My Heart is Yours Page 8

  It was Friday night; Jason and Sam were walking home from the movies. He had his arm slung around her shoulders. He pulled her to him and planted a quick kiss on top of her head.

  “Have you talked to Juliana?” He asked.

  “Yeah. She’s doing well. Busy with classes.” Sam said.

  Jason looked over at Sam. Nobody else would be able to tell, but he knew how much it bothered Sam that Juliana was at Princeton and she wasn't.

  “You know, you’ll get to go someday too, babe.” He said.

  “To Princeton?” She said sarcastically, turning toward him.

  “Well, uh, I don’t know about Princeton.” He said, scratching the back of his head and grinning a little. “But you will get to go to college. I mean, you’re way too smart not to Sam.”

  She laughed. “Why thank you, Jason.” She kissed him on the cheek.

  He slipped his arm around her waist. “You’re welcome. And you will go to college someday. I promise.”

  “I’m going to hold you to that.” She cocked her head to the side.

  He smiled, then leaned down and kissed her.

  “Look, I told you to stop calling.” Craig said as he slammed the phone down on the receiver.

  “Who was that?” Sam asked as she walked into the kitchen to make dinner.

  “Nobody. Don’t worry about it Sam.”

  “Old girlfriend?” She smirked.

  “Cute.” He said, messing up her hair. “Really, Sam, don’t worry about it.”

  “Okay.” She shrugged.

  “She’s not here right now.” Sam heard Craig say as she walked into the room. “By the way, how did you even know she lived here?” His free hand was flailing about like the person on the other end of the line could see him.

  Sam turned to him with narrowed eyes. The only she living here was her, Sam.

  He sighed. “Yeah, Samantha Marie Ramsden."

  “Craig.” She said. “Who is that?”

  He waved her off. “Don’t worry.”

  “Craig, come on, if that’s for me, give me the phone.” She reached out her hand.

  “No.” He swatted her hand away.

  “Give me the damn phone Craig.”

  “Hold on.” He said into the phone. “I don’t like your tone of voice Samantha.”

  “Seriously Craig?” Sam cocked an eyebrow. “I’m not sixteen anymore. Let me have the phone.”

  “Fine. Just let me-”

  “Give me the phone.”

  “Okay. Here. You’re not gonna like it.” He handed the phone over to her reluctantly.

  “Hello?” She said and listened to the response on the other end of the line.

  “Yes, this is Samantha Marie Ramsden.” Sam said.

  “Your last name before you were adopted was Williamson?” The female voice on the other end of the phone asked. She spoke in hushed tones.

  Sam froze in the middle of tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. She barely remembered her last name before she was adopted. What was this?

  “Yes. Why?” She asked cooly.

  “We’re calling from the prison your father is in.” The woman answered like this was the most normal occurrence in the world.

  Her heart froze this time. “What?” It had been fifteen years.

  “The prison your father is in. Kevin Williamson.” Now the woman sounded unsure.

  “Why?” Sam said slowly.

  “Your father is very ill right now. We don’t know if he’s going to make it. He would like to speak with you.” The woman answered in her hushed voice.

  “He’s not my father.” Sam spat out.

  “Excuse me?” The woman stuttered.

  “I said, he’s not my father.” Sam repeated louder.

  “Well.” The person on the other end of the line hesitated. There was a crackling of static in the background. “He is your father and he’d like to speak with you.” They said finally.

  “Is this even legal?” Sam asked.

  “Excuse me, miss?”

  “Seeking me out after adoption.”

  “Well, because of your unique circumstances it wasn’t really a closed adoption.” Sam heard the static again.

  Then it hit her. “You’re not doing this through official channels are you?”

  There was a small noise on the other line, like the person began to say something but decided against it.

  “Like I said, no, I won’t speak to him. He’s not my father. And I don’t want to speak with him. Ever.”

  Sam turned to slam the phone down on the receiver but before she could heard a soft voice say, “I only wanted to help a dying man speak to his daughter again.”

  “I’m not his daughter.” Sam said just as quietly and hung up.

  She turned to look at Craig sitting at the kitchen table. She pulled out a chair, sighed and sat down next to him.

  “I told you you wouldn’t like it.” He said.

  She finally tucked the piece of hair behind her ear; the one that she had stopped tucking when she froze. “How long have they been calling?”

  “A few months.” He looked at a scratch in the table.

  “A few months? Why didn’t you tell me? And did you ask her if it was legal?”

  “Of course,” Craig said. “She wouldn’t stop until she talked to you, I guess. Same person every time. And I didn’t tell you ‘cuz I knew you wouldn’t want to talk to him.” His ice blue eyes met hers.

  “I could’ve told them that myself,” she said, but her eyes were gentle.

  “I know. I just, I know how you feel about your parents.” He shrugged.

  “Like I said, those people were never my parents. Our parents were my real parents. Just like you, John, and Matt are my real—very overprotective—brothers.” Sam grinned.

  “Yeah. And I was your legal guardian for a couple of years.” He reminded her.

  “Yup. I remember. You had to take care of a teenage girl.”

  “Oh yeah, that was fun.” Craig nudged her shoulder.

  “Oh come on, like I was really that much trouble?” She pushed him back.

  “All teenage girls are trouble,” he said sternly.

  “I was not trouble. I was on the honor roll, I never got arrested, or drunk.” She smiled smugly.

  Craig blinked. “Yeah, that’s true.”

  “See, I wasn’t that much trouble.”

  Craig laughed. “No. I guess not. Try to keep it that way.”

  Sam stuck out her tongue at him.

  “Hey, babe,” Jason said as he opened the door to Sam’s bedroom.

  “Hey.” She said smiling, jumping up from her bed to kiss him. He put his arm around her waist lifting her feet off the floor.

  “I missed you.”

  “I missed you too, Sam.” He gave her a quick kiss. “So, how was your day?”

  “Well, besides work, pretty interesting.”

  “Yeah, why’s that?” He sat down on her bed and patted the spot next to him. Sam went to sit down.

  “The jail my biological father is in called,” she said as if they were discussing the weather.

  “What?” he asked. “Why?”

  “Apparently they’ve been calling for a few months. Craig was trying to hide it from me. But I walked in on a phone call a couple weeks ago and then again today.”

  “Were you mad at Craig? For hiding it from you?” Jason asked.

  Sam shrugged. “Yeah, a little at first. But he was just being an over protective big brother, so . . . whatever. It’s okay.”

  Sam paused, some seething anger beginning to take hold of her. She took a steadying breath. “My biological father . . . he wanted to talk to me.”

  “He wanted to talk to you?” Jason asked. “After fifteen years?”

  “Yeah.” She felt that seething anger creep around her again, until Jason’s hand brushed against hers, and then she relaxed.

  “Why now?” Jason asked as he intertwined his fingers with Sam’s.

  “Apparently my ‘fa
ther’ is very sick and they don’t think he’ll make it and he wanted to talk to me. This woman who called broke a bunch of rules trying to contact me. She could lose her job.” Sam said with a sense of awe.

  “Did you talk to him?” he asked, thinking he already knew the answer.

  “No. I haven’t spoken to him or seen him since I was five, why would I want to now? And why would he want to talk to me?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe because he may not make it and wanted to talk to his daughter one last time.” Jason said, even though he really didn’t want Sam to talk to her father. He didn’t deserve to talk to her.

  “I’m not his daughter. Except for that unfortunate blood relation. He was never a father to me. And if he wants to make up for his ‘mistake’, too bad. Some mistakes are too big to fix.”

  Jason kissed her forehead, then pressed his forehead to hers, giving her a small smile. She smiled back and cuddled up to him. He wrapped his arms around her. She sighed happily. Her father didn’t matter. She had everything she needed right here.

  ***

  “I can’t believe we’ve been together for over two years.” Sam said as she stroked Jason’s cheek. They were home alone. Her brothers and the guys were out playing football in the park.

  “Me either. I’m so glad Sam. I love you so much.”

  “I love you too, Jason. So much.” She tried to keep happy tears from spilling over. She kissed him on the lips then hugged him close. He held her tight against him and kissed her on the cheek. He kissed down the line of her jaw and began kissing her neck.

  She wrapped her arms around his neck and he lifted her up a bit. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and then slowly closed her bedroom door.

  What the hell am I doing? She thought. Oh, I know what I’m doing. But should I be doing it? Why shouldn’t I? We’ve been together over two years, it’s not like we’re rushing into this. He loves me. And I love him so much . . .

  Her thoughts blurred.

  “I’ll go check on Sam.” John said as he, Craig and Matt walked through the front door shaking dirt off of themselves.

  “Hey, kiddo!” He yelled. “Sam? Jason? What are you two lovebirds up to?”

  He knocked on her bedroom door. “Hey, you awake?” He kept knocking but there was no answer so he opened the door just a crack.

  He saw Sam and Jason in Sam’s bed. Sam was lying on Jason’s chest and the covers were pulled up to her bare shoulders.

  “Oh, holy shit.” He muttered closing the bedroom door quickly.

  “Are they home?” Craig asked.

  “Huh? Yeah, they’re home.” John said as he walked into the kitchen. He knocked over a coffee mug onto the white tiled counter.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Matt asked.

  “Nothing.” John snapped as he righted the coffee mug.

  “Where are you going?” John turned towards Craig as he headed toward Sam’s room.

  “Sam left some of her books out here, I’m just gonna put them in her room.” Craig shrugged.

  “No. Just wait till morning.”

  “What’s the big deal?” Craig looked over his shoulder.

  “She’s asleep.” John called to Craig as he craned his neck to see him.

  “So I’ll just leave them on her desk.” He called back.

  Before John could stop him Craig had already reached Sam’s room and yelled, “What the hell?” at the same time as Sam’s screech, “Craig!”

  Craig’s voice switched tones in an instant. “Get dressed! And then come out to the living room!”

  “He’s gonna kill us.” Jason said as he and Sam got into their clothes.

  “I don’t know what he’s going to do.” Sam said.

  “How mad could he be though?” Jason asked.

  “I don’t know.” Sam mumbled, glancing toward her door.

  Sam and Jason walked out to the living room hand in hand. John was sitting on their armchair, worry etching his handsome face. Craig didn’t sit. He was standing with his arms crossed over his chest.

  Sam and Jason sat down on the couch. Craig just stared at them for a few minutes.

  “This is ridiculous.” Sam muttered behind the veil of hair partially hiding her face.

  “Excuse me?” Craig said.

  She looked him square on. “I said this is ridiculous. I feel like a four year old who’s drawn on the walls with her crayons. Not a twenty year old woman who’s just slept with her boyfriend of over two years for the first time.”

  “Being twenty years old doesn’t mean you’re fully grown.” He tried to imitate the tone of voice that their father would use when he was angry with them.

  “Fine. Young woman. Whatever.” Sam rolled her eyes.

  “Don’t talk to me like that.” Craig waved a finger at her.

  “My God Craig, I am not sixteen years old anymore. And you’re also not my legal guardian anymore.” She pointed out.

  “Maybe not.” He said in a slowly, almost deadly voice. “But you live under my roof, so you’ll follow my rules.”

  “Sleeping with Jason is against your rules?” Sam crossed her arms over her chest. “Or is it sleeping with him under your roof? Because in that case we could just get a motel room.”

  “Sam.” Jason started, but he was interrupted by Craig.

  “I never wanted you with Jason in the first place! I always knew you two would get serious and he would hold you back! I was right, all you’re doing is taking a few classes at night while you work a dead end job!”

  Sam rose from her seat. “That had nothing to do with Jason! We didn’t have the money to send me anywhere else! Don’t talk about him like that!”

  “I don’t want you seeing each other anymore!” Craig yelled so loudly that Sam was sure the people across the block had heard.

  “What?” She yelled back just as loudly.

  He pointed one large arm in Jason’s direction. “Jason, get out! I don’t want you in this house again!”

  “What? You can’t do that, he has nowhere to go! You can’t just kick him out!” Sam said.

  “Yes I can! I forbid you two to see each other again! Get out!” He turned to Jason and yelled straight in his face.

  “Craig, don’t you think you’re overreacting?” John said as he rose from his chair.

  “No! I won’t let her throw her life away to be with him! Get out!” He yelled, opening the door and pushing Jason toward it. Jason stared helplessly at Sam. She shot up and tried to run out of the door with him but Craig grabbed her around her waist and held her back. He slammed the door in Jason’s face.

  “Why did you do that?” She yelled, tears welling up in her eyes spilling down her tanned cheeks. “How could you do that to me? To him? I love him!”

  “He’s gonna ruin your life! He’s just gonna hold you back! I’m doing you a favor!” Craig waved it off like he was getting rid of her old childhood blankie instead of the love of her life.

  “No you’re not! Mom and Dad would’ve never done this!” Sam shook her head so vigorously that her hair flew about around her. She got right in Craig’s face . “I hate you!” She yelled and ran past them into her room. She slammed the door so hard the walls shook.

  For the briefest second Craig’s eyes showed a flash of pain.

  “Craig.” John said. “Come on, she is twenty years old and they’re completely in love. You’re overreacting.”

  “It’s my house, I’ll make the rules.” Craig replied.

  “I help pay the bills around here too, Craig.” John challenged.

  Craig hesitated. “I overrule you. They can’t see each other anymore.”

  ***

  Tap, tap. Tap, tap.

  Sam turned over in her bed and groaned. Tap, tap. “What is that?” She mumbled, pushing the sheets off of her. It was the night after Craig had kicked Jason out. She hadn’t said one word to Craig and wasn’t planning to any time soon. Tap.

  Sam groggily got up from her bed and walked over to her window. “Hey
!” A loud whisper came through making her jump. “Shawn?” She whispered opening the window. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Helping you sneak out.” His hair blew in the wind.

  “What?”

  “Come on. Climb through the window. Jason’s waiting.” He winked.

  “I’m going to get caught. And then Jason’s going to get in trouble.” Sam’s hair blew in the wind as well. The moonlight shining down it made her look like a windswept angel.

  “You ain’t gonna get caught. John and Matt are in on it too. Come on, Rapunzel, let down your hair.” Shawn held out his arms to her. Sam smirked and rolled her eyes.

  “Hold on.” She whispered.

  “What are you doing?” He watched her take extra pillows out from the closet and stuff them beneath her sheets. “Oh, the old pillows under the sheet trick.” He nodded approvingly.

  “Yup.” Sam said with a less than modest grin.

  “Let’s go.” He said, grabbing her hand and helping her climb through the open window.

  Jason was waiting in the vacant lot smoking a cigarette. As soon as he saw Sam’s bleach blonde hair he dropped it, stomping it into the ground. Shawn was next to her but when Sam saw Jason she ran toward him, leaving Shawn’s side. She ran into Jason so hard that he stumbled backward falling to the ground, Sam’s lips covering his eagerly. When they pulled away for air Shawn was walking away.

  “I missed you.” Sam said.

  Jason smiled and turned them onto their sides facing each other. “I missed you, too.”

  “I’m sorry about Craig. I had no idea he’d react like that.” Sam’s eyes were filled with sadness.

  “It’s not your fault, Sam.” Jason’s voice was gentle as a puff of cotton.

  “I know, but still.” She cuddled up to him. She wanted to be as close as she could to him for as long as she could.

  They were silent for a while; reveling in each other’s touch.

  “Do you regret it?” Jason asked suddenly.

  “That Craig kicked you out and forbid us to see each other? Yes.” Sam tried to grin but faltered.