“It’s your birthday!” Haley exclaimed. “I am so excited to celebrate with you. We thought we’d start my taking you out to dinner. Then we have a big surprise for you.”
If Sam hadn’t been holding her, Adam would have sworn that she’d have floated away. “What’s the surprise?” Adam asked with a smile. “I mean, I’m surprised enough that you are here. I thought that you two had forgotten…” His voice trailed off and he shrugged, but the sadness in his voice was evident.
Haley’s smile faltered. She glanced up at Sam, a hint of doubt in her eyes. He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly and leaned down to kiss her temple. These days, they were hard to be around and they knew it. That was part of the reason why they spent so much time away and on their own. The other part was that Haley felt so much better, so confident, and so ready to face the world with Chase in jail awaiting trial. She wasn’t in hiding any more. And it made a huge difference.
“Adam,” Sam began in his scolding voice, “we would never forget your birthday. So, where would you like to go to dinner?”
But Adam was already morose from spending the bulk of the day alone and discovering that in thirty years, the only meaningful relationship he had was rather built in, since Sam almost didn’t have a choice in the matter. Hanging out with the two lovebirds was just the cherry on top. “Oh, you’re all big on surprises,” Adam said, trying to act happy, “why don’t you surprise me? I’ll put on a suit and meet you down here in fifteen minutes. I would have said ten, but it takes me a little longer. You understand?” And he tapped his bum leg with the cane before limping out of the study and heading to the guest bedroom.
“Well, that didn’t go the way we had hoped,” Haley said quietly.
“Ah, it’s Adam, I rather expected it,” Sam assured her. “He has been milking that leg…” He shook his head. “It will be good for him to go home and get back in a routine, rebuild his life. He hasn’t been there for almost two months. I’m sure it will feel good for him to be back on his own.”
Haley leaned back into Sam knowing that his arms would wrap around her. She pressed her face against his broad chest and inhaled the scent of him, a combination of cologne and fresh clean male. She squeezed him close. “I hope you’re right. Maybe what Adam really needs is to be around family right now. Maybe that’s what will help him heal.”
He sat there in silence and considered what Haley had said. He didn’t want to think that it was for purely selfish reasons that he would send his brother packing. Sure, he longed to be more spontaneous with Haley, have more freedoms, be as demonstrative as he wanted without worrying about interruptions, but he really did have Adam’s well-being in mind…didn’t he?
It was just after 6:30pm that Neville drove the group to Adam’s apartment. And when the vehicle stopped and Adam stepped out onto the curb and recognized his surroundings, he was feeling less than buoyant. He looked at Sam a moment, trying to read his face before he spoke. “What are we doing here?” He questioned.
“Oh, I thought you might want to change that tie. You have been wearing the same three ties for weeks at the office. And since we were in the neighborhood…” Sam’s voice trailed off and he gestured as though the answer was obvious. He leaned over and helped Haley out of the car then nodded at Neville.
The three headed to the door, greeted the doorman, and made their way to the elevator. It was very nearly 7pm when Adam stuck his key in the lock and opened the door to his apartment. It was as dark as he expected. What he didn’t expect was the aroma of food, the people popping up from behind furniture and through doorways, and the shouts of ‘Surprise!’ that rang out over the clatter of his cane falling to the floor. He pasted a smile on his face. He was surprised all right. And he was dismayed. This was the last thing he wanted for his birthday.
Looking over at Haley, Adam finally spoke, “I suppose this was your idea?”
“Not entirely. Sam helped a lot,” Haley smiled shyly, clearly awaiting his