“Yes…oh, of course, you’re right. I should have known you’d say that.” She laughed nervously.
“Well, hey, I’ve got to get going. I’m on my way out of town, but when Sam told me he was bringing a wonderful woman to the resort tonight, I had to come meet you before I left.” He flashed her his trademark smile, and she brightened. “Sam’s a great guy, Annie. I wouldn’t let him get away if I were you.” He winked, and she nodded solemnly.
“Thanks for the advice,” she said. “Thanks for everything, Mr. Robinson.”
After Brody left, she was a different person.
“Sam, you don’t understand what that meant to me,” she said as the tears began to fall again. “Brody was my first introduction to self-improvement. I read his books and listened to his CDs and podcasts so often there are probably a few I could recite from memory.” She took a deep breath.
“He helped me deal with Avery’s death. He changed my perspective on life and helped me become who I am today. Without him, my life would be so completely and unimaginably different. And by different, I mean heart-breakingly worse. I will be forever grateful to him.”
“I’m glad it worked out that you could meet him,” Sam said.
Realization rolled across her face. “Is he the ‘professional help’ you said you were getting?”
“Maybe,” he responded sheepishly, not liking the idea of “professional help.”
“Oh, my God. Well, he’ll fix you, that’s for sure. I mean, not that you’re broken or anything, but he’ll help you through whatever issues you have.”
“He’s already helped me immensely.” He was thinking not only of the perspective shift Brody had helped him have over trusting people, but of the street cred he’d just given him with Annie.
She nodded and was quiet for a minute. “Did you hire him to help you be able to trust me?”
“Well, to trust people in general. Women in particular. A specific woman to be exact.” They looked at each other and smiled.
“Does this mean we’re okay?” he asked, praying to God this expensive night had paid off.
“Yes,” she said sincerely.
“Hey, do you want to spend the night here?” he asked. “I mean, just to sleep. I’m not trying to push you.”
“Oh, mister. You are so totally getting laid tonight.”
“Awesome.” He grinned.
“Okay, I’m dying to know. How much did that cost you? To have Brody just ‘stop by’? As altruistic as he is, he doesn’t work for free.”
“I don’t remember. But whatever it was, it was worth every penny.” Between the personalized counseling and the pop by visit, it was just over two million dollars, but who was counting?
“So, are you guys friends? How well do you know him? Why didn’t you mention you knew him when I first started talking about him?”
“We have a lot of mutual acquaintances and have met several times before at fundraisers and things like that. I didn’t mention it because before I trusted you so implicitly, I thought you’d probably beg me for an introduction or something. But now I know that you never would have exploited our relationship for something like that. You know, because I trust you.” He laid it on thick.
“I get it.” She laughed. “Glad to hear you trust me so much, but, honey, if I’d have known, I would have begged daily until you brought me to meet him.”
“What? God, this trust thing is confusing!” he exclaimed in fake outrage.
“Let’s get out of here,” she said with a smoldering, come-hither look that had him tripping over himself to get up from the table.
The night ended exactly how he’d hoped, in bed, and wrapped in each other’s arms, declaring their love for one another.
EPILOGUE
Several months later, Sam stood in the Samatrix training room, where the Denali project launch party was in full swing. He surveyed all the happy, maybe a little tipsy, faces, and smiled. Outside the wall of windows, the drizzly, Seattle rain surrounded them, but inside, the champagne was flowing. Everyone was on cloud nine, celebrating with abandon.
According to Forbes and Business Insider, the Denali software was an instant success, and it wasn’t even available to the public yet. The businesses that had been selected to preview and review it had nothing but praise. Pre-sales were already surpassing projections, and Samatrix’s stock price had jumped four percent on the news.
All the team leaders, key players on their teams, and upper management, including Matthew and his family, had gathered to celebrate.
Sam was in a corner of the room talking with Jake. They had just received the news that Mitch and Maggie were pregnant and due the following spring.
“So, we’re going to be uncles. Pretty cool, eh?” said Sam.
“Yeah. Mom finally gets her wish for a grandbaby. Have you ever seen her so excited?” said Jake.
“I’m just glad someone took a little pressure off me to do it.” They both laughed.
“Mom says Maggie was pregnant at the wedding, but no one’s supposed to know that, so don’t say anything.” Jake put his hand up and whispered behind it.
“Mitch will be a great dad,” said Sam, and Jake nodded.
“Speaking of you reproducing, how are things going with Annie?”
“Well, I’m about to do something pretty big. Can you stick around?”
“With an announcement like that, how can I not? I’ll get a video for Mom. Maybe it will get you out of the doghouse for not bringing Annie to Mitch’s wedding.” He winked. “Just remember who dragged you to the bar that night.”
“I won’t forget. I owe you one. It’s weird how one seemingly insignificant decision can change your whole life, huh?”
“Sam MacDonald is off the market. Wow. Nice catch, Annie,” he said, though Annie was nowhere near them. “I’m happy for you, bro. Go get ‘em.” Jake slapped him on the back and left to talk to Matthew.
Sam scanned the room for Annie.
