"Shaken. Sam's accident reminds her of Jillian. She's afraid Sam'll die too. She's asleep, for now."
"Anything you want to talk about?" Mike studied her.
"Ed knew my father was alive."
"So you're angry with him? I know you don't want to hear this, but whatever Ed does, he has a reason for."
"I'm just trying to process that our home has been destroyed, I have a sister I never knew, my father that was alive all these years is now dead, Sam's in the hospital, and someone hired a hit man to kill me and Delinda. I don't...I'm having troubles absorbing it all."
"I'm just glad you're okay." He put his arm on the back of the sofa and she put her head on his shoulder.
Matt settled down by Mary, bringing her a glass with a lid on it. "Thought you could use something to eat."
She opened it. "Ice cream." She smiled.
"How's Danny?"
"Sam's asleep; I convinced him to close his eyes and try to sleep while she is."
"Talk to me."
"Danny's hurting so much."
"That's Danny. What about you?" He studied her. He knew that she still took better care of Danny than she did herself.
"Mike took the girls home to sleep."
"Okay, that's good. As long as they're in the States, they're harder to get. What about Ed?"
"He's going to see what they can do about the Monticito."
"You want to go home, get some rest?"
She shook her head. "I want to stay here...in case Danny needs me."
"I'll stay."
She looked at him. "We broke up." He knew who she meant. "He wanted me to stay in Hawaii. My friends were in danger, Sam was in surgery, Danny and Ed...I couldn't have stayed. I needed to be here...with my family." She took a bite of the ice cream he'd brought. "Cookies and cream."
He nodded. "Still your favorite, right?"
She looked at him, seeing him for the first time in a long time, maybe ever. "Right."
Ed wandered the rubble of the Monticito, letting everything set in. Sam had a lot to do if she wanted to fix it back up. He hadn't divulged her secret; it wasn't important right now. He felt a soft touch on his shoulder and turned around. "Thought you had a plane waiting."
"Fog. I knew you'd be here, I had a few hours..."
He looked at her. "You want coffee?"
"Yeah." They went to the coffee shop near the rubble. "How's the girl?"
"Sam's doing better. Danny's staying with her."
"Now, Danny, who's he?"
"My right hand. My left too these days."
She nodded. "I heard about Jillian. I'm so sorry. She was a great lady."
He nodded, a lump still in his throat, knowing she understood since her husband had been killed on a CIA operation when she was pregnant with the girls. "I still wake up some mornings, I look over at her side of the bed, she's not there. It starts all over again. I felt angry at first, at her for 'leaving', at God for taking her, at myself for not going with her that day...then I felt guilty, again at not going with her that day, of not carrying on like she'd want me to. It's beenthree months, you know, and I know she's not coming back now, but...it's not easy to move on."
She nodded, listening. "What about Delinda?"
"She acted out the first two months, more than usual. She's settled down a little again. If there hadn't been a hitman after them, the trip would have been really good for her. She stayed in Sam's hospital room for a little bit, but Sam's just so...she looks like Jillian did, before." She nodded again. "She couldn't stay in there, so Mike and Nessa took her home." He paused, taking a sip of his coffee. "What about you and the girls?"
"Same. It's been three years and I still wish Bryan was here to see the girls. I went through the 'stages of grief', as my counselor said, but missing them never really goes away." She took a sip of her coffee before answering the rest of his question. "The girls are great, all over, in to everything, mischief makers."
He smiled. "Sounds familiar." When he'd first met her father, she was an older version of that. "Pictures?"
She pulled them out of her purse and he smiled. "They're beauties." He looked at the pictures carefully. "They look likesmall versions of you."
Julie smiled. "Thank you." He handed her back the pictures and she put them back in her purse.
Danny woke up to see Sam's eyes opened. "Hey." He sat on the bed, kissing her forehead. "How do you feel?"
"I hurt." She stroked his cheek. "You look bad."
"Well, thanks." He teased, smilingat her. "Matt and Mary are outside; Matt brought me some clothes. Mary'll stay with you while I change."
"Is everyone okay?"
He nodded. "Mike, Nessa, and Delinda are at Ed's. Mary and Matt have been talking outside. Ed's checking to see how much work will have to be done to the Monticito."
She looked at him. "What?"
He could have kicked himself for saying anything about it. "The Monticito was destroyed."
"No." She started crying and he moved to hold her loosely, trying to be careful not to hurt her. "No, that's impossible. Casey promised. He promised that he wouldn't blow it up," she said, her words muffled slightly by his shoulder.
"Why would he do that, Sam? He's the new owner; he can do anything he wants." He looked at her.
She shook her head. "Casey always liked to gamble. He always said that was why he married me." She paused. "One hand of cards; that's all the bet I wanted. It's not illegal to cheat a cheater."
"Sam, slow down." He brushed her hair out of her face and off her shoulders. "What?"
"I'm the new owner of the Monticito."