Finding Sam (Featured)

Chapter 10 - Unexpected Dinner Guest

He noticed the expression on my face and raised his right hand. "Scout's honor, I'm telling the truth, Sam. Unless you'd rather not, that's fine with me. I won't get offended. But I have to warn you, though. Liv's an awesome cook. Here, you can call her if you like."

He handed me the phone, but I shook my head. I was silly, I thought. But scrapbooking?

"What's for dinner?" I asked. The aroma of food filling the room had made my mouth water.

"Liv prepared it. She just stuck it in my oven to keep it warm, after her friends called to see if she was on her way."

"For scrapbooking? You expect me to believe that your sister does scrapbooking?"

He shrugged. "It is still a thing, isn't it?"

The look on his face was pure innocence, his puppy eyes doing its work on me. I helped him get the rest of the dishes on the table, placing my hand over my wine glass to let him know I did not want any wine just when he was about to pour me some. He nodded and took a bottle of sparkling water from the refrigerator, pouring that instead into my glass.

"Olivia made rosemary-braised lamb shanks with garlic mashed potatoes," he said, pulling out a chair for me. "Bella has already started with her plain mashed potatoes."

"I'm afraid she's already wearing her food," I laughed, doing my best to wipe off all traces of mashed potatoes from her face and hair.

Erik was wearing a tight dark shirt and jeans, his feet bare just like mine. We sat across each other, with Bella's high chair at the end of the table, placing her within easy reach for both of us.

"I wish you could have brought Michael," he said, serving me some salad. "They could both have, what do you call it...?"

"Play dates," I replied. "David has him on weekends. But thank you for dinner. You didn't have to do this."

"Why not? You've been working a lot, and Olivia thought it would be one way to thank you for painting her. She hasn't seen her painting, but she's quite excited for its unveiling."

"She's a beautiful subject. She could be my muse if she isn't already, though."

While Olivia had prepared the main dish, Erik had made the salad and even dessert, which he said was a surprise. He fed Bella with mashed potato mixed with spinach, before handing his niece her bottle.

"A year ago I never thought I'd be good with children till I became an uncle," he said. "When she became a widow, it changed everything even more."

"Dada," Bella cooed.

"No-no-no-no," he protested, laughing. "It's ba-ba to you, Bella Luna. Ba-ba."

"Dada," Bella said again, laughing when Erik crossed his eyes.

"Babies usually say Dada first," I assured him.

"Do they?" He smiled, returning to his salad when Bella started drinking from the bottle, occupied by a toy attached to her high chair. "Michael is two, right?"

I nodded. "So how often do you babysit? I bet there's a waiting list for your services."

"No, I just do it for Bella-luna here, though sometimes my friend Josh helps out when he's available. It works in getting us the ladies," he said, winking at me.

"Shut up," I said, laughing. "You can't be that desperate! Are you?"

Erik shook his head, laughing. "No, I'm not, Sam. But it's a trip to sit out on the deck with Bells here. She's like a magnet."