'I suspect she's great in spite of that fact,' Ryan said bluntly.
His uncle cleared his throat. 'Well don't you worry. I'll make her feel like she's part of the family and who knows? Perhaps your parents will come around. Does she know who you are yet?'
'Good question.'
Ryan glanced at his watch. Zoe had called him earlier to say she planned to gather her parents and give them the news. Telling Sam could come later. On the phone, Zoe had been cool and distant, something he both understood and hated at the same time. Though he had no idea whether she'd be in touch with him after she delivered the blow to her parents, his stomach rolled in anticipation.
'Sam should be told soon,' he informed his uncle, taking no pleasure in his own words.
After Sam knew, then the real challenge would begin. Trying to convince her of his sincerity. Trying to get her to appreciate his position as family not enemy.
'Do you need me? I can come down, you know.' Uncle Russ had always been there to offer his support.
The gesture brought a lump to Ryan's throat. He might not have much of an immediate family to speak of, but he'd always had Uncle Russ. He hadn't realized how much he needed to hear a friendly, familiar voice from home, but speaking to his uncle now helped him feel more grounded and cemented to the life he'd temporarily left behind.
He glanced up at the setting sun and closed his eyes, grateful for what he did have and determined to let Sam share in the same things.
'Ryan, are you there?'
'I'm here. No need to visit just yet. Maybe when the initial shock blows over. We'll see.'
'Well, I've got to run. My dinner date is here,' his uncle said.
Ryan grinned. The consummate bachelor, Uncle Russ never had the same dinner date more than a few times, and he wondered who the lucky woman was this evening.
'Have a good time.' Ryan paused, unsure of how to speak his feelings after a lifetime spent keeping them inside. 'Before I hang up- '
'Yes?'
'Thanks for being there.'
Silence followed for a moment before Uncle Russ spoke. 'You're the son I never had, Ryan. Always remember that.'
His uncle's declaration was welcome at a time when Ryan felt adrift from everyone and everything. He hung up and settled into the sand to watch the last of the sun set on the horizon.
He needed time to think about the fallout sure to come, and mentally say goodbye to Zoe, the woman he felt certain he was about to lose.
Chapter Seven
WITH ALL THE FAMILY CHANGES on the horizon, Zoe was lured to the wall of photographs going up the stairs in her parents' home. Though unorthodox, her own childhood had been a happy one, as documented by the assorted pictures facing her. Part of the reason she'd never moved out of her parents' house was the feeling of warmth and security she found here, something she never thought she could find anywhere else.
Since her old job had kept her on the road sometimes for days on end, she hadn't missed having a place of her own until recently. And, she admitted, it helped that her parents no longer kept tabs on her, and that she liked their unstructured life.
Was there also an element of inability to commit to anyone or anything, as her father said? She shivered and, instead of dealing with the present, she focused on the wall that showed off her past.
The most recent photo added to the collection caught her eye. The picture showed Sam, Spank the monkey, Ari and Zoe together at Zoe's welcome-home party after she'd returned from her enforced confinement last year. The three of them looked like real sisters. And her parents truly did treat Sam like one of their own children. They'd even become more structured since Sam had come into their lives. Dinner was served at six and they all ate seated as a family. Sam's homework had to be completed before television was allowed, and she had a strict curfew.
Though Zoe wouldn't call her mother June Cleaver, Elena had become more regimented with Sam around because she understood what the child needed. Despite the fact that Elena had become a certified masseuse, she never scheduled a spa appointment after three and she was home every afternoon when Sam returned from school. All these changes had been made because the entire Costas family loved Sam and wanted her to have as close to a perfect childhood as possible.
'Looking at the wall of shame?' Ari asked.
Zoe felt her twin's hand on her shoulder and covered it with her own. 'That always was your description.' But Zoe knew that Ari had come to terms with her difficulties within their family. 'I was just thinking what a great childhood we had.'
'We did. Even I can see that now, especially compared to Sam's journey through the foster-care system,' Ari said.
'I wanted the same thing for Sam,' Zoe said.
'Maybe Ryan Baldwin can provide it for her. You like him and that's no small feat.'
Zoe turned toward her twin. 'He's a good man, but do you know what his family's kind of life would do to Sam? The rules, the regulations, the criticism that drove her mother to run away.' Zoe shivered, mentally placing herself in that same position of being judged.
Thinking along those lines always sent her into an emotional freeze. Her relationship with Ryan worked only because she knew he would return to Boston and there was no chance of a long-term relationship between them. If not for that assurance, she'd run far and fast to escape, just as his sister had.
'You ready to talk to Mom and Dad?' Ari asked. 'Quinn's waiting with them in the family room.'
Zoe inclined her head. 'Let's do it.'
Less than ten minutes later, the truth had been revealed. Elena sat on the couch, her head bent, and Zoe knelt down beside her mother, holding her hand. Zoe's stomach was twisted in knots and she hated herself for putting her parents through so much pain.
'So to be clear, this Ryan Baldwin isn't a social worker?' her father asked.
Ari shook her head.
'He's Sam's mother's brother,' Quinn explained again.
'Which makes him a liar,' Nicholas snapped.
Zoe cringed. 'Papa,' she said, using the nickname she'd called him as a child. 'The lie was my fault. Mom mistook Ryan for a social worker the day of Sam's party and yes, he went along with it in the beginning, but I found out that day…and I convinced him to stay quiet.'
While her mother remained uncharacteristically silent, Nicholas let out a litany of Greek profanity that singed her ears. 'Why?' he asked. 'Why would you do this to your own family?'
Her throat tightened. She rose to face her father in order to explain. 'At first I needed to check out if he was who he claimed to be. And then I wanted to make sure he was a decent guy before I revealed anything.'
'And then you fell for the man.' Elena lifted her head from her kimono sleeve for the first time since hearing the news.
Her mother's words slammed into Zoe with the force of a Mack truck. 'Untrue,' Zoe protested too quickly. 'I just didn't want to cause complete panic until I had more facts. You know how much I love you all. You know I adore Sam. I had everyone's best interests at heart.'
Her father strode forward and claimed her in a reassuring bear hug. 'You, I have faith in. That man, him I don't trust.'
Despite understanding her father's side, Zoe wanted to defend Ryan. She told herself it was for Sam's sake that she needed to redeem him in her parents' eyes, but her rapidly beating heart and the wave of emotions sweeping through her told her that her motives were more self-serving.
'Ryan's a decent man, Papa.'
'Bah.' Nicholas folded his arms across his chest.
