“Listen, I’m done. I mean it this time. I’ve been up all night thinking about it, and I can’t lose her. She’s all I’ve really got that means something.”
“Sorry I took so long Hayd…” Taylor’s voice trailed off as she entered her friends room to find Sam standing there. Her hair was wet and brushed back, and she wore a white terrycloth bathrobe belted shut at the waist.
“You know what…I’m gonna let you two talk,” Hayden smiled, then left the room, shutting the door behind him.
“Listen, Taylor,” Sam started.
“Save it,” she cut him off promptly. “The story’s always the same, but you never learn, Sam, YOU NEVER LEARN!”
“Would you at least let me show you something?!”
She shrugged indifferently and dropped into the overstuffed armchair that sat in the corner.
“Almost all of the money I’ve made went to this,” he explained, pulling an envelope out of the cargo pocket of his pants and handing it to her.
She took it, looking at him questioningly, then opened it and pulled out the contents.
Her widened and her jaw dropped with shock.
“Sam, this is two tickets…”she gasped.
“Direct flight to New Orleans,” he finished with a small smile. “The rest of the money is for our hotesl and meals and such. All you need is your spending money.”
She forced herself to pry her eyes from the unexpected and breathtaking gift. “When did you get these? Last night?”
He shook his head. “A month ago. That’s why I started doing what I did. I wanted to get this trip for you. For us. Hayden, Scott and Brook are coming, too. The whole gang.”
She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly, almost knocking him over. “I’m sorry I flipped out…”
“No, you had a right to. I should’ve gotten the money in a more honest way. But I’m finished with that now, okay,” Sam whispered before kissing her cheek. Holding her at that moment, he couldn’t think of anything that could possibly be better.
Finally, and with much reluctance, Sam pulled away from her. “I gotta go…can I call you later?”
“Where you headed?” she asked, going through her bag to find clothes for the day.
“Airport…Daniel’s coming in for the summer,” Sam replied. “You wanna go with me?
“You don’t mind? I mean, you haven’t seen Danny since last summer…” she replied pulling a tank top over her head.
“No…he’ll be happy to see you.”
Taylor nodded, finished dressing, then they headed downstairs.
“I see you two made up,” Hayden smiled when they’d reached the living room.
“Danny’s coming in…wanna ride out to the airport with us?” Sam offered.
“Nah…I’ll see him later,” Hayden yawned. “Be careful.”
“See ya, “ the couple replied in unison, then filed through the door and into Sam’s new black truck.
“What time does his flight land?” Taylor asked, glancing at her watch. She and Sam were waiting patiently outside of Daniel’s terminal.
“Right now,” he nodded toward the incoming flight right outside the window.
A minute or so later, people began streaming off of the plane. Sam was looking for his brother, standing on the waiting area seats.
“SAM!” a ten-year-old boy with a mop of unruly dark brown hair and blue eyes hidden behind round glasses waved with a grin, a backpack slung over his shoulder.
“Danny,” Sam grinned back and hugged his little brother once he was close enough.
“Taylor!” he ran over and hugged her once he’d noticed that she’d come as well.
“Hey buddy,” Taylor hugged him back.
“Let’s go get your bags,” Sam put his arm around his brother’s shoulders and led him to the luggage claim. “How was your trip?”
“Okay. Mom said she wanted you to call her later,” Danny replied looking up at his brother.
Sam glanced at Taylor but said nothing.
Danny Mulholland was, in reality, only Sam’s half-brother—the product of one of their mother’s affairs—though the little boy had no knowledge of the fact. Sam’s father hadn’t known either until four years earlier, when she finally confessed. Enraged by the news, a huge screaming match ensued between the two adults, and a divorce soon followed. Sam, only thirteen close to fourteen at the time, overheard everything. He hated his mother what she’d done, and when the divorce was final, decided to go with his father. The two moved to Pittsburgh to be near the Callahan’s (Mr. Mullholand’s sister, husband, and son, Hayden). Mrs. Mullholand, being Danny’s only true biological parent in the picture, kept her young son in Boston.
“You know, your dad can’t wait to see you,” Taylor broke the silence, forcing a smile and ruffling Daniel’s hair.
He just smiled up at her.
That evening, the Mullholand’s and Taylor all went out to dinner to celebrate Daniel’s arrival. Taylor couldn’t help but look at Mr. Mullholand as some sort of saint. Despite the fact that Daniel wasn’t his by blood, he loved as though he was. He never considered anyone but himself to be Daniel’s father, talked to the boy once or twice a week on the phone, and had him come to visit for two to three months every summer.
After the meal, Sam and Taylor escaped for some quiet time, allowing Mr. Mullholand and Daniel to have some catch-up time, and private time for themselves, as well. They went back to Sam’s place and climbed out of his attic bedroom window to sit on the roof.
“You ready for Prom? It’s next week already, ya know,” he asked quietly, lying back with his hands behind his head.
She sat silent for a moment, her knees hugged tightly to her chest.
“It went by so fast, didn’t it, Sam. God, it feels like only yesterday I met you…” she spoke so softly that it was almost as if she were speaking to no one but herself.
“Do you remember when we first met?”
She looked at him as if he were crazy. “Of course I remember. You sat across the room in Mrs. Kyle’s theater class, and I thought you were the hottest thing I’d ever laid eyes on…you were so different…the first boy I’d ever seen with a piercing other than his ear, painted nails…”
“And you came over everyday, just to say ‘hi’…I didn’t get it. I mean, why would a little prep like you talk to a guy like me?” he sat up.
She smacked him lightly on the stomach. “I was not a prep!”
“Yeah you were.”
“Well, maybe a little bit…” “Ms. Aeropostale.”
“Alright, fine,” she smiled broadly.
“I just remember one day looking up from one of my assignments, and looking you in the eye, and getting lost…”
She kissed him lightly. It amazed her how he could be so romantic and sweet and loving, and then at other times be the most insensitive man she’d ever met.
“You staying over tonight?” he questioned quietly. She shrugged. “I don’t wanna go home, but I’ll give you some time with your dad and your brother.”
“Stay. Danny has his own room, and you’re practically family anyway.”
“You sure?”
“Course I’m sure,” he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close. “I love you, Taylor.”
“I love you, too, Sam,” she sighed with a small smile.