“Nice to meet all of you,” Sam said, no doubt charming them with her pleasant smile and personality, not to mention her Daisy Duke body.

“Welcome, Samantha.” Puppa gestured toward two empty chairs at the table. “Have a seat, girls. There’s plenty for everyone.”

I thanked him and took a place next to Gerard. Sam took the slot adjacent to Joel’s empty seat. In moments, my cousin the chef set plates in front of us. Scoops of beef, potatoes, and carrots spilled onto them.

I put up my hand. “That’s plenty for me.”

I ate the hearty fare as if it were my last meal. Sam did the same, even asking for seconds.

“So what brings you to our neck of the woods, Samantha?” my grandfather asked.

I kept my eyes on my potatoes while I listened for her answer.

She giggled and waved a hand. “Just looking for a change this summer. I’ve been cooped up in Rawlings my whole life. Thanks to Tish and her awesome hospitality, I finally escaped.”

I peeked at Puppa. He set his fork down. The thumb and finger of one hand rubbed together. “Exactly what is it you’re escaping from?”

I dove into my carrots, enthralled by the ridges in each slice. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sam dab at her lips with her napkin. She took a sip of water. She crossed her arms on the table.

“I own a Coney Island restaurant in the strip mall there,” she said. “Used to be my dad’s, but I took it over a few years back when he died. I really love it. I guess I’ll do anything to avoid burnout.”

My grandfather gave a nod of his head. “Let me know if you run into any trouble. Maybe I can help.”

“Thank you,” Sam said. “In fact, maybe you know of a job opening around here. I wish I could afford to loaf all summer, but Tish probably wouldn’t tolerate vagrancy.”

I smiled but kept my eyes on the last sliver of beef on my oversized pottery plate.

“I heard the Silvan Bay Grille is looking for a waitress,” Gerard piped up.

“That’s right up my alley,” Sam said. “I’ll stop in the morning. Would you mind if I used you folks as references?”

“Dropping the Russo name won’t get you very far around here,” Gerard said with his half-quirk smile.

“It will if you drop my name.” Olivia’s voice came deep and strong from her place beside Puppa.

He patted her arm. “You’re right, Mother. I don’t know how you do it, but you’ve still got this town shaking in its boots.”

“Somebody’s got to keep the young people in line,” Olivia said. She mashed a potato on her plate. She looked at Sam. “You have Nancy call me in the morning. You seem like a nice enough girl. Having a face like yours around, instead of that moose Loreen’s, will do business good.”

Sam blushed. Joel shifted in his seat. I checked out the etched leaf pattern on my empty plate.

“Very good, Mother,” my grandfather said. “I’m sure Samantha will be a fine addition to the Grille.”

We cleared our plates and moved to the living area for coffee and tiny squares of Joel’s delectable English toffee bars.

Grandma Olivia settled into a straight back chair. “I heard Melissa Belmont is trying to put her house up for sale,” she said with a touch of derision.

Puppa gave a nod. “Yes, she contacted Ethyl Merton about listing it. It’s better if she leaves the area.”

My ears perked up. “Sounds like everything is working out for her, then?” I asked, hoping to assuage my guilt.

“We’ll see. It’s too early to tell,” Grandfather said.

“Nonsense. The girl will be fine,” Olivia said. “Don’t know why she wants to move at all. Those children were born here. They belong on the peninsula. Drake has plenty of family to help raise them until he gets back on his feet. And her family is just over in Escanaba.”

Puppa leaned one elbow on the arm of his recliner. “Mother, Drake’s been in and out of trouble most of his life. Melissa’s had enough. She and those kids deserve a fresh start.”

“You weren’t talking that way when that Beth Amble turned up pregnant. Besides, when I was young, people got married and stayed that way. Nowadays if you don’t like the way they hang the toilet paper, you get a divorce,” Olivia said.

“Toilet paper isn’t an issue for Melissa,” my grandfather said.

“So Drake gets a little rough once in a while,” Olivia said. “Your father had his moments and I never held it against him.”

He humphed. “I remember his moments. You were certainly entitled to your choice to stay. And Melissa is entitled to her choice to leave.”

Olivia gripped her hands together. “All I’m saying is Drake isn’t that bad. I put up with a lot more than Melissa ever did. She doesn’t know the meaning of hardship.”

“And after what she’s already been through, I’m sure she doesn’t want to find out.” Puppa stood and smacked his palms together. “Take a walk with me, Patricia. I want to show you the new horse.”

Joel stood after him. “And I’ll show Samantha the barn. We just put in more stalls.”

Sam and I jumped up and followed the men out the back door. Gerard in his wisdom stayed to entertain Olivia.

23

Puppa, Joel, Samantha, and I walked past the detached garage. From behind a clump of cedars emerged a red barn with white trim and black roof. A cupola complete with a rooster weathervane topped the structure. The bronzed iron squeaked, lazy in the breeze. Next to the barn, white fencing circled the corral, then led off to green pastures. Evidence of horses greeted us on the warm spring air.

Puppa pointed me toward an enclosure past the barn. Joel and Sam wandered off in their own direction.

“There’s that fine filly,” he said, looking at a pretty palomino. As we approached, the horse joined us at the fence. She nuzzled my hand.

“She likes you,” Puppa said, smiling.

“Her nose is so soft.” I leaned my face against hers, drinking in the comforting smell of her warm coat. “How old is she?”

“Ten,” Puppa said. “She’s a Kentucky Mountain Horse.”

“I like her size.” Her back came just below my shoulders.

“She’s a little over fourteen hands high,” he explained.

“What’s her name?”

“I call her Goldie, but her papers say Heaven Hill Gold.”

“That’s a pretty name.”

Puppa chuckled. “It’s a type of liquor. Goldie comes from a dry county down in Kentucky. The old-timers like to name these smooth-riding gaited horses after the thing they love most but can’t have: whiskey.”

I laughed. “Grandpa Amble would have related to that.”

“She’s yours, Patricia.”

My smile faltered. I looked at Puppa. “What do you mean?” My hands ran through Goldie’s mane, instinctively working out the knots and snarls.

“I got her for you.” He patted the horse’s neck. “She’s the right age and height for a new rider. And her temperament is as heavenly as her name.”

My eyes stung as his words sank in. “You got me a horse?”

He nodded. “I used to love riding with your mother. She was a very special lady. I hope we can enjoy the same friendship.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Thank you, Puppa.”

His hands held me in a tight embrace. “You’re welcome.”

When he released me, I wiped at my eyes. “I’m so happy to have family around. I was so alone before. I feel like I finally made it home.”

“You are home. And I hope you’ll never leave us again.”

My heart twisted with emotion as I recognized the tragedy of my profession. I had doomed myself to a perpetual fresh start. I could never settle down with family or form roots that lasted through generations. I was destined to move away time and time again from the very people who could bring stability, love, and meaning to my life. I’d left Brad, hadn’t I? Was I really going to leave my grandfather, great-grandmother, and cousins too?

I choked on the ball in my throat. “I hope I never leave you again too, Puppa.” I’d have to be creative, but I could figure out a way to stay in Port Silvan, and a way to stay in my family’s log cabin where Mom and I spent those beautiful summers together with Puppa and Jellybean. Now if I could only get Candice back in the picture, it would be almost as good as the old days.

“Tell me about your friend,” Puppa said, done with all the mushy stuff.

We started walking the fence line. I was charmed by the way Goldie stayed alongside us. “Samantha? Hmmm. She’s younger than me, beautiful, gutsy, already has Joel by a nose ring . . .”

Puppa laughed. “I noticed all that. I meant tell me about her past. Sounds to me like she’s on the run.”

“I don’t know that she’s on the run so much as her brother Brad is just ultra-paranoid. He’s a cop, you know.”

“What’s he paranoid about?”

I flipped a hand in the air. “I don’t know. Something about Sam’s ex-husband getting out of prison.” I downplayed the man’s vengeful, destructive, and insane attributes.

He stared at the ground as we walked. “What brought her to Port Silvan?”

“Oh, Brad just figured the ex would never connect the dots and Sam would be safe in the woods up here.”

“How do you know these Walters siblings, anyway?”

“Ummm, Brad was my neighbor back in Rawlings. He looked in on me every now and then.”

“Uh-huh.” My grandfather’s voice carried a note of suspicion.

I snapped a look at him. “No, he was not my boyfriend. We were friends. That’s it. We walked, we talked, we skied with the church group. Then I moved up here. End of story.”

“End of relationship?” Puppa asked.

“Yes.”

“But now Sam’s up here.”

“Yeah. So?”