Sorry guys! It seems I loaded the same chapter twice. So I have think I have fixed it. Thanks so much to Laurel!
XXXXXXX
Chapter 28
XXXXXXX
"Where to?" the cabby asked.
"St. Augustine Catholic Church," Sam replied as she slid into the backseat. "116 Sixth Avenue in Brooklyn."
The cab driver nodded, flipped on the meter, and pulled out of JFK airport.
She glanced at her watch, it was official she was going to be late to the dress rehearsal for Danny and Elena's wedding. She felt horrible considering she was the maid-of-honor but it wasn't like it was her fault. Her flight out of Los Angeles was delayed due to a freak lightning storm and by the time the weather cleared up the flight was two hours behind schedule.
She sighed and leaned back into the seat as she stared out the window knowing that there was nothing she could do about it. Better late than never, she told herself. She watched as the city sights rolled past her window. While she now considered her home to be California there was a sense of homecoming at being back in New York. She had always thought there was something about the city that was full of possibility. She smiled to herself as she softly hummed the song New York, New York as the cab moved along the Brooklyn Queens Expressway.
As excited as she was about the wedding tomorrow morning she couldn't shake the anxious feeling in her gut at seeing Martin again. Whenever she thought about seeing him again her heart would race and her palms would get sweaty. She just prayed that she could play it cool enough so that when they hung out as "friends" that he wouldn't be able to see through her façade and realize that she still had feelings for him that went beyond friendship.
The cab pulled up in front of the church and after Sam paid him she grabbed her suitcase and hurried up the front steps of the aged church. It was undeniably one of the most beautiful churches in New York and Elena had gushed to Sam how lucky she and Danny were to be married in it during the very popular bridal month of June.
She darted up the steps the best she could, dragging the suitcase behind her. When she reached the top she dashed for the large gothic style wooden doors. She pulled hard on the door and started to head inside when the wheels on her suitcase got stuck on the doorjamb. She yanked on the suitcase hard to try and pry it loose. Unfortunately she must have used too much force because the next thing she knew the suitcase came unstuck and she started toppling backward.
"Shit!" she yelled out as she hit the floor with a thud. As she landed her heard her obscenity echoing throughout the building.
That's when she realized that old churches, with their vaulted ceilings and large cavernous spaces, had great acoustics.
She started to sit up and looked down past the rows and rows of pews to see Martin, Danny, Elena and the rest of the wedding party staring at her – along with Father Pinto who had a gaping look on his face.
"Oh fuck," she mumbled quietly to herself. She started to sit up when she heard footsteps racing towards her.
"You okay?" Martin asked as kneeled down to check on her.
She looked up at him and said, "So much for a graceful entrance."
He laughed and pulled her upright. "It may not have been graceful but believe me, no one is going to forget it."
"Ha, ha," she replied with a scowl. She straightened her outfit as Martin picked up her suitcase and placed it near the wall. She looked over at the altar to see everyone watching them curiously. She waved that she was alright and Danny and Elena smiled at her, waving back.
"Let's just leave your suitcase here," Martin said as he moved his hand to the small of her back to move her to the aisle. As they started walking he dropped his hand and said, "You're late."
"Not my fault, my plane was delayed," she replied with a small smile. As they walked she saw that Danny and Elena were chatting with her parents and the wedding planner. She leaned into Martin and asked, "Did I miss very much?"
"Nah," he replied with a grin. "We've only just started talking about how we will process in and two of the bridesmaids haven't arrived yet."
"Good," she said, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. He still looked handsome but he seemed…distracted. She wanted to ask him about it but as soon as they neared the altar Elena hurried over and pulled her into a hug.
"I'm glad you made it," she said before releasing her and Danny taking over.
Sam smiled at seeing her friends and replied, "Sorry I was late."
Danny let her go and said, "No problem. We knew you'd be here sooner or later."
Sam heard the doors open up and turned around to see the two tardy bridesmaids entering the church. She remembered they were Elena's cousins, Mercy and Elsa. They hurried directly to Elena's mom and started speaking rapidly in Spanish. She looked over and saw that Martin was sitting on the front pew watching the scene bemusedly. She walked over and sat down next to him as the two tardy bridesmaids got into a heated exchange with Elena and Danny as the wedding planner tried her best to follow the conversation.
"Any idea what's going on?" she asked.
"My Spanish is pretty rusty but I'm pretty sure I heard the word 'comida' and that means food," he replied.
Sam shook her head and said, "Of course that is the one word you managed to understand."
He looked at her pointedly and with a grin he said, "Let me finish." She tilted her head apologetically and he continued, "I think Mercy said that one of their aunts – who didn't RSVP – is not only going to come to the wedding but is planning on bringing four cousins who had not been invited. I think they're worried about where to put everyone and if there is enough food."
"I'm impressed," she said. "Your Spanish has really improved."
He gave a small nod and replied, "I've had a lot of free time."
"Me too," she said. "But your emails helped fill up some of that free time."
He smiled. "Yeah, same here." He glanced at her and said, "I really enjoyed chatting with you like that again."
"Me too," she replied.
"Hey," Danny shouted at them. They both looked over at him and he asked, "Where either one of you able to scrounge up a date?"
Sam glanced at Martin as he shook his head and replied, "No."
He turned to face her and she quickly looked away towards Danny. "Um, no."
Danny smiled and looked over at the wedding planner. "Good news, problem solved. Thankfully Sam and Martin are such big losers that they couldn't get dates," he looked over at them and said, "No offense."
"Still offended," Martin replied, annoyed.
"Sorry," Danny apologized before returning his attention to the wedding planner. "Anyway, that means we can free up those two seats for Elena's cousins and since we ordered a few extra meals I'm sure we can scrounge up three more chairs."
As Danny, Elena and the wedding planner discussed how to rearrange the seating to accommodate the extra guests Sam looked back at Martin and asked, "Rachel's not coming?"
Martin's expression fell and he replied, "We broke up."
"When?"
"When I met up with her in Miami," he said, his gazed fixed on the large marble crucifix above the altar.
"What happened?" Sam asked; feeling both saddened for him and not just a little exhilarated at knowing he was now single again. Although it did not escape her attention that he had gone to Florida over a month ago and he never mentioned it to her in his emails. She wondered why but she didn't dare ask.
"She really loved working with Doctor's Without Borders and signed up for another tour. She wanted me to move with her and do some sort of volunteer work out there but," he leaned in towards her and said, "and I know this is going to make me sound like a terrible person, but I don't want to go live in Haiti. We argued back and forth, considered continuing the long distance relationship but in the end we just decided that maybe we didn't want the same things after all. So we broke up."
"I'm sorry," she said softly. "If it helps I don't think it makes you a terrible person for not wanting to go live in Haiti. As much as they need help, there are lots of people here that need help too and you do that everyday."
"Thanks," he said with a small smile. "Oh well, it isn't all bad. I got custody of Tanner." She smiled and he asked, "So what about you? What happened to the guy you were dating?"
"Didn't work out," she said vaguely. She considered letting it drop there but she knew that she wasn't willing to waste more years pining for a guy. If she really wanted happiness she was going to fight for it. She fixed her eyes on his and said, "I guess I really wasn't ready to move on."
Martin's eyes didn't leave hers, the moment crackling with electricity. She knew that once again she laid it on the line but she also knew that by reminding him how she felt it proved that her declaration back in Washington wasn't just an act of desperation but of true affection and love. Her eyes were locked on his as he opened his mouth to speak, her heart thundering in her chest in anticipation of what he would say.
His eyes were stormy blue as he asked, "Sam, how can you possibly even feel that way about me after how I treated you?"
"I could say the same thing," she replied. "But I think you were right. We both needed to move on, make some changes and figure out what it is that we really want. And unless I am mistaken, judging by our emails and phone conversations we both know what we want. The question is, are we ready for it?"
"If you two are done chit chatting can we get back to rehearsing for my wedding?" Danny announced, shattering the moment between her and Martin. "Are you ready to get a move on it?"
Martin looked over at Danny and nodded. "I'm ready," he said as he stood up. He smiled down at Sam, reached out to take her hand and continued, "What about you, Sam?"
Sam smiled at him and placed her hand in his as she said to Danny, "I'm ready, too."
End In Plain Sight
To be continued in Epilogue
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
A/N: After a very lovely PM from a reader, I realized my travel error. If Martin was really going to meet up with Rachel it should have been in Florida and not London. Small detail but a must fix. So a special thanks to Laurel.