A Rose in Shadow

Chapter 96

Samantha woke up early again on Sunday morning with Adam's hand on her bare butt. She snuggled into him and smiled into his chest. He stirred and rubbed his hand down her hair. "I swear you have something against me wearing pajamas" she teasingly whispered. They had been to bed for a total of about ten minutes last night before Adam had kissed her silly and she was out of her clothes and under him.

"I have no problem with them" he smiled at her "until I get you under the covers". He kissed the tip of her nose. "I love you, Samantha" she squeezed him tightly giving him a sweet kiss over his heart. "I love you, too". Adam told her that he loved her every day, multiple times, yet Samantha never tired of hearing it.

"Did you still want to see Emma Kate's grandmother? We could maybe visit her for a bit now before Mac shows up" Samantha sat up and ran her hands through her hair. "That's a great idea. Maybe we could stop to pick up some muffins on our way. I know that she loves the pumpkin ones at the local coffee shop".

After a nice visit, they left Emma Kate's grandmother's house loaded with bags of fresh vegetables from her garden, one bag for them and one for Emma Kate, and a bag of things that Emma Kate had left behind when she had last been home. One of them being the mouth-guard that she was supposed to sleep with to stop her teeth grinding. "Thousands of dollars in dental care for that girl and she forgets this. I guess I should be glad that she pays her own dentist bills now".

Pulling up in front of Samantha's parents' house Adam backed into the driveway so that they could load their table from the garage before they left. They had just gotten parked when they heard the roar of a motorcycle engine. Samantha grinned at Adam over the hood of the truck. "Here comes James Dean". Mac pulled in beside Adam's truck and got off his bike quickly, giving Adam a one-armed hug before scooping up his sister and holding on tight. "I missed you, Smalls. You look more beautiful every day".

"Yes, she does" Adam said quietly smiling at the two siblings and Mac shot him a grin. "Still got it bad eh, McCabe? That's good" He kept his arm around Samantha while the three of them made their way inside.

It smelled like heaven in the house. Samantha had made cinnamon rolls the night before when she and Adam were getting dinner ready so all Sharon had to do this morning was put them in to bake. The table was laid out like a feast. There was bacon, breakfast sausage, cinnamon buns, fresh fruit and yogurt, scrambled eggs, juice, coffee and waffles. Adam and Mac immediately sat down and started filling their plates while Samantha called her dad in from the back yard where he had been reading the newspaper and helped her mom bring over the napkins and cream and sugar for coffee. "Pete, you'd better hurry up. It would appear that Adam can give Mac a run for his money at the table."

"You'd better believe it" Adam said around a piece of bacon while he poured syrup over his waffles "With three brothers it was every man for himself in our house". Samantha ruffled Mac's hair "Not sure then what your excuse is Mackenzie" Pete and Sharon laughed and Mac had the decency to look embarrassed "Maybe I just appreciate Mom's cooking, Samantha" he drew out her name before pulling her into his lap and kissing the top of her head.

He wrapped his arm tightly around her and scooped up a spoonful of yogurt holding it to her mouth. "Shall I feed you, baby sister?" she squirmed and laughed in his grip "Let me go, you baboon" she tried to sound angry but couldn't stop laughing. Mac's fingers kept digging into her sides, tickling her while she tried to get loose. Getting into it, Mac tightened his grip on her "No, I think that you actually look like you've lost weight recently and I need to make sure that you are eating properly" he shoved the spoonful toward her mouth where the yogurt dripped onto her chin while she laughed.

"Children" Pete said with mock sternness and Mac let her go. "Brat" Samantha murmured grabbing a napkin to wipe her chin and then kissing her brother's cheek. He grinned at her, his mouth already full of scrambled eggs.