“I won’t wear any clothes,” Abby promised as Sam turned away.
Jack knew he should be running to get to work, but he found himself watching them walk away, listening to them bicker playfully.
“We need to talk about those books, Abigail,” Sam said sternly. “Some of them are fine, but the one about the five men is just perverted.”
“You’re one to criticize fine literature, Sam.”
“Fine literature, my ass.” They continued to argue as they rounded the corner.
Jack stood there for a minute in the house he’d lived in for ten years. It struck him that, while watching the two people he loved walking through it, this old house had finally become a home.
Chapter Ten
Abby looked up and down Main Street and wondered whether she was going to have the courage to pull this off. There were some new stores, but otherwise it hadn’t changed. It was still a neat, little slice of small-town America. She looked over at the barbershop her father used to go to. Two old men were standing outside watching her with suspicious eyes. This wasn’t going to be easy.
Sam stared at her, a worried expression on his naturally happy face. “Are you sure you want to do this? It might be easier to just drive in to Tyler today. We can get everything you need there. Hell, we can get the essentials in Tyler and wait until Friday and then spend the weekend in Dallas. I assure you, we can find anything you want in Dallas. We’ll go to Neiman’s.”
Abby shook her head. She could handle the snootiest Neiman Marcus shoe salesman, but she wasn’t so sure about Greg Gunderson at the GrabItQuick. He seemed way scarier. The funny thing was the clerk at Neiman’s had to bet that a customer had the cash. Millionaires in Dallas came in all eccentric types. Greg Gunderson knew for damn sure he didn’t want to serve her. The trouble was Abby had to get herself served if she was going to make a go of it with Jack and Sam.
In her quest to do this, she had made two important decisions. The first decision was to lay it all out to Sam. She told him everything she was afraid of. She started at the beginning, when she was seventeen and had finally bagged Adam Echols. She had spared not a moment’s shame, right down to leaving town in order to save her mother’s job. Abby started with Sam because he was the easier of the two to talk to. Abby had been relatively certain that Sam would take it all with equanimity. She had been wrong. He had been furious, and not with her. After she calmed Sam down, she told him her plan. He was willing to go along with it, but he still had issues, hence the Neiman Marcus argument.
“Seriously, baby, it’ll be fun,” Sam continued. “We can spend the weekend at the Adolphus. We’ll get a big old suite and only leave when we need to take you shopping. There are some stores I’d like to take you to.”
Abby sent him a harried look. “I know what stores you’re talking about, Sam. Try to tempt me another time, please. I’m still dealing with the last sex toy you shoved up my butt.”
Sam had the good sense to look compassionate. Abby remembered this morning’s exercise well. It had started with Sam tossing her on the bed, jumping on top of her, riding her until they both screamed and ended with the pink medium-sized plug and a whole lot of lube.
“Is it terribly uncomfortable?”
Abby smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek. “No. Surprisingly not. I have to do this, Sam. I have to face them down. It would be great to spend a weekend in Dallas, but I can’t drive to Dallas every time we need a gallon of milk.”
“They really won’t sell stuff to you?” Sam still sounded stunned. He’d been surprised at the idea of a whole town turning against one woman.
Abby shook her head. “Not for twenty years, although, truth be told, it started earlier than that. Once the Echols clan figured out Adam was serious, it was hard for me to buy groceries for my mom. Hell, I got an F in a class I should have gotten an A in. It was suggested that my foreign language skills weren’t up to snuff. My Spanish teacher attended church with Ruby Echols.
Sam kicked at the curb with his well-worn boot. Abby heard him cut off a curse. “Hell, Abby, let’s just tell Jack everything. He’ll fix it.”
“It isn’t his job to fix my life.”
“Don’t you tell him that.” Sam wagged a finger at her. “You’re likely to find yourself over his knee getting the spanking of a lifetime. He takes this stuff seriously. He always has.”
Abby leaned against the body of the gorgeous pearl-white Mercedes Sam was driving today. She knew she was procrastinating, but she was curious. “He’s protective of you. The two of you met in a foster home, didn’t you?”
“It was a group home for teens,” Sam corrected. “I was almost fifteen. I guess they figured no one would want a fifteen-year-old boy. My parents and my older brother died in a car accident. I was left all alone. I was a terrified kid when I went into that home. It was basically a detention center with nice curtains. That first night, the oldest kid there decided to make an example of me after lights out. Jack stopped him. I’ve been with him ever since.”
Abby reached out to run her fingers across Sam’s tense jaw. She moved closer to him and put her arms around him. “I’m sorry you went through that, but I’m glad Jack was there.”
Sam crossed his arms over his chest and stood next to her. “I don’t know what would have happened without Jack, but I have a pretty good idea. I was a teenager, but Jack had been in the system since he was six. He never stayed in one place for more than a year. From what I understand, he was a difficult child. I’m pretty sure he was abused, Abby. You should know we’re both pretty damaged.”
Abby felt her heart swell with love for the two men. They had been through so much, and yet were still capable of loving a woman. She slipped her arm around Sam’s waist. He didn’t fight her at all. He accepted her comfort.
“I think we’re all damaged, Sam. You don’t get through life without some scars. You and Jack figured out a way to make it through.” They were halves of a whole, she recognized. Tragedy had ravaged both men, but together they were complete. Jack was the responsible one. Taking responsibility for Sam had given Jack an anchor in the world. Sam was the bright side. He forced Jack to have fun and connect with people. In return, Sam had someone who would never leave him. And they both needed her. She would tie them together even more than they were now. They loved her. She was comfortable with that fact, but there was more to it. She was a conduit for them to express their love for each other. When Abby really thought about it, it was a lovely thing to be. It was a unique solution, but it worked.
“All I’m trying to say is, let Jack take care of you,” Sam explained. “It’s who he is. He needs it.”
Abby nodded. “I understand, but this is something I have to do for myself. If I don’t face these people, I’ll never be comfortable here. I have to stand up for myself this time if I want to live here with you. This is about more than just being able to buy a gallon of milk.”
“All right, but if they get nasty with you, you can’t expect me to sit back.”
“If they get physical with me, you have my permission to ride in and rescue me,” Abby negotiated. “Otherwise, you hang back.”
“Jack’s gonna kill me.” He pushed himself off the Benz.
Abby fondly stroked the car. “I’ll be a little sad when he has to turn this car in, Sam. I have to admit, driving in this car gives me an ego boost the truck just can’t. I feel like walking in and telling everyone I drive a Mercedes, so you better sell me a Snickers bar or my car will destroy your car’s reputation.”
Sam laughed. “Well, you feel free to tell everyone that.”
Abby wrinkled her nose and shook her hair out. She was dressed in a pair of Christa’s Levi’s and one of Sam’s too big T-shirts. She did not look like a woman who drove a Benz. “Nah, I’d feel bad when I had to turn it back into the rental agency. But it is a gorgeous car.”