OK, So I guess it wasn't too much of a surprise who was calling Sam. Congrats to those who figured it out and thanks for the reviews.
Chapter 14
"Um, this is R-Ralph, Ralph Puckett."
Freddie was dead silent.
"I was hoping to talk to Samantha, i-is she available?" The man nervously asked.
"She's at work right now." Freddie said sternly. He remembered how Pam had told him Ralph called her before he and Sam's wedding and how it knocked Pam off the wagon. If for no other reason, this instantly made Freddie's hackles go up. Add the fact that he deserted his family when his twin daughters were only five, this was not a man Freddie cared to get to know, or be overly friendly with.
"Well, um, would I be able to possibly leave her a message, please?" Ralph asked quietly.
"Sure, Mr. Puckett." No matter what he thought of the man, Freddie was still raised to respect his elders. "I'll take a message, but I can't guarantee Sam will return your call."
"Ju-just give her my phone number, please, its 312-555-6156." Ralph said. "And please just call me Ralph, after all you are married to my daughter."
"Alright, Ralph. I wrote down the number and I'll give it to Sam. But like I said, I can't guarantee she'll return your call." Freddie said.
"I understand." Ralph told him. "I know I wasn't much of a father, but I just would like to hear her voice. I talked to Melanie, she gave me Samantha's number, but if she doesn't want to talk to me, I'll respect that."
"I'll tell her that, Mr. Pu, er Ralph. By the way, I'm Freddie, but I guess you already know that."
"Yeah, I follow Sam on splashface, I have ever since she started her babysitting business, and Melanie, too. When I saw on there she was engaged, I called her at work. I knew better than to call the girls' mom, she made that pretty clear the last time we talked."
"I'm glad you didn't call Pam, either." Freddie told him. "The last time you called her, she was pretty messed up for a while and she's just now getting her life back on track."
"What do you mean?" Ralph asked.
"Well, she fell off the wagon for a few months, and it was bad, really bad. She was bad when we were growing up, but this was much worse. Then after our wedding, she started to get her life turned around, she has a good job and she's in a good place now and I'd hate to see her have a backslide." Freddie explained.
"Oh, God. So that's what Melanie meant. I feel terrible for that, I never meant to cause problems, I just called Pam to ask about you, you know, to make sure you were going to treat Samantha well."
"Ralph, uh, I have to go. And I've probably said too much already. I'll give Sam your message." Freddie's customer was due any minute.
"Thank you, Freddie. Goodbye." Ralph said with a sigh.
'He doesn't seem so bad after all.' Freddie thought to himself. 'Maybe there are two sides to this story.'
Freddie took Sam's phone down to the restaurant as soon as his customer left and he arrived just in time for her break. The two found an open table and shared a quick meal. Freddie was going to give Sam the message from her dad, he even had the note in his pocket, but then he thought better of the idea. After all, he wouldn't want to get her all upset when she was at work and heaven only knows what her reaction would be.
"Are you getting things packed for our trip?" She asked him, between bites.
"No, I had to finish up a ram upgrade and install a new network card on a laptop so the guy could pick it up. But I'm going to get started as soon as I get home."
"Spare me the tech jargon, just make sure you save some room in your bag for my makeup case. If I know Carly, she'll expect me to be all painted up for the wedding and I really don't like the idea of using someone else's makeup."
"Will do, my dear." He said.
"I'd better get back to the kitchen, then. I'll see you at home." Sam kissed his lips lightly and headed back to finish her shift.
Freddie returned home and began packing. By the time Sam got home after the restaurant closed, all she needed to do was pack her own clothes and decide what she was wearing for the flight the next day.
"Um, Sam, I almost forgot I took a message for you a while ago." Freddie walked in the bedroom and told her as she packed.
"Let me guess, Carly. She's probably hitting the panic button big time. She's been in Seattle all week. I'll bet she's going nuts making sure everything's all set for Saturday. Remember how stressed she was at our wedding?" Sam said as Freddie handed her the note with Ralph's phone number on it. "What's this?"
"I-It's your dad's phone number." Freddie said quietly.
"I don't have a dad. The man who fathered me and Mel ran out on Mom when we were in kindergarten." Sam said flatly with venom in her tone. "How the chiz did he even find me?"
"Well, he called and said he talked to Melanie. She gave him your number. He also said he follows your splashface page." Freddie told her.
"That figures, Mel would talk to him. I just can't believe she gave him my phone number. I'm gonna call that girl and give her a piece of my mind." Sam said, grabbing her phone.
"Now, wait a second, Sam." Freddie said.
"What for? That man is a total stubrag. I don't want him calling me or even knowing that I'm alive." Sam snapped back at her husband.
"Sam, I know what he did was terrible, leaving the way he did, but there are two sides to every story. Maybe he didn't run away, maybe there was more to it than meets the eye." Freddie knew this to be fact, Pam had told him so, but he didn't want to betray his mother in law's trust and tell Sam outright.
"No, I'm pretty sure he just ran off. We woke up one morning and he was gone. Mom told us he left, period."
"OK, Sam, just don't take it out on Mel." Freddie took the phone from her hands and put his arms around her. "And please just think about it. I told him I couldn't guarantee you'd return his call, but just consider it. For me. You know, I'd do just about anything for the chance to talk to my dad again."
"Freddie, your dad died, it's no one's fault that you grew up without him. Mine was a scumbag who ran out on his wife and two kids, he could have been around for us, he could have watched us grow up, taught us to drive, been there for graduation and my wedding, but he chose to run off like a jerk." Sam was done with being mad, now she was on the verge of tears.
"Come on, baby. Let's go watch some TV and get our minds off all this." Freddie suggested.
"I'm almost done packing and then I want to grab a shower before I settle down." Sam said, putting more clothes into her bag.
"Maybe I should join you." Freddie said suggestively, rubbing her shoulders.
"That would definitely get my mind off my problems." She said, turning around to kiss him as he began to run his hands under her shirt and up her back.
The next day, Sam and Freddie were back in Seattle. After getting settled in at Marissa's apartment and checking in with pseudo-wedding-planner Carly, they made their way over to Pam and Melanie's for a visit before it was time for the rehearsal dinner.
"Hey you two." Pam greeted, opening the door.
"Hi, Mom." They both replied.
"How have you been?" Freddie asked. "New carpet, I see."
"Yeah, it smelled too much like cigarettes and cat pee, so we decided to replace it and paint the walls."
"It definitely smells fresh in here, Mom." Sam told her. "I don't smell smoke, did you totally quit smoking?"
"Almost, Sammy. I'm down to two a day. One in the morning with my coffee and one after work. But I don't smoke in the house anymore. I go out to the patio." Pam explained.
"Doesn't that get a bit cold in the morning?" Freddie asked. "It's February."
"That's the trick, sport. I make it as uncomfortable as possible for myself so I can smoke less."
"Makes sense." Sam said. "Hey, is Mel home, I need to ask her something."
"Yeah, she's up in her room. Making herself beautiful for that man of hers. I guess they're going to the wedding rehearsal together tonight." Pam said.
"Great." Sam said and headed up the stairs. "I'll be right back."
You've probably guessed that Mel's going to get an ear full. Do you think Sam will ever make peace with her dad?