Heaven and Hell (Heaven and Hell #1)(133)

“Sam,” she said in her rich, cultured voice and moved out of my arms to Sam.

“Kia!” Luci cried and I turned to her just in time to catch her in my arms. We gave each other deep hugs then she pulled back. “Maris told me she was coming to meet you, I told Celeste and we both decided it would be fun to make it a surprise party.” She let me go and threw out her arms. “So we’re here. Surprise!”

“Awesome,” I whispered.

She grinned at me, her head turned then she cried out, “Sam!” like he wasn’t two feet away from her but down on the beach during a hurricane and she threw herself in his arms so hard I saw his body lock so they both didn’t go down.

Celeste and Maris were smiling at them and I let Sam and Luci have their moment by introducing the two women.

“Maris, this is my friend Celeste Masterson. We met in Lake Como. Celeste, sweetie, this is Sam’s Mom, Marisela Cooper.”

“Maris,” Maris stated, lifting her hand that Celeste took, she leaned in, they did the cheek to cheek to cheek business then pulled apart.

“We brought champagne!” Luci announced, moving to a table, lifting a sweating bottle of Cristal and I noted it was one of three.

Yep, Luci and Celeste had decided it was time to party.

So it was time to party.

“I’ll get glasses,” I offered and began to move.

“No, baby, I got it,” Sam murmured and moved faster than me so I settled.

“I love this!” Luci cried, clapping her hands together. “Everyone together! We need to call Hap!”

I grinned at her even as I studied her.

It was still there, the sorrow, not even a little faded. My grin faltered and my eyes moved to Celeste. She tipped her head slightly to the side and shook it once almost imperceptibly. I nodded mine once, hopefully the same. I knew from conversations with both of them that Celeste and Luci spent a lot of time together in Lake Como and Celeste and I had several conversations about Luci. Celeste saw the same thing I did. And Celeste was at the same loss as Sam and I were as to what to do about it.

Then my gaze slid to Maris who I saw was looking between me and Celeste knowingly. She saw it too, she knew what Celeste and I were communicating and this was confirmed when she reached out her fingers and lightly touched the back of mine.

I quickly filled the loaded silence with, “I love it too, Luci, sweetie. So pleased you both are here.” My eyes moved to Maris and I added, “All of you. So pleased all of you are here.”

Luci shot me a half-fake, half-genuinely-bright smile.

Then she hurried to her purse, declaring, “I’m calling Hap right now.”

She dug in her purse.

Maris cried, “What an adorable dog!” and bent down to pick up a bouncing, delighted beyond reason to have company Memphis.

Sam arrived with five champagne glasses turned down, their stems tucked between his fingers.

Luci called Hap.

And the surprise party began.

* * * * *

In my nightie, ready for bed, I exited Sam’s bathroom to find Sam standing by the bed, emptying his jeans pockets, dropping stuff on the nightstand.

I also heard, distant but definitely there, Hap’s snores coming from where he was passed out on the couch. Another indication of why he had not nailed down his own “fine piece of ass.” Those snores would drive the most devoted woman either to kill him in his sleep or avoid a jail sentence and leave him.

Hap showed about four hours after Luci called him, he didn’t have to go back until Sunday and he didn’t drink champagne. Hap drank beer intermingled with shots of bourbon, a lot of both and Hap was even more happy as well as hilarious when he was loaded.

Once he’d passed out, Maris announced she was calling it a night and Sam had loaded a very tipsy (but still cultured) Celeste and Luci into the Cherokee and taken them to Luci’s house.

Now, obviously, he was back.

Sam had finished with his pockets and was pulling his shirt over his head when I asked, “Everyone settled?”

He tossed his shirt on the floor as I watched, tearing my eyes from the vision of his chest to his shirt lying on the floor.

Sam always tossed his clothes on the floor but in the morning he picked them up and took them to a plastic hamper in his walk-in closet. I knew Kyle didn’t do this because I heard Gitte bitch about it. I also knew Dad didn’t do it because I had a lifetime of Mom bitching about it (as well as bitching about Kyle not doing it when he lived at home). And I also knew Rudy didn’t do it because Paula bitched about it to me on more than one occasion. Cooter definitely didn’t do it.

Sam did.

It was another thing I loved about him.

I suspected I had Maris to thank for that and luckily now I had the opportunity.

“Yep,” he answered my question.

I mounted the bed on a knee and when I got both of them in I sat back on my calves and softly noted something I’d observed as the afternoon wore into the evening and then into the night, “I think she’s worse.”

Even as his hands worked the buttons on his fly, his eyes came to me, locked on mine and I knew he knew I meant Luci when he repeated a weighty, “Yep.”

“Sam –” I started but he interrupted me.

“I’ll call Vitale tomorrow. He told me he was going to sit down with her but he hasn’t reported in. I’ll see how that went.”