Page 79 of When Love Is Unexpected

"How did you know?" asks Alice. "Young people fall in and out of love so easily these days. How do you know that what you feel is more than just attraction? I'm not saying this because he's my son, and he resembles me, but he's a handsome, very tall young man. When he walks into a room, women take notice."

"That's all true," I say. "But in answer to your question, I've never been so captivated by anyone before. When I'm with him, I feel so good about myself. He makes me a better person. How do I describe it? He thinks I'm beautiful, so I feel beautiful. He thinks I'm brilliant, so I feel capable of achieving any goal, no matter how difficult. He's intelligent and funny. He's sweet and kind. He's very protective of me. He guards my heart."

"What does that mean?" asks Alice.

"What?" I ask. "Guarding my heart? I think I can give your son my whole heart, knowing he will never ever hurt me."

"That's beautiful," says Janice, patting her eyes with her hand.

At this moment, I realize I love Sam. I'm in love with Sam.

Chapter 18

Sam

I stand by the open glass door and listen as Mom asks Laila, "So, how did you and Sam find each other?” Laila expertly delivers on all the points we practiced and more. By the time she's done giving her little speech, Mom and Grandma are convinced Laila is in love with me.

When I open the screen door, they all look at me, "Hey," I say. "Is dinner ready?"

"It'll be at least another hour," says Mom. "There's a vegetable and dip platter in the refrigerator if you want to snack on something before dinner."

"Do you want me to get you a small plate?" asks Laila.

"No," I say. "That's ok. I'm going to go wait in the den."

"I'll come with you," says Laila.

I want to tell Laila she doesn't have to come with me, but when I look at the women in my life, they're all beaming with joy. Laila sold them on the idea of us together, hook, line, and sinker.

Laila takes my hand and leads me towards the den. I hear Mom say they should have some lemonade out on the porch while they wait for dinner to be ready.

When we round the corner leading into the den, Laila turns to me. "What the heck is going on?" she asks. "And don't tell me it's nothing. You look like your dog just died, and you don't have a dog!"

"Laila," I say, "what are we doing? We're lying to my parents. My whole family thinks we're together. They like you. My sisters have welcomed you into the family. My parents and grandparents love you."

"Isn't that what we wanted?" she asks. "This was your bright idea. Why does it feel like I'm being blamed for something? Why are you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you," I say.

"Oh, but you are! I can read you like a book."

"I'm just not sure this was the best course of action."

"Again, not my fault. If you want to be mad at someone, go look in the mirror."

"I'm sorry," I say. "I should've never brought you here."

"That hurts, Sam. Remember, just last night, you were ready to make love to me? Now you're sorry I came? What changed exactly? Is it because we're sharing a room, and now you know we will never be sharing a bed? Did you think we were going to come here and we were just going to have a fling? Two for the price of one? Get your family off your back during the day and enjoy a friend with benefits at night, huh? Oh, I'm so mad at you!"

I'm speechless. It's painful that she thinks I'd want to take advantage of our situation and sleeping arrangements.

"Is that what you think? I ask.

"What else am I supposed to think?" she asks. "We were fine last night. Everything was perfect until I told you." Her green eyes are burning a hole through my heart right now. She's so angry.

"I'm going upstairs. You can tell your family I have a headache. I'm going home tomorrow. Excuse me."

I watch her leave, but I don't follow her. The feeling of deja vu rattles my nerves and plants the seed of doubt and fear right in the pit of my stomach. It's happening again. The woman I love is walking out of my life.

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