And Then Came You: Sam's Story by Maureen Child

Author:Maureen Child [Child, Maureen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Fiction, General, Contemporary
ISBN: 9780312997526
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2004-06-28T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

“Hey,” Mike argued the next day, “I call ’em like I see ’em.”

Sam shot a glance over her shoulder, just to make sure Emma was far enough away that she wouldn’t hear her aunt Mike’s death rattle. Satisfied, she turned back and glared at her little sister. “For chrissake, Mike. Can’t you control yourself around Emma at least?”

Mike squirmed a little, but held her ground. Her blond hair, pulled through the back of her baseball cap, hung in a thick braid down the middle of her back. Her Marconi Construction T-shirt was stained with grease, water, and God knew what else. A streak of grime strayed across the bridge of her nose, and as Sam watched, her sister’s pale blue eyes narrowed.

“The son of a bitch, he’s lucky that’s all I call him.”

“That’s great,” Sam argued, throwing her hands up high and letting them slap down against her thighs. “Much better. Emma’s his daughter, too, you know. And if he gets pissy, he could make my seeing her a hell of a lot harder.”

“He wouldn’t.” Not yet anyway, Mike told herself.

“He might if Emma starts talking about Aunt Mike calling him a weasel-dog.”

Mike winced. “Fine. I’m sorry. I’ll only call him that when Emma’s not around.”

“I appreciate the restraint.”

“You should.” Mike stood amid the rubble of the kitchen and wanted nothing more than to kick something. But what? If she kicked one of the rotted-out pipes, it would just spew a river of disgusting crap all over the place and she’d have to clean it up.

How the hell was she supposed to have a decent tantrum if she couldn’t punch something? New pipes lay stacked against the far wall and the gaping hole where the porcelain sink used to be showed an excellent view of ancient pipes below and a mousetrap, long since snapped closed. She’d been working all morning and still hadn’t had the chance to install the new stainless-steel sink or even to measure for the purple granite countertop. Purple, for God’s sake. Then Sam shows up to ride her ass about calling a jerk a jerk and ruins what was left of a perfectly crappy day.

Sighing, Mike glanced through the kitchen window at her niece, sitting under a tree learning how to knit at Grace’s knee. The older woman and Emma had really bonded, Mike thought. The two of them always had their heads bent together. Snow white to auburn, they were like twins separated at birth by fifty years.

But then, Emma had gotten to all of them. Papa hummed while he worked, Jo set aside her beloved ledgers for the chance to play on the beach, Mike herself had already taken Emma fishing, and Sam . . . Sam’s heart was in her eyes every time she looked at the daughter she’d never thought to see again.

They were happy.

All of them.

But it felt . . . fragile. And Mike couldn’t help wondering if she was the only one to realize it.

Shifting her gaze back to

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