Triplets Found, page 50
They assessed him for several tense moments, and then the party turned back into just that. Beer. Pizza. Hot wings. Football. Adrenaline continued to pulse through Sam’s veins for several minutes, but soon he looked around at the other men and breathed a sigh of relief. He’d successfully jumped through the flaming hoop of his resemblance to Adam Bartlett, and he’d passed another O’Grady men test. Now all he had to do was stay away from Erin.
That, he thought ruefully, would be an even bigger challenge.
Several days later, Matthew called Erin to see if she could babysit his son, Finn, a couple evenings later. Finn and Jessica were close in age and got along great, so she agreed readily. They chatted about family stuff for a bit, and then Matt switched topics.
“You know, we had an interesting conversation with your boss the other day at the guys-only gig.”
“Yeah?” Erin was in the midst of preparing dinner while Jessica slept, so she just continued chopping vegetables, the phone tucked between her ear and shoulder.
“I don’t know if you’ve kept up with the news lately—”
She huffed. “Like I have time.”
“Well, maybe you should make time.”
A niggling sense of alarm slowed Erin’s movements. “Why? What’s going on?”
“We think Sam bears an uncanny resemblance to Adam Bartlett, that software mogul who was recently reunited with his twin sister, Lissa Something-or-other.”
“Oh, I know that story. Who doesn’t? It’s such a heartwarming tale.”
“Haven’t you noticed the resemblance?”
“I haven’t really paid that much attention, Matthew.”
“He looks just like him. It’s interesting. You should have a look at the Adam guy and decide for yourself. I mean, it’s not like they could be related. Adam and Lissa were both adopted as babies. But, still. It’s just uncanny.”
Erin’s throat tightened, and she wobbled over and took a seat at the kitchen table. She fought to keep her tone light. “So, you brought this up to Sam?”
“Yep. He blew it off with a joke, but still it’s a pretty cool thing. They say everyone in the world has a twin somewhere. I’d like to find the lucky guy who looks like yours truly.”
“Yeah, I bet you would. Try the mental hospitals,” she chirped. “You might have some luck.”
“Very amusing, sis.”
“Anyway, I’ll have a look next time I see something about Adam Bartlett, but right now, I’m preparing dinner. I should go, so I can get this done before Jess is up from her nap. As you well know, it’s ten times more difficult to do chores like cooking with a two-year-old underfoot.”
“Okay.” He paused, and Erin waited because it seemed like he had more to say. “You know, we really like this Sam guy. He’s alright.”
“I’m glad you approve, Dad,” she quipped. “But, newsflash, there is nothing going on between us.”
“I know, I know. But don’t feel apprehensive about bringing him around, is all I’m saying. He’s a good guy. And a good father. Fits right in with the O’Grady way of living.”
“I’m glad the five of you finally realized what I’ve been telling you all along. Sam Lowery is a good guy. And I have a great job here.”
“Yeah, yeah. You were right.”
Erin smiled. “Mark this day on the calendar. One of the evil five said I was right!”
“Evil is a little much, wouldn’t you say?”
“Talk to you later, Matt,” Erin sang. After they’d hung up, she rushed into her sitting room and booted up the internet. She did a google search on the twin case and came to photos of Adam Bartlett. As the first photo downloaded, her stomach plunged to her feet. My goodness, Sam didn’t just resemble Adam Bartlett, he looked like his double. She turned next to photos of Lissa Cartwright. Sure, the gender thing made a difference, but even Lissa resembled Sam around the eyes and mouth.
Erin checked on Jessica quickly—still out cold—then returned to her computer and watched a taped interview with the reunited twins. The more she watched, the more convinced she became that her brothers had stumbled onto something they didn’t even realize. In addition to the physical resemblance, Sam’s mannerisms mirrored those of Adam Bartlett. Lissa’s slow, careful smile was uncannily reminiscent of Sam’s.
Upon further checking, she learned that Adam’s and Lissa’s birth mother was a teenager killed in a car accident. Their ages matched, birth dates matched.
The story Sam had told her about his mother matched.
He’d said there was no information about the birth father, when clearly Jared Cambry had come forward when his little son, Mark, contracted the rare blood disease requiring a bone marrow transplant. But maybe that said more about Sam than it did Jared Cambry. Hadn’t Sam told her once that abandoning a child was the worst crime a parent could commit? Maybe he wanted to forget he had a birth father, especially now that he knew his identity.
She felt certain he knew. How could he not?
Even more curious, all the birth records for the day Adam, Lissa and Sam were born had been destroyed in a fire later that year. Could the teenage mother have birthed triplets instead of twins? Could this be one of the secrets Sam held so tightly to his soul?
Then again, if he was one of the triplets, why didn’t he come forward and make himself known?
Erin didn’t have answers for any of it, but she made a plan to watch Sam a little more closely and figure things out for herself. This could very well be another huge layer to the mystery that was Sam Lowery…a man she respected and cared about, a man she was beginning to love.
A man filled with secrets.
Sam couldn’t stop thinking about the get-together at the O’Gradys’ house in the days that followed. Wasn’t it Murphy’s Law that Erin’s suspicious brothers would be the ones to make the connection between him and Adam Bartlett, when neither Mia nor Erin had said word one? In any case, he’d skirted the issue as best he could, and now he needed to just lie low until the whole media circus ended. He didn’t want to be “outed” by Matthew O’Grady, or any of them. He didn’t want to have his hand forced when it came to meeting his siblings, because, bottom line, he didn’t want his life exposed like theirs had been.
The whole event left him feeling like he was teetering on the edge of catastrophe…and he had vertigo. Erin had gotten him to lower his guard so much that now his anonymity, his life, his daughter’s privacy—all of it was threatened. There was only one thing to do: raise that guard back up and live his life the way he had for years before Erin came along. Maybe it didn’t work for her and the O’Grady family, but being a closed-off, unreachable person had served him well for twenty-seven years. It was high time he went back to his usual methods.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Right?
Strangely, Sam seemed to retreat into his shell after the day he’d spent with her brothers. Gone was the open, smiling man he’d slowly become in the weeks Erin had lived there, and out came the thick shell he’d hidden behind when she’d first arrived. That would all be well and good, except his complete behavioral 180 was having a negative effect on Jessica and all the progress she’d made.
Like it or not, Sam’s behavior had and would always have a huge impact on that little girl. Sam had seemed to forget that, and it was becoming increasingly more difficult to bear witness to the negative transformation in Jess’s demeanor. Erin let it go long enough, until one night she’d had it.
Jessica wouldn’t look at her Mommy scrapbook anymore, and she’d been teary and clingy at the park that day. Sam had stopped joining Erin in the kitchen for evening conversation, had avoided all opportunities for her to discuss Jessica’s change in behavior with him altogether. As Jessica’s nanny, she had a duty to keep him apprised of what was up with his daughter’s life. If he planned to do his level best to avoid her, she planned to make it difficult if not impossible for him to do so.
That evening, Erin waited for Sam to come back downstairs after he’d tucked Jessica in so she could confront him, but he never materialized. That was fine. Maybe he’d had a rough day at work and wanted to turn in early. But wasn’t it sheer politeness to say a simple goodnight? She had to talk to him about Jessica, and the sooner the better. If he was going to hide out in his room, she’d go to him. The heck with it.
Bolstered by her intent, Erin headed up the stairs and stood outside Sam’s closed bedroom door. She raised her hand to knock…then hesitated. She drew her bottom lip in between her teeth and felt a twinge of apprehension. What in the hell was she thinking, coming to his bedroom like this?
Doubting herself, she padded softly down to Jessica’s nursery and checked on the baby. Jessica slept on her back, mouth opened slightly. Erin looked around the room and didn’t see her Mommy scrapbook anywhere. All her work, all the progress they’d made, down the drain. She pressed her lips together.
This was about Jessica, not about Erin.
She had to talk to Sam.
Whirling, she left the room, crossed the hallway quickly, and knocked on his door before she had the chance to rethink her actions, to doubt herself.
The door opened almost immediately, and Erin’s throat went dry. Mistake. Sam stood before her in nothing more than his wear-softened blue jeans with the top button undone. No shirt, no shoes or socks. Her gaze dropped of its own volition to his workhoned, muscular chest, and attraction swirled low and hot in her body. Oh, God. Taking a step back, Erin lowered her gaze. “I—I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bothered you. I—I’ll talk to you tomorrow morning.”
Chapter Thirteen
Sam’s hand around her shoulder stopped her from fleeing, and she reluctantly turned back. She tried to look anywhere but at the man’s bare skin, but it was difficult considering his size and proximity.
“What’s wrong, Erin?” He glanced down the hall over her shoulder, concern etched into the fine lines around his eyes. “Is Jessica okay?”
“Yes,” she answered immediately, but then she reconsidered her answer. “I mean, she’s sleeping fine, if that’s what you’re asking. But…” She sighed. “Sam, we need to talk.”
“Now?”
“Now.” Erin watched as a mask of remoteness fell over his expression.
“About what?” he said.
He sounded closed-minded and defensive. Even his body language exuded distance. He was about as open to this conversation as her brothers were open to letting her dance naked at a strip joint, and Erin’s frustration exploded inside her.
Hot, healthy anger trumped her earlier embarrassment, and she was surprised to realize she was truly upset about Jessica’s reversion. This wasn’t about his bare chest, or her attraction to him. It wasn’t about either of them. “About your daughter, Sam. About Jessica.”
“What about her?”
Annoyance coupled with a lingering but unwanted, at this point, attraction fueled her to give him a piece of her mind. Her bottom lip trembled as she implored him, but with anger rather than fear or tears. “Has it escaped your attention that she’s losing ground? She’s back to being fearful and less talkative.” Her voice rose slightly. “She hasn’t looked at her book of Jenny’s photos for days.”
Sam stared at her for a moment, then stepped backwards into the room, indicating Erin should precede him. She did, spying a chair and side table set into a bay window area at one end of the large, very masculine room. She crossed over quickly and took a seat in the relative safety of the chair. She tried not to notice Sam’s large, mission-style bed, or the fact that the entire room smelled like the spicy cleanness of the man. This was about Jessica.
Sam sat on the other available surface: the bed. When he spoke, his voice was softer than it had been. “Tell me what’s happened, Erin.”
Good. At least one of them was focused totally on the important matter at hand. She lifted her arms and let them fall limply at her sides. “That’s what I should be saying to you.”
His eyes narrowed. “Meaning what?”
“I don’t know, Sam.” She scooted to the very edge of the chair and leaned into her words for emphasis. “She was making such progress. You both were.”
“I’ve told you, this isn’t about me.”
“And, as I’ve told you, she takes all her emotional cues from you. You’ve completely closed up, and she’s feeling it.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, causing his pecs to bulge in a very distracting way. “But…I’m trying. I made the scrapbook, I talked to her about Jenny. I talked to you about Jenny, for Pete’s sake, which isn’t something I’d do on any given normal day.”
“Yes, but over the past several days, you’ve reverted to the Sam I first met, and Jessica is following suit.” Erin shot to her feet, threading fingers into the front of her hair as she paced the length of the room. “I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong, Sam. One day, you and I are getting along fine, talking openly, sharing conversation after Jess goes to bed. The next day, nothing. It’s as if you’re avoiding me completely.” She spun to face him. “Was it something I did?”
A muscle jumped in Sam’s jaw, and he let his gaze slide away. “No. It’s nothing.”
“So, you’re not going to talk about it, huh? Just bottle up whatever you’re feeling so that Jessica sees you and thinks she needs to bottle up all her feelings, too?” She waited for Sam to say something, and when he remained stonily silent, she huffed. “What am I even doing here? If you don’t help me, I can’t help your daughter. Maybe this is a waste of both of our time.”
Sam came off the bed and crossed the room in two long strides. He cupped Erin’s upper arms gently. “It’s not a waste, Erin. You can’t mean that. Jessica loves you.”
“Which doesn’t much matter if you dislike me so much you avoid me.” Erin smacked the back of one hand against the opposite palm for emphasis. “She takes her emotional cues—”
“From me. I heard you.” Sam studied her face for a moment, than a sad, small smile lifted one corner of his mouth. “Erin O’Grady, the last thing I do is dislike you.”
Her tummy tightened, but she concentrated on making her point. She squared her shoulders and hiked her chin. “Then what? What happened, Sam, to set you back?”
“I—” He released her arms and stepped back, and she stepped forward, closing the distance.
“Don’t run from me, Sam. Don’t run from this.”
He peered down at her, looking so conflicted, so haunted. “I don’t know if I can even explain it.”
“Try.”
Their gazes locked for several tense moments, then he reached out and ran the back of his fingers down her cheek. “I can’t, Erin.”
She thought of the timeline, and suddenly everything fell into place. He might be hiding from his past, but he’d face up to it if she had anything to do with it. Everything had already gone so wrong, what would it hurt to ask? “Does this have something to do with Adam Bartlett and Lissa Cartwright?”
His eyes widened just long enough to let her know she’d hit pay dirt. For a moment, anger glittered in his eyes and he clenched his jaw. Finally, he released a long, defeated breath. “So, they told you?”
“Matthew called me.” A beat passed. “None of them know you were a foster child, Sam. I didn’t give up any of what you’ve confided in me.”
“Thank you.”
“But I’m asking you to level with me. Is it true? Are Adam and Lissa really two of a set of triplets?” She paused. “Are you the missing piece of that puzzle?”
Sam held his breath so long, when he finally let go, his shoulders seemed to sag with the action. “I think so. Yes.”
“Oh, Sam.” She lifted her fingertips to cover her mouth.
Sam raised a finger. “I don’t want anyone to know. Ever.”
Surprise riddled through Erin, and she blinked back her confusion. “But that’s crazy. You have family, Sam. Blood relatives. A brother and a sister who seem like delightful people. Not to mention, those halfsiblings.”
“Enough.”
She almost winced as he barked out the word, and then she stared at him in silence for a few moments. “Why on earth wouldn’t you want to meet them?”
“I’m a private person, Erin, if you haven’t noticed. I don’t want my life and my baby’s life laid out on television like some reality TV show.” He turned back toward the bed, sitting on the edge of it. His eyes looked troubled, his body language conflicted. “Besides…”
“Besides, what?” she prompted, moving over to sit in front of him on the bed, one leg tucked up beneath her, the other dangling off the side of the mattress.
When Sam looked up this time, his eyes flashed with resentment. “Lissa Cartwright grew up on a vineyard. Adam Bartlett is some fancy CEO. Clearly the two of them were adopted by loving families. Why on earth would I want to show my face as the triplet who no one wanted?” He flicked a hand, as if he were disgusted with himself, with the whole situation. “Not even Cambry, who could’ve been a father to us all those years ago, but he chose to ignore we existed until it was convenient for him to start a new family, a keeper family. With family like that, who needs enemies? No thanks. I want no part of it.”
Erin absolutely ached for his pain, for the scars of a childhood he had not quite overcome, no matter how much he liked to pretend otherwise. She moved closer and took both of his hands in her own. Her realization at that moment smacked her so hard, she felt dizzy—she loved this emotionally scarred man so much, respected him incredibly, and he couldn’t even recognize his own qualities.
“Sam Lowery,” she said, her voice trembling with emotion she didn’t even try to squelch, “you are one of the kindest, most gentle men I have ever been privileged to meet. You have an amazing daughter. You’ve overcome so much adversity and managed to build yourself a life you should be nothing but proud of. I feel like the luckiest woman in the world to be a part of your life and Jessica’s life.” He glanced up, and she smiled tenderly at him. “I completely respect the fact that you aren’t up for media invasion of your life, but please don’t avoid meeting your siblings just because you feel lesser, or slighted. You were infants when you were split up. They had no more control over what happened to them than you did.” Releasing his hand, she reached up and traced his strong jawline. “Can’t you see, it wouldn’t be an honor for you to meet Adam and Lissa, it would be an honor for them to meet you.” Leaning in, Erin did what she should’ve done days ago. She kissed him.
