Chapter 38
The night of prom arrived and Sam was nervous as she got ready. Brynna helped curl Sam's hair and insisted that she do her nails. Sam had never worn nail polish before and she kept smearing it until Gram made her sit in a chair in the kitchen without moving. It was the longest ten minutes and Sam's leg had started to bounce as she waited.
"Samantha Anne, quit bouncing that leg," Gram scolded.
Sam rolled her eyes and blew on her fingernails to try and speed up the process.
"That doesn't help," Brynna laughed as she waited with Sam. Brynna was feeding Cody. Cody kept reaching out to Sam, wanting to grab her hand like he normally did, but Brynna was trying to get him to stop. She didn't want Sam's nail polish to smear again.
Finally Gram came over and touched one of Sam's nails and declared the polish was dry enough so that Sam could start getting dressed. Sam glanced at her watch and saw Jake would be there in a few minutes.
"Look how late it is!" Sam yelped running up the stairs to her room. Gram and Brynna exchanged a look, not bothering to hide their smiles.
The phone rang and Gram moved to answer it.
"Hi Grace," it was Jake's mom.
"Hi Maxine," Gram answered.
"Jake just left," Maxine informed her.
"Samantha's almost ready," Gram said.
"I hope these two realize what they mean to each other soon," Maxine sighed.
"I agree," Gram responded. "You did what you could making him go to prom. Now the rest is up to these two young people."
"Clueless young people," Maxine laughed.
Gram laughed too.
"I'm not sure how much more I can take if they don't declare their feelings for each other before long," Maxine said.
"With Jake going away to college, there's always a chance he'll find someone there if he and Samantha haven't realized what they have," Gram agreed.
"Thank goodness he's shy and not like my other sons," Maxine sighed.
"Or that Sam falls in love with one of your other sons while Jake is at college," Gram murmured.
"I think that would crush Jake," Maxine almost whispered.
"We'll just have to hope that the prom goes well and they realize how much they mean to each other," Gram said.
"Maybe Sam can convince Jake to dance to a slow romantic song," Maxine was hopeful though she knew her son.
"He just pulled in," Gram told her.
"I'll keep my fingers crossed that he takes one look at Sam and decides he can't live without her," Maxine said.
"Let's hope," Gram responded and the two women hung up.
"Sam, Jake just pulled in," Gram called up to Sam.
Both Brynna and Gram thought they heard Sam say "shoot" before she called down "thanks". The two women laughed softly.
They heard the soft knock on the front door and Gram went to let Jake in. She knew better than to tell him how handsome he looked in his suit.
"Well hi Jake," Gram greeted him instead. "Sam should be down any minute."
Jake nodded, glancing briefly at Brynna before starting to rub the back of his neck. The two women exchanged small smiles. It was obvious that Jake would rather be anywhere than on his way to prom.
They heard Sam's footsteps on the stairs and both women glanced at Jake, wanting to see his reaction upon seeing Sam in her dress. His eyes widened as he looked at her.