A Rose in Shadow

Chapter 41

On Tuesday afternoon Adam, surprisingly, found himself with time to kill during his shift. Jamie had to be in court and would be tied up for a couple of hours, leaving Adam to hang around the station doing reports and waiting for him. Instead he picked up his phone and called Patrick.

"Hey. Are you able to meet for an early supper today?" he asked when Patrick answered. He could hear the sounds of highway traffic in the background "Actually that would be perfect. I'm on my way to the yard to switch vehicles. I have to take the trailer back. I could take an hour break before I have to go back to the trail. Can you pick me up at the yard? You remember where it is?"

"I'm on my way"

Adam pulled into the Ministry yard at almost the same time as Patrick so he waited in his squad car, checking his phone, while Patrick ran into the building to switch the keys for the vehicles.

When he climbed in the passenger seat Patrick grinned at him. "This is awesome! We haven't had any time to catch up yet since I've been here."

Pulling out onto the highway Adam gave his brother a smirk "That's because I've been working and you've been spending all of your nights with my woman"

Patrick laughed and leaned back patting his heart. "Your woman..." he closed his eyes and his mouth curled into a sly smile. He let that hang in the air between them before Adam slugged him on the shoulder making him laugh.

"How about this place here?" Adam pointed as they approached a roadside diner not far from the yard.

"I could go for a burger and fries" Patrick said as they parked.

Once inside they headed for a booth in the back, Adam, as always, choosing the seat against the wall where he had a view of the door.

After giving the waitress their order they sat back to talk.

"Sorry I haven't been around much this time" Adam started.

Patrick waved this off. "Not a problem, Bro. I know all about the joys of shift work. You're going to come to mom and dad's for dinner in a couple of weeks though, right? Mom said that she was going to call you and lay on a guilt trip" he smiled broadly.

"I think that I should be able to. I have that Sunday off and I think that Sam does too. Mom wants me to bring her along so they can all meet."

Taking his brother's measure Patrick took a small drink of his cola. "So, this thing with Samantha? Not your usual type of relationship, Adam." He gave him a quizzical look.

Adam shifted in his seat before answering.

"Samantha is special" seeing Patrick's hopeful look, he continued.

"She makes me happy. I can't really describe what I feel. It's just... a lot." He shrugged.

Surprised, but then realizing that he shouldn't be, Patrick took the opportunity to tweak his brother. "I can see why she makes you so happy. She's smoking hot. And those dimples are the sexiest thing" When Adam growled at him he roared with laughter.

"I'm just getting a rise out of you, Adam. Although I wasn't kidding about that – Sam is smoking hot" he swallowed a chuckle at Adam's glare "but she is also awesome. I'm happy for you man. You won the jackpot. If you weren't my brother I would be fighting you for her" sensing that Patrick was only partially joking, Adam sat back and waited.

Fidgeting with his napkin Patrick looked up to see Adam's stare. Smiling sheepishly "She's really great, Adam. I feel like I could talk to her for hours. She's really smart too but also just...genuine. I totally get why you like her, you'd be a fool not to. I only wish that there were two of her and I could have one too." He looked away wistfully and Adam felt a twinge of sadness for his brother as he realized just how lonely Patrick was.

Grinning, Patrick sat up. "Did you know that she has made me a bagged lunch every day since I've been at her place? And when I get back to her apartment after work, while she's still at the café or tutoring, there is a note on the fridge for me, usually giving me options for my supper which she has already pre-cooked, wrapped and frozen for me."

He sat back smugly "I might never leave. She's a damn good cook. Today for lunch I had a turkey breast sandwich on sour dough bread with some sort of red pepper jelly, pasta salad and cookies. She always throws in a bottle of water, a piece of fruit and a napkin."

Adam frowned and rubbed his hand over his chin. "She didn't have to do all that. Now I feel bad for suggesting that you stay there."

Chuckling, Patrick picked up his burger which had just arrived. "Don't feel too bad, Adam. I honestly think that if I had been alone at your place instead she would have just found a way to feed me there. That's just her. I honestly don't know where she finds the time, though. We leave early every morning at the same time and she is done work pretty late. She must go home between classes or something to do her housework and stuff because the place is always spotless and, like I said, she is always cooking something".

Nodding, Adam knew that Patrick was right. Samantha was a nurturer. There was no question about that. The fact that she was taking such good care of his brother though, added another layer of affection to an already full heart.

Adam couldn't help but smile at his brother's words. Yeah, he had won the jackpot, hadn't he?