Chapter Ten

"Omigod!" Sami screamed happily as she threw open the door and embraced the young woman standing in the hallway. "I can't believe you're here!" Questions sprang forth in her mind, fast and furious. Excited, she verbally pummeled her old friend. "Omigod! It's been so many years! I mean you left Salem way back in '96 for college and never came back! What have you been up to? Did you ever marry that guy you wrote to me about?" She paused for a moment and looked her old friend over. "My goodness Jamie, look at you! You're still just as pretty as you always were. Oh you have to come in and tell me everything. You are back for a while right? Will's away at camp right now but he'll be so excited to meet you again. He's always asking me why he hasn't seen his godmother in years."

Jamie laughed at Sami's exuberance. It was quite apparent that Sami's zeal for life hadn't really changed. She wondered briefly if her friend still went after everything she wanted with the same old single-minded determination. Taking a deep breath she smiled, biting her lip slightly. "I'm not quite sure where to begin..."

"Oh I'm being so rude. Come in, sit down. I'll get you something to drink. What would you like, coffee, tea, soda?

Jamie grinned. "Tea would be great. Do you still keep Lemon Zinger around?"

"Of course." Sami replied with a smile. Pointing to the couch she instructed her old friend to have a seat while she put the kettle on.

Jamie sat down and glanced curiously around the apartment. The place was definitely a home. She could see little signs of Sami everywhere. From the knickknacks that covered virtually every shelf to the various pictures on the walls and mantle. One particular picture drew her gaze immediately. Standing up she walked over to the bureau by the door and lifted a small wooden frame. It was a photo of Sami and Lucas and a boy, obviously Will, and they appeared to be on a camping trip. Lightly, she traced her finger across the people on the photograph. A small smile crossed her face as she touched the image of Lucas. He was still as handsome, if not even more handsome than ever. Fingering Will's image she let out a gasp of delight. "Sami! Will looks so tall!"

Sami beamed proudly as she joined Jamie in admiring the picture. "He is. And he's even taller than that now. Lucas and I figure he'll pass us both within a year. I'm wondering just how'll I'll be able to order him to clean his room once he towers over me." Sami chuckled and then added. "That photograph was taken back in February. We were camping with Will's class."

"You guys look really happy in it, despite the fact that you were camping in the middle of winter." Jamie mused. "So does this mean that you and Lucas are together?"

Sami's face clouded briefly before she forced a smile back onto her lips. "We're not a couple, but we parent as a team. Will's happiness means everything to us." She hoped she'd been successful in hiding her feelings from her old friend. The last thing she wanted right now as another inquisition into why she and Lucas had failed in their attempt to have a relationship. "In fact, Lucas lives just down the hall from me. We have joint custody so Will splits his time between apartments. It's not the ideal situation, I mean obviously Will wishes we all lived together under one roof, but compared to how we used to be it's a big improvement."

"Oh that's great that you two get along now. I remember when you wrote to me and told me about your custody issues. I wished I could have been back here at the time to help you guys work through everything, but—."

"But sometimes life gets in the way. It's okay Jamie. I understood. You had your own dragons to slay." Sami finished for her as she carried the teapot and cups into the living room. Setting the teacups down, she carefully poured the steaming liquid into both before sitting down. Taking a sip she eyed her old friend as she wandered around the room before returning to the sofa. Now that the initial shock of seeing her was over Sami observed her closely. Jamie was dressed in a flowery calf length short sleeved, loose fitting summer dress. Two narrow yellow ribbons, attached at the back wrapped around either side of her and were tied in a loose bow just below her breasts. Sami recalled wearing an outfit very similar back when she was pregnant with Will. Wait a minute… She continued to watch as Jamie sat down on the sofa and took a sip of tea. Sami's eyes lit up knowingly as her old friend's free hand absently patted her abdomen. With a smile she queried. "So your dress is really nice. Where did you get it?"

Jamie looked up and met the amusement in Sami's knowing eyes. Wryly she replied. "I never could keep anything a secret from you for very long."

"Well you managed to hide a few things." Sami replied pointedly, referring to the problems Jamie had with her sexually abusive father.

"It's easy to hide something from everyone if you're in complete denial about it to yourself." Jamie explained. "How could I tell you when I couldn't even admit to myself what was happening."

Sami sighed. One of her biggest regrets when it came to her friendship with Jamie is that she'd been so wrapped up in her own problems that she'd never noticed the signs of what was happening to Jamie at home. "Jamie, I know this is probably years too late, but I really am sorry—."

Jamie held up her hand. "Stop. Like you said, we each had our own demons. And honestly, if you'd confronted me, I would have just denied it."

"Like you did with Billie, only she knew better. She recognized what was happening and got help."

"Anyhow." Jamie interrupted in an attempt to change the topic. Revisiting the past was inevitable, she knew that when she made plans to return to Salem, but she really didn't want to start on her first day back with Sami.

"Anyhow." Sami repeated. "You didn't come here to drudge all of that up." She nodded understandingly. Raising her brow she again examined her friend. "So how far along are you?"

Jamie smiled "About five months."

Sami's face broke into a wide grin. "You must be so thrilled!" Leaving her chair she joined her old friend on the couch and gave her a quick hug. Reaching down she pulled Jamie's left hand into hers, instantly feeling the rings on her friend's third finger. "And your husband must be thrilled."

Jamie's eyes darkened and filled with tears causing Sami to gasp.

"Did I say something wrong?" Holding Jamie's hand out, Sami looked pointedly at the rings. "You are married right?"

Jamie fought to regain her composure. "I'm sorry. You'd think after three and a half months I'd be able to do this without crying each time…"

Sami was speechless. After going through so many deaths in the past year, it was inconceivable to her that there could be more bad news. "Omigod… Is he? I mean, what happened?"

Jamie took a deep breath and began to explain. "We tried so hard to have this baby. I mean, after everything my father did to me when I was young, the doctors weren't even sure if I'd be able to conceive. We tried and tried, for nearly four years and then one day I came home from the doctor's office with good news." She paused, caught up in the memory. "I called Lee. That is, I mean was my husband's name. You were right Sami, I did marry that guy I wrote to you about."

Sami nodded, recognizing the name of Jamie's college boyfriend from her infrequent letters.

Standing up, Jamie paced around the room as she continued to explain. "I called him at the office. I wanted to wait until that night to surprise him, but as soon as I heard his voice I had to tell him." Pausing, she turned and looked down at Sami. "He was so happy. I mean, all we ever talked about from almost the day we met was getting married and having a family. He was an only child and he said he'd always dreamed of being surrounded by a big loving family."

"Jamie, what happened?" Sami asked gently, cringing inside as she waited for the answer she knew was coming.

"He stopped at a little booth along the side of the highway. You know, one of those vendors that sell to the tourists all the time?"

Sami nodded.

With a wistful smile Jamie added. "He bought me flowers. He was always doing that. He picked out a dozen pink roses. He told the guy he bought them from that he was going to be a dad and that he just knew it would be a little girl."

"Jamie, what happened next." Sami coaxed softly, sensing the overwhelming pain her friend was going through as she relived that day.

"Well according to the witnesses..." She trailed off briefly. "According to the witnesses at the vendor's booth, Lee got in his car and went to turn back onto the highway. He didn't see the semi-trailer barreling around the corner until it was too late. His car was hit on the driver's side and he was killed instantly."

Sami gasped as tears began to flow from her eyes. "Oh Jamie I'm so sorry." Standing up she pulled her old friend into her arms. Grieving for what they had each lost in the past year they stood, clinging to each other as their river of tears continued to flow.