Thanksgiving was only two weeks away. Barney and Sam were sitting out in the back yard at Jimmy's parents' house. Sabrina and Jimmy were inside, helping Virginia fold laundry on the table.
"You see it too, don't you." Sabrina said to her husband as he stacked the first pile next to the door.
They peered through the window above the sink, where Barney and Sam could be seen sitting at the picnic table. He was helping her go over her latest homework assignment.
Although Jimmy was clueless, Sabrina could very clearly see the spark growing between the two outside. Barney was very obviously unable to take his eyes off of Sam, while she seemed either to ignore it, or not notice. Jimmy looked around at Sabrina, not saying a word. Virginia smiled lovingly.
"We do." She said, a towel folded over her arm.
"She's gotta figure it out on her own.'' The older blond's voice softened as she shook her head.
About two hours later, when everyone had left, Barney and Sam took a break from studying and each grabbed a drink of cold lemonade.
"You get a few days off, right, for Christmas?" Barney asked her as they sat at the kitchen table.
Sam shook her head, shuddering
"Don't remind me. I'm gonna go insane with boredom. When I'm not studying, there's nothing for me to do to keep busy." She said.
"Aren't you working?" Barney asked. Sam sighed.
"I wish. No one's hiring. I applied at a few places, but they aren't looking." Sam leaned back in her chair, sipping he drink slowly
Before Barney could stop himself, he blurted out,
"You could come and work at Howdy's."
Sam thought for a minute, then decided she liked the idea.
"Well...I do need to start working...And I could use some social interaction...what the heck, sure." Sam shrugged, beaming from ear to ear.
The next day, Barney decided to call Virginia.
"Hi, Barney, what's going on?" Virginia Chance answered the phone, concerned. Her son's boss never called her unless there was an issue or emergency.
Virginia had already talked to Samantha about the possibility of getting a part time job, just to keep occupied, while she wasn't working on school stuff. She was a little hesitant, since she didn't know anyone in town, but she promised she would try. Virginia listened patiently to Barney as he relayed the conversation he'd had with Sam, and his own thoughts.
"Well, Barney, I won't lie, she is having a rough time. If you think it would work, I'm sure it will, she just needs to get out of the house, and keep occupied when she's not studying. She tends to bite off more than she can chew when it comes to that."
So the following day, Sam came in with Jimmy and Sabrina, wearing one of Sabrina's work shirts.
"Aw, you didn't have to do that, I have a few extra shirts on hand," Barney protested lightly when he saw Sam wearing the shirt.
"Sabrina insisted." Sam shrugged.
"Well, I got this made for you, and I'm gonna have to ask you to please wear it at all times in the store." He said, in his best 'boss" voice, before handing her a nametag, identical to Jimmy and Sabrina's, which read SAMMI. Sam caught the light sparkle in his eye and blushed. He'd remembered her pet name. Barney's face became all business, but his eyes were still smiling kindly.
As it turned out, Sam was extremely efficient at stocking shelves. And fast. Barney was impressed with how she had most of the inventory taken care of in half the time it would normally take him to do it. Now he felt bad about the measly salary she had.
"Don't worry, I'd do this for free if it was legal! I love organizing stuff," she told him.
The first week flew by fast, and Sam had fun with her new coworkers, and boss. Sam worked enthusiastically, always with a smile, which was quite infectious. She had nothing but good days, always with a cheerful attitude. She made every single day count, even the ones that hurt.
Rainy days were the most was fresh pain, but dull at the same time. Sam somehow worked through them, desperately clinging to any little thing to keep her spirits up. She'd sing, even if there was no music playing, and try to get others to join her. Sometimes, when the radio played a song she liked, she'd sway her hips from side to side slightly, dancing along to it cheerfully. Barney had a hard time keeping his eyes on his own tasks when she did this. He was half tempted to scold her about it; it was a safety hazard after all. Instead, he let her cousin pickon her in his own lighthearted way.
"You're gonna fall on your butt one of these days, kid." Jimmy teased her, and Barney chuckled from his spot at the lunch table as she stuck her tongue out at her cousin.
"Life's too short to not fall on your butt a few times," she said. Jimmy rolled his eyes half heartedly as she giggled. "Besides, I fall on my butt pretty near every day."
"Yeah, you do. Go eat, you're a twig." Jimmy poked her shoulder.
Sitting down, she pulled her purse out onto the table. Barney was already sitting across from her, eating a sandwich and reading the newspaper.
"Hiya, boss!" Sam beamed cheerfully. Barney smiled sheepishly. He seemed to always get tongue tied around her, which Sam could sense. She found it cute.
"I'll get the fruit all set when I finish eating, is that okay?" she asked. Barney nodded, grinning slightly.
Sam was very satisfied with her job, even though it wasn't much. She was just glad to help. She even offered to help with things that weren't usually part of it.
Thanksgiving was getting closer. Two days away, and everyone was preparing for it. Even Barney. Sam choked on her tea as he came out of his office that morning, wearing a ridiculous looking hat covered with feathers. Wiping the hot liquid off her chin, she raised her eyebrow.
Her cousin elbowed her in the ribs. "He does this every year; try not to get in his way till after next week." Jimmy warned her quietly, suppressing his own grin. Sam snorted, biting her lip.
So she stayed away from Barney. But she did feel bad for him, as she watched him get stressed out over the smallest tasks. Finally, as lunch hour rolled around, and he made no move to sit, Sam got an idea. She had learned how to do it from an old friend, and was told she was great at it. So, the next time she saw the vein start to stick out in his neck, she let her nurturing instincts kick in and made her move.
"Alright, Barney," she said firmly from behind him. He startled, looking around. Sam grabbed his shoulders, and gently but firmly shoved him down into a chair used for lunch breaks. "Don't move. You need to relax, or you're gonna have a stroke. Look, the vein in your neck is already standing out." She was surprised at how tense he was. "I learned this from a friend who was a professional. Stay still," She wasn't giving him any opportunity to object, so despite his flaming cheeks, he sat still. Sam smirked, digging her fingers into his shoulders.
A soft moan escaped him as she slowly loosened the tension there. She worked her fingers down, and in between his shoulder blades, where most of the stiffness was. Barney yelped slightly at that, and jumped a little. Sam smiled, trying not to laugh at the cute noises he was making.
"It's gonna hurt a bit, sorry. You're really tense," she said.
Barney let out a slight grunt at her words, letting her know he understood. "Y-you are really good-ah!-at this." he yelped again as she caught ahold of a particularly tight knot. He bit his lip and closed his eyes, letting out another moan.
Sam giggled and leaned forward, using her elbow instead of her fingers on his right shoulder. This brought her hair forward in front of her. Barney caught a whiff of her shampoo, which made him shiver. She smelled heavenly, and he didn't know how to react to it. Before he could stop himself, he asked, "I hope this isn't too personal, but what kind of shampoo do you use? Your hair smells really nice."
Sam glanced down at her loose locks. "Oh, thanks. It's Herbal Essences. I use the one called Long Term Relationships. It's my favorite one because of the smell."
Trying to distract himself, he focused on her touch, working magic into his tight muscles. That didn't really help, but it was less distracting than her scent. He wasn't expecting her touch to be so intoxicating. He'd known she would be gentle; she had very small and delicate hands that were very obviously meant to be nothing but.
Sam smiled, almost losing herself as she pressed her hands into Barney's form. She almost wished she didn't have to stop. When she finished, Barney's eyes were still closed, and he was slack jawed. Sam giggled. "All done," she announced, giving his arms a light squeeze.
Barney looked up at her. "Thank you, that was wonderful," he said as she sat beside him.
Sam smiled. "You're welcome. You definitely needed that," she said. She grabbed her purse,and rummaged around inside it. She pulled out a small tube of hand lotion and squeezed a generous amount onto her hand. Then Sam reached out.
"Give me your hand," she commanded.
Barney frowned, and did as she said. She gently began massaging his hands, one at a time. "You keep this up, I may end up falling asleep," Barney joked.
Sam laughed. As she worked his hand, she felt a lurch in her stomach. Like small worms moving around, causing her own hands to shake a little.
Barney noticed, especially since he felt it in his stomach too. He watched her face as she worked. She had a small dimple on her right cheek, that became more prominent when she smiled. Being this close to her, he also noticed that her eyes weren't blue; they were in fact a grey that reminded him of the cloudy skies on a rainy day. A small scar stood out vertically just before the beginning of her left eyebrow. She had pale skin, which made the scar stand out.
"There, now your hands aren't gonna cramp up again." Sam's voice broke Barney's focus on her face. He blinked and looked down at his hands. "Wow,"
After a while, the store started winding down to its normal customers, not as heavily packed as it had been. Barney and the others were able to relax as they closed up, finally.
Thanksgiving came and went, and soon it was Christmas season. Sam was so used to snow, that she felt a little crestfallen when Jimmy broke the news to her that they didn't get snow in Natesville.
"Aw, come on, it's cold! Why would you want that stuff here?" he said.
Sam glared at him. "It's not Christmas without snow!" she grumbled.
So she packed up her winter clothes, and set out to bring them to the nearest Goodwill. She wasn't that sad to see them go. As she stepped out of the Goodwill, she muttered to herself about needing to start saving up for a new car. Correction; A car. A horn honking caught her off guard, and she turned to see her boss waving her down from an SUV. She smiled, stopping so he could catch up.
"Need a ride?" he asked.
Sam glanced down at her feet, which were sore from walking all day.
"Sure." She got in, thanking him as she got in. "Gosh, my feet hurt. I had to walk since the bus didn't allow carry ons."
"I would have given you a ride, you know." Barney said. He didn't like the idea of her walking so far by herself. Especially with a sack of clothes.
"It's ok. Honestly I didn't think of it," she said, brushing her hair out of her face. She sighed and relaxed against the seat. "My mom always hates when I decide to donate to Goodwill; she says it never gets done." She chuckled.
Barney nodded, "My moms are the same way. But it's nice to give things away rather than throwing away still useful stuff."
"Exactly! Ugh, it really bugs me when people do that," Samantha said. She spotted a hanging key chain around his rearview mirror that had a rainbow with a small picture of two older women. She smiled as she recognized one of them; she had Barney's beautiful smile-
Beautiful? Where did that come from?! She mentally kicked herself.
"Those are my moms," Barney's voice brought her out of her thoughts.
She realized she was holding the ornament in her fingers. Blinking, she carefully let it go. "They're lovely," she said. Barney smiled again, which made Sam's heart skip a beat. She looked quickly out the window, hiding her blush.
"Thanks. They live out of town, just got married a few years ago," he said.
Sam looked back at him. She smiled."That's awesome. You must be happy for them,"
"What about you? Are you close with your parents?" Barney asked, curious.
Sam shrugged. "My mom, yes. My dad, pfft. He ditched us when I was still in diapers, and I've only seen him a handful of times since. Not much of a loss, actually. He's a jackass."
"Sorry to hear that," Barney offered, but she waved dismissively.
"Don't be; I was and will be better off without him in my life. My mom raised me on her own, and I wouldn't have it any other way." As they pulled up into the driveway, Sam unbuckled her seatbelt and sat up straighter. "Thank you, so much for this. I really appreciate it, Barney," she said, smiling.
Barney gave her a smile and a nod. "You're welcome. Anytime you need a ride, just let me know."
"Thanks. Well, I'll see you tomorrow." She hopped down onto the pavement, and made her way inside.
Later that night, after showering and brushing her teeth, she sat with her aunt and uncle at the kitchen table. They were chatting merrily about Hope's progress in head start. Sam had been quiet the whole day, since Barney had dropped her off.
She'd started having feelings for him, and it was scaring the hell out of her. She had sworn, four years ago, that she would never let herself feel that way again. But now, here she was, looking forward to the next day when she could see her boss-her friend.
"Hey, you okay? You've been quiet a long time," Virginia cut through her thoughts.
Sam blinked, looking up from her now cold cup of tea. "Yeah, just got a lot on my mind." She smiled slightly. Giving up on her tea, she sighed and pushed the cup away. "I'm gonna head to bed, I'm exhausted. Night, everyone. Night, Mawmaw," She kissed the old woman's cheek and gave her aunt and uncle each a hug before heading to her room.
The broken record that had haunted her sleep for the past five years began its usual song as she got comfortable under the covers. She tried focusing on admiring her finally finished bedroom. She'd painted the walls a soft mint color to complement her bedding; it was one thing she refused to leave behind. Pale blue green with white polka dots, and flowers and stripes to accent them in lime greens, yellows, and pinks. She was rather proud of how she'd pulled it together.
But her thoughts kept wandering back to Barney. Was she an idiot? He was older than her, that much was clear by the grey in his hair. But that was one of the things that she liked about him. And his smile. His laugh. The way he scrunched his eyebrows and puckered his bottom lip when he was concentrating, or listening to someone talk. His kindness, and generosity. And the way he handled panic stricken customers who'd lost their children in the store. He was even very sweet with children.
Sam sighed. This wasn't fair. She thought she'd made progress, but moments like this made her doubt it. She turned and stared up at the ceiling. She knew Barney liked her too. She tried hard to ignore it, and even harder not to show her own feelings. But the more time she spent with him, the more she felt herself falling for him.
Sometime later, thankfully, she fell asleep.