He walked out of the bedroom carrying my bag. I followed Sam down to the foyer, feeling confused. My plan was to leave, and that's what I was doing. I was right all along, and now I was getting what I wanted. So why was Sam’s behavior pushing me back on my heels? I wasn't the bad guy here, was I?
"Have you ordered a car, or do you need me to do that?" he asked again.
"I've ordered it."
Two minutes ago, I couldn't get out of the house fast enough, but all of a sudden, I was feeling like I wanted to stay and talk this out. But one look at Sam's angry face and I knew that wasn't an option. How could the tables have turned so quickly?
Vivie entered the foyer. "Hey, Sam, Mom wants me to tell you that these potatoes won’t peel themselves."
"I'll be there in a minute."
Her brows furrowed as she looked from me to Sam. "What's going on?"
"You have one less person for dinner. Kate has decided to leave."
I gaped at him. "You're the one who left." There was no way I was going to let him pin this on me. This all started five years ago when he walked out.
"That was five years ago, Kate. I've been busting my balls to make that up to you, to prove to you that I'm a better man now, but it doesn't matter. Tell me the truth. I never had a chance, did I?"
I had the urge to plead for understanding. Why wasn’t I pissed at him? Instead, I had a strange sense of desperation and panic.
He stared at me, and then his eyes widened and his darkness deepened. "Motherfucker."
"Sam!" Vivie said.
His green eyes were fierce as they bore into me. "This is payback, isn't it?"
He shook his head and paced in a circle for a moment. Vivie turned and rushed out of the room.
When Sam came around to face me again, I still saw anger, but also pain. "This has all been some sort of scam to get me to fall in love with you again so you could punish me, right?”
Huh?
“Jesus, you even involved my family. Was that part of your plan too? To embarrass and humiliate me in front of my family by doing to me what I did to you?"
I shook my head, not completely comprehending how he had formulated that idea.
"There’s a big difference, though, Kate. What I did five years ago was a big mistake, but I didn't do it to hurt you." He held up his hand when I might have said that the end result was the same. "I know that I did hurt you, and I've lived with that regret ever since. Not a day hasn't gone by when I didn't want to kick myself or go back and change things. When I didn't wonder what our lives might've been like had I not made that choice. But as you so often tell me, what's done is done. I can't go back. But you... what you’ve done here is fucking cruel. I knew you were more guarded and less trusting, but I never imagined you would do something like this."
"I didn't." I couldn't wrap my brain around what he was saying.
Juliana and Drew entered the foyer.
"Is everything all right?" Juliana asked, her concerned gaze going from me to Sam.
"Everything is fine, Mom. I'll be in to take care of those potatoes in a minute. First, I want to get Kate into her car."
Drew’s brow furrowed as he looked at me. "You're leaving? Did something come up?"
"Is this about Sandra?" Juliana asked.
"Bingo." Sam glared at me.
"I'm sorry if her arrival shocked you. Sam didn't know that she would be coming,” Juliana said. The kernel of guilt and doubt grew.
"It doesn't matter, Mom. Does it, Kate?"
I jerked back at the sharpness of his tone. It took me a moment to realize he was tossing my words back at me. How many times had I said “it doesn’t matter” to him when he tried to talk to me about the past?