Chapter 10

 

Sam was used to his nightmares. Sometimes they were about Brian and he woke up in the grip of fear and remembered pain. Other times they were about his childhood. He dreamed he was a boy and he was lost, alone, calling out to distant figures that were always moving further out of reach.

But last night's dream had terrified him more than any of the others. He and Wyatt were walking under the trees in the orchard. Flower petals fluttered to the ground around them and swirled around their feet. Running among the trees, the boys were playing with Barney and Brownie.

Then Sam spotted a figure ahead of them. Waiting, leering threateningly, Brian turned his idyllic dream into a nightmare. Sam tried to warn Wyatt and the kids, but he couldn't speak. He couldn't breathe. He was helpless to do anything as Brian approached. He woke up clawing at his throat, desperate to tell them about the danger.

 

It took him a while to calm down, and the dream colored the rest of his day. It wasn't the dream really. It was the reality of his situation and that he had no right to bring Wyatt and the kids into it.

Mrs. Del Rio and everyone else at work noticed that he was "out of sorts". That's how Mrs. Del Rio put it, and everyone kept asking him if he was all right.

In the late afternoon he got a text from Wyatt and it was like the sun coming up in his world. He grinned at his phone even as he was shaking his head at him.

Right away, Mrs. Del Rio noticed his change of mood. "Ah, finally a smile. Who's been chatting you up?" she teased him.

"It's just Wyatt. He wanted me to wish him luck. He's trying to cook dinner by himself," Sam told her as he texted back. He told Wyatt to stay positive and do his best.

"Such a brave boy," Mrs. Del Rio said, mocking poor Wyatt. "I bet you wish you could be over there helping him out."

Though he felt conflicted about it, in the end, Sam told her what he had figured out since last night's nightmare. "No. I think it's for the best that I had to work tonight. I shouldn't get too close to them when I'm always jumping at shadows and watching for Brian around every corner. I mean, the way I am..."

"What are you talking about?" Mrs. Del Rio snapped, cutting him off. "That lot is lucky to have you. They need some tender loving care in their lives right about now. Sweetheart, you're a gift from heaven. Now I'm going to make sure you get your butt over there." She turned away from Sam and called out, "Magda, if you want Sam's shift, it's all yours, honey."

"Thanks Mrs. Del Rio. Thanks Sam!" Magda yelled back. "Hope you feel better." Obviously she thought he was giving her his shift because he wasn't feeling well. That's how bad he must have looked.

Magda was so happy to work extra hours, now Sam could hardly say he didn't want her to. And his better judgment be damned, he was dying to see Wyatt again.

That was the problem he decided to deal with later. First he wondered how to ask Wyatt if he wanted him to come over.

Sam opted for calling him. He wanted to be able to hear Wyatt's voice so he would know if he really wanted him to come over, or if he was just indulging him. He dialed then started out tentatively.

"Hi. I was wondering..."

"Are you coming over to help me with all the crazy stuff I bought?" Wyatt jumped in before Sam got a chance to ask him anything.

"Umm, Magda wanted my shift so..."

"So you can come over. You're my savior," Wyatt said and Sam had no doubts that Wyatt honestly wanted him to come over.

"I guess if you'd like me to, I can come over," Sam finally stated.

"Yes!" Wyatt said then Sam could hear him yelling out to the boys. "Sam is coming over!" There was a lot of noise then Wyatt was back speaking with him. "Did you hear them cheering?"

He didn't need to ask. Sam had heard both yelling and barking, and that made him feel all warm inside. "I'm leaving work now so I'll see you soon."

"Sooner than you think. We'll meet you," Wyatt said. "I wanted us to walk the dogs before we start on dinner, so we'll see you somewhere on the road."

"Oh OK. See you." Sam was going to drive over there, but he had no groceries to carry this time, so he might as well walk.

 

Halfway on his way to Wyatt's, Sam got another warm reception. As soon as they saw him, the kids started yelling and waving and a big smile spread across Wyatt's gorgeous face.

Getting to him first, the kids and the dogs were jumping around him when Wyatt joined them. "Look at them. It's like you're hiding candy and bacon in your pockets."

Sam laughed at that. "That's not on the menu," he told him.

As they walked along the roadside, Sam was ashamed that he caved so easily and came over. He was so taken with Wyatt. He couldn't think straight.

But he still knew the right thing to do was to tell Wyatt what a mess he was and to stay away. The words just wouldn't come out. The setting sun was bringing out the gold in Wyatt's dark blond hair, his eyes were bright and beautiful, and Sam was left powerless to speak and break the spell he was under.

 

They all walked into the house together, one big noisy bunch, and Sam started to forget his misgivings in the bustle of activity. Going straight into the kitchen, Wyatt and the kids started pulling out what they bought the last time they went shopping, and the dogs went to drink some water. Brownie then came over to Sam and looked up at him.

"I see Brownie is settling in nicely. I guess she likes it here," Sam said as he got down to rub her side.

"She has her own doggy bowls and her own doggy bed," Riley said.

"Her bed is in our room," DJ said proudly.

"Yeah, they are in charge of the dogs," Wyatt said. "Or the dogs are in charge of them. I don't know."

Sam shook his head at him. Wyatt knew exactly what he was doing -- being a really good uncle.

"I think that's everything we bought," Wyatt announced, and Sam washed his hands and got ready to check out what they would be working with.

"DJ was the one who told me to buy ingredients, and he and Ry helped me pick them out. What do you think?" Wyatt asked Sam as he looked over the vegetables and different boxes of pasta and rice.

"Did we do good?" DJ asked as he looked up at Sam.

"You bought a lot of good stuff," Sam told him.

"You know how to cook it?" Riley asked.

"I do, and soon your uncle will too," Sam told him.

Then Sam went out with the boys, so he could see if there was anything ready to pick in the herb and tomato garden. Wyatt stayed just outside the garden gate holding back the dogs so they wouldn't go in there and start digging.

"Mom planted all the stuff. She used to sniff those things," Riley said and he pointed to the herbs.

"That's because they smell so nice," Sam told him. "Your mom was a great gardener."

Riley smiled, pleased, and DJ looked touched and a little teary eyed.

"Mom and Dad used to cook together. They knew how to cook, not like Uncle Wyatt," DJ said.

"Your dad used to cook for me. My favorite was spaghetti," Wyatt told them.

"We love spaghetti too!" Riley said.

"Should we make that for dinner?" Sam asked, and everyone agreed.

 

"If you want to help us cook, go wash your hands, guys," Wyatt told the kids as they all went back inside.

He and Sam washed their hands and the herbs and tomatoes at the kitchen sink. They did it standing elbow to elbow, bumping hips. Thanks to Wyatt, the whole thing involved way more body contact than was strictly necessary.

"These tomatoes are beautiful. I almost hate to smash them up into a sauce," Sam said as he admired them.

"Is that where pasta sauce comes from?" Wyatt joked, or at least Sam hoped he was joking. "Thanks for coming to the rescue."

"You loaded down your shopping bags with things you don't know what to do with, of course I had to come over," Sam said and gave Wyatt a smile.

"I know. What does a person even do with celery?" Wyatt said and held up a stalk of celery Sam was going to put away.

"Seriously?" Sam said, then he thought of something. "You know you can put cream cheese in celery, or peanut butter. It's a good snack for the kids."

"Put things inside of celery," Wyatt said while turning over a stalk of celery like he was trying to figure out how to make it work. "That sounds way too advanced, like master class or something."

"I'll show you and we'll call it an appetizer," Sam decided. It would be good to give the kids something to munch on while they were waiting for dinner to be done.

The kids were happy with their peanut butter celery and the dogs got to lick some peanut butter off their fingers.

"That was a hit. Let's get those hands washed now," Wyatt said to the boys.

"Barney and Brownie already did it," Riley said and held up his hands to show they were clean.

Wyatt looked over at Sam as if to say, "Can you believe this?"

Once their hands were washed again, the kids both got to help turn tomatoes into tomato sauce. They got a kick out of that, but Riley ended up with a big, red stain on his shirt.

"Do you want to change out of that, Ry, or should we just let the dogs lick it off?" Wyatt asked Riley.

"Let Barney and Brownie do it," Riley voted.

"Uh, no. Go change," Wyatt insisted. "You better go with him, DJ. Make sure he doesn't do anything creative."

DJ didn't seem too sure what Wyatt meant by that, but he and the dogs followed Riley out of the kitchen anyway.

"Kids think getting dirty is fun," Wyatt said.

"Good timing," Sam said and added some of the vegetables into the tomato sauce. "I'm putting these in the sauce. I heard that one way to trick kids into eating vegetables is to sneak them into pasta sauce."

"Lloyd never used to trick me like that. He just poured the stuff straight from the jar," Wyatt said.

"No one tricked me like that either," Sam said, but while Wyatt spoke fondly, he said it with an edge of bitterness to his voice.

To Sam, the dinner table was just another minefield. When he was little, hardly anyone cared if he ate well or even if he got enough. They resented having to feed him, never letting him forget that he was unwelcome and a burden. He learned always to take the smallest piece, never to ask for more no matter how hungry he was.

"What? It looks good," Wyatt said as he peered into the pot. Maybe he thought Sam's expression had darkened because of the food.

"It will be good," Sam said forcing a more cheerful expression.

Wyatt wasn't buying it though. "What's up?"

As best he could, Sam tried to explain. "The relatives who took me in after my parents died didn't have much money. They didn't want me, but felt obligated. They weren't subtle about letting me know that I was a burden."

"How old were you?" Wyatt asked.

"I lost my parents when I was five. I lived with one relative or another until I was seventeen," Sam said. He didn't mention who he lived with after that. He didn't want to bring up Brian especially since the boys were likely to run back into the kitchen at any minute.

 

Sitting down at the kitchen table, everyone enjoyed the dinner they made together. Riley got dirty again, and Sam gave Wyatt a look of sympathy. That man must be buried in laundry.

They did the dishes together so it was chaos with dogs and kids everywhere. Riley wanted to let the dogs lick everything clean.

"They're not vacuum cleaners. We can only feed the dogs dog approved food. Human food might not be good for them," he warned the boys.

 

Even as it got late, Sam didn't try to leave. Wyatt, the kids and the dogs made him feel so good, he couldn't tear himself away. He was still there when Wyatt was tucking the kids into bed, and he got invited to sit in on story time.

"Tell us a story about Sam," DJ said, and Sam looked over at Wyatt worriedly.

Wyatt thought it over then he nodded. "OK. This is a story about Sam in the Celery Forest."

The story was about Sam being "stalked by stalks of celery" and it involved repeating the word crunch about a hundred times to the boys' delight. Finally Sam was saved by two boys who had a jar of peanut butter with them to defeat the celery.

The boys liked the story. Then they got good night hugs, and Wyatt and Sam left them so they could get to sleep.

As soon as the two of them stepped out into the hall, Sam's stomach was in knots. He and Wyatt were alone now, and he didn't know what that might mean.