Now & Forever 3 - Blind love (27 page)

Sam went over to the closet and took out his coat.

“This looks like a family discussion, so I think I’ll go.”

Jack glared at him.

“Okay, Sam,” Pat said, moving forward to give him a substantial
goodbye kiss.

“Mother! What are you doing? Are you a…a…”

“Watch it, sonny!” Sam warned. “She’s your mother. Treat her
with respect!”

“Do you respect her? You’re sleeping with her. Does that show
you respect her?”

“You’re damn right I do. I love her too.” Sam’s cheeks
colored a bit at his own admission.

Pat looked up at him quizzically. He had never said it to her
before.

“Now? You tell me that now?” Her eyes grew wide.

“Oh, I see. You love her so much you’ve never told her before
now? Great. Very impressive,” Jack put in.

“Oh, Sam, I…”

“I’m sorry, Patsy. This isn’t the best time to tell you how I
feel.” He buttoned his coat and headed toward the door.

“Patsy! Where do you get off calling her ‘Patsy’?”

“It’s his nickname for me. It’s all right with me. Leave it
alone, Jack,” Pat said, then turned back to Sam. “So you love me, huh?”

“I do. We should continue this when we’re alone.” Sam kissed
her.

Before he opened the front door, she was in his arms for a
goodbye hug.

“It was very nice to meet you, Merry, Bobby…Jack. Call me.
I’m here if you need me.” Sam went out the front door.

* * * *

Two days later, Pat had not called Sam. So he called her.
Jack picked up the phone first and wouldn’t let Sam talk to her. So he called
back in an hour, Jack again. Sam wondered what was going on. He was grouchy and
grumpy, snapping at everyone. Both Peter and Mac asked him what happened, but
Sam refused to talk to anyone.

He consented to have dinner at Callie and Mac’s house. Callie
was the one who convinced him to talk after the children were in bed.

“Things don’t look too good for Pat and me, right now,” Sam
admitted to Callie.

“What happened?” Callie placed her hand on his arm.

“Jack, Pat’s son, and his family arrived for a surprise visit
and caught Patsy and me in…a compromising position, shall we say. Don’t ask for
details…”

“Her son? Oh boy.” Mac shook his head.

“Thanks a lot! Like I don’t feel bad enough already!” Sam
shouted.

“Sorry, Dad.” Mac put his hand on Sam’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, Dad. It’s not your fault.” Callie took his hand.

“I know, but it feels like my fault. Pat was supposed to call
me…she hasn’t. So I called her…twice and her son wouldn’t let me speak to her.
I don’t know what to do.”

“I think you should drive over there, Dad.” Callie squeezed
his hand.

“You do?” Sam raised his eyebrows.

“You don’t even know if Jack told Pat you called. She might
not even know. If it were me, I’d want to know you called…you cared. If you
drive over there, they can’t ignore you. Sit in the driveway and blow your
horn, if you have to. Let Pat know you’re there for her. That’s what Mac would
do, wouldn’t you?” Callie raised her big blue eyes to Mac’s.

“Well…”

“You wouldn’t let anyone come between us, would you?”

“Callie’s right. I wouldn’t let anyone come between us. Do
you want me to drive you over there tonight, Dad?”

“No. I don’t know. Maybe.” Sam shifted in his seat.

“Come on, Dad. Let Mac take you. He’ll be there for moral
support.”

“Okay. Can you go now, Mac?”

“Sure.” Mac pushed to his feet and fished the car keys out of
the bowl on the front hall table.

* * * *

At 32 Linden Lake Drive, the tension was high. Merry was
sitting on the sofa, pretending to be looking at a magazine and Bobby was
asleep.

“Jack, we need to talk,” Pat said, sitting at the kitchen
table with a cup of coffee.

Jack poured a cup for himself and joined his mother.

“Okay. What do you have to say for yourself?” Accusation was
evident in his eyes.

“I’m not going to justify my private life to you.” Pat poured
milk in her cup.

“You mean you don’t want to discuss the fact you’re sleeping
with a man?” Jack leaned back in his chair.

“Right.”

“Look, Mom. I realize it must be lonely without Dad, but
can’t you date?”

“I am dating. I’m dating Sam.” She stirred her coffee, her
gaze meeting Jack’s.

“But do you have to…to…sleep with him?”

“That’s part of dating. Didn’t you sleep with Merry when you
were dating?”

“Mom! That’s private.”

“Private for you but not for me?” Pat cocked an eyebrow.

“You’re my mom. It’s different.”

“Is it? You know, I was a person, just like you, before I
became your mother.”

“So?” Jack tipped the kitchen chair back.

“The rules of life are not any different for me than they are
for you. By the way, I was sleeping with your father, you know. That’s how you
got here.”

“That’s different. Besides, kids don’t think about their
parents doing stuff like…like…”

“Like having sex?” Pat asked, lifting both eyebrows.

Jack’s face turned red.

“Yeah.”

“Just because you don’t want to think about it doesn’t mean
it isn’t happening.”

“But do you have to rub my face in it? Naked in the shower
with a man?”

“You rubbed your own face in it by not telling me you were
coming…by not giving me the same courtesy you’d show a friend and ask…at least
tell me you’re coming to visit. I thought I brought you up to know better than
to drop in on people.” She shot him a stern look.

“You’re not ‘people’, you’re my mom.” Jack took a sip from
his cup.

“I think you’re old enough to start thinking of me as
‘people’ and call first.”

“After this? You bet I will…if I come back at all.” He rose
from the table.

Pat took his arm and pulled him back down into the chair.

“Please, Jack. Wait. Let’s not end this this way.” Jack sat
down again and looked at his mother, his face still red with anger.

“Jack, I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to see this…find out,
especially this way. Sam is special to me. We’ve been seeing each other for
almost six months now. I’m not in the shower with every Tom, Dick and Harry.”

“Thank God!” A small smile crept over Jack’s face. “So why
didn’t you tell me you were going out with some old guy?”

“He’s not some old guy. He’s a respected university professor
and world renowned ornithologist. I didn’t want to tell you because I thought
you’d give me a hard time about it, like you’re doing right now. I had no idea
you’d surprise us.”

“Maybe if I knew, I wouldn’t have walked in on you.”

“You’re right, I should’ve told you. Try to understand. I
have a life now. Daddy is gone, but I’m still here. Don’t bury me with him.”
She placed her hand on his arm.

Jack’s anger dissipated slowly as the logic of her argument
seemed to sink in.

“I don’t want to fight with you, Mom.” Jack squeezed her
hand.

“Good. Me either. We didn’t fight much when you were growing
up and I’d hate to start now.” Pat let out a breath.

“I was too busy fighting with Dad.” He cracked a smile.

“I love you, Jack.” Pat touched his face.

“Me too, Mom.” He gave her a quick hug.

“Did you bring any problems for me to solve?” Pat sat back
and crossed her legs.

“Later. By the way, Sam called you…twice.” He got up and
retrieved the coffee pot from the counter.

“Twice? You didn’t let me speak to him? You didn’t tell me?
Why?”

“I guess I was pretty mad at him.” Jack refilled his cup.

“How could you be mad at him?” Pat put her hand over her cup.

“He seduced my mother.” Jack returned the pot to the counter.

“He did not! He’s…it’s not like that. You’re interfering with
my relationship with him,” Pat said, reaching for the phone.

But it was too late, Sam was coming up the walk. The doorbell
rang.

“Sam!” Pat exclaimed when she opened the door.

“Hi. Is there some reason why you are not taking my calls?”

“That’s my fault,” Jack said. “I decided not to put you
through to Mom or tell her you called. I’m sorry.”

Pat took Sam’s arm and brought him into the house.

“Come in, Sam. Let’s have a cup of coffee and talk,” Pat
said.

“Mac is in the car. I have to go, but I wanted to make sure
that we are still okay.”

“We are. Give me two weeks. I need to spend time with Jack
and his family.”

“Can I see you at all during that time?”

“It’s only two weeks. Can’t we go on hold for two weeks?”

Sam’s frown gave away his feelings.

“Pat…am I some dirty little secret you have to hide away?”

“Never! Of course I don’t think of you that way.”

“Somewhere between that and being swept away like an old
shoe.”

Pat took him in her arms and whispered in his ear. “Let me
get this straight with Jack first.”

“Two weeks? Can I at least call you?” He moved toward the
door.

“Of course. I’ll call you tonight and we can talk."

Pat stopped him at the door by pulling on his arm. He turned
around and she moved into his arms. He looked at her quizzically.

“Taking a short hiatus doesn’t mean I’m not still crazy about
you, Sam,” she said, going to kiss him.

But Sam pulled back, avoiding her kiss while Jack stood by
watching.

“Kiss me when we’re alone, when you mean it, Patsy.” He put
his hands on her arms and moved her back.

Pat watched the door close and knew he was angry. “What a
mess.” She rested her forehead on her palm.

“How?” Jack turned to her.

“Sam is angry. I’ve shut him out so I can be with you,
because you can’t be with him. I’ve spent time with his family, his sons and
grandchildren. Now I’ve pushed him away from mine…all because you won’t accept
him…us.” Pat directed a resentful gaze at Jack.

“It was a shock, Mom. You have to admit…”

“It was. But not putting his calls through to me…don’t ever
do that again! He’s a wonderful man and I don’t want to lose him.”

“Is it too much to ask that we have your full attention for
two friggin’ weeks?”

“It isn’t. It’s just…I don’t know…would it have been too much
to have him join us for one meal? I’ve hurt Sam. I’ll have to work this out
myself.” Pat retreated to her bedroom. She plopped down on the bed but through
the open door she picked out Merry’s voice.

“Weren’t you a little hard on her? She is your mother, after
all,” Merry said.

“Yeah? If your mother was shacking up with some old guy, how
would you feel?”

“I don’t know. But I hope I’d try to understand things from
her perspective.”

“I’m trying. I’m trying. It isn’t easy. She’s my mom.” Pat
heard Jack’s footsteps and knew their conversation was over.

* * * *

Mac drove his father home. They didn’t talk in the car. When
Sam got in the door, he fixed himself a whiskey and soda and sat down at the
kitchen table. Peter and Lara had gone to bed and the house was quiet. He
didn’t know what to make of the situation. He knew he had to talk to Patsy, so
he picked up the phone and dialed her number.

“Patsy, its Sam. Can you talk? So what’s up with us?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t want to play games. Are we still on?”

“Of course we are, Sam. You’re very important to me.”

“Am I? I don’t feel important, or good enough. Good enough to
meet your son and his family, even for a breakfast or lunch out, my treat. I
feel like you’re ashamed of me.”

“I know you feel that way…I’m not. Jack wants to have
uninterrupted time with me for two weeks.”

“And what do you want?”

“I don’t want to rock the boat, I guess.”

“Wonderful. Where does that leave me?”

“We will pick up where we left off in two weeks. That’s not a
long time. We can talk on the phone…”

“You’re right, two weeks isn’t a long time, but it’s more
than that. I told you I loved you tonight. Yet you haven’t made any response.
How do you feel about me?”

“I think I love you too, Sam.”

“You think?” Sam took a swallow of his drink.

“This is not an ideal way to have this conversation. It would
be better in person.”

“But I can’t see you for two weeks, so this will have to do.”

“Sam…I…”

“I’d like to spend more time with you, Patsy. It’s almost six
months and we only see each other on weekends.” Sam finished his drink.

“What
are you saying?”

“I’m
looking for more of a commitment.” Sam took his glass to the sink.

“I am
committed. I’m not seeing anyone else. Are you?”

“No. I’m
committed too. But I’d like to be committed to more time together.”

“My work
schedule can be difficult.”

“But we
could work around it, couldn’t we?” Sam asked.

“Can we
discuss this more in two weeks?”

“Sure,
sure. As you said, it would be better to talk about this in person. When I love
someone, I want to see them more than Friday and Saturday night…and then only
if we make plans ahead. I want you to commit the time to me each weekend. I
want it understood we will be together…and maybe more too. It’s driving me
crazy to say goodbye to you every Sunday night.”

“I wish
I could hug you right now,” Patsy responded, a quiver in her voice.

“I wish
I could do more than that, sexy lady.” Sam chuckled.

“I’ll
miss you in my bed tonight,” Pat whispered into the phone.

“That
goes for me too. Think it over.”

Sam sat
back in the chair and crossed his legs.

“I’m
going to miss you, Patsy.”

“Me too,
Sam.”

“Goodnight.”
Sam closed his cell phone and
sighed.