“We don’t have to rush,” he says, pulling the house key from his jacket pocket. “It’s chilly, but we can still sit by the lake or even on the porch.”

I’d love that, but I don’t want to be selfish and make Sam stay out any later than necessary. We will be back here soon enough.

“I’m hungry. I’ll eat fast anyway. The food wasn’t very good at the hospital.”

“It didn’t look like it.” Sam unlocks the door and steps in, turning on the foyer light. “My hospital has good food, thank god, since I eat it daily.”

“It seems the bigger hospitals do.” I blink and get a flash of visiting Mom at some fancy cancer clinic. The cafeteria looked more like a mall food court, with tons of different options. People flew in from all over the world for treatment there, and a lot of family members stayed with them or in the center-provided rooms. Dad and I stayed a week, and then my grandma came to get me and took me back home.

I blink the painful memory away and take off my shoes. The temperature dropped significantly after the sun set, and Dad is cheap when it comes to keeping the house warm. It was a constant battle when I lived at home, with me sneaking out of my room to turn up the thermostat so I wouldn’t freeze to death in the middle of the night.

After washing my hands, I turn the temperature up to sixty-eight and then join Sam at the kitchen table.

“Thank you again,” I tell him as I unwrap my taco. “You took good care of me.”

“I’ll always take good care of you, I promise. Having you in my life…it’s all I ever wanted.” He looks in my eyes and then away, but this time there’s isn’t any stress or fear like before.

“It’s all I wanted too. I mean, a fulfilling career and self-acceptance were on my list too.”

Sam smiles. “Do you have those things now? The fulfilling career is a given.”

“Yes,” I say, covering my mouth with my arm to cough. “For the most part. I’m happy with who I am, though it took me a while to realize it doesn’t matter if other people aren’t.”

“The way things work out,” Sam starts and looks away again, letting out a breath. “How so many years have passed yet here we are. Things haven’t always been easy, and not everything has worked out like I planned.” He locks eyes with me and my heart flutters. “Things feel right when we’re together and I…I…” He takes a second, inhaling deeply. As soon as he opens his mouth to continue talking, a noise comes from the front of the house.

“Did you hear that?” I ask, setting my taco down.

“Yeah.” Sam gets to his feet. “Stay here.”

I don’t, of course, and follow behind Sam as he goes to the front door. It swings open right as we get into the foyer.

“Dad!” I exclaim, and Balloon squirms out of his arms, running over. “You scared me!”

Wendy steps in behind him and closes the door. “I told you we should have called.”

“Gotcha,” Dad says and crosses the foyer, wrapping me in a hug. “And I didn’t intend on scaring you, honey.”

“It’s okay. What are you guys doing here?”

“We were worried,” Wendy tells me, coming in for a hug now that Dad stepped back. “You poor dear. How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” I say honestly. “I’m very much looking forward to getting back to Chicago tonight and sleeping for more than like an hour before someone wakes me up.”

“You have to go?” Wendy pats my back before letting me go.

“Yeah. Sam has to work, and my computer is at his place. I need to get back to writing or I won’t meet my deadline.” The thought causes a bit of panic to rise inside me, but at the same time I know I’ll still procrastinate. I haven’t missed a deadline yet, and that enables me to put things off until the last minute where I’m crying at three AM because I’m so tired yet can’t sleep until I get my book done. Someday I’ll learn…but today is not that day. “We were going to leave soon, so I’m glad you came home now. How’s your sister?”

“Crazy,” Dad huffs and Wendy gives him a glare.

“She’s having a hard time. Not so much over the divorce but over not knowing what to do with her life now. Fingers crossed she doesn’t go off the deep end again.” She looks at Sam and smiles.

“Hi,” Sam says, and it hits me that they haven’t formally met. “I’m Sam.”

“I figured as much.” She looks at Dad. “You’re right, he is handsome.”

“I only tell the truth,” Dad replies.

“It’s nice to meet you in person,” Wendy says. “And we are both so glad you were here to take such good care of Chloe.”

“Of course,” Sam says as he slips his arm around my waist.

“Sam’s a doctor.” I look at him proudly. “He’s good at taking care of people.”

“I enjoy taking care of you much more than my other patients,” he tells me, and I blush just a little. I know he didn’t mean it sexually, but dammit, that’s just where my mind goes.

“I’m glad,” I say back.

“You kids got dinner?” Dad asks and opens the front door again to get two suitcases off the porch.

“Yeah, tacos,” I say. “If you didn’t try and be all sneaky, I would have gotten one for you guys too.”

“We ate on the way,” Wendy tells us, and we all go into the kitchen. “You go ahead and eat. You got a long drive ahead of you.”

“It’s not too bad until we get into the city,” Sam says as we sit down. It’s normal for me to go a while without seeing my dad, but having him here right now is making me so happy.

“What area of medicine are you in?” Wendy asks Sam.

“I’m an anesthesiologist at a level-one trauma center in Chicago,” he tells her.

“Oh wow, you probably see some terrible things.”

Sam nods, having just taken a bite of his food. “Every day,” he goes on when he’s done chewing. “I know what I signed up for when I took the job, and there’s rarely a dull moment.”

“I can only imagine.” Wendy shakes her head and leans forward. “Your brother is our vet. I see the resemblance now.”

“That was random,” Dad teases.

“I’m sorry,” Wendy laughs. “I knew you were related but didn’t think about it until just now. You two have the same eyes.”

“Sam is much better looking,” I say, and Sam laughs.

“I agree.” Sam gives me a wink, and Dad asks him about work while Wendy begs me for spoilers for my next book. I’m not sworn to secrecy. I can talk about it with my family and closest friends, who would be Farisha, Charles, and now Sam. But I’m always hesitant to give anything away because someone’s reaction could easily make me second-guess myself more than I already do.

Forty-five minutes later, I’m feeling even more worn out and my cheeks are hot. I better not have another fucking fever. Finally, we get our bags in Sam’s BMW and start the drive to Chicago.

“I’m, uh, sorry you didn’t walk along the trails.” Sam looks away from the road for a second.