Under the Boardwalk

“Who’s Igor?” Ari asked.

Sam cleaned off Spank’s face, then released her from the high chair. “He’s the foreman in charge of this job,” Sam said with the authority of someone who lived here.

Quinn narrowed his gaze. “Where did you say Elena was?”

“I didn’t.” Sam shoved her hands into her jeans pockets. “She’s in the other room but I know she wants to talk to you guys.” She fidgeted in her chair. “Elena, Quinn’s here to talk to you,” she yelled at the top of her lungs. “Hurry up and come here.”

Elena laughed as she strode into the room. “There’s no rush, Sam. I’m not going anywhere.”

Sam glanced up at Ari’s mother with wide-eyed adoration. “Okay, okay. Can I stay when you tell him? Please, please, please?”

Ari put a hand on Sam’s shoulder. “Why don’t you and I go into the other room and let them talk. You can tell me what’s going on with you.”

Quinn rolled his shoulders. If Ari didn’t want to remain and hear what Elena wanted to discuss, she probably already knew what it was. “Why do I get the feeling that everyone in here knows what Elena wants to discuss except me?” he asked, looking at Ari.

She shot him a guilty look. “I don’t know for sure, but I have a hunch. Let’s go,” she said, holding a hand out to Sam, who left the room grumbling.

“What’s going on?” he asked Elena.

She placed a folder on the counter. “I’ve been doing some research. I contacted the Division of Youth and Family Services about becoming a foster parent for Sam.”

Shock rippled through him. Whatever he’d been expecting, it wasn’t this. “That’s a huge responsibility.”

Elena nodded. “I raised two girls. Of course I know that.”

He lowered himself into one of the kitchen chairs. “And how does your husband feel about this?” Quinn asked, all the while sorting through the idea in his mind.

There was no doubt Sam needed a home and every possibility Elena and Nicholas could provide one. A good one. One that would make Sam happy. Quinn had thought he was out of options, a group home being the only solution. Now Ari’s family was offering him hope and he had to admit he was optimistic. Cautiously optimistic.

Elena joined him at the table. “Nicholas is fine with the idea. He’s a good man, and when he heard about Sam’s situation, of course he agreed she should come live with us.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s noble, Elena, but you can’t…” How could he say this delicately? he wondered. “You can’t adopt Sam just to help fill the void left by Zoe’s absence.”

Elena whacked him on the shoulder. “Bite your tongue at such a suggestion. First off, Zoe’s coming back. And secondly, both my girls are adults. They live their own lives, and Sam coming here would have nothing to do with that,” she assured Quinn.

“What did Family Services say?” he asked next.

“They went into a lengthy explanation about the requirements, the classes, home inspections, and time it takes to approve a family.” Elena waved a hand, dismissing the process as unimportant. “But Sam doesn’t have that kind of time. She can’t go on living in an environment where she knows she isn’t wanted. It’s not healthy and it’s bad for her self-esteem. Besides, she can stay here.”

“Can I, Quinn, please?” Sam came bouncing back into the room.

“I tried to restrain her.” Ari followed after her, a concerned expression on her face. “But Sam insisted on being here when Mom told you her idea,” Ari said to Quinn, neither expressing support for her mother’s decision to take Sam in, nor protesting it.

And given her family history and problems with her relatives, Quinn couldn’t figure out which side she came down on. Right now he only wanted to smooth the worry lines and promise her everything would be okay. How could he when he wasn’t sure what was bothering her?

He only knew what upset him and he turned to Elena. “So Sam knows about your plan?” Quinn asked.

Elena’s nod confirmed his fear. Nothing about the foster care system was easy or guaranteed, and he hated to have the kid’s hopes raised once more only to endure disappointment later. It was one thing for his heart to beat faster in his chest and for him to feel the potential excitement of a solution he once thought impossible. It wasn’t okay for Sam to be led on a journey of false hope.

“Isn’t it cool?” Sam asked. “And Elena’s willing to look into adoption,” she said, awe in her voice. “Somebody wants me!”

Oh shit. This thing had gone too far in a short time. “I have some connections,” he said, trying to take back some control. “Let me see if I can speed up the reference and home check.” His being a cop who vouched for the Costas family would go a long way toward helping with references.

Neither Zoe nor Ariana had mentioned anyone in the family having a criminal record, but the department ran thorough checks, including fingerprinting, and that was just the beginning of potential problems and snags.

“Hey, Quinn.” Sam poked him in the shoulder. “Me and Ari and Zoe can be sisters! Did you see pictures of Zoe? She looks just like Ari. How awesome is that?”

It was frigging fantastic, Quinn thought. If he could make it happen. Until then, everyone had to keep their wits about them.

“When she comes home, my Zoe will love you,” Elena assured the young girl.

He glanced at Ari. She leaned against the counter and remained silent, looking as torn as he was. But the one thing that stood out as if he could read her mind was her guilt over her knowledge about her sister. Now that she knew Quinn was a cop and she could believe his claim that her twin was alive, keeping the truth from her mother was eating away at her. Quinn understood.

Like Ari, he hated the deceit, but Elena was too unpredictable to trust. She’d just proven she would act on emotion, not common sense. And he was certain Ari agreed or she would have begged him to fill her mother and father in on the situation regarding Zoe, too.

He shook his head, pushing thoughts of the Damon sting out of his mind. He had to deal with Sam first and he walked over to her side. “There are no guarantees this will work,” he reminded her. “Elena and the whole family need to go through the approval process.”

“They’ll pass,” Sam said with certainty. “And then even Spank can be my sister.”

She laughed again, but her words sobered Quinn. There was also a home evaluation they’d need to pass. “I’m not sure the monkey’s going to help this situation,” he said, imagining one of the uptight social workers walking into the house, with construction and various relatives all around them and a monkey diving into their lap. He shook his head. Why couldn’t life ever be easy?

“What are you saying?” Elena asked.

“Is having a monkey living with you even legal in this state?” Quinn wondered aloud.

“Quinn!” Sam wailed, while Elena glanced away.

Apparently she hadn’t checked out the legalities, and he wasn’t one bit surprised. As a cop he had to know many things, but this wasn’t something he’d encountered before.

He ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, one step at a time. Since teenagers are so much harder to place, the department’s been known to put things through faster if something special comes up. Let me make some phone calls and let’s see if we can get the process going. Elena, you and Nicholas are going to have to take eight weekly training sessions.”

Elena swiped her hand through the air, a gesture she seemed to favor. “I raised two children. What can they possibly teach me that I don’t know?”

He rolled his eyes. “Nobody gets out of those classes, so get yourself signed up and start them immediately. They’re three hours each,” he added for good measure.

“Do not tell that to Nicky,” she ordered everyone in the kitchen. “He has no patience for classes, but once he’s there, he’ll do it for Sam.”

The girl beamed and for the first time Quinn realized she wasn’t wearing her hat. Her hair was hanging long down her back, and she was truly happy. He’d just have to make sure this worked out for her or die trying.

“What about Spank?” Sam asked, holding the monkey’s hand. “If my caseworker sees her and it’s not allowed, they won’t let me come here and that can’t happen.”

A long, drawn-out sigh came from the other side of the room. Quinn glanced over at Ari. “I suppose if I can handle a dog, I can handle a monkey,” she said, obviously resigned to doing her part in this scheme. “Since I can’t