Chapter 30

 

On the first day of the festival, Sam had the morning off. He, Wyatt, Raquel and the kids got ready and walked the bustling streets. By midmorning, the streets were crowded, especially around the more popular attractions and food stands.

Music was coming from a stage in the center of town broken up by applause. There was also the noise of people cheering wherever games were being played for various prizes.

The sudden shouting did startle San now and then. He was still rattled from yesterday, but he didn't think he really saw Brian. He was still on edge. Until he could confirm that it wasn't Brian, he wouldn't be able to rest easy, so he stayed watchful but tried not to be obvious about it.

 

"Too many big people," Riley complained as the crowds of people blocked his view and he worried that he was missing something every time cheers or applause went up.

"There is no parade today," Wyatt told him. "What do you want to see?"

"Everything!" Riley exclaimed.

"OK. Let's give you a better view," Wyatt said and lifted him onto his shoulders.

That put a big smile on Riley's face. "Now I'm big."

"You're not big," DJ told him, pouting up at his little brother.

"What about you?" Sam asked DJ. "Want me to put you up on my shoulders?"

"Or I could do it," Raquel offered with a wink.

"I'm too big," DJ claimed, but his expression made it clear that he really wanted to be up there too, like Riley.

"Let's try it and see," Sam said and picked him up. "How's that?"

"It's good," DJ said and smiling at everything around him from his high perch on Sam's shoulders.

He was almost high enough to touch the decorations on the lampposts. Balloons in peach, pink and white were floating just above the kids' heads. Flower garlands were everywhere. The whole town was made festive for the celebration.

"What else is there to do?" Raquel asked the boys after they had been walking around for a while.

"You can buy a peach blossom wreath, and put it on your head," DJ told her.

"Maybe on your head," she told him, but they did see a few little girls walking around with them.

"We can take a picture with Peachy The Clown," Riley said and pointed toward a colorful backdrop where the lady dressed in a puffy, striped costume was juggling fake peaches as kids had their pictures taken with her. Setting the kids on their feet, they took them over there. The whole time Wyatt and Raquel argued about whether clowns were creepy or not.

Sam didn't go with them though. Something in the corner of his eye got his attention. At first all he saw was just an outline of a man, but Sam could feel the man's eyes on him.

He turned slowly, dreading what he would see. Before he had fully taken in the sight of him, Brian was already ambling toward him, hands in his pockets, smirking.

This was Sam's nightmare but it was real this time, not a glimpse he could deny later. Brian was here in the flesh.

"What's wrong, babe? You're not about to start gasping like a fish on dry land, are you?" Brian taunted him as he leered at him at close range.

At first, Sam was speechless with terror. He was so close to descending into full-blown panic, but somehow he held it back and kept himself breathing.

"Get the fuck away from me," he managed to hiss at Brian through gritted teeth.

"Babe, be nice," Brian said. His eyes moved away from Sam to Wyatt and Raquel with the kids. More and more people were crowding around, starting to block them from sight, but Brian still kept staring.

"What the hell do you want?" Sam growled at him, not liking the implied threat.

"Those kids are cute. You want to talk in front of them?" Brian said with an evil sneer. "I can tell them what you were up to every time my back was turned."

Sam knew what kinds of things he would say, and he had a horrifying thought. What if Wyatt believed him?

With Brian ready to make things ugly, Sam didn't see any other choice. He let his ex lead him away from there, through the crowd and somewhere more private, more dangerous.

 

***

 

Wyatt was about to try to get Sam on his side to bolster his claim about the creepiness of clowns, but when he turned, he didn't see him. Wasn't Sam right there a minute ago?

He didn't like losing sight of him, but just then an elderly lady approached them while looking down at DJ and Riley. Her expression was full of pity for them.

"It's so sad. These sweet boys. Poor babies. My heart breaks for them," she said, but DJ didn't want her feeling sorry for them.

He stood up straight and defiantly told her, "We're OK. We have Uncle Wyatt and Sam."

"Oh, that's... good," she said a little taken aback.

"They're brave boys," Wyatt told her. He knew she meant well, but the boys didn't need anyone to remind them they were sad. They carried that sadness with them all the time. Wyatt just hoped that he could make it a little easier for them to bear all that grief.

As that lady left, Lara and Gloria came up to them with cups of peach sorbet in hand. Wyatt introduced them to Raquel as he looked around for Sam.

Lara must have overheard what that lady told them, because she said. "That's Mrs. Rutledge. She's not so bad, but she doesn't even live here any more. Moved to be near her grandkids. She's just visiting." While she was telling him that, Wyatt was wondering where Sam had gone.

"Did you see where Sam went?" he asked turning to all of them for the answer.

The kids shook their heads. "Sam went off with some guy just now," Lara said and pointed down the street.

"Someone you know?" Wyatt asked.

Lara shook her head. "Nope. He might have been lost. He kept looking around like he was."

Wyatt didn't like the sound of that. Since he had noticed how the boys were eying the frozen treats Lara and Gloria were eating, he turned to Raquel. "Could you buy the boys something frozen?"

She could tell something was up, so she just nodded and took them away. Lara sent Gloria with them too. While they went to stand in line, Wyatt motioned Lara to step out of earshot and have a word with him. "Tell me about this guy Sam went off with. What did he look like?"

"Light coloring. Good build," she said. "Not bad looking."

That didn't tell Wyatt much, but he decided to go look for Sam anyway. "OK, tell Raquel to watch the boys for me. I need to find Sam."

"Sure thing," she told him while giving him a questioning look.

Wyatt was starting to get really worried, but he reminded himself that he had lost sight of Sam only for a few minutes. Still, why would Sam just ditch them like that and go off with some guy.

And Sam thought he saw his ex only yesterday. Wyatt had to assume it was him. That's why he rushed, pushing his way past people, even calling Sam's name a few times. How the hell was he going to find them in this crowd?