conversation.
The young girl fumbled with the lock on the screen door, but finally worked the catch, opened the door and waved them inside. 'Come in! You left so early you never opened your presents,' she said to Zoe.
Sam didn't meet Ryan's gaze, but that wasn't unusual and once he saw her excitement and smiles, his concern eased. She was too happy to have heard a thing. Now all he had to worry about was Zoe viewing his embarrassing gifts.
'Do you want to help me unwrap them?' Zoe asked Sam.
'Already done.' The young girl grabbed Zoe's hand and they walked into the family room.
Ryan followed and seated himself on a chair across from them so he could watch.
Sam shook her head, her ponytail flipping behind her. 'Elena said if you were gonna be rude and leave, we could still enjoy the traditional parts of a party, so I already opened the presents, well all except for the ones from Ryan,' Sam explained in a rush, as only a teenager could.
'I see. And what did I get?' Zoe asked, laughing.
'Aunt Dee and Uncle John bought you a subscription to an online dating service that lets you pick out whatever traits you want in a guy. They said you'd better make sure he's Greek.'
Ryan didn't have to glance at Zoe to know she was blushing. He also didn't have to look down at his clenched fists to realize the thought of her with any other man didn't sit well with him at all.
Sam ran through a litany of other gifts until she reached the end. 'And Elena and Aunt Kassie said you already got your gift from them, not that I know what they mean.'
Ryan did and his gaze met Zoe's, every moment of last night passing between them in that one look.
'And this is from me.' Sam pulled out a pillow that she'd been hiding behind her back. 'I made it myself,' she said softly, suddenly shy. 'Since you have one that Ari made you, I wanted you to have one from me, too. So I could be a real sister, too.'
'Oh, Sam.' Zoe pulled her into a huge hug and over her shoulder, Sam met Ryan's gaze with a pleading one of her own. One that begged him, the 'social worker,' not to take her away from these special people.
If only Sam knew the real damage he could do. He glanced from the hugging women to the hook-rug type pillow that said Sisters & Best Friends 4 Ever. A wave of nausea swept through him as he realized that in telling Sam the truth, he'd be depriving her of the security she had finally achieved in her otherwise unsettled life.
How could he do that to her? Ryan wondered.
Yet how could he not?
Sam pulled out of Zoe's grasp. 'It's Ryan's turn to give you his presents.' She stepped back to reveal the wrapped packages on the table behind the sofa. 'We bought one of them yesterday when we went shopping, but there's an extra thing here and I don't know what it is. But I helped him pick out the big one.' She pointed to the larger gift as she practically hopped from foot to foot in eager anticipation of the big reveal.
Zoe's eyes narrowed as she took in the presents. 'Hmmm. What could Ryan have bought me? I think I'll open this one first.' Zoe winked at Sam and started peeling the wrapping off the larger present.
'Oh I can't wait to see,' Elena said from the doorway, joining them in time for Ryan's mortification.
'Same here.' Nicholas strode in and seated himself in the large recliner chair.
'Oh man,' he muttered aloud.
Zoe pulled away the last of the wrapping. 'These are wonderful,' Zoe exclaimed as she examined each fruit- scented item in the basket, from bath gel, foot cream, hand cream, body lotion, to the different textured sponges.
Ryan would rather die than look at her parents now, though a covert glance showed him that Nicholas was indeed scowling at him. No doubt the man also knew his daughter hadn't come home last night and it was obvious she still wore last evening's clothes.
Well, hell, was it his fault she was thirty and living at home? Still, he cringed.
'Sam, thank you for helping Ryan pick out my favorite scents.' Zoe's soft voice interrupted his thoughts.
'It's okay. You know I love you.' Sam sounded a little more subdued, Ryan figured because the excitement of giving her gift was over.
'How about opening Ryan's other one?' Elena asked.
Now that he'd seen Zoe's pleased reaction to the bath-shop gift, he wanted to take his more practical one and shove it into his pocket. But that wouldn't be happening.
Elena, Nicholas and Sam crowded around as Zoe ripped apart the paper and pulled out the present he'd purchased to minimize the impact of the first. No chance of that happening, he thought. Now that they'd made love, and now that her family knew they'd spent last night together, he couldn't win with either gift.
He forced himself to look at Zoe. She stared at the Montblanc pen in the black box for so long, he thought he might puke.
'To sign your first contract with,' he said, his voice sounding as lame as he felt.
She met his gaze, her eyes filled with warmth, gratitude and, he thought, a hell of a lot more. 'That's the most thoughtful thing I've ever heard,' she said.
'And the most dorky and lame.' Sam grunted and rose from the couch. 'I'm going to Michelle's.' She was clearly as unimpressed with Ryan's additional birthday present as she was with him.
'Be back for us to go shopping around three,' Elena called to Sam.
'Thanks, Sam. Everyone,' Zoe said. 'I should put all this in my room.' Without looking at Ryan, she gathered her gifts in her arms.
He wondered what had her spooked this time. Either it was the knowledge that her parents
In the silence, he heard Nicholas whisper to Elena in a not-so-quiet voice, 'Another one that isn't Greek.'
Elena laid her head on his shoulder and spoke into his ear. 'As long as she's happy, Nicky. She should have what we share, no?'
With those comments, Zoe bolted for the stairs leading to her room.
As Ryan rose to leave and said his goodbyes to Zoe's parents, he was struck by the warmth between them. A love and understanding he'd never seen between his parents, growing up. In their home, formality ruled, even in personal, intimate relationships. Elena and Nicholas apparently adhered to no such rules of decorum. The family had told him last night that the couple's fights contained fireworks that were something to see. So, too, did their making up.
He glanced at Elena and Nicholas again. Zoe couldn't possibly fear relationships based on what she'd seen at home. Which meant she feared something about
All of which convinced him that his hunch about Zoe's sudden wariness now was correct. She wanted to put space between them and telling Sam the truth would help accomplish her goal.
IN THE NEW OFFICES, Ari paced the linoleum floor that Zoe had just mopped clean. 'A pen? The man bought you a pen for your birthday?' Ari asked, clearly in shock.
'Isn't it the most honest gift you've ever heard of?' Zoe rolled the pen between her palms, the gift reminding her so much of Ryan and his contradictions. The hard exterior and the gentle man beneath. When she closed her eyes, she saw his face, warm and caring, and the gift cemented those emotions.
'Well at least you didn't say it's the most romantic present you ever received. What's going on with you, anyway?' Ari asked.
Zoe lifted her gaze. 'I'm going to try to explain this, but you may not get it,' she warned her sister.
'Well, try me.'
'This is a guy who was brought up in an uptight environment- that's all he's ever known and yet he doesn't mind our family. The more time he spends with us, the more he loosens up.'
'Which explains the bath basket?' Ari guessed.
Zoe shook her head. 'No, Sam explains the bath basket. Ryan bought the pen himself. It's conservative, just like he is.'
