one who brought up his name, Sam reminded herself. This whole conversation was entirely her fault.
“How old are the children?” Katrina asked. As an elementary school teacher and mother of two adopted children, she always focused on children first.
“Amelia is eight and Ian is six. They’re lovely children, despite everything they’ve been through.”
“What have they been through?” Kat asked with a concerned frown.
“It’s very sad actually. Their mother died a year ago of cancer.”
“Oh,” Sam exclaimed, letting go of the material. “Oh. Those poor dears.”
“She was sick for a year before that. I think they’re all still figuring out how to go on.”
That must be the reason for the shadows she thought she had seen in his eyes.
Sunlight filtered in through her high windows, making the dress glow as Sam quickly finished.
“I won’t lie. I had my own issues with Susan before she grew ill, but I would never say she wasn’t a loving mother. The children miss her very much. They’re all a little lost, if you want the truth. I’m hoping this time together in Haven Point helps them find their way a little. It certainly worked its magic on me.”
Sam didn’t know Gemma’s entire story but she knew enough to be certain her friend very much deserved her happy ending with a good man like Josh Bailey, Katrina’s cousin.
She had dated Josh herself a few times. He was nice, gentlemanly, funny. For a week or two, she had even thought she might be falling for him.
Of course, she could say that about a dozen guys in Lake Haven County.
Sam shoved a pin in a little too hard, poking her finger in the process. She told herself that was the reason she had winced, not the reminder of her own years of stupidity.
“I’m sorry I didn’t think to mention they were renting the house near you,” Gemma said.
“It’s fine,” she answered. “You have a few things on your mind.”
“I do, but I would’ve told you to watch out for them. It’s just that I didn’t know until last minute which house he would choose. There were two or three rental properties in the offing.”
And she had been lucky enough to win the Ian Summerhill lottery apparently.
“I’m thrilled he’ll be close so you can keep an eye on him.”
She did not want to keep her eyes or anything else on the man. Okay, it wasn’t precisely a hardship, but she knew her own weaknesses and one of those was any gorgeous man with a tragic backstory. She tended to find them impossible to resist.
Not this time. She was entirely too busy to obsess over her new neighbor.
“I’ll look forward to getting to know them,” she said. It wasn’t precisely a lie. The children were adorable.
When the fitting was over, Gemma hugged her one more time, almost weeping over the beauty of the gown. “Genius. I’ll say it one more time. You’re brilliant.”
Samantha laughed roughly. “We both know that’s not true but thank you for saying so.”
“I’m sorry I can’t come to the Helping Hands meeting today.”
“Oh, no. I’m sorry you’ll miss it,” Sam said.
“I am, too. After you called me to let me know the dress was ready for the next fitting, this seemed the perfect afternoon to take care of a few other wedding details. I’ve plans to meet with the caterer this afternoon in Shelter Springs. This wedding planning is not for the faint of heart!”
“Too bad you couldn’t do what Bowie and I did,” Katrina said with a grin. “We eloped to a private island in the Caribbean.”
It wasn’t precisely the entire story. The private island was correct but they hadn’t really eloped. The wedding had been more of a destination event off the coast of Colombia. All the Baileys and their significant others had flown over for it. Sam had been there, too, along with her mother, who had complained the entire time about the heat, the food, the ridiculous expense that could have been spent on other things.
While there were a few moments when Samantha might have been envious, she would never begrudge Katrina her happiness. She and Bowie were ridiculously happy together and were doing an amazing job raising two special-needs children, Bo’s younger brother whom they had adopted and who had been diagnosed with autism, and a young girl from Colombia with Down syndrome who had found her way into Katrina’s heart before she ever met Bowie.
“I will say a private island destination wedding sounds heavenly. It really does. But I’m afraid