Summer of Love - Carly Phillips Page 0,37

was afraid.

He wanted more time to figure her out. To figure them out.

Yet she’d offered him the opportunity he’d come for, and he couldn’t turn her down. “You’re sure the time is right?” he asked.

Zoe dropped his hand, putting physical and emotional distance between them. She tipped her head to one side and sighed. “As sure as I’ll ever be. I just need a chance to break it to my parents first.”

“Of course. And then what?” He flexed and unflexed his hands, nerves taking over.

Questions raced through his mind. Was she going to talk her parents into just letting him take Sam home, once they got through the New Jersey red tape, or did she plan to have him stay in town awhile longer? And how would Sam react to discovering she had family after all this time?

“I don’t—” Zoe started to speak.

“Elena, they’re back!” Sam’s voice struck him in his gut and prevented Zoe from revealing her thoughts.

Zoe shot him a suddenly frightened look. He understood and wondered if Sam had overheard any part of their conversation.

The young girl fumbled with the lock on the screen door but finally worked the catch, opened the door and waved them inside. “Come in! You left so early you never opened your presents,” she said to Zoe.

Sam didn’t meet Ryan’s gaze, but that wasn’t unusual, and once he saw her excitement and smiles, his concern eased. She was too happy to have heard a thing. Now all he had to worry about was Zoe viewing his embarrassing gifts.

“Do you want to help me unwrap them?” Zoe asked Sam.

“Already done.” The young girl grabbed Zoe’s hand, and they walked into the family room.

Ryan followed and seated himself on a chair across from them so he could watch.

Sam shook her head, her ponytail flipping behind her. “Elena said if you were gonna be rude and leave, we could still enjoy the traditional parts of a party, so I already opened the presents, well all except for the ones from Ryan,” Sam explained in a rush, as only a teenager could.

“I see. And what did I get?” Zoe asked, laughing.

“Aunt Dee and Uncle John bought you a subscription to an online dating service that lets you pick out whatever traits you want in a guy. They said you’d better make sure he’s Greek.”

Ryan didn’t have to glance at Zoe to know she was blushing. He also didn’t have to look down at his clenched fists to realize the thought of her with any other man didn’t sit well with him at all.

Sam ran through a litany of other gifts until she reached the end. “And Elena and Aunt Kassie said you already got your gift from them, not that I know what they mean.”

Ryan did, and his gaze met Zoe’s, every moment of last night passing between them in that one look.

“And this is from me.” Sam pulled out a pillow that she’d been hiding behind her back. “I made it myself,” she said softly, suddenly shy. “Since you have one that Ari made you, I wanted you to have one from me, too. So I could be a real sister, too.”

“Oh, Sam.” Zoe pulled her into a huge hug and over her shoulder, Sam met Ryan’s gaze with a pleading one of her own. One that begged him, the “social worker,” not to take her away from these special people.

If only Sam knew the real damage he could do. He glanced from the hugging women to the hook-rug type pillow that said Sisters & Best Friends 4 Ever. A wave of nausea swept through him as he realized that in telling Sam the truth, he’d be depriving her of the security she had finally achieved in her otherwise unsettled life.

How could he do that to her? Ryan wondered.

Yet how could he not?

Sam pulled out of Zoe’s grasp. “It’s Ryan’s turn to give you his presents.” She stepped back to reveal the wrapped packages on the table behind the sofa. “We bought one of them yesterday when we went shopping, but there’s an extra thing here, and I don’t know what it is. But I helped him pick out the big one.” She pointed to the larger gift as she practically hopped from foot to foot in eager anticipation of the big reveal.

Zoe’s eyes narrowed as she took in the presents. “Hmmm. What could Ryan have bought me? I think I’ll open this one first.” Zoe winked at Sam and started peeling the wrapping off