He nodded but didn’t seem to show a lot of enthusiasm.

Their meals arrived and they both reached for their burgers. Beth took one bite, swallowed, and continued. “And that’s not all. I found Peter Hamlin, the real Peter Hamlin. I even talked to him and I have to say, he’s a piece of work. My aunt is better off without him.”

“You’re satisfied now?”

She considered that. “I’m thinking on it, weighing my options. One of the receptionists is really chatty and has worked there for nearly forty years.” Beth reached for a thick french fry and dipped it in ketchup. “She only works two days a week. I was able to talk to her and learned a little more. While Peter might not be Mr. Personality, I think, given the chance, the two might be able to work things out.” She paused and sighed. “Guess I’m the eternal optimist.”

Sam didn’t look convinced. “If you want my opinion, you’d be wise to drop it.”

“I’m thinking over how best to proceed. I haven’t made my final decision yet.” She took another bite and saw that Sam hadn’t eaten more than a bite or two of his burger.

“You feeling okay?” she asked. “You haven’t been yourself all week.”

He shrugged and leaned forward. “Think it’s time you and I had a talk.”

“Oh?” This sounded serious. She set the burger down and waited for him to continue.

Sam pushed his nearly untouched meal aside. “I guess the best way to do it is to just say what’s on my mind.”

“By all means,” she agreed.

He expelled a breath. “I think you should consider going out with a few other guys.”

Beth stared at him and then leaned back in the booth while she processed his words.

“You aren’t saying anything.” He looked hesitant and uncertain, which was nothing like the Sam she knew.

“You’ll have to forgive me, Sam, I don’t have much experience in this. Are you breaking up with me?” Her heart felt like it had sprung up to her throat and wrapped itself around her vocal chords.

“No,” he insisted, adamantly shaking his head. “It’s just that we, the two of us, haven’t been seeing other people.”

“True.” It took her several moments to sort through her feelings. Her mind filled with questions, the most important of which found a difficult time making its way past the knot in her throat. “Are you telling me you want to date other women?”

His eyes widened with surprise. “Not at all. No way. Besides, I don’t date.”

He sounded sincere enough for Beth to believe him. It was hard to maintain her surprise and her hurt. “Then exactly what are you saying?” she asked, deciding to let the “I don’t date” comment pass.

He rubbed a hand down his face. “I’m crazy about you, Beth, you have to know that.”

“The feeling’s mutual, you have to know that,” she returned, echoing his words. “I don’t understand, Sam. This is coming out of the blue and it’s mystifying.”

“I know.” To his credit, Sam looked utterly miserable. “I’m as uncertain and confused as you.”

“Can you tell me what brought this on?” If he explained, she might be able to decipher where this was coming from.

“Everything,” he said, looking down. “The Kier thing, I guess, then watching you with Matthew and a bunch of other stuff that’s been floating around in my brain since you got out of the hospital. You said yourself I was your first serious relationship.”

“You are.”

“You’ll always wonder,” he said, as if that was self-explanatory.

“What would I wonder about?” she asked, her dinner forgotten. She gave up all pretense of eating.

“If … you know.”

“But I don’t,” she insisted.

“Okay, say somewhere down the line you meet someone else. You might have regrets. Someone better suited to you than I’ll ever be.”

“Someone my mother would approve of, you mean.”

“Not necessarily,” he argued.

He was intent and serious, and while he’d shocked her, she couldn’t be overly upset with him. It was clear he’d given this matter a lot of thought. She sat for several minutes, struggling to look at it from his point of view.

“Are you mad?” he asked.

Clearly he’d expected her to be angry, and to be fair, at first she had been. “No, a little puzzled, but I think I understand. You want me to date other men to be sure what we have is real.”

“Yes.” Right away his eyes brightened, as if she’d helped him step out of the fog.

“A lot of men?”

“Sure,” he said, but he didn’t sound completely convinced.

She mulled it over and then said, “The school is having a Halloween dance and one of the chaperones, his name is Tyler, asked me to go with him. I turned him down, but if he hasn’t found a date I’ll accept when I see him on Monday.”

“Good.”

Sam didn’t sound overly pleased.

She tapped her index finger against her lips, mentally hashing over other possibilities. “I play the piano for choir practice and Doug Freeman asked me out recently.” She’d never mentioned that to Sam. No reason she should.

“Then go out with him.”

He sounded like he spoke through gritted teeth.

“Is it considered bad taste to date two men at the same time?” She genuinely needed to know.

“Only if you’re in an exclusive relationship.”

“Okay,” she said, and reached for her hamburger. She paused with the burger halfway to her mouth. “The father of one of my piano students hinted that he was single when he picked up Ricky. I didn’t encourage him. Maybe I should. What do you think?”

“That’s your decision.”

“Right. Guess the more men I date the better feel I’ll have about who’s right for me.”

“Right.” Sam’s burger remained untouched.

“Question.”

“Sure,” he said.

“Will I see you again, or would you rather we not see each other for a while? Either way is fine with me. You decide.”

“I’d like to see you as friends.”

Beth smiled. “Good. I’ll look forward to that, then. Being friends, I mean.”

His returning grin didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Do you feel better now?” she asked.

“I guess.”

“This has been weighing on you all week, hasn’t it?”

“It has,” he agreed.

“Silly of you, Sam. You should have said something sooner.”

The waiter came by with their tab and Beth reached for her purse and took out a twenty.

“I’m buying,” Sam insisted.

“I appreciate it, Sam, but as you recently mentioned, you don’t date. We aren’t a couple, so it’s best that I pay my own way.” She set the bill on the table, slid out of the booth, kissed him on the cheek, and walked out of the restaurant with her head held high.

Chapter 25

Sam

Suggesting Beth date other men wasn’t working out anywhere close to the way Sam had expected. The only time he’d seen Beth all week was at the rehab facility. She breezed in at the last minute, after insisting she didn’t need a ride. When they’d finished performing, she announced she could play only one night that week. She didn’t offer an excuse, but Sam could very well guess the reason. He noticed it hadn’t taken her long to take him up on his suggestion.

Friday after work, a week after their initial conversation, Sam found himself at loose ends. He called Beth, not for any reason in particular, just to check up and see how things were.

“Sam, hello.” She sounded pleased to hear from him, which boded well.

“How’s it going?”

“Good. Real good.”

“You up for a pizza? I can stop by and we could watch a movie.” He wasn’t sure where the offer came from; he hadn’t planned to ask, but now that he had, it felt good.