Page 59 of Denying Davis
“I don’t want to do life without you, Sam. Will you give us a chance?”
“Of cour—”
His lips silenced me. They pressed into my mine, and the kiss was like being with someone who had always known me, someone who had taken me in, and saw into my soul.
“Samantha, I thought I’d lost you,” he said after he broke the kiss. “I thought you were gone, and I was certain I’d never be able to go forward without you.” He caught my lips in a quick peck. “But as God is my witness, that is never going to happen again.”
“No,” I said, “it isn’t.”
“Whatever my grandfather did—whatever my father did—they aren’t me. It was abhorrent. The contract you were forced to sign is null and void. I cannot undo the damage they did, but I want to make up for it however I can. I want you to allow me to help care for your mom. It feels only right that my family—that I—step up here.” He took a deep breath and smiled. “I want to love you, Samantha Green. I want to take care of you. And I want you to let me. We can have a better future. We don’t have to be defined by the past anymore.”
“Yes,” I breathed. “I want to be with you too, Davis Armstrong. There is no other place I’d rather be.”
We embraced again, and tears sprang into my eyes. I didn’t know how this had happened, but it had. I was where I needed to be.
“I hope we can start again,” he said against my shoulder. “I hope we can forget the way this ended, and the lies of the past. Will you do that with me, Sam? If I’m going to make sure I get through this transition, I need you at my side. I can’t make it if I don’t have you.”
“I know,” I whispered then pulled a bit away from him and looked him in the eyes. “And if you’ll have me. I’m staying.”
The next morning, I woke up next to Samantha. Her legs entwined with mine, her head rested on the pillow next to me, and the morning light illuminated her face, sharping her features, softening the curves of her nose. Her naked body had a dewy, soft glow.
I let her sleep. She looked peaceful and serene, and as I stared at her, I could hardly believe my good luck. Life had sent some major changes my way, but the best change of all had been the chance to restart a life with her. With Samantha by my side, I knew I could make it through the next slog of uncharted waters.
I slid out of bed around six thirty. A spread of muffins, cereal, fruit; a selection of the day’s newspapers; and my phone awaited me downstairs. For a while, I sat at the breakfast table contemplating the next steps I needed to take. My grandfather’s funeral needed final arrangements. His burial needed scheduling. Flowers needed ordering. Board members needed reassurance about the transition. Emails needed answering. Staffers needed instructions.
Need, need, need.
But I needed to do one thing first, before I addressed anything else. And I needed to do it with Samantha.
“Good morning,” I said when she padded into the kitchen about half an hour later. “I didn’t want to wake you up. I figured you deserved a decent night’s sleep.”
“Thanks.” She smiled at me and ran a hand through her tousled hair. She walked over to the fruit and placed some berries in a bowl, along with yogurt and granola. “Busy day ahead, right? All of the funeral plans?” She sat across from me at the breakfast table.
“There’s plenty that needs my attention.” I pointed atWall Street Financial,which had an above the fold story about my grandfather’s death. “But for some reason, I’m not scared about it.”
“I can help you with whatever you need. Whatever plans—”
“You’ve already helped more than you know.” I sipped some coffee. “And most of it is already arranged. Grandad knew he was getting old, and he didn’t like to leave things undone. Not his style.”
She ate a few bites of granola. “It’s still overwhelming.”
“Not when I know you’re with me. Not now.” I cleared my throat. The moment seemed as good as any to suggest what I’d been thinking about for the better part of the morning. “I want to visit your mother. I want to see her again and tell her how sorry I am. Offer her a real apology. For everything. My father, the payout, the pain…all of it.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I do. We can’t start over again until I make things right with her.”
She gave me another weak smile. “I don’t think she holds grudges. Not to you, at least.”
“That’s not the point.” I sighed. “The thing is, I won’t feel right about any of it until I get a chance to hear what she thinks. Besides, she doesn’t know I’m back in your life, does she?”
Samantha shook her head.
“How do you think she’ll react when she finds out about it?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Either way, I want to know. I don’t want any more lies. Any more secrets.” I thought back to my final conversation with my grandfather and shuddered. “That can’t be part of our future.” I reached across the table and took her hand. “And that’s what we have, Sam. A future. Together.”
