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Taking a sip from her glass of red wine, she half-shrugged then turned her gaze to him. ‘I suppose.’
‘What kind of an answer is that?’ He sucked in a breath. ‘I wish you’d talk to me, it might help, you know.’
‘Okay, here goes ...’ Using the sleeve of her silky blouse, she wiped beneath her eyes. ‘Sometimes, actually, most of the time, I honestly don’t know who I am anymore.’
‘Well, I can answer that one for you.’ He knew the workings of her almost as well as he knew the lines on his palm. ‘You’re Sammie Samsung to your core.’
‘Trust you to say something like that.’ She graced him with the softest yet sweetest of smiles. ‘I adore how you strip everything back to the bare bones, because it reminds me how simple life can be if I allow it.’
‘I’m glad I could help.’ On total impulse, he placed a kiss on her cheek.
She did that thing that drove him wild, and chewed on her bottom lip.
He couldn’t sit here and not kiss her, so he did what he had to and shot to his feet. ‘I suppose I should get going.’
‘No, please don’t.’ She rose, and placed a gentle hand on his arm. ‘Not yet.’ Then she held his wrist, as if to stop him walking away from her.
‘Sammie, what’s going on with you?’
She looked down. Closed her eyes. Opened them. Looked as if she wanted to speak. But then she seemed to have swallowed her words as she shook her head and took a breath.
So, to encourage her, he took her hands into his. ‘Sammie, please, I need to know what’s happening.’ She looked so vulnerable, so torn, so … was that love he could see in her teary gaze?
She blinked faster, turned her head away from him.
Seconds passed, then a full minute. So long that when she turned back to him, she appeared to have recovered. ‘I should let you go.’
He almost swore in sheer frustration but held it back. ‘Okay, but only as long as you can promise me you’re all good?’
‘Uh-huh, I’m good.’ She smiled. ‘I’ll let you go and say bye to Shea and Jack.’
And so he did as she asked, all the while tearing himself to shreds trying to figure out what she was about to say to him, then didn’t.
***
As she flew to and fro, the rusty chains gripped in her hands squeaking with age and her tippy toes appearing to touch the blueness of the sky, the old wooden swing seemed to be working a treat as a soothing calmness came over Samantha. Having gone to bed with a heavy heart, and a quiet determination to overcome it, she’d thankfully woken with a clearer head. She knew what she had to do if she were to find her mislaid happiness. She just didn’t know how she was going to do it. Or if she’d even have the courage to. But at least there was a little clarity within the cloudy uncertainty of her life. Which meant there was hope. And where there was hope, there was life, or so Anne Frank had written. At the very least, she had a teensy bit of direction, or maybe it was more of a bearing. What would come from her inner rousing, she hadn’t a clue, she just knew she had to go with the flow, if her analytical mind would allow it.
The ringing of her phone jolted her from her musings. Plucking it from her pocket, she couldn’t help her giddy smile as she slowed the swing, then stabbed the answer button just in the nick of time. ‘Hey Connor.’
‘Hey, Sammie, I was just wondering if you’d like to come and have dinner with my granny and me tonight?’
A flash of the headstrong, caring, country woman his grandmother was flashed through her mind. ‘Oh my gosh, I would love that.’
‘Great, I’ll call past and grab you at five-thirty, if that’s okay. Granny likes to eat by six.’
‘Sure, yup, sounds good, see you then.’ Ending the call, she applauded herself for grabbing hold of an opportunity with both hands instead of weighing it up for so long that it began feeling too heavy.
She rose and made her way towards the back door. The timber floorboards were hot beneath her bare feet – she wasn’t sure if her hurried steps were because of the burning, or because she had a spring in her step because she knew she was seeing Connor later.
Shea’s head popped out the door of the laundry. ‘You still keen to head into town for some brunch before we go to our nail appointment?’
‘I sure am, I’ll just nip to the loo, and grab my bag and shoes, and I’m all yours.’
‘Awesome, I’ll just go over to the shed to drop some things off to Jack, and then I’ll meet you out at the Prado.’
She gave her the thumbs up. ‘Plan, Stan.’
By the time they got into town, Samantha was so hungry she could’ve almost chewed her own arm off – talk about regaining a healthy appetite since she’d been back. Slipping into the coolness of air-conditioning, she felt her skin prickle with relief. The café buzzed with idle chatter, and the mouth-watering scent of sizzling bacon wafted. Taking a seat opposite Shea, she grabbed the menu and ran her gaze over it. They both ordered the house Caesar salad with the salt and pepper calamari topper along with a bottle of sparkling water to share and an espresso martini to toast the upcoming nuptials.
