Page 68 of Samuel

Evie’s balance is going to get worse… find the best shoes for support.

Jellybean might be able to hear my voice this week… I hope she’ll be able to recognize my voice when she’s born.

Oh no. Evie’s chest felt warm, completely overwhelmed bythe tenderness she’d found in Sam’s scribbles. She quickly tucked the book right back where she found it and walked back over to her desk in a daze.

Those words were something an expectant father would write down. Something a committed, loving partner would care about. She’d been carrying so much worry around that Sam would eventually want to stop whatever was building between them when the baby came. But his words… they felt lasting. They made her think it was safe to allow herself some room to plan for something longer than just until the baby was born.

“Evie?”

She jumped, trying to hide any emotion that would give away what she’d just been doing, or thinking. “Hey, you’re back. How was your trip into town?”

“It was good.” Sam leaned against the door of the office.

“Did you get what you needed?”

“Yep.”

“Alright, what’s with all the clipped answers?”

He pushed off the door, his eyes never leaving her. Did he know she found his book? Oh god, she felt her face burning with embarrassment.

“You doing okay after what happened this morning?”

That morning? Oh! Relief flooded her. “The phone call thing?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m fine. I mean, I don’t love being talked to like that, especially by someone who has the means to ruin me professionally, but I also realize it’s a him problem and not a me problem, you know?”

“I do.” Sam nodded in agreement. “Anything he has to say against you, personally or professionally, I’d be happy to defend you against.”

“Thanks.”

“So.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he set the smaller of the two bags he was carrying on her desk. “I got you something while I was out.”

“You did?”

“Yeah. Go on.”

She pulled the box out of the bag and set it on her desk.

“A new phone?”

“A new phone. A new phone number. It’s on the ranch’s account.” He held up his hands as soon as she opened her mouth to argue. “Don’t even try to talk me out of it, Bluebell. He won’t be able to bother you again this way. I honestly would have taken your phone this morning so he couldn’t contact you any more, but I figured you’d want to transfer your pictures or apps or whatever onto the new one.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“It was no big deal. I had the guy at the store in Rogersville show me how to program in phone numbers. I made sure your doctor’s office was in there, and I’m in there too, if you ever need me. Plus Abby and my mom. Oh, Daisy, Emma, Grace, Jackson, Seb… Yeah I just put everyone’s number in there and added you to the friend’s chat we have. You’ll probably have to ask the girls to put your new number into whatever chats you have with them.”

Her brain felt like it was glitching. “Sam. You remembered what doctor I see?”

“When you told Jake the day you passed out, I committed that to memory in case anything ever happened.”

She shouldn’t have been surprised. Certainly not after reading all he had written down in the baby book he was hiding in his desk.

“Thank you.”

“I just want you to feel safe here.”

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