A Rose in Shadow

Chapter 13

Sam puttered quietly around her apartment while Mal slept. Mac had left a few minutes ago for a grocery run after repeatedly warning her that if she so much as cracked a window open while he was gone he would drag her home with him and plop her back into her childhood bedroom under the watchful eyes of their parents.

Although she loved them both dearly the fact that her Dad was the Chief of Police back home and her Mom was a teacher at the local high school meant that there would be no peace for her if she were under their roof. Everybody and their brother would be tasked to mind Sam's business and watch over her 24/7 and be expected to report back to her parents and brother.

She still hadn't decided what she was going to say to her parents about her current situation but had a feeling that her "brothers" and a certain cute cop might have strong opinions on the subject.

Not wanting to wake Mal, she decided to save the vacuuming for later and instead cleaned and scrubbed the bathroom and kitchen thoroughly before switching her clothes from washer to dryer and dumping a second load of dirty clothes into the washing machine. She stripped the sheets off of her bed, and set those and her dirty towels into the little laundry room to get ready for the next load. Glancing around the apartment and suddenly finding herself at loose ends she was just mixing up a batter for brownies when Mac returned.

Sam didn't want to admit to him that she was happy to not be by herself anymore, not counting the sleeping Malachi. Nor did she want to admit that she jumped a little when she first heard the noise at the door. Mac had his key with him so was already on his way in by the time she came around to give him a hand with the groceries.

With bags weighing down both hands he smiled widely when he saw her.

"What's all of this?" She asked as she reached to take some bags from him.

"There's still more" huffed Mac catching his breath from the climb up the stairs "but Adam's got it".

This surprised Samantha "Adam?" she asked.

Just then Adam came in the door carrying more bags.

"Mac, I can't possibly eat all of this!" she gaped at the grocery bags.

"I know" He said "but Malachi and I are still here until morning, Finn and Kelsey are hanging out tonight and, when I bumped into Adam at the store he said that you were making him dinner Wednesday night".

Complete surprise covered her face as she turned to catch Adam's eye. He winked at her and then leaned down to whisper in her ear as he walked past her to the kitchen. "You're making me chicken" he said.

He was still in his suit and tie and smelled just as fantastic as Samantha noticed he had when he walked with her out of the bar last night. She had to stop herself from leaning into him and taking a deep breath. Stepping back she gave him another questioning look and followed the two of them into the kitchen.

While brownies baked and another pot of coffee brewed they waited for Malachi to wake up. Adam and Mac settled at the small table and chatted about the score of the previous night's baseball game and Sam, not quite sure what to do about her company, or the current state of her life, got together some cups and plates before tucking her hands into her pockets and excusing herself under the guise of checking on her laundry, needing a minute alone.

She emptied the warm dryer load into a basket and put the wet load in and turned the machine back on. Tossing her sheets and towels into the washing machine she set the timer and decided that she would take another few minutes to fold her clean clothes before heading back out to her company.

She wanted to think about her reaction to Adam. She had always pretended to not notice all of the attention that she got from men when she was out because she had realized a few years ago that if she made any sort of acknowledgment, some attention quickly turned into declarations about why that particular man felt that he was "The One" who she should go out with, have a drink with, heck even one guy tried to convince her that she should be the mother of his children and by the time their exchange was over she felt as though she had been on the debate team.