Stealing Second: Sam's Story: Book 4 in the Clarksonville Series (29 page)

Sam opened the bag and looked in. “Two smartphones?”

“One for you and one for Lisa. Maybe Susie can deliver one to Lisa the next time she goes to Clarksonville.”

Sam threw her arms around Helene and hugged her. “Oh, my God. Thank you so much. I didn’t know what I was going to do without my phone. Lisa’s my rock.”

“I know. One day I hope your parents see it, too. I got the plan with lots of texting minutes and the feature where you can see each other when you talk on the phone. I made sure of that.”

“This is so cool. Lisa’s gonna flip. I will pay you back as soon as I get off restrictions.”

“No need. It’s my gift to you and Lisa. Now all you have to do, young lady, is not get caught using it.”

“Helene?”

“Mmm?”

“Does Chantal know?”

Tears welled up in Helene’s eyes as she shook her head. “No.”

Sam’s heart broke. “Your own sister doesn’t know you have a child.” God, Helene had sacrificed so much.

“It’s okay.” Helene grabbed a tissue and dabbed at the corner of her eyes.

“It’s not okay,” Sam said. “Helene?”

“Mmm?”

“Was it hard hearing me call her Mother?”

Helene looked down for a moment. “Yes.” She sighed and then looked up. “I’m not going to lie, but since I was allowed to be part of your life, anything was fine.” Helene patted the thick book in her lap. “This is a scrapbook I’ve been putting together for you since the day I had you. I had one of the nurses take pictures of me holding you. I knew that one day I’d be leaving, and I wanted something to remember you by. I’m so happy that I can give you this, so you’ll remember me, too.”

“I will always remember you, Helene. And when I turn eighteen, I’ll be keeping the road to Montréal hot.” Helene held the scrapbook out for Sam to take, but Sam put a hand out to stop her. “Wait. I have an idea.”

“What’s that?”

“How about we meet back here every night and you show me a few pages at a time. That way we can kind of relive my childhood together, but this time...” Sam cleared her throat as emotion choked her up. “But this time we’ll relive it as mother and daughter. Okay?” The last word got caught in her throat as she started crying.

Helene nodded as the tears rolled down her own cheeks. Sam was the one who supplied the comforting arm that time.

Can I Call You Mom?

SAM STARED AT her reflection in the lighted makeup mirror. She had already applied a light foundation, but was waiting for Alivia to make her way down the row of performers to finish the job. It was the second Friday in November, the opening night of the play, and Sam was doing her best to keep her nerves under control. Not only was this her first performance as an actual actor on a stage, but it was the first time she would see Lisa in the flesh in over a month. Having a long-distance relationship using only smartphones wasn’t fun, although it had lessened the separation somewhat. They had even managed to use the phones to study together for Sam’s SATs and Lisa’s PSATs. With any luck they could find a way to be together for their six month anniversary on Monday. Not being together for their five-month celebration still weighed heavily on Sam’s mind. Sam wasn’t hopeful, though. Her father hadn’t given any signs of ungrounding her.

Sam touched the mood ring on her hand. It was green indicating mixed emotions, but Sam smiled anyway. It would turn happy blue the moment she saw Lisa. Oh, God. Lisa would be in the audience. So close. Lisa’s family would be there, too, William and Evelyn included. Sam’s anxiety ratcheted up a notch. Susie and Marlee were coming, and even Sam’s parents would be there—a small miracle.

Alivia smiled at Sam as she moved closer. “I’ll be with you as soon as I’m done with Karl.”

“Ha,” Sam said with a devilish grin, “the way I’ve seen you two look at each other, you won’t ever be done with him.” Sam waggled her eyebrows at Alivia and then reached over and smacked Karl on the arm. Alivia and Karl had become an item shortly after the trouble started for Sam at school.

Sam wouldn’t say the month since her public outing had flown by, because it certainly hadn’t, but at least school had become more bearable. With her friends backing her up, the taunts lessened after the first week. In fact, many of her other classmates found their voices and were friendly and supportive toward her. Every day she found things to look forward to — lunch with her friends, play rehearsals, phone calls with Lisa, and nightly chats with Helene. Sometimes after she left Helene’s apartment and went back to her suite, there would be a text from Lisa waiting for her. Those nights were the best. There was no way her father could stop Lisa from attending the public performances, especially when Lisa planned to be at all four—Friday night, both on Saturday, and the last one on Sunday.

Alivia tapped Karl on the top of his head when she was done making him up and then sent him a smoldering smile. Sam grinned. She knew the feeling.

“Are you ready, fiddler?” Alivia swiveled Sam around in her seat.

“Yes, Golde.”

Alivia was already in costume for her role as Golde, Tevye’s wife. “Let’s finish getting your makeup on, and then we’ll get your hair tucked under your cap so it won’t come out, okay?”

“And then you have to put your own make up on.”

“Yep. There’s plenty of time.” Alivia put her fingertips on Sam’s chin and moved Sam’s head to the left. She brushed a finger along Sam’s eyebrow. “I love this little scar from your car accident. It’s kind of sexy.”

Sam felt her cheeks get warm. Was Alivia flirting with her? No way. She was straight. And besides, she had Karl.

Alivia leaned closer and applied the stage makeup to Sam’s cheeks, nose, and forehead. Alivia’s femaleness, so close, made Sam realize how much she missed Lisa. When Alivia turned to put the makeup away, Sam brushed a tear back. She hadn’t known how lonely she had been.

Alivia turned around. “Okay, let’s lose the ring.”

Sam looked at the mood ring on her finger and frowned. She didn’t want to take it off. She wanted to see it turn happy blue, but Alivia was right. Fiddlers in the town of Anatevka didn’t wear mood rings. She tugged it off and tucked it into her pants pocket.

“Are you upset that Mrs. Dickens decided not to have you wear a beard and mustache?” Alivia asked.

Sam chuckled. “Nah, I think it’s probably better given my, uh, recent foray into marginalization.”

“An interesting choice of words, Sam. I can see why you and Ronnie feel pushed to the margins of society. The mainstream population isn’t quite ready for you guys. Maybe one day.”

“I hope it’s in my lifetime.”

Alivia smiled and nodded thoughtfully. She patted Sam on the shoulder. “Okay, let’s turn you into a fiddler, shall we?” She tacked Sam’s ponytail up on her head with about a thousand bobby pins. Sam’s head felt heavy. “Hand me your cap.”

Sam reached out and grabbed the dark cap hanging off the edge of the mirror.

Alivia plunked the cap on Sam’s head and bobby pinned it fast. “Shake your head.”

Sam shook her head vigorously, and the cap didn’t move. “Feels good.”

Alivia tapped her on the shoulder. “You, oh fiddler, are all set.”

Ronnie came bopping into the green room at that moment. “Whoa, look at you,” he said to Sam.

Sam stood up and smoothed down her long black coat complete with tails. She made sure the prayer shawl stuck out underneath the vest.

Ronnie grabbed her hand and twirled her around. “You are so butch. Your girlfriend is going to cream when she sees you.”

“Ronnie!” Sam smacked him in the chest. She glared at him for a moment and then teased back. “Nice beard. Couldn’t grow one on your own, eh?”

Ronnie made a face and then said, “C’mon.” He grabbed her hand and led her through the maze of hallways. They weaved their way around stored sets and stagehands until they were in the wings of the stage. Ronnie moved the heavy velvet curtain an inch. “You can see who’s here. Look,” he gushed making room for Sam to look out, “there’s Jordan.”

“Where?”

“One, two, three, fourth row.”

“I see him.”

“Isn’t he cute?” Ronnie swooned. “It’ll be one month for us on the morrow.”

“Happy anniversary.”

“Thanks.” Ronnie was obviously head over heels. There seemed to be a lot of that going around.

Sam scanned the audience, but couldn’t find Lisa.

“Don’t worry,” Ronnie said. “She’ll be here. It’s still early.”

“Am I that transparent?”

Ronnie nodded. “I’m going back for vocal warm ups. Don’t stay here too long.”

“I won’t. Thanks, Ronnie.”

He was gone before she’d finished saying his name.

Looking out over the filling auditorium, she watched Helene come in and find a seat in the center section. That’s my mother, Sam thought remembering all the softball games, violin recitals, and orchestra concerts Helene had faithfully attended throughout Sam’s childhood. Her other parents had only attended a smattering of them. She remembered the time she and Helene diligently watched every NHL playoff game leading up to the Montréal Canadiens winning the Stanley Cup. She’d never shared anything like that with her other parents. A lot of things were starting to make sense in her head.

Sam thought it was ironic that ever since she found out Helene was leaving, they were bonding more. Just about every night since her public outing, Sam had gone to Helene’s apartment, and together they looked through the scrapbook or watched hockey games on Helene’s TV.

That very first night, though, Sam got answers to many of her questions. They had moved from Helene’s kitchen to the couch in the living room, the teacups forgotten on the kitchen table.

Helene tucked her feet under her at the same time Sam did. They laughed, and Sam said, “I think we’re more alike than I ever realized.”

“You may be right.”

“So,” Sam started, “how exactly did you get, uh...” Sam felt her cheeks get warm.

“By artificial insemination. In Montréal.” The red tinge on Helene’s cheeks spread.

“Oh.”

Helene laughed. “I think you were bound and determined to be born, because I conceived you on the first try.”

“That‘s good.” Sam was relieved to hear that because it had taken Lisa’s Aunt Fran several tries before she got pregnant. “But you said my birth was hard?”

“You were my first child, my only child of course, but it took you twenty hours to be born. I was so exhausted and weak that I had to stay in the hospital an extra few days. Once they released me, I still wasn’t strong enough to go back to Montréal.”

“Is that when my parents invited you to live here?”

“No, actually we stayed in the adobe house in Phoenix for another month. That was when, and I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but that was when your mother discovered she wasn’t the nurturing type. Your parents thought her motherly instincts would kick in after a while, but they never did. Every time you cried, neither she nor your father could get you to settle down. I finally asked if I could try.”

“I bet that was hard for Mother,” Sam said.

“Incredibly, but your parents were at their wits end. You quieted down when I held you.”

“I did?”

Helene nodded.

“I must have known who my real mother was.”

“Your parents extended my contract—“

“Contract?” Sam interrupted, mortified by the term.

“Don’t delude yourself, Samantha Rose. Your father is all about the bottom line.”

“Like on financial spreadsheets?”

Helene nodded. “My surrogacy started out as a business arrangement, but after your father extended my contract a half-dozen times, he decided I should remain with you until you went to boarding school in Switzerland when you turned fourteen.”

“And then I didn’t go because of my migraines.”

“Exactly. So my contract was renegotiated again, and they wanted me to stay until you turned eighteen. I knew I had been handed an amazing gift, so I grabbed it, even if it meant I was contract-bound to never admit to anyone I was your biological mother.“

“That must have been incredibly hard.”

“If it meant I could keep you, then the secret was easy.” Helene sighed and added, “It was difficult when I was left out of things, though.”

“Family meals.” Sam had always hated when Helene wasn’t invited to sit down and eat with them.

“Yes. And birthdays. Christmas mornings were always the worst.”

Sam smiled. “So that’s why Santa made two stops at the mansion? One in the main house and one here?”

Helene nodded. “I could never compete with the gifts your parents gave you, but at least I usually had part of Christmas day with you.” She pointed to the scrapbook and squeezed Sam’s forearm gently. “I’ve got pictures of all our Christmases together. Tomorrow night we’ll start on page one, okay?”

“Okay.”

“For now I think it’s best you head on to bed.”

“Awww,” Sam whined and pretended to kick her feet on the couch like she’d done as a child.

“That’s my grown up girl.” Helene laughed.

Sam wanted to ask something, but wasn’t sure how to phrase it, so she simply blurted, “Can I call you Mom?”

Helene pursed her lips. “I would love that more than anything...”

“But?”

“But I think you should continue to call me Helene or your nanny, and you should call your mother Mother, the way you always have.”

”Okay.”

“This way you won’t slip up in front of someone. We should wait for my name change until after you and your parents mend some fences.”

“They don’t listen when I talk to them.”

“I can’t promise they’ll come around, but it might be easier when I’m gone.”

At that point, Sam tried not to get more depressed than she already was. “I’m going to miss you, Helene.” They stood up and shared a healing hug.

“Oh,
mon petit hibou
, I’m going to miss you so much.” Helene kissed Sam on the forehead. She swallowed hard and then took a deep breath. “Okay, little one. Bed for you.” She wiped at her eyes when they broke apart.

Sam clutched the velvet curtain in the wings of the stage and smiled at the month-old memory. She watched Helene settle into her seat in the auditorium, jacket over her arm, playbill in hand, a bouquet of gerbera daisies resting in her lap. Susie and Marlee came in and sat behind Helene. Sam positively melted when she spotted Lisa, hair deliciously down, wearing the winter coat Sam had sent her from the Neiman Marcus website. Sam was pleased at how well the coat fit her. Even though Sam was housebound, she could still send her girlfriend presents. Bridget held Lisa’s hand and led the family down Helene’s row. Sam’s heart swelled when Bridget released her sister’s hand and ran to sit in Helene’s lap. The surprised but happy smile on Helene’s face somehow made Sam realize that life would go on and everything would be okay.