Then Teri and Paula took a half a step back (Mom stayed latched to me and Memphis) and all three grinned at me.
“Girl, that robe is fah-ree-king fabulous,” Teri noted, her eyes doing an up and down on me. “Where’d you get it? Paris?” she asked when her gaze settled on my face.
“Lake Como,” I told her.
“Scorching!” she declared and I smiled at her.
Mom’s hand came out, her fingers curled around my jaw and she turned my head to her. The she studied me.
Then she remarked, “You’re tan.”
I grinned at her.
Her eyes went funny and she whispered, “And you’re happy.”
My grin wobbled because I read her eyes were happy too and I hadn’t seen that, not in a long time, not when she was looking at me.
She let my jaw go and her gaze went to Sam.
So did mine, Teri’s and Paula’s.
Memphis yapped into the silence.
Sam now had a shirt on, partially buttoned, it was pale yellow, cotton, not linen but it was still wrinkled from being in his bag.
Nevertheless, he worked it.
Mom let me go and walked to Sam as he did up another button.
“You’re Sam,” she declared, extending her hand.
“I am,” he took her hand then smiled down at her.
“Ohmigod, hot,” Paula breathed and I shot a killing look at her that she missed seeing as she was staring at Sam.
“I’m Essie Rigsby, you can call me Essie. I’m Kia’s Mom,” Mom pointed out the obvious since I looked nearly exactly like her except less round and younger.
“I guessed,” he muttered, giving her hand a visible squeeze before letting it go while saying, “Good to meet you.”
“And you,” Mom whispered.
“Ohmigod, I think I’m gonna cry,” Teri muttered.
Memphis yapped.
“Right, okay, how about this, I’ll finish the introductions not in my bedroom? Is that a plan?” I suggested.
“No freaking way,” Paula replied then moved quickly to Sam. “Hey, Sam. I’m Paula. I’ve been best friends with Kia since forever and if you want to know any dirt, any dirt at all, all you have to do is ply me with tequila.”
“Paula!” I snapped because this was totally tactless at the same time totally true which made it tactless and scary.
She didn’t even look my way and this was probably because Sam was smiling down at her, squeezing her hand and she was visibly transfixed.
Then she pulled herself together to whisper, “Dude, I so totally know we’re supposed to be cool with you but I gotta have this one. You… are… awesome and my husband loves you.”
“Paula, seriously –” I started.
“My turn!” Teri shouted over me then rushed to Sam, knocked Paula out of the way (yes, knocked), Paula went flying and Teri grabbed Sam’s hand and declared, “I’m not going to be cool. I clocked you when you were a Bruin. I’m into football, Kia isn’t so, in girl land, normally, that would mean I could lay claim to you and get first dibs but obviously in real life it doesn’t work that way which kind of sucks but, whatever, I still get to meet you and you’re in my best friend’s bedroom and she’s wearing a robe and I think that… is… awesome.”
She ended this breathy, bright-eyed and leaning into him.
All right, now I kind of wished the hit man was aiming and about to fire through my window.
Unfortunately, the curtains were closed (something Sam was particular about) so he would be shooting blind and he might hit my Mom or Sam.
“Teri, seriously?” I asked.
“You the one who has a cutout of me in your bedroom?” Sam asked over me, releasing Teri’s hand and she turned woodenly toward me.
“You told him that?” she breathed, noticeably pale and obviously mortified.
Shit.
I threw a quick glare at Sam then rearranged my features when I looked back at Teri.
“Well, uh… I was in my trying to drive him away phase and it kind of slipped out,” I explained.
“You were in a driving him away phase?” Paula asked and my eyes went to her. “Babe, are you loco?”
“Maybe, at the time, temporarily,” I muttered, my gaze sliding to Sam to see now he was smiling at me.
“I’ll say,” Teri muttered back.
“Right,” Mom cut in and I looked to her to see she was digging in her bag. “Ford’s chomping at the bit, wandering around with the matches, ready to fire up the grill.” She pulled her cell out of her purse and looked at me. “You were supposed to text when you got in. If you had, we would have told you to pop by but you didn’t. So, sorry, sweetie, but surprise, your Dad and I planned a welcome back party for you and it’s kinda happening right now.”
“What?” I asked as Sam moved to me then slid an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his side.
The room went still, no one moved, no one spoke, they all just stared at Sam, me and Memphis.
All except Memphis who yapped and tried to reach Sam’s fingers at my shoulder with her tongue.
“Hello?” I called into the void. “What? There’s a party happening right now?”
Mom blinked then focused on me but not my question. “Couldn’t see it in my head but there it is right in front of me. You two look real cute together.”
Sam chuckled.
I snapped, “Mom!”
“What?” she asked.
“Party?” I prompted.
She nodded, flipping open her phone, muttering, “Margaritas, beer, brats, Essie’s world famous homemade onion rings and Nutter Butter, hot fudge, ice cream parfaits for dessert.”
There it was. Mom’s world famous homemade onion rings were double dipped in beer batter which meant they not only had twice the batter, that batter absorbed twice the fat and thus they were awesome and Nutter Butter, hot fudge, ice cream parfaits were wicked good. They had crumbled Nutter Butters in them, hot fudge she made that had two sticks of butter and half a bag of sugar in it and my mother actually wrote to a frozen yogurt manufacturer once to request them to provide her with the knowledge of what was the point so, suffice it to say, the ice cream would be premium.
I looked at Sam and said, “Told you so.”
Sam smiled down at me.
“Freaking, freakity freak, that smile is good,” Paula whispered and my head jerked to her.
“Would you stop perving on my boyfriend right in front of me?” I snapped.
“Babe, your boyfriend is Sampson Cooper, you gotta get used to that shit. I’m doing my best friend duties and helping,” Paula fired back.