Country Kisses (3:AM Kisses Book #8)(56)
“If it helps stop crap like this from happening, I’ll hug it out even if it is my birthday.”
We head inside, and I freeze a moment when I spot Mom and Sammy chatting it up in the kitchen like old friends—they are, so it shouldn’t surprise me.
Sammy’s hair is relatively clean and slicked back into a ponytail with just a smidge of icing around the tips.
I head over and land a warm hand on her shoulder. “You okay?”
Sammy looks up with those soft eyes that I used to admire, and there’s something she’s saying with them—if I had to guess, I’d say it were an apology. “When life gives you chocolate cake, you eat it.” She belts out a jovial laugh, and my mother chortles right along with her.
Mom stands and gives Piper a kiss. “Happy birthday, sweetheart. You’re as stunning as ever.” She turns to me and clicks her tongue. “And look at you—breaking hearts wherever you go. At least you still have the right girl here for you.” She wraps an arm around Sammy’s shoulders and looks lovingly into her eyes. “If this one gives you any trouble, you just come to me. I’ll fix him right up.” She tries to take a few steps away, and Sammy snatches her up by the fingertips.
“When will I see you again?” Her Southern drawl extends a little too dramatically. Sammy always did know how to turn up the charm around my parents.
“Call me anytime when you’re back in the city, and we’ll do lunch.”
Piper hikes up on her tiptoes and leans into my ear. “There she goes again, weaseling her way into our lives. If you think this nightmare is over, you’re in for a rude awakening.”
Crap. I pray she’s wrong.
“Sammy, why don’t we head back to campus?” The farther from my mother and me the better.
Piper thumps on her heels and whimpers, “You’re not coming back, are you?”
“I can’t. My head’s all over the place. I need to see if I can find her. And as soon as you hear anything, please let me know. I just want to know that she’s safe and okay. She was pretty upset when she took off.” Hell, I’m pretty upset, and I don’t have a thing to be upset about.
Sammy comes over and threads her arm through mine. “I’m sorry about the way things turned out.”
I’d have a tendency to believe her, but something about the way she linked her arm through mine, the way she’s looking up at me in a slightly flirtatious manner has sent all kinds of bells and whistles going off. I hate to admit it, but Piper might be right.
“Don’t apologize. This is fine. I just wanted you to feel welcome during your stay at Briggs.” I nod to Piper because this is her cue.
“And I’m sorry if I’ve been a real bitch to you,” she spits the words out at Sammy with such hostility I’m afraid they don’t mean much. “And I’m sorry you think Cassidy would ever root for you to be with my brother when she clearly had staked her claim.”
Sammy glances up at me and blows out a breath. “You know, Cassidy and I share a class together. We talked. I like her. She gave me some great advice, and I took it.” She shoots venom at Piper for a moment before softening to her again. Maybe Piper wasn’t always the problem. Maybe it was simply the fact Sammy and my sister never got along.
Piper grunts in disbelief. “You obviously omitted one vital piece of information from your conversations, namely my brother.”
“That may be so, but I didn’t think it was necessary. Besides, she didn’t exactly mention him either. Apparently, she was hiding all kinds of information from the two of you. How can you ever trust a person like that?” Sammy wrinkles her nose as if Cassidy were an offensive odor. “I say good riddance.”
“Cassidy is trustworthy.” I don’t hesitate to defend her. “She has her reasons for keeping this from the two of us, but only she knows those at this point. I’m not accusing her nor am I angry. And, yes, I plan on trusting her again with any and everything.”
Piper smears a smug grin toward Sammy. “I guess that’s good riddance to you.”
Sammy gives my elbow a tug. “I’ll take that ride home now. I don’t feel much like celebrating anybody’s birthday.”
“Good!” Piper barks in her face. “Because the party doesn’t start until you leave! You’re a cheat; therefore, you are the only untrustworthy one around here.”
Piper sure knows how to bury the past—with a hatchet right through Sammy’s skull.
“Let’s go.” I lead Sammy to the door and nod to Blake and Annie as we head outside. Wyatt is standing there with Marley, both with startled looks. “Sorry about the scene. If there’s any damage from the mess we made, I’ll cover it.” I offer Marley a quick embrace and slap Wyatt five as he offers a quick hug himself.
“We need to talk,” he whispers as we pull away. “You know I want to help out with stuff like this. Know that I’m here for you.”
“Thanks. Tell Dad and my mom that I’m sorry I had to take off. I was thinking of heading home to see them for spring break, and now I’m not so sure.”
“Will do.”
I lead Sammy over to my car and let her in, not caring if she gets the entire interior smudged with frosting. I’m with Piper. I’m starting to feel like I’ll do just about anything to get this entire nightmare to come to an end.