Chapter Five

SAM

“Baby bro, is there something you’re not telling me about this girl?” Mark asks, nodding to one of the hired waiters to bring us another set of beers.

“What do you mean?” I ask confused.

“Is there already a Sam, Jr. in the making or something?” He whispers.

“Mark! You’ve had too many beers. I just told you there will be a Mrs. first!” I chuckle, accepting the cold beer from the waiter before thanking him.

“I know, I know. I thought the secrecy was because you intended some type of eloping ceremony or something,” he shrugs.

“No, nothing like that,” I shake my head at his absurdity.

“So, then what’s the secrecy about?” He quizzes me.

“Well, Jamie – that’s her name, Jamie. She’s not from around here?” I explain subtly.

“So she lives out of state?” He furrows his eyebrows trying to understand.

“No, she doesn’t live far, but she doesn’t live in Sutton Hills,” I blurt out.

“So?” He shrugs his shoulders.

“What do you mean ‘so’? You know how people in this neighborhood, and our family, act about outsiders. It’s like you’re from Sutton Hill or you don’t exist. I don’t want to have to answer all of their questions about who she is, where she comes from, what type of family she has, and all of that,” I explain what I thought was obvious.

“It’s been a while since I was single, so you’ll have to excuse me, but who gives a shot what any of them say? They don’t have to sleep with her at night, only you do. Baby bro, the older you get, the more you realize people will always have opinions, but they’ll rarely do anything for you,” he looks down and says to me.

“Yeah, but I don’t want her to be put in an uncomfortable situation, being judged or even looked down at by these people. You know how pretentious they can be, only worried about what you’ve bought since the last time they saw you,” I remind him of the people we grew up around.

“Sam! Sam!” Nikki comes storming across the lawn.

“Hold that thought,” I warn Mark as our sister nears us, not wanting her to hear our conversation.

“Hey, Nikki,” I greet her, knowing she’s in one of her dramatic moods.

“Mommy said it’s up to you, but you know I need to use the jet, Sam. I’ve already told my girls we can go, and they’ll be expecting me to pull through,” she whines.

“Nikki, you’re forty-three. I think it’s time you stop calling her ‘Mommy,'” Mark teases her, but she rolls her eyes and shoots him a look of disgust before turning her attention back to me.

“I’m serious, Sam!” She pouts like a child.

“Nikki, I was serious about the fuel costs. You don’t have to literally ride in coach, but you can take your friends first-class on a commercial flight. I think that’s fair,” I try to reason with her, though I know it’s useless.

“Commercial, Sam? You’re bringing this up again? I’ll be riding with people who buy coach seats! Don’t you know how that will make me look?” She pleads, and despite the ridiculous nature, she is completely serious.

“No, Nikki. Please enlighten us, because me and my family only travel commercially,” Mark interjects, playing his oldest sibling role well.

“Mark, it’s different when you have kids. This is a girls trip! It’s fabulous! I need to show them I can come through,” she yelps, still focusing on me.

“Doesn’t Gunther’s family have a jet? Why won’t you use his?” I ask, referring to her husband, whose family is also from Sutton Hill.

“Don’t you think I would prefer to use my husband’s jet, Sam? He has to fly on a business trip. Otherwise he would let me use it without all this interrogation,” she hisses in frustration.

“I don’t know what you want me to do, Nikki. It’s too large of an expense for a girls trip down to Cabo,” I look over at Mark, hoping he can help me out.

“Listen, I’ve got a guy who can help us out,” he begins, and Nikki turns to focus all her attention on him.

“How?” She asks.

“He works at Enterprise, and I’m sure he can rent you a minivan that all of your girls can squeeze into,” he begins and Nikki shrieks before storming off in the opposite direction, stomping across the grass as her pointed heels sink into the soil.

“You won’t even have to see those ratchet coach passengers!” He yells at her, and she flicks him off without missing a step.

I can barely watch as a deep laughter builds from my chest. With my hand on Mark’s shoulder, I laugh loud and long in disbelief at his idea. Nikki is not going to let this go easy, that I know, but I’m grateful she’s out of my hair for the day. After what Mark’s done, there’s no way she’ll come back around him for at least a week.

“She’s unbelievable,” Mark shakes his head, taking another sip of his beer.

“Unbelievable? Yes. Out of the norm for someone in Sutton Hills? No.” I raise my eyebrow, reminding him of my apprehension about telling people about Jamie.

“Oh, I see what you mean. They’re definitely not the most stable group of people I’ve ever met, but why would you care what they think when their so batshit crazy?” He questions and the truth is I don’t want to care, but I do.

“I’m not so much worried about what they’ll say about me. I just would hate to bring Jamie around, and she judges me based on their reactions. She already has a perception of people from Sutton Hill, and I know they’ll only prove her right. She’s such a sweet girl, I couldn’t handle anyone treating her as if she’s less than,” I clench my teeth just imagining how upset I would get if anyone so much as said anything mean to her.

“Sam, at some point, you’re going to have to accept who you are. You’re the CEO of the largest company from all of the residents in Sutton Hills. Plus, you run the foundation. You’re top dog, baby bro. Whoever you want to date gets the highest level of respect, simple as that. You remember how Alyssa set the tone for Don. Just because they all exist in this sick little make-believe world doesn’t mean that you need to,” my brother gives me his best advice.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. I guess I’m just making excuses,” I admit.

“I wasn’t going to call you out on that, but I’d have to agree. You should bring her to the fourth of July party in a few weeks. You know mom would love to meet her,” he suggests.

“Yeah, maybe. But until I do bring her, keep this between you and me,” I ask, and he shakes my hand in agreement before excusing himself to check on his son.

Looking around the party, as my cousins sit in the lawn chairs wearing their plaid shorts and polo shorts, drinking forty-year-old whiskey, I wonder how Jamie will react to the chaos that is my family.

Glancing over at the pool, I imagine she’ll do great with the kids, she’s such a people person. Honestly, there’s no reason for anyone to dislike Jamie. She’s intelligent, beautiful, kind and friendly. Regardless of the topic, she always has something to add to a conversation, and besides all of that, she’s genuine. Nothing about her comes off as rehearsed or seems to have an agenda behind it.

I’ve never met anyone that cares for others as much as she does, and the way she cares for the people she works with, as well as those we help through the organization, is nothing short of amazing.

Maybe Mark is right. I need to just make a decision and decide that Jamie is the one for me. Whether everyone else accepts her or not, is more their problem than mine. She’s who I want to be with, and just yesterday I was saying how I need to make some grand gesture to show her how serious I am about our relationship. Introducing her to my family is about as grand as it gets. Although I’m not sure how she’ll react, or how everyone will react to her, I know she will be able to see the effort, and that’s really all she wants from me. I just hope this decision doesn’t blow up in my face.