Page 72 of Tell Me Again
He arched a brow. “Know what?”
“That Sam has seen your tool belt,” Jenny offered and moved toward the food table again.
“My tool belt?” Trevor chuckled.
“Zip it. Both of you.” She heard voices, and Grace bounced into the room a moment later, surrounded by several girls who looked just as young and bubbly as her.
Had Sam ever been that young? It was hard to believe. But there was no time for revisiting the past. A group of women followed the girls, glancing around the room before their collective gazes landed on her.
Sam’s shoulders automatically stiffened. Her normal reaction to a situation where she felt out of place was to fall back on her “I’m too good for this” attitude. She could put on a resting bitch face like nobody’s business and used it whenever she needed to keep people at arm’s length.
“You’ve got this,” Trevor whispered at her back, and she forced herself to take a breath and smile. Yes, she could do this. For both herself and Grace.
“I’m so glad everyone could make it,” she said, holding out her hand as she stepped forward. “I’m Sam Carlton. I’m...” She paused, struggling to say the words out loud.
“Grace’s aunt,” Trevor supplied before moving away to join Jenny by the food table.
Traitor, Sam thought to herself. He couldn’t just leave her with these women. She was pretty certain every one of them was half in love with him, even the married ones. She understood since she...
Nope. Not going there.
She focused on the group of mothers. “Yes,” she agreed. “Grace’s aunt. Welcome to Bryce Hollow.”
The women returned her smile, a little tentatively at first, and introduced themselves.
“When Ella told me Grace had a famous relative,” one of them said, “I could hardly believe it. My younger brother used to pore over that swimsuit edition every year. I’m sure he...” She broke off with an uncomfortable laugh.
“I guess I was pretty popular with teenage boys,” Sam agreed, deciding that the best defense was a good offense. “I try not to think about it, because you know...”
The women nodded and one of them visibly cringed. “Teenage boys. They’re even more terrifying now that I have a teenage girl.”
“I’m sure Trevor is scared to death.” The woman named Jill, who was also the volleyball team’s coach, gave Sam a knowing look. “I mean, Grace is a knockout and looks way older than thirteen.” She angled her head. “She actually looks just like you. But you’re her aunt so her mother...”
Here it comes. Sam forced herself to keep breathing. “My twin sister was Grace’s mother. She died when Grace was a baby.” She’d said the words simply, only the facts, and to her surprise the women seemed to accept it without question. Well, she was sure they had questions but were polite enough not to ask them.
“I’m sorry,” one of them said, a shorter woman with glasses. “Anyway, Trevor’s going to have to keep watch on her.”
“I’m sure he will,” Sam agreed. “But he’s also raising Grace to understand that she has more to offer than her looks. Any boy who likes her needs to treat her well.” She shrugged. “At the very least, she can learn from my mistakes. I made enough of them, but Grace is so much stronger of a person than I was.”
She expected the judgment now that she’d opened the door to it. While a couple of the women shifted awkwardly, Jill placed a hand on Sam’s arm. “I sort of want to hate you, but I made plenty of bad choices before I met my husband... a bucketful of them... and I’m glad I didn’t have to do it with the whole world watching.”
Sam offered the woman a small smile, a real one, which Jill returned.
“Don’t let the way she looks fool you,” Jenny said, joining the group and wrapping an arm around Sam’s waist. “Sam’s not perfect. She’s a horrible driver, can’t balance a checkbook, and she laughs like a hyena.”
Sam let out a strangled laugh then clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh, my God. I sound like a hyena.”
“Shh, darling,” Jenny said, resting her head on Sam’s shoulder. “You just shut that pretty mouth and all will be well.”
While the other women giggled, Sam pushed Jenny away with a grin. “We are no longer friends.”
“That’s ok,” Jill said. “You’ve got new friends now.”
The woman with the glasses nodded. “We just lost one of our Bunco ladies. You can fill in if you want?”
“I’d love to,” Sam answered, even though she had no idea what Bunco was.
“Come and eat some of her obnoxiously healthy food,” Jenny told the women. When Sam glared at her, she threw up her hands. “Ok, I’ll admit it tastes good.”
