn’t?”
“If you’re trying to hide it then I must admit I am very surprised and therefore, I hate to tell you this, my darling Kia, you are failing at your endeavor.”
Great.
She smiled big at me and finished, “Spectacularly.”
Fabulous.
“Well, um… I don’t know if I’m actually trying to hide it so much as…” I hesitated, not knowing how to explain it then I decided to tell her just that. “I don’t know what to say, how to explain it. I’m in love with him and I know he cares a lot about me. He’s great. It’s great, what we have, but something is missing.”
“And what do you think is missing?”
“He’s keeping something from me.”
Even with her sunglasses on, she didn’t hide her surprise.
“You’re surprised,” I noted.
“Indeed,” she murmured. “That is not to say that I do not think Sampson Cooper is a man who has secrets. This is obvious, ma chérie. It is to say that I’m surprised that, like you have with him, he has not shared his with you.”
“I am too,” I muttered.
“This is causing problems,” she deduced.
“Not exactly,” I replied. “Like I said, things are great, he’s great and I’m in love with him. I told you what was happening with me and he sorted that. It’s all done. It’s all good. Except it’s, well… not.”
She reached out a hand and curled her fingers around my forearm, whispering, “Patience, my Kia.”
“But –” I started, she shook her head so I stopped.
“Always,” she whispered then leaned in even further, “always, when you earn the secrets of someone worth knowing that deeply, you will feel rewarded when he eventually offers you these treasures. So, my darling, patience. You will earn them, I have no fear. He will give them to you and when he does, they will feel like the gift they are.”
Right. That was good advice.
I was on the right track.
I just needed to be patient.
I nodded.
Celeste squeezed my arm, let me go and leaned back, continuing with her advice, “Just keep doing what you’re doing. I will say that it is obvious that you are in love with him and, my Kia, it is equally obvious that he is the same with you.”
I felt my heart clutch and breathed, “Really?”
She smiled at me. “Kia, that man adores you.”
Oh God. I hoped so.
“Patience,” I whispered, hoping with everything I had, hell, everything I was, that Celeste was right.
“Indeed, ma chérie,” she whispered back.
We both heard the door open, we both twisted our necks to look between the seats and we both saw Sam sauntering our way. After his shower, he put on a pair of exceptionally and, no other way to describe them, deliciously faded jeans and another long sleeves rolled up, button up the front, lightweight shirt. This one a green so light it was nearly white.
He looked beautiful.
I smiled at him.
He smiled back.
Yep. Beautiful.
Then he made it to us, bent deep at the waist and touched his mouth to my upturned lips.
When he pulled back he asked, “Am I interrupting girl time?”
“Absolutely not,” Celeste answered then rose, murmuring, “but I need to powder my nose.”
Powder my nose. Totally, Celeste was so cool.
She slid a small smile between the both of us and moved to the house.
Sam moved to the railing.
I left my wineglass on the arm of the chair and moved to Sam. He delayed a nanosecond before his arm slid around me and he pulled me into his body.
“Walkin’ out, you two seemed intense. Is everything all right with Celeste?” he asked.
“She’s extremely concerned about Luci,” I semi-told the truth.