Free Winter's Thaw by Stacey Lynn Rhodes Page A

bag from Sam’s arm and led the way into the kitchen.
    “I got Chinese. I figured that’s one kind of food you can eat even when you don’t have an appetite.” Sam set down a plastic sack with drinks in it, by the sounds of it. She sniffed then frowned. “Did you just make coffee?”
    “Yes, you want one?”
    “Nah. I’ll just have one of these Monsters.”
    Maggie raised her eyebrows. “You’re gonna be up all night.”
    “It’s early enough I don’t think I’ll have a problem. Besides, you’re one to talk, drinking coffee,” Sam pointed out with a smile then sobered. “Are you okay? I have to say, you look better than I thought you would.”
    Maggie thought about it for the time it took to retrieve her drink from the living room. “I’m okay for now. I think I was able to work through a lot of the initial impact during the trip home and last night.” Her cheeks went hot as she recalled just what it was she had done upstairs the night before. She coughed once into her hand then continued, “The tough part’s going to be with Cass. And probably the memorial, and going through Wade’s things… I guess all sorts of stuff, but mostly Cass. It’s hard to know how she’ll deal with it down the road, but she’s going to be devastated when I tell her.”
    Sam nodded sympathetically. “She loves her daddy.” She grimaced. “Sorry.”
    “What for, hon?”
    “I don’t know, actually. It’s just really hard.” Sam teared up and Maggie put an arm over her shoulders. It was somewhat ironic, but probably helpful in a way, that Maggie was in the role of comforter rather than the one being emotional for a change. “I mean, I know it’s a million times harder for you, of course, but I just keep thinking…” She paused and inhaled sharply through her nose.
    “You keep thinking what if it happened to Chris,” Maggie guessed, correctly if Sam’s fresh tears were any indication.
    “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make it about me.” Sam pulled away and dashed at her cheeks with the back of her hand. She went purposefully to the carryout bag and started pulling out white containers. “I got a few different things because I wasn’t sure what you were in the mood for.”
    Maggie recognized Sam’s need to distract herself with busywork, and far from being miffed that Sam was feeling fragile, she was a bit relieved that she wouldn’t be encouraged to recount the whole situation and her feelings over and over. She could use a break.
    Once they had all the food opened up and had dished out platefuls, they moved to the kitchen table and began eating in relative silence. Sam attacked the food like she hadn’t eaten for days—not surprising, since she tended to be an emotional eater. Luckily she had a great metabolism for a woman their age. Maggie tended to lean in the other direction, losing her appetite when upset, so she was pleased to realize after the first couple of token bites that she was actually hungry. She finished off a helping of spicy shrimp with rice, then ate a couple of potstickers before setting her chopsticks down and sipping her coffee. Probably tea would have gone better, but she didn’t want to bother with it.
    Sam finally slowed down and popped up to start clearing the food away.
    “Just leave it—I’ll get to it later. Come in and sit with me.”
    Sam began to protest, but Maggie walked out of the kitchen into the living room. There were the sounds of a flurry of activity in the kitchen including the fridge door opening and closing a couple of times, and within a few minutes Sam had joined Maggie in the living room.
    She plopped down next to Maggie on the couch and ran her hand through her very short blonde hair. “I don’t know how you’re not a complete mess,” she stated bluntly.
    “I’m not sure either. But I was yesterday. Crying all over—” Maggie cut herself off abruptly. She’d been about to mention Nick, but she really didn’t want to go there right then. Not