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Chapter 14- carefree moments.
Andy hadn't come down last night, and Sam left her alone.
He had gone up once before going to bed to check on her and Jared but they were both fast asleep when he had.
Twice after he went to bed he heard Andy patter up and down between rooms probably to check on Jared before going back to bed herself.
This morning he woke up to the smell of coffee.
The TV was on downstairs and Jared let out a few laughs at whatever he was watching.
Sam found Jared sitting cross legged on the carpet his eyes dancing as he saw Sam enter the room.
"Hey Buddy" Sam ruffled his hair when he passed.
Sam found Andy in the kitchen looking out the window at the property cast in sunlight.
"Quite the view huh" Sam noted and reached out for the brewed coffee pot.
"But I still don't know who's house this is" Andy faced him and folded her arms.
"It really is mine. I grew up here. And no" Sam took a sip of his coffee "it won't trace back to me because it's still listed under Payton".
"Oh" Andy's brows furrowed as she tried to put the pieces together.
"They were my foster parents, they raised me and Sarah after Smiley kids".
"Oh" this time it came out higher pitched.
"Um, how did she meet Boyd?".
"She was one of his Rookies. She joined the academy when she aged out of foster care"
A pained look crossed Andy's face after he spoke but as soon as it had graced her features it was gone again.
"I need to run into town, you guys coming or staying?" Sam asked changing the topic.
"We'll come, if it's okay?". Andy lit up at the prospect of getting out of the house and it eased the tension between them out of the room.
"Okay, I'm just going to grab a shower and we can go" Sam left the kitchen taking his coffee with him.
The thirty minute drive into town was spent between looking between Andy and the road from behind his sunglasses.
Her face was washed in humor at the sights they saw, the most memorable having been when they passed a tractor driving down the street.
Jared had yelled out and Andy had turned around in her seat to look at it through the rear windscreen until it disappeared from sight.
"Was that...?" She asked.
"Yup" Sam had said wearing a smile at her flustered face.
Approaching town Andy had shifted around in her seat, a look of sheer disappointment on her face.
It wasn't hard to tell that she had been expecting a mall and civilization to be let down hard when they drove through the centre of town.
"Is this...?" Again she didn't even get close to finishing her sentence.
"Yup" Sam said and avoided looking at her while he scanned the street for a place to park.
"Really" she hummed out under her breath.
"This is like the middle of nowhere" she added a moment after Sam killed the engine.
"That's why it's safe" Sam slid his sunglasses off.
"Sam, there is nothing out here" Andy waved her hand around.
She was right, there was literally almost nothing out here.
That's why he chose to bring them here.
The town had a total of eleven stores and a gas station. There was a pharmacy, a grocery store, two clothing stores, a baby store, and several other stores that stocked items that people needed to survive out here. There was also a bar and the sheriffs office as well as a doctors office and a dentist.
It was a small, close-knit town with many of the locals mostly farmers and livestock breeders.
Everyone knew everyone and left everyone else alone.
Sam gave her a look before getting out of the truck and opening the back door for Jared to get out.
Andy got out and did a turn-around while eyeing the entire street from where she stood.
She was so not happy about being out here.
Sam added some more groceries to the cart and made his way through the rows of neatly packed items. Andy and Jared followed in silence. The store was empty except for them, but it was enjoyable to shop in wide open spaces rather that the push and shove that they were accustomed to.
Once done with the extra supplies they needed Sam carried the brown paper bags out to the truck and set them down in the back.
Making his way over to the hardware store Sam made a mental list of what he needed.
Rope to fix the swing and some light bulbs because half the houses had blown. Some nails to repair a few things and some wood glue. He added a hammer and an electric wood sander too.
Once he had completed that task, Sam looked towards Andy and nodded over her shoulder at the ice-cream store. She gave her permission and nodded back, Jared skipping across the barely tared road to be the first in the door.
They made their way to the counter and Andy began fishing around in her pockets but Sam was in no way about to allow her to spend the minimal money she had on ice-cream.
When he put his hand over hers and shook his head he couldn't help but wonder when he last time was that he had actually had ice-cream.
"And for you two?" The old man behind the counter asked looking at them during their little exchange. He had already handed Jared his vanilla cup with a chocolate stick and chocolate sauce.
"Pistachio and for the lady?" Sam ordered his and then waited for Andy to do the same.
"Vanilla and sauce" Andy's answer surprised him. She looked more like a fruit flavored kind of girl.
"With sauce please" she added and beamed a huge smile across the counter to the old man.
"Strawberry and chocolate" she giggled out and blushed.
Sam's head turned to face her wearing disbelief.
"Together please" she said and pursed her lips together.
Sam shook his head, this girl was just nowhere near normal.
Once their ice-creams were done Sam whipped them out the door just as a familiar face came around the corner.
"Sammy" Dov said and smiled. A woman was holding his hand and then she just lit up when she heard Dov say his name.
"Hi I'm Chloe" she rapped out in super politeness.
Sam smiled and then introduced himself, Andy and Jared.
"Aw, he's so cute. Looks just like his mom" Chloe said looking at Andy who looked really uncomfortable right now.
"So, we seeing ya'll tomorrow for that bbq? Say around six?" Dov interjected as Chloe fussed over Jared and Andy and babbled away at high speed.
"Yeah sure" Sam said feeling tense. It had been a long time since he had spent time with anyone he knew catching up. How exactly was he supposed to fill the missing years and avoiding mentioning what he had really been doing.
"Okay, bring drinks we'll have everything else sorted" Dov looked positively ecstatic at the prospect of them coming over.
"Okay then" Sam said before they said goodbye and headed for the truck.
If those five minutes spent on the sidewalk were awkward how was a whole meal going to go?
**** okay up next- the bbq and then Sam discovers Andy's hidden items...
Who's ready for more?
Have an awesome day!
Jelly Bean Jenna©